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For normal sized PCs, the "Tumble Through" action assumes you will move through an enemy's space and exit out the other side. This is largely because you cannot share an enemy's space.
So what about a Sprite PC? It can share a space with a small or medium creature. I figure the Sprite could always step to avoid an AOO, or simply move into the space of most creatures since most creatures don't have an AOO, but the Tumble Through action suddenly sprang out to me as a possibility.
So in reading the Tumble Through action carefully it doesn't actually say you have to exit out the other side. Just says:
"You move through the enemy’s space, treating the squares in its space as difficult terrain (every 5 feet costs 10 feet of movement). If you don’t have enough Speed to move all the way through its space, you get the same effect as a failure."
As I read it, a sprite could Tumble Through, stop in the creature's space, and so long as the sprite still has sufficient movement to move all the way through, you don't get a failure.
So the rules question is: Is this correct?
Bonus question (which might be more akin to advice): If not correct, would this be a reasonable accommodation by a GM given that the rules were not written with tiny PCs in mind?

HammerJack |
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It looks like a tiny creature could Tumble Through and not leave the space of the creature, and that could come in handy if they were a swashbuckler trying to gain panache, or if they were trying to use a feat like Tumble Behind.
Just to be clear though, because the phrasing of the question with "I figure the Sprite could always step to avoid an AOO, or simply move into the space of most creatures since most creatures don't have an AOO, but the Tumble Through action suddenly sprang out to me as a possibility" seems like there might be a misconception, Tumble Through doesn't have anything to do with avoiding Reactions.

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It looks like a tiny creature could Tumble Through and not leave the space of the creature, and that could come in handy if they were a swashbuckler trying to gain panache, or if they were trying to use a feat like Tumble Behind.
Just to be clear though, because the phrasing of the question with "I figure the Sprite could always step to avoid an AOO, or simply move into the space of most creatures since most creatures don't have an AOO, but the Tumble Through action suddenly sprang out to me as a possibility" seems like there might be a misconception, Tumble Through doesn't have anything to do with avoiding Reactions.
Sorry to be confusing. These examples are NOT related to Tumble Through. They are traditional ways of entering an opponent's square, then I go on to say: "but the Tumble Through action suddenly sprang out to me as a possibility." Maybe I should have said "but the Tumble Through action suddenly sprang out to me as another possibility."

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I tried not to hijack this thread but have an issue with tumble through myself and therefore started a new thread.
Captain Zoom wrote:Any backup for this or was this just a description how you think it works?... exit out the other side ...
You are being overly pedantic. I understand you have difficulty regarding the Tumble Through action, but try NOT to put your issues on me.
I was NOT addressing the issue that bugs you. All I was saying is that regular size PCs cannot share a space, so the action assumes you will exit the square.

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I have just realized that I've been grossly incorrect regarding Tumble Through.
It does nothing for a Tiny creature like a Sprite.
First, a Tiny creature may under the Tiny Creature Special Rules enter another creature's space.
Second, and here's the misconception I had, Tumble Through DOES NOT negate reactions or AOOs.
Read the action carefully. Nothing in the action says anything about negating reactions or AOOs. It's a "Move" action, so it triggers Move-based reactions.
I believe this was a carry-over of my preconceptions from FIRST EDITION where you "tumble" to avoid AOOs. In SECOND EDITION, all the Tumble Through action allows you to do is enter an enemy's space, which is something you normally cannot do under the movement rules.
I now understand that we've been playing Tumble Through wrong in my group, and I suspect many others have as well. We played 1st Edition for many years, and are still playing at this time (finishing up our last 1st Edition AP). This is a classic example of 1st Edition Players carrying forward their 1st Edition preconceptions to the 2nd Edition rules... and I admit to being guilty.
So, I have in a round-about-manner basically answered by original question and the answer is that the Tumble Through action is largely irrelevant to a tiny creature. Tiny creatures can move into spaces occupied by enemies and Tumble Through does nothing to change the fact that the tiny creature triggers an AOO when they do so. For a tiny creature, it's effectively no different than striding into an enemy's space.

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The Dance Underfoot (APG, halfling feat) offers an option for a small creature (halfling) with the appropriate feat to use Tumble Through to end the movement in the same space.
Why would you even want to do this?
a) Swashbuckler (see above)
b) Rogue or Swashbuckler with Tumble Behind feat (use Tumble through to make the enemy flat footed)
c) Prerequisite for Toppling Dance
It is underwhelming - but it shows an example in the rules to end in the space of an enemy after a tumble through.
If the aim is to avoid AoO as a tiny creature then Vexing Tumble and Step seem the only options I see - but I haven't been digging deeper into ways to avoid attacks of opportunities - so there might be other options.

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The Dance Underfoot (APG, halfling feat) offers an option for a small creature (halfling) with the appropriate feat to use Tumble Through to end the movement in the same space.
Why would you even want to do this?
a) Swashbuckler (see above)
b) Rogue or Swashbuckler with Tumble Behind feat (use Tumble through to make the enemy flat footed)
c) Prerequisite for Toppling DanceIt is underwhelming - but it shows an example in the rules to end in the space of an enemy after a tumble through.
If the aim is to avoid AoO as a tiny creature then Vexing Tumble and Step seem the only options I see - but I haven't been digging deeper into ways to avoid attacks of opportunities - so there might be other options.
You are correct that there are indeed various feats that help to a greater or lesser degree.
Rogue class feat - Mobility (Move at 1/2 speed to avoid AOOs)
Monk class feat - Guarded Movement (+4 AC when you trigger movement AOOs)
Acrobat Archetype feat - Tumbling Strike (movement doesn't trigger AOOs if you succeed)
And I'm sure there are others.
EDIT: And I was just reading another thread about "STUN" Stunned creatures cannot act, so cannot take AOOs while stunned. So if you could come up with a way to (not just STUN) to prevent a creature from being about to use their reactions, that would effectively work too. I know there are spells that can negate the ability of a target to use reactions.