Movement and Position

It’s often very important to know where all the creatures involved in an encounter are, as well as what terrain and other objects are present. The rules for movement and positions work best when keeping track of positions using a battle map and miniatures. A battle map is typically divided into a grid of 1-inch squares, each of which represents a 5-foot-by-5-foot area. Starfinder uses miniatures on the 30 mm scale (meaning a miniature of a 6-foot-tall creature is approximately 30 mm tall), available at paizo.com or your local gaming store.

The rules below cover moving in environments with normal gravity conditions. For more about movement in zero gravity, see page 402.

Size and Space

Creatures come in different sizes and can occupy multiple squares. The square or squares a creature occupies are also referred to as the creature’s space. Occasionally objects are defined with these same size categories.

There are nine size categories, and each determines the specific amount of space a creature takes up. The size categories are Fine, Diminutive, Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, Huge, Gargantuan, and Colossal.

Fine, Diminutive, and Tiny

These creatures take up less than 1 square of space. This means that more than one such creature can fit into a single square. A Tiny creature typically occupies a space only 2-1/2 feet across, so four can fit into a single square. Up to 25 Diminutive creatures or 100 Fine creatures can fit into a single square.

Small and Medium

Most player characters are Small or Medium, and creatures of these size categories take up a single 5-foot square of space.

Large, Huge, Gargantuan, and Colossal

Creatures in these size categories take up more than 1 square of space. See Table 8–1: Creature Size on page 256 for more details.

Speed

Your speed is how far you can move with a single move action. Your speed depends mostly on your race and your armor type, though magic and equipment can also impact it. Wearing heavy armor or carrying too much can reduce your speed (see Armor and Carrying Capacity in Chapter 7 for more details).

If you use two move actions in a round (sometimes called a “double move”), you can move up to double your speed. If you spend the entire round running (using the run action; see page 248), you can move up to quadruple your speed.

A creature’s land speed refers to how far it moves across the ground with its appendages. Most Medium creatures have a land speed of 30 feet (6 squares). If a creature has additional movement speeds, such as a climb speed or a fly speed, those speeds are listed in the creature’s statistics separately (see Additional Movement Types on page 258). If a rule references speed without specifying a movement type, it refers to whatever movement type you are using.

Movement Scales

Movement occurs in different movement scales, detailed on the following pages. Tactical movement, for combat, is measured in feet (or 5-foot squares) per round. Local movement, for exploring the immediate area, is usually measured in feet per minute, though you can also track movement on a local scale in rounds, as in tactical movement. Overland movement, for getting from place to place, is measured in miles per hour or miles per day.

Starships use their own movement scales for moving between planets and systems and for tactical starship combat. See Space Travel on page 290 and Starship Combat on page 316 for more details on these movement scales.

Modes of Movement

While moving at the different movement scales, creatures generally walk, hustle, or run.

Walk

A walk represents unhurried but purposeful movement (typically 30 feet per round or 3 miles per hour for an unencumbered PC).

Hustle

A hustle is a jog (about 6 miles per hour for an unencumbered PC). When you are taking the move your speed action (see page 247) to move in the same round that you perform a standard action or another move action or when you move your speed twice in a single round, you are hustling when you move.

Run

A running pace for a character is moving four times her speed (about 120 feet per round or 12 miles per hour for an unencumbered PC). When you are taking the run action (see page 248), you are running when you move.

Local Movement

While exploring an area, you can measure your local movement in feet per minute if a round-by-round accounting of actions isn’t necessary. You can walk or hustle without a problem on the local scale, and you can run for a number of rounds equal to your Constitution score on the local scale without needing to rest. After that you must attempt a Constitution check (DC = 10 + 1 for each previous check) each round to continue running. When you fail this check, you must stop running. Once you have run to your limit, you must rest for 1 minute (10 rounds) before running again. During a rest period, you can move no faster than you can for a normal move action.

Evasion and Pursuit

In round-by-round movement, when simply counting off squares, it’s impossible for a slow character to get away from a fast character without mitigating circumstances. Likewise, it’s easy for a fast character to get away from a slower one.

When the speeds of the two characters are equal, there are a few simple ways to resolve a chase. If one creature is pursuing another—both are moving at the same speed—and the chase continues for at least a few rounds, the characters can attempt opposed Dexterity checks to see who is the faster individual over those rounds. If the creature being chased wins, it escapes. If the pursuer wins, it catches the fleeing creature.

Sometimes a chase occurs overland and could last all day, with the two sides only occasionally getting glimpses of each other at a distance. In the event of a long chase, all parties can attempt opposed Constitution checks to determine which one can maintain the pace the longest. If the creature being chased rolls the highest, it gets away. If not, the pursuer runs down its prey, outlasting it through superior stamina.

Vehicle chases follow their own rules; see Vehicle Chases starting on page 282.