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So, the CRB 5-foot step rule states that you cannot 5' step when in difficult terrain or in darkness.
This is a rule duplicated from the 3.5 PHB. However, 3.5 then went farther (in the Rules Compendium) and stated that you cannot 5' step when your movement is hampered.
FAQ question: Can you 5' step when you have hampered movement (such as poor visibility or over an obstacle) or when your movement is slowed (such as Grease)?
Apparently the Pathfinder Beginner's box states that you cannot.
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You could add to that list, can you 5' step while under the effects of a slow spell? Which limits a creature to a standard or move AND reduces movement speed by half.
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Take 5-Foot Step
You can move 5 feet in any round when you don't perform any other kind of movement. Taking this 5-foot step never provokes an attack of opportunity. You can't take more than one 5-foot step in a round, and you can't take a 5-foot step in the same round that you move any distance.
You can take a 5-foot step before, during, or after your other actions in the round.
You can only take a 5-foot-step if your movement isn't hampered by difficult terrain or darkness. Any creature with a speed of 5 feet or less can't take a 5-foot step, since moving even 5 feet requires a move action for such a slow creature.
You may not take a 5-foot step using a form of movement for which you do not have a listed speed.
5-FOOT STEP: You can move 5 feet (one square) in any
direction, but only if you don’t use your move action or standard action to move (in other words, you can’t use this to get another 5 feet of movement on your turn). If you take this action, it is the only movement you can do this round. You cannot take a 5-foot step if your movement is slowed or you are moving into terrain that slows you down (like mud or bushes).
Poor visibility increase the square costs, it don't slow you down.
Tactical MovementTactical movement is used for combat. Characters generally don't walk during combat, for obvious reasons—they hustle or run instead. A character who moves his speed and takes some action is hustling for about half the round and doing something else the other half.
Table: Hampered Movement Condition Additional Movement Cost
Difficult terrain ×2
Obstacle* ×2
Poor visibility ×2
Impassable —
* May require a skill checkHampered Movement: Difficult terrain, obstacles, and poor visibility can hamper movement (see Table: Hampered Movement for details). When movement is hampered, each square moved into usually counts as two squares, effectively reducing the distance that a character can cover in a move.
If more than one hampering condition applies, multiply all additional costs that apply. This is a specific exception to the normal rule for doubling.
In some situations, your movement may be so hampered that you don't have sufficient speed even to move 5 feet (1 square). In such a case, you may use a full-round action to move 5 feet (1 square) in any direction, even diagonally. Even though this looks like a 5-foot step, it's not, and thus it provokes attacks of opportunity normally. (You can't take advantage of this rule to move through impassable terrain or to move when all movement is prohibited to you.)
You can't run or charge through any square that would hamper your movement.
Note that it say "In some situations, your movement may be so hampered that you don't have sufficient speed even to move 5 feet (1 square). .... Even though this looks like a 5-foot step, it's not, and thus it provokes attacks of opportunity normally."
It seem to imply that if, after all the modifiers, you can move 5' as a move action and your base movement isn't 5' you can take a 5' step.| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
FAQ'd button pressed
Mmmh.. The Core Rulebook is pretty clear about the 5 foot step:
Core Rulebook, Take 5 foot step, p.189 :
Take 5-Foot Step
...
You can only take a 5-foot-step if your movement isn’t hampered by diff icult terrain or darkness. Any creature with a speed of 5 feet or less can’t take a 5-foot step, since moving even 5 feet requires a move action for such a slow creature.
...
Hope it helped ;)
FAQ'd. I was (and still am) in agreement with Gwen and others in that other thread as to the written rule, but Gauss presented some compelling arguments as to intent.
Mmmh.. The Core Rulebook is pretty clear about the 5 foot step:
Core Rulebook, Take 5 foot step, p.189 :
Hope it helped ;)Take 5-Foot Step
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You can only take a 5-foot-step if your movement isn’t hampered by diff icult terrain or darkness. Any creature with a speed of 5 feet or less can’t take a 5-foot step, since moving even 5 feet requires a move action for such a slow creature.
