[RPG] How does haste interact with the heavy armor penalty

armordnd-5emovementspells

For a character that is wearing heavy armor, but does not have the prerequisite strength, there is a 10ft speed penalty.

If the Armor table shows “Str 13” or “Str 15” in the Strength column for an armor type, the armor reduces the wearer’s speed by 10 feet unless the wearer has a Strength score equal to or higher than the listed score.

Haste doubles the speed of the person it was cast on.

Until the spell ends, the target’s speed is doubled

Since the movement speed of heavy armor is a fixed amount, does the doubling apply to the base speed or the current speed?
Eg. A human with a base speed of 30. They put on heavy armor and have their speed reduced to 20. Haste is cast on them, does their speed become 30×2 – 10 = 50 or (30-10)×2=40?

Best Answer

Their speed becomes 40

The general rule for speed/movement begin by stating:

Every character and monster has a speed, which is the distance in feet that the character or monster can walk in 1 round.

A weak character wearing heavy armor with 30 feet of movement has its speed reduced by 10 feet, which means its speed becomes 20 feet. This is the attribute that is then Doubled by a casting of Haste, resulting in a final speed of 40 feet.

Haste does not double the speed of 30 because the character does not have 30 feet of movement (ie a speed of 30) when the spell affects them.