How realistic is Dungeons and Dragons combat? 

Just to clarify, it's true there are feats/classes that allow you to lung forward and attack an additional 5ft, but my point is that in real life any noob can lung forward when attacking, it's very basic, and restricting it to a special class or learned feat/talent makes no sense. A level 1 warrior of any type is supposed to be well trained and proficient in their weapons, and saying they can't lung is very unrealistic and unsatisfying, I describe this same thing in the video where I talk about making wide sweeping attacks even when a low level. Also, D&D may claim every combatant's actions happen within the 6 seconds of the round but this is directly contradicted by the successive order of the turns. If I move 30ft and then attack, the rules are clear and we have confirmed this in reality that those actions took 6 seconds, and therefore if anyone reacts to my new position, it has to have happened *after* that six second period. This gets compounded when another party member then tries to heal my character from getting damaged in that same round. If it all happens at the same time the healer started to move to heal me before I was even damaged because my character was damaged at the end of the turn. Did the healer know the future? no, they are reacting *after* my actions and then undertake actions that also take six seconds to preform, ergo, according to how player actions play out in the D&D rules it is literally impossible in many instances for every combatant's turns to happen simultaneously within 6 seconds.

this feels like shad had an argument with his DM that he didn't get over with yet.

7:57 "This is getting out of hand! Now, there are two of them!"

"I haven't moved out of this square" he says as he puts all of his weight on the foot that has indeed moved out of the square. A lunge is just moving to the adjacent square, leaving your toe behind doesn't change anything. And yes, being 5ft away from your opponent is dangerous, that's why swordsmanship is so concerned with self-defense. You have to get into striking range in order to strike, that's how it works. The only reason players don't back off after every hit is because of opportunity attacks.

"this is the length of a standard spear" Bad example, a standard spear does not have reach in D&D. You need a longspear in order to have reach. It is thus, at least, consistent: you agree that a standard spear and a greatsword have similar reach, and indeed, in D&D, they have similar reach: which is to say they do not have the "reach" characteristic.

0:09 Lunging Attack, Battle Master maneuver

The problem is, this lunge could be considered just moving to the next space

I'm about half way through the video but I've already decided that I'm going to add a lunging rule allowing players who have used all there movement to get to a enemy to use there bonus action too do a lung attack if they are 10 feet away(assuming they don't have a weapon with reach)

*A few seconds in:* You had to step into another square to hit the opponent. *"10 feet apart":* You mean like the distance from far edge of the square you're in to the far edge of the square your opponent is in? Meaning adjacent squares is realistic...ish. *"Not a step":* This is a cop-out justification. See first line. But you admit to this later. *"Greatswords should have Reach quality":* Excellent points! It may need a "half reach" quality where you could choose to take a -1 to attack roll, but 5e did away with + / - numbers in favor just dis/advantage, which is why I like 4e. A ton of small bonuses/penalties sometimes, but I like situational minor boons/banes that add up and/or cancel each other out. Or just more weapons should have Reach. *"initiative":* This is how D&D works, and if you want to write down what everyone says they want to do so you remember it all, then play out the entire combat round descrptions at once according to initiative... this is how I played a campaign of Pathfinder ran by someone else. Not exactly precisely how they explain combat in the book, but the lore is that it all happens simultaneously, so it kinda is. *"Reactions":* have existed in every version of D&D I've played. (3.5e, Pathfinder, 4e, 5e) *"Wide sweep. Can be done with certain Feats":* You mean "Cleaving Strike" which in 4e you could do literally every single round if you chose it as one of your moves? Again, this is why I liked 4e and regard it as superior to 5e in many ways. Can't hit 3 enemies, but if you hit, you can do Str Mod damage to another foe. *"My RPG is better for descriptions":* I'm gonna say "not necessarily". When I DM I think one of my strong points, that I fail to do when as a player, is describe different fun ways the attacks go about hitting or missing. "The roleplay doesn't stop when the combat starts." The extra options of things you can do by default sound cool. Though I suspect 4e already does much of this. 30 minute ad for your product. Not that I wasn't entertained.