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We already know what it says, but sometimes what the book says is nto what the book means.
The erratas to haste are an example of that. Once upon a time it called out "held weapon" which "as written" meant it did not work with a monk's unarmed strike or natural attacks, or ranged attacks such as rays which some monsters have.
Loengrin,
3.5's PHB said the exact same thing as Pathfinder's CRB.
But then 3.5's Rules Compendium stated that anytime you have hampered movement you cannot 5-foot step.
Then, in the thread I quoted above, two Devs basically said the same thing about 5-foot step in relation to the Pathfinder Beginner Box.
What this tells me is that in 3.5 it was the rule and the intent. Nothing in Pathfinder has changed that and a couple of Devs seemed to think it was that way (at least to the Beginners Box) back in 2012.
Anything other than ideal conditions you can not make a 5 foot adjustment. You can move 5 feet as a move action. (which would provoke).
Bump :)
Mmmh.. The Core Rulebook is pretty clear about the 5 foot step:
Core Rulebook, Take 5 foot step, p.189 :
Hope it helped ;)Take 5-Foot Step
...
You can only take a 5-foot-step if your movement isn’t hampered by diff icult terrain or darkness. Any creature with a speed of 5 feet or less can’t take a 5-foot step, since moving even 5 feet requires a move action for such a slow creature.
...
If you go look at the linked thread that started this FAQ request, you'll see multiple citations from the Core Rulebook that seem to contradict each other along with several (failed) attempts to find a common definition of "hampered movement"...
Believe it or not, people actually tried to read the rules on their own before branching off an FAQ thread. (Weird, I know!)
I don't think poor visibility short of darkness should inhibit one's ability to 5-foot step, despite the table in the 3.5 Rules Compendium.
Dim lighting should, by all literal reading, constitute poor visibility (which so far as I am aware isn't defined in PF rules), but I'm not familiar with any situations where people deny humans the ability to make a 5-foot step when outside at night under a full moon.
Obscuring Mist blocks all vision at 10' (beyond 5'). 5-foot steps are concerned primarily with what's going on in the immediate vicinity, which one can still observe in Obscuring Mist, not what's occurring 10' away. Fog Cloud operates the same as Obscuring Mist. Solid Fog includes language impeding the ability to take a 5' step. That language is entirely unnecessary in Solid Fog if Obscuring Mist can do the same thing.
I also disagree with your reading of SKR's quote regarding the Beginner Box. To me, it reads he's using "severely hamper" less technically, particularly in a way that wouldn't apply to fog making your vision a bit less clear than ordinary. He follows it up with an example about Quicksand, hardly analogous to dim lighting or 20% concealment from standing in a cloud. The difficult terrain discussion, where he goes next, is obviously not relevant to this discussion.
Also, I am admittedly biased. I think the Rules Compendium ruling that poor visibility short of darkness preventing a 5' step is illogical and poorly decided. It conflicts the explicit, specific language for 5' steps.
FAQ'ed because it's a good question that needs resolution. But I see no logical reason that Obscuring Mist and Fog Cloud should prevent 5' steps.
FAQ'd.
...I see no logical reason that Obscuring Mist and Fog Cloud should prevent 5' steps.
I don't either, especially since neither of those spells obscures your immediate vision; you can still see all of the squares adjacent to you, unlike darkness which often prevents you from seeing anything at all, not even your own feet!
Fog was specifically listed in 3.5 as one of the tactical movement examples of poor visibility. Whether that holds true in PF would be another question (after this FAQ perhaps).
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So am I the only one thinking that
- The 3.5 rules compendium, which apparently wasn't really used as a basis for PF rules
- The beginner box, which is a vastly simplified version of the PF rules
Aren't really strong clues to the actual rules of PF?
Whatever rules from the RC were not imported into PF, were not imported, and are therefore not in force. We are not beholden to a book that is not published by the same company, not referenced as a source for PF rules, and was meant for what is by now simply a different game. If a rule is not repeated, it may be for IP reasons, or because Paizo preferred the non-RC version of the rule. We may never know. But we don't have to follow rules that aren't actually in PF books on the off chance that Paizo may have wanted to use them but just forgot to.
