Shoes of Lightning Leaping: Must move 50ft, or move up to 50ft?

[Avatar-1]

Shoes of Lightning Leaping from Ultimate Equipment says:

Quote:

These short black shoes fit tightly around the wearer’s feet and bear designs of leaping arcs of lightning and wild winds. Once per day on command, a creature wearing these boots can transform into lightning and move up to 50 feet in a straight line, re-materializing at the far end of the lightning bolt. Creatures in the path of the lightning take 6d6 points of electricity damage and objects take damage as per the lightning bolt spell. If the lightning strikes an object or barrier and fails to burst through it, the creature wearing the boots appears next to the impacted object and is staggered for 1 round. Movement while in lightning form does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Does this suggest:

(a) that the wearer MUST move exactly 50ft in a straight line or else they hit a wall/objects and is staggered?

Or

(b) that the wearer can move to any square within 50ft as long as they don't hit anything in a straight line?

We compared this wording to the Boots of Escape, but that specifically says "any spot within 30 feet", whereas this one could use clarification.

[Rynjin]

Move up to 50 feet.

It says it right there in the part you bolded.

You can move UP TO 50 feet. As long as there's no solid object (that you can't bust through) in the way that you decide to ram into.

[Avatar-1]

But is it worded that way because you might hit an object before you get to the 50ft destination?

ie.
A-----[C]------B

you're trying to get from A to B, bump into object C, and then only move 25ft instead of the full 50ft - then you stop there and you're staggered.

[Rynjin]

Avatar-1 wrote:

But is it worded that way because you might hit an object before you get to the 50ft destination?

ie.
A-----[C]------B

you're trying to get from A to B, bump into object C, and then only move 25ft instead of the full 50ft - then you stop there and you're staggered.

It wouldn't make much sense otherwise.

Say you thought "Hey, I can bust down this door" (C) and then you go there.

Then you can't. Or if you could, you bust it down and keep going.

Or decide before you get going "That door looks thick, I'ma stop at 20 feet" you can do that too.

[Avatar-1]

It would make sense if you tried to lightning bolt teleport 50ft into an area you couldn't see and then bumped into a wall. Or into an invisible creature.

[Rynjin]

Well if it were an invisible creature you'd go through it, otherwise it wouldn't give this part:

Quote:

Creatures in the path of the lightning take 6d6 points of electricity damage and objects take damage as per the lightning bolt spell.

I'm 90% sure they mean you can move any distance up to and including 50 feet, so long as you don't hit an object you're incapable of busting through.

[Weirdo]

I'm with Rynjin on this one. The wording "up to" suggests that you can at your option reduce the distance traveled. The rules about hitting a barrier you can't burst through are separate.

[Zhane]

... seriously? This post is serious?

I'm sorry, but if "up to 50 feet" is somehow unclear to you, you've been obsessing over rules way too much and need to take a step back. It couldn't be clearer.

[Barry Armstrong]

"can move" and "up to 50 ft" means you CAN MOVE UP TO 50 FEET. I don't understand the confusion.

Things that REQUIRE certain squares or distance or type of movement specifically say so.

Up to 50 feet means you can move any chosen distance between 5 and 50 feet.

If an invisible creature or object blocked your path prior to your chosen distance, your movement would stop there and you'd have to deal with the obstacle as RAW states. After dealing with the obstacle, you can finish your chosen distance (if possible. Some obstacles, events or encounters may specifically disallow this, but again, it will be explicitly written) but you risk being hit with an AoO if that obstacle was an invisible creature.