How does movement for large and greater sized creatures works?

[Brian Souvey]

Hi, I’m an old 3.5 player and I am getting ready for my first pathfinder game but for the life of me I cannot find the rules for movement and being large, huge, etc. I’m doing a test encounter with an ogre as a trial run and I can see the players pinning a large foe easily and that doesn’t seem right to me.

Do creatures “shrink” like in some board games, move their 5ft squares and then expand, or how do they count movement and/or if a large monster is pinned by smaller foes do they need to push them aside or knock them down to clear a path to move? Am I missing something I read the movement rules in the new remastered players handbook and I only see where smaller creatures can pass through a larger creatures space but little discussion about large+ creatures movements? Can anyone point me to correct rules?

Thank you

[Jared Walter 356]

Movement rules
If the creature is three sizes bigger it can move through. For an ogre though it could easily be pinned if it is surrounded. It can use athletics to shove or acrobatics to tumble through, and it does have a longer reach.

[Finoan]

In addition to what Jared posted:

No, creatures do not shrink when moving. You can pick an arbitrary square of their space for purposes of counting movement, but be sure to align their new position with the rest of their space in the same orientation as when it started. There isn't any facing of creatures, so even if the creature is described as twirling and spinning around as it moves, they still wouldn't end up in a different spot than a creature that just trudges somberly.

If a space is not big enough, that doesn't mean that the creature can't be there. They can't fight effectively if they are in a space that is too small for them. Whether that means a penalty to their attacks or not being able to make attacks at all is something the GM has to decide on. Also, it is generally considered to be difficult terrain to move through a space that isn't big enough.

And finally there is Squeeze. But that is for non-combat time when a creature is trying to go through a space that is really too small for them. Like a Human sized creature trying to squeeze through a 14 inch wide gap in a wall. Not for an Ogre wanting to walk through a 5 foot wide hallway.