The beginner box is intended to tone down the complexity and nuance of PF to make it more accessible to beginners. Reducing complexity means the result is not completely representative of the original thing. The beginner box does not use the attack of opportunity rule element. That is extremely relevant to what 5ft steps are in the normal game. So whatever 5ft steps are in the beginner box, has only a slight relation to what 5ft steps are in the normal game.
Gauss' links don't convince me either. The table he links mentions a couple of things that can hamper movement: X, Y or Z can hamper movement. That doesn't mean X = Y = Z. Later on we find a rule saying X and Y prevent 5ft steps. It does NOT logically follow Z also prevents 5ft steps.
SKR's quote isn't all that conclusive either. The two examples he gives are both forms of "problematic" terrain: that you can't 5ft step through quicksand (you can't even normally step through quicksand) and that you can't 5ft step through difficult terrain (which we already knew).
In the link to his own post in the other thread, he emphasized IMO the wrong part of the rule:
The vapor bscures all sight, including darkvision, beyond 5 feet.
Compare to:
The vapor bscures all sight, including darkvision, beyond 5 feet.
And compare to:
You can only take a 5-foot-step if your movement isn't hampered by difficult terrain or darkness.
Darkness is hardly the same as not being able to look beyond the 5ft you're about to step into.
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In general, how do you take a 5 foot step if all your movement options cost 10 feet? This is what the hampered movement clause creates.
I think this is a separate case from when you're forced to move at half speed. Half speed still has the surrounding terrain only cost 5 feet of movement, so making a 5 foot step in Grease seems feasible, although the DC 10 Acrobatics check would still trigger.
EDIT: Ah, 5-foot section also states that it's also disabled if your movement is slowed.
I don't really see the need for an FAQ here. What the CRB says is clear.
The "conflicting" sources are a simplified version of the game and a book from 3.5. The Beginner Box is definitely not a place to go looking for rules precedent. And there's nothing so ambiguous here as to go looking through 3.5 material that isn't even part of the SRD.
I don't really see the need for an FAQ here. What the CRB says is clear.
Unless I'm totally off base, these two sentences aren't connected to each other. Are you saying we can't FAQ something just because the rules are clear when developer feedback seems to contradict what the rules say? It's less of a "what do the rules say?" and more of a "Guys, are you sure these are the rules you want?"
In general, how do you take a 5 foot step if all your movement options cost 10 feet? This is what the hampered movement clause creates.
There is a difference (though it's seldom relevant) between squares "costing" additional movement and having your total speed reduced.
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In general, how do you take a 5 foot step if all your movement options cost 10 feet? This is what the hampered movement clause creates.There is a difference (though it's seldom relevant) between squares "costing" additional movement and having your total speed reduced.
Indeed. Hampered movement covers difficult terrain, obstacles, and poor visibility, causing 2x movement costs. My question did not ask what to do when fored to move at half speed.
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FAQ'd. This causes considerable consternation during PFS sessions.
Instances when I interpret the rules to mean that you cannot take a 5-foot step include:
Instances when I interpret the rules to mean that you can take a 5-foot step include:
I don't really see the need for an FAQ here. What the CRB says is clear.
The "conflicting" sources are a simplified version of the game and a book from 3.5. The Beginner Box is definitely not a place to go looking for rules precedent. And there's nothing so ambiguous here as to go looking through 3.5 material that isn't even part of the SRD.
Can you tell us where the CRB defines "poor visibility" then? The CRB says that movement is hampered during poor visibility, but we can't find a global definition of "poor visibility," and there are some definitions that clearly do not apply to the context of a 5 foot step.
For example, the "Survival: getting lost" rules define "poor visibility" as "you can't see any further than 60 ft"--obviously, that definition is not appropriate to apply to the 5 foot step rule.
The other issue is that the darkness rules under "Environment" discuss darkness using the terms for blindness--you "move at half speed" instead of "each square of movement counts as double." So is that considered hampered movement or not?
Can you 5 foot step in darkness? Clearly not, from the 5 foot step rule.
