Charge not necessarily a straight line?

[Michael Sayre]

So Charge states "Movement During a Charge: You must move before your attack, not after. You must move at least 10 feet (2 squares) and may move up to double your speed directly toward the designated opponent."

I had always assumed that "directly toward" meant "in a straight line", but the discussion came up at a PFS table between a player and GM that as long as each step brings you closer to your opponent you are still moving "directly toward" your opponent. This could potentially allow for some minor zig-zagging during a charge. The GM actually allowed the movement to occur.

Is this actually correct? Unfortunately it is hard to lay out a diagram of possible intended movement in this format...
And wouldn't the line stating " If any line from your starting space to the ending space passes through a square that blocks movement, slows movement, or contains a creature (even an ally), you can't charge" prevent you from charging around blocking terrain even if moving diagonally off a straight line were a legal movement?

[Funky Badger]

I've always played it that charges don't have to be orthoganal (N, S, E, W) - but do have to meet all other requirements.

[Cheapy]

Yo.

Sean K Reynolds wrote:

The line of your charge doesn't have to follow the grid, it just has to be straight (no bends).

[Oladon]

No, this is not a correct ruling. You have to move in a straight line, though that doesn't necessarily mean a straight line on the grid.

Edit: Ninja'd before I could go find that other post! Hrmph!

[Cheapy]

More info here.

There's supposedly a nice little image Sean made for us, but it's not loading for me. Viewing the thumbnail worked for me though.

[Michael Sayre]

Cheapy wrote:

Yo.

Sean K Reynolds wrote:

The line of your charge doesn't have to follow the grid, it just has to be straight (no bends).

Thanks Cheapy! This would mean that while there could potentially be some diagonal movement deviating slightly off a contiguous line of squares, you still can't zig around an obstacle during movement.

[BillyGoat]

My solution in the event that the "straight line" is not immediately obvious:

A ruler, spine of a book, piece of paper, string, or anything else long enough & able to be held "straight". Then count squares to determine if it's in range (or read inches off the ruler, since most grids are 1 inch = 1 square).

EDIT

And as has already been mentioned, "directly towards" means directly, or straight. If my enemy is due north of my position, I cannot charge NE around an obstacle, jig to the W to avoid an AoO, then bear back to the N to finish closing. In this example, I have to go "directly" north, in a straight line.

For clarity, refer to the definition of "directly": "without changing direction".