Those lunges are moving like 90% of your body into the next square.

Dragonlance is the written detail of Margaret weis' dnd campaign. One of my favorite series ever

@8:45 That's basically a 5-foot step, Shad. What you did was make a 5-foot step to attack the target and then 5-foot stepped back. If you wanted to make a full-round attack you would have had to stay in that adjacent square to be able to reach the target. Also yes, entering that adjacent square IS dangerous, that's why unarmed foes stepping up to an armed foe risk an Attack of Opportunity, same thing if you're stepping up to someone with a weapon that has Reach.

The comments man ... Moving would provoke opportunity attacks or skills like brace from the Battlemaster. If your next argument is: "But Shads lunge attack would make the enemy attack back." then my next argument is "Okay, then every single melee attack in DnD should provoke attacks of opportunity." Actually playing like that could be fun lol

Most of the movement and attack portion of the turn is what you do in 10 seconds. You have enough movement, and free given movement, to make such an action of the lunge. Essentially during the attack, you lunge forward 2 feet then move back two feet and you are still in the same square, with the same amount of movement left. Also, I do not believe they have swords that are bigger than claymores in dnd and you are holding a zweihander in one of the portions. (could be wrong on that tho).

Yeah it's why movement and actions are different. And 1 turn is about 6 seconds, so if you think about it, moving 30ft + potentially making up to 6 attacks within 3 seconds is pretty fast 🙃

As a DM I have let people hit multiple enemies pending a strength check to see if they are using enough force to pull their weapon through

Funny. I thought "Dungeons and Dragons" and "realistic" could never exist in the same phrase.

Your combat system reminds me of battletech. Players roll initiative, winner moves second, all damage is simultaneous therefore destruction of mechs or weapons does not negate the damage they dealt for that round

In that first sketch Shad is actually following the rules with his lunge. Since Shad is a non magical studier of combat he’d be a battle master, and could know the lunging strike maneuver. So RAW Shad could actually lunging strike to hit a creature ten feet away.

13:00 at 2nd level, a rogue has an ability called “cunning action”, which allows you to spend your bonus action in combat to freely disengage from combat. This means you can move 5ft so you are in range with your target as a movement, strike with your main action, disengage with you bonus action and move back 5ft, and you still have the remaining points of movement left to go. The reason a rogue is able to do this is because the rogue class is dexterity based, aka moving quickly. When they’re at second level, the assumption can be made that they have been a rogue for some amount of time and thus they become more agile. If a level 1 of any class had the ability to disengage, that would be extremely broken and would technically go against the idea of realism, as level 1 is another way of saying “no experience”, as there is no such thing as level 0, unless you have no class. Addendum, creatures like goblins have the trait “nimble escape”, where they can do the same thing as cunning action, minus the ability to dash. The reason for that in the lore of the game is that goblins are small and fast creatures, meaning they are slightly more agile than your average person. Tldr, having the ability to disengage from the radius of melee at first level regardless of class would be more realistic, but it would also be harder to implement into the game without making things too easy for players. It would also neglect the “reasoning” behind why there are turns in the game with actions per turn as well as why the levelling system is tied to experience. Practically all of D&D’s rules are linked in some way, meaning that changing one for the sake of flavour usually causes many others to collapse. It’s great to hear tho that you’ve made your own RPG rules system with Jazza, hopefully you were able to avoid causing such a collapse. Thank you for making videos like these, as they help me understand the reasonings behind rules in games like D&D and helps me put the information I have as a DM into context with a visual aid. (Side note, as a DM, seeing how a lunge would actually look, taking in the 5ft square tiles really does look quite ridiculous. It looks like you could easily be knocked off balance and in the end, your strikes with the weapons at full extension don’t seem to have enough force behind them to make a substantial impact. D&D and home brew does have a rule for striking with a weapon outside of range like that, but it causes you to have to hit with disadvantage, and I can see why. In my opinion, staying in a strong stance within the 5ft square without resorting to being cramped near the edges would result in preparation for defence, alongside awareness of your surroundings. If you were lunging, you’d be focused in on the attack, as your body is leaning in that direction, meaning you are susceptible to outward attacks, especially from the sides or from behind. Reminds me of the Barbarians reckless attack, except attacking at disadvantage.)