Can you 5 foot step while blinded? I have no idea.
Can you 5 foot step in difficult terrain? Clearly not, from the 5 foot step rule?
Can you 5 foot step in dim light without darkvision or low light vision? I used to think yes, but other people disagree, and now I'm not sure.
Can you 5 foot step in the area of an Obscuring Mist spell? That's what started this entire argument.
All of this context is from the CRB only. People started looking at the other sources to see if there was any useful information there. There wasn't, hence the FAQ.
I don't really see the need for an FAQ here. What the CRB says is clear.
The "conflicting" sources are a simplified version of the game and a book from 3.5. The Beginner Box is definitely not a place to go looking for rules precedent. And there's nothing so ambiguous here as to go looking through 3.5 material that isn't even part of the SRD.
Back in 3.5 this was already resolved and they resolved it via the quoted section in the Rules Compendium and via examples in the PHB.
Now, we get to Pathfinder which has left off such resolutions and examples. Because of that we have to do the same work again. Sometimes with the same result, sometimes not.
Heck, for a long time the "reach weapon" issue was 'not FAQ-worthy because the rule was clearly not included' but it turned out that this was, again, a case of the SRD not being complete. The SRD did not include the exception that was in the PHB.
The SRD did not include much of what was in the PHB. That lack of inclusion has created MANY problems for Pathfinder that Paizo has had to resolve over time (via FAQ/Errata).
So you saying that the rules are clear does not actually make them so. There are clearly gaps in the rules (examples that were included in 3.5 PHB that did not make it into the CRB AND rules clarifications that also did not make it into the CRB).
You also have to remember that a significant portion of Pathfinder players came from 3.5 with the expectation that this was an improved remake of 3.5.
For the most part, that has been true, but the lack of examples, definitions, and the retreading of old, formerly resolved, issues create problems and have to be dealt with and the FAQ system is how they are dealt with.
This absolutely is a good FAQ candidate. There is conflict between the rules language and the treatment of the rule in the predecessor of the game. So it could be one of the situations where the clarity or effect of the rule was lost in the port over.
However, I hope they address it and limit it to the meaning of the words in the CRB. I think the fog limitation for 5' steps is silly. Either way, it'd be nice to have a clear answer. I know how I'll play it in home games, but that's irrelevant to how the rules are actually intended to function.
Agreed. There is table variation on this in PFS and it would be nice to have it resolved.
Blindess is functionally the same as being in total darkness. Not sure why darkness halves movement, while blindness only doesnt reduce movement and only applies an easy check to move more than half without penalty.
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Stepping out of difficult terrain, including Grease*.
Grease is a magical effect that has the character's movement limited until he actually gets out of the area of effect. One can not 5 foot step out of Grease because of the acrobatics check that is used to keep standing before you move. However much actual movement the character uses, it is a move action to get out of the Grease, making it so the character does not get a full round of attacks, provokes AoO's and so on.
There is a thread about it, though I believe there are those on it that believe it is the same as difficult terrain instead of a spell effect. That the spell is "only" a first level spell should not negate it's effect completely.
The fact is, the area of effect is so small that any creature Sm sized or bigger is on the edge of the effect no matter where the spell is placed. It has effects that need navigated after the initial instance that may cause the character to go prone. If the character just tries to 5 foot step out of Grease (like he could from the edge of Difficult Terrain), he would, instead, fall prone.
It is true that once the acrobatics check is made, it will only cost 5 feet of movement to get out of the Grease effect, but that 5 foot costs a movement action because of the effect of the spell, which causes the character to have to make that Acrobatics check.
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[
Grease is a magical effect that has the character's movement limited until he actually gets out of the area of effect. One can not 5 foot step out of Grease because of the acrobatics check that is used to keep standing before you move. However much actual movement the character uses, it is a move action to get out of the Grease, making it so the character does not get a full round of attacks, provokes AoO's and so on.
There is no "acrobatics check that is used to keep standing before you move"
A creature can walk within or through the area of grease at half normal speed with a DC 10 Acrobatics check.
