[RPG] How to resolve the move if I can move farther than I can see

combatdnd-5emove-actionmovementvision-and-light

If I use a dash action on my turn it will allow me to move 70 feet in that round, but I can only see 60 feet in the dark.

We use Roll20.net with the dynamic lighting feature. So, sometimes I can't see what's in an area until I start moving.

This brings up all sorts of questions for me, but I'll filter them down into one.

How do you handle movement when there are unknown areas that only become known during the movement phase of a PC's turn?

Best Answer

You don't need to decide on all of your movement in advance.

There is no "movement phase" in 5e. You can move, see what's around the corner, decide if you want to move further, and so on. You can attack, cast a spell, hide, or whatever else you selected as your action at any point during your turn, and you can move further afterwards. If your action includes multiple distinct activities (for example, multiple attacks), then you can separate them with movement.

Related Solutions

[RPG] Does a ring of jumping let you jump farther than your normal movement

Jump does not let you bypass the 'Speed' restraint on jumping. But the ring is still useful

As to Jump (and the boots) not increasing your speed, here is some Developer commentary on the matter, specifically addressing these effects.

Question posed: "Can you jump farther than your movement when using magic i.e spell Jump & boots of striding and springing?"

To be clear, things like the jump spell don't increase speed. You can jump crazy far, but your speed caps it. -Crawford

Are you saying you can't jump farther than your speed even with Jump spell or Boots of Striding and Springing? -Followup Question Asked

Every foot jumped costs movement, so you can jump farther than your current speed if you take the Dash action. -Crawford Again.

Source

So, no. Neither the Jump spell nor the Boots of Striding and Springing allow you to exceed your total Speed in distance jumped, though taking the Dash action allows you to move your full Speed a second time during the turn, effectively increasing your Speed by 2x for the round. This lets you actually get some use out of your massively boosted jumping distance. This would rather plainly imply that the Boots of Striding and Springing are generally superior to a Ring of Jumping.

Where this is not true is when you start combining magic items. For example, if you get your hands on a pair of Boots of Speed. Naturally, you can't wear two pairs of boots...but you can wear a pair of boots and a ring. This combination takes two bonus actions to fire up, but then you have a full minute of doubled running speed and tripled jumping distance, without having to take the Dash Action. And because you can get 10 minutes of boosted speed from the boots per day, you can do this 10 times a day. So you have all the mobility of someone Dashing around in Boots of Striding and Springing, but still have your Action free to use.

So, taken in isolation, it does appear that the Boots of Striding and Springing are generally superior to a Ring of Jumping. However, you have 10 fingers for ring-wearing, but can only wear one pair of boots. So the ring is better for combination work.

[RPG] Do creatures in an area of heavy obscurement created by a spell know the contours of the spell’s area of effect

Going by parts

1. Knowing where the spell starts

As from firechant's answer, the characters can be assumed to know where the spell started, assuming they saw the spell being cast.

Every area of effect has a point of origin, a location from which the spell's energy erupts... A spell's effect expands in straight lines from the point of origin.

2. Knowing where the spell ends

If I'm effectively blinded because I'm standing in a square covered by fog cloud, can I see that the square next to me is outside the spell's area? Or am I forced to wander around blindly, guessing at where the spell's borders are?

You can't see that the square next to you is outside the spell's area - you are blinded, you can't see at all, period. But, if you have knowledge of the spell (which could be an Arcana check, or an instant pass if you have the spell yourself - it's up to the DM), and knowing where the spell started (check Section 1), you should know the area affected by that spell. If you don't know the spell, your character can only guess - obviously a not-dumb guess would be that going towards the point of origin doesn't help, instead you should probably move away from it, even if you don't know how much you should move. By that logic, the next quoted statement seems too harsh.

That has been the ruling at the table so far: being unable to see in front of you means the only way to know where to move to escape the affected area is by trial and error.

As I said, there is a smart "trial" and a not-that-smart "trial". You know, at least, where the spell started.