Shad here making brigandine looks badass.

11:23 thank you for bringing up this point

Just saying this seems like it would be a thing however, disadvantage. These over reaching strikes can leave you valuable and also can be easily avoided. D&D also has the opportunity attack if you move outside of the 5 ft as done with a lunging strike, I feel as if the assume you are in the danger zone while "engaged" where this may not always be true in swordplay.

By this logic, surely in response your enemy can, lean away from your lunging attack? Instead of standing statically as presented, hence you must move forward more.

Lunging Attack: When you make a melee weapon attack on your turn, you can expend one superiority die to increase your reach for that attack by 5 feet. If you hit, you add the superiority die to the attack's damage roll. Shad is a battlemaster

I can’t believe the DM forgot shad was a battle master fighter and could use a lunging attack to hit an opponent 10ft away without moving

Shad fact: Shad can reach anywhere in the material plane using his lunge technique, that's why he's so mad at not being able to lunge in d&d

"how Realistic is combat in DnD* Me, a caster: >.> not very.

Shad: Look! I can hit further than this 5 foot radius Also Shad: *leaves 5 foot radius*

I'd unironically purchase that Shad "Figurine" in the thumbnail. And I don't even play DnD.

Just looking at the lunge recovery, yeah that looks like you'd be vulnerable to a counter attack. An attack of opportunity if you will.

I've always interpreted distance as each character controls 5ft Sq. Do two characters in melee could be anywhere from 10ft apart (each at the edge of their square) to shivving distance (just shy of grappling.)

GM: And Now you have Syphilis Me: Bold of you too assume I don't already GM: O_O

"What if I lean forward?" >They lean back

Wanna try DnD? Why not COGENT?! :D

DnD are a compromise to keep it really simple. There are pros and cons to that but many people find more realistic games like shadowrun too complicated.

our universe: "But what about dragons?" alternate universe: "But what about dungeons?"

If anything this makes d&d weapon range seem more reasonable.

Alternate title "Shad Explains Battlemaster Lunge Maneuver"

I feel like Shad is reaching (get it?) for this one, for several reasons: - At 10 ft distance, you're not within combat range for most melee weapons. As per example at 7:50 using a longsword you would be out of combat/melee range. Therefore I would rule Shad's argument for the 5 ft rule as invalid. - The way Shad needs to fully extend to get a hit in (8:45, 9:23, 10:40). Leaving a toe in a square doesn't mean you're _standing in it_ imo. If your weight is on the front foot, you've moved. If the weight would remain on the back foot, then I'd rule in favor of Shad but alas, his weight shifted to the front foot. - The amount of damage you would even be able to do to an actively fighting (dodging) opponent. Example: 16:35 moves me to say very little damage. In summary, I would say while it is technically possible to "hit" an opponent from over 5 feet away, you most likely won't do noticable damage to your opponent if you even manage to connect in the first place. Since the source material did not use any live opponents but only used a stationary doll as opponent I am unable to fully confirm the above statement.

No one: Shad: In chess your castle can move but that's not how castles actually work in real life

The Revelation that shad and jazza are connected by Blood is legitimately blowing my mind right now.

Shad I would like to thank you for this opportunity. Now when someone in my game wants to just “lean real hard” I can roll and justify the response “the ogre bashes your unprotected back into the dirt, your jab does negligible damage and merely scrapes his nose” and I’ll have an in scale video demonstrating why that was a terrible idea

Shad, you