Stepping out of the area of effect when you are on the border isn't: walking "within or through the area of grease". So there isn't a Acrobatic check for that.
It is true that once the acrobatics check is made, it will only cost 5 feet of movement to get out of the Grease effect, but that 5 foot costs a movement action because of the effect of the spell, which causes the character to have to make that Acrobatics check.
The acrobatic check don't cost anything.
Action: None. An Acrobatics check is made as part of another action or as a reaction to a situation.
Please, read the rules before commenting.
Edit:
you are a Venture-Lieutenant, so you should read the rules even more carefully and to avoid applying houserulings in PFS.
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There is a thread about it, though I believe there are those on it that believe it is the same as difficult terrain instead of a spell effect. That the spell is "only" a first level spell should not negate it's effect completely.
The fact is, the area of effect is so small that any creature Sm sized or bigger is on the edge of the effect no matter where the spell is placed. It has effects that need navigated after the initial instance that may cause the character to go prone. If the character just tries to 5 foot step out of Grease (like he could from the edge of Difficult Terrain), he would, instead, fall prone.
You may have just been tripped by the spell, along with up to three compatriots. That alone is worth a level 1 spell slot.
The direction of the "free exit" is probably the one the caster wanted you to go in. He was the one selecting the area after all. You'll probably be stepping into a flank, away from your escape route, or staying next to the barbarian itching for a full attack.
Also, the spell could've disarmed you, or protected someone from a swallow whole/constrict monster or from black tentacles. Grease is one of the most powerful and versatile level 1 spells. Even with the easy exit, it's not "negated completely". In fact, I think it's the level 1 spell that stays relevant the longest at higher levels. It targets the worst save of most casters, outsiders and undead; classic bosses.
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Keep in mind, you are already "Walking through" the Grease when you start in a square within the spell's area of effect. If you move, you have to make the acrobatics check to keep standing (and would be moving at half speed if the next square would be greased)
The main discussion is whether or not it costs an action to make the acrobatics check. To me, it is the same as trying to get by an creature to flanking position or move past a creature for a tactical advantage. While in the area of effect, the character is under those effects until such time he is no longer in that area.
Now, he can combine the acrobatics check to stay standing and move forward without provoking, as I have seen a player do without the GM prompting them of the need to.
Not a house rule, it is a particular specific to the spell, which is not Difficult Terrain.
Of all the things that were discussed in that thread, the one thing that didn't seem to be relevant to the Grease Spell is whether or not the character is slowed. He is finding movement difficult because of the spell's effects, whether or not he is "slow" getting out of that effect.
Edit... Also keep in mind, you do not need to make the Acrobatics check until you decide to move. If you do not move that turn, you do not make that check.
To be able to move when in the area of Grease you must make the check first. I'm not sure how the square you are moving to can effect that. Equally, to me, if you need to make an Acrobatics check in order to move than you can't take a 5' step. If failing the check costs you a move action how can passing it not be at least part of a move action?
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I think we had the same discussion in the other thread: people stating their interpretations of the grease spell as if it were widely accepted fact. It all boils down to how you read this sentence:
A creature can walk within or through the area of grease at half normal speed with a DC 10 Acrobatics check.
Moving out of the area of a grease spell would need to be either "moving within" or "moving through" to fall under this restriction.
Within: is it really moving within an area if your first step is to go out of it? Questionable.
Through: is it really moving through an area if you start inside it? Questionable.
In all other situations with reduced movement where there is a clear rule, it's the destination square that matters, not the departing square. Grease doesn't explicitly state whether it's different from the general trend or not.
So given that normally movement costs depend on the destination square, that's apparently where the movement happens. And that means that stepping out of a greased square is not "within" or "through", but "out of".
All in all I find a lot of reason to go with the "destination" interpretation, but the text of Grease isn't explicit enough to get total certainty either way.
I don't understand why normal movement rules are being conflated with a spell effect.
The important parts for me are
Failure means it can't move that round..
..Creatures that do not move on their turn do not need to make this check..
The roll doesn't happen after the move but before the move - in order to move your feet you have to make the roll. It isn't 5' teleport you still have to move your feet whilst standing within Grease. If the roll was after the move I would understand the argument(c.f. Entangle).
I suppose the name 5' step doesn't help either.
I state this as a narrowly accepted fact (just me and all the people I have played with)
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You are within the area of effect of a spell. Those effects are effecting the character and would determine how the character can proceed from there. This is a different situation than Difficult Terrain.
There is a perfect situation for this in Rise of the Goblin Guild, and I have had this conversation with others about this situation during one session I was GMing, though it only was a confirmation of what we already agreed on before saying it aloud.
Positioning on the battlefield combined with a well placed Grease Spell serves to slow down progress and put the enemy in a tactical disadvantage. AoO's is a part of that.
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You are within the area of effect of a spell. Those effects are effecting the character and would determine how the character can proceed from there. This is a different situation than Difficult Terrain.
There is a perfect situation for this in Rise of the Goblin Guild, and I have had this conversation with others about this situation during one session I was GMing, though it only was a confirmation of what we already agreed on before saying it aloud.
Positioning on the battlefield combined with a well placed Grease Spell serves to slow down progress and put the enemy in a tactical disadvantage. AoO's is a part of that.
"All people in this area use this interpretation" or some such has already proved to be wrong a few times in this forum.
Ascalaphus has explained our point of view very clearly. Yours is clear too.
Both have some value, but neither is proven or disproved by the current printed rules.
You think think that "it is the AoO of a spell" take precedence, we think that the movement rules take precedence.
I want to add that in English "walk within or through the area" is different from "leave the area".
"All people in this area use this interpretation" or some such has already proved to be wrong a few times in this forum.
Ascalaphus has explained our point of view very clearly. Yours is clear too.
Both have some value, but neither is proven or disproved by the current printed rules.
You think think that "it is the AoO of a spell" take precedence, we think that the movement rules take precedence.
I want to add that in English "walk within or through the area" is different from "leave the area".
I have no idea what all the people in Yorkshire think about this, I can only vouch for the people I have played with. Prove me wrong at your leisure.
Excellent I'm glad we were clear.
I'm glad it has some value and to thaX and me the printed rules are clear.
"it is the AoO of a spell" - I have no idea what this means.
Regardless of the semantics the spell description clearly states you must make an Acrobatics check to move within the area of Grease. To go back to semantics in order to leave an area you must be within that area to start with.
So also by semantics, if cast on a wall does that mean creatures don't have to make a check to climb within or through the area? In English "climb within or through the area" is different from "walk within or through the area"...
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You are within the area of effect of a spell. Those effects are effecting the character and would determine how the character can proceed from there. This is a different situation than Difficult Terrain.
There is a perfect situation for this in Rise of the Goblin Guild, and I have had this conversation with others about this situation during one session I was GMing, though it only was a confirmation of what we already agreed on before saying it aloud.
Positioning on the battlefield combined with a well placed Grease Spell serves to slow down progress and put the enemy in a tactical disadvantage. AoO's is a part of that.
"All people in this area use this interpretation" or some such has already proved to be wrong a few times in this forum.
Ascalaphus has explained our point of view very clearly. Yours is clear too.
Both have some value, but neither is proven or disproved by the current printed rules.
You think think that "it is the AoO of a spell" take precedence, we think that the movement rules take precedence.
I want to add that in English "walk within or through the area" is different from "leave the area".
The main problem with the interpretation is that it is using the Difficult Terrain particulars, or looking at the target as "slowed."
It is the spell providing a slick surface that presents the problem, so while in that area, the character will need to be careful and keep upright anytime they move out of the square they are in.
Say it is an exception to the rule, a spell effected change from the norm or anything else, Grease will slow down progress and make it so the character is a bit more exposed than normal.
"Walk within or through the area" can also mean trying to exit the area, despite the rules for Difficult Terrain.
Edit - Re-reading this, you meant my "interpretation" as I posted this above to mean "an interpretation" and it may cause someone to be confused to what I refer.
It wasn't an engrossed discussion, but an overall general concession to the particular at that time. I never meant to say "everyone here agrees with me," which is never the case most of the time.
It is something that can be glossed over and GM fiat says "yeah, I'll give it to you." The main jist of this is that the Grease Spell is treated differently than the normal set of parameters that is normal in that given situation.
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To the question at hand.
Yes, one can 5' step out of Difficult Terrain, though while within Difficult Terrain, you can not (Going from one to another, or into an area of).
The GM will need to ajudicate whether or not the character knows enough to 5' in the right direction to get next to a creature he can not see in Obscuring mist. One can 5' step, in my humble opinion, but then if there is nothing in the area after you do so, you can't just then decide to move as normal. (though the character can take a move action that doesn't involve movement)
Fog is the same way, though visibility is set by the weather (or how the adventure is set up)
Darkness is a different animal, the character is essentially blind, and yes, Blind Fighting will help with this, so 5' Stepping is not advisable even if allowed. There is some effects that can show targets in darkness, I believe Fairy Fire does this, though Deeper Darkness may negate that effect. Here is the entry for darkness in the PRD
Darkness
Darkvision allows many characters and monsters to see perfectly well without any light at all, but characters with normal or low-light vision can be rendered completely blind by putting out the lights. Torches or lanterns can be blown out by sudden gusts of subterranean wind, magical light sources can be dispelled or countered, or magical traps might create fields of impenetrable darkness.
In many cases, some characters or monsters might be able to see while others are blinded. For purposes of the following points, a blinded creature is one who simply can't see through the surrounding darkness.
Creatures blinded by darkness lose the ability to deal extra damage due to precision (for example, via sneak attack or a duelist's precise strike ability).
Blind creatures must make a DC 10 Acrobatics skill check to move faster than half speed. Creatures that fail this check fall prone. Blinded creatures can't run or charge.
All opponents have total concealment from a blinded creature, so the blinded creature has a 50% miss chance in combat. A blinded creature must first pinpoint the location of an opponent in order to attack the right square; if the blinded creature launches an attack without pinpointing its foe, it attacks a random square within its reach. For ranged attacks or spells against a foe whose location is not pinpointed, roll to determine which adjacent square the blinded creature is facing; its attack is directed at the closest target that lies in that direction.
A blinded creature loses its Dexterity modifier to AC (if positive) and takes a –2 penalty to AC.
A blinded creature takes a –4 penalty on Perception checks and most Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks, including any with an armor check penalty. A creature blinded by darkness automatically fails any skill check relying on vision.
Creatures blinded by darkness cannot use gaze attacks and are immune to gaze attacks.
A creature blinded by darkness can make a Perception check as a free action each round in order to locate foes (DC equal to opponents' Stealth checks). A successful check lets a blinded character hear an unseen creature "over there somewhere." It's almost impossible to pinpoint the location of an unseen creature. A Perception check that beats the DC by 20 reveals the unseen creature's square (but the unseen creature still has total concealment from the blinded creature).
A blinded creature can grope about to find unseen creatures. A character can make a touch attack with his hands or a weapon into two adjacent squares using a standard action. If an unseen target is in the designated square, there is a 50% miss chance on the touch attack. If successful, the groping character deals no damage but has pinpointed the unseen creature's current location. If the unseen creature moves, its location is once again unknown.
If a blinded creature is struck by an unseen foe, the blinded character pinpoints the location of the creature that struck him (until the unseen creature moves, of course). The only exception is if the unseen creature has a reach greater than 5 feet (in which case the blinded character knows the location of the unseen opponent, but has not pinpointed him) or uses a ranged attack (in which case the blinded character knows the general direction of the foe, but not his location).
A creature with the scent ability automatically pinpoints unseen creatures within 5 feet of its location.
I doubt a 5' Step is feasible in Darkness.
Spells usually has particulars that denote how the character reacts to the new enchantment or curse, in particular, Slow. The Slow Spell has the character gain the Staggered condition, Which should still allow for the 5' step if the character has the movement for it. This means being able to use the one standard action for something else, such as a single attack.
The Grease Spell presents an obstacle, not actually slowing the creature down directly, but as I point out above, the character needs out of the spell effect completely before being able to 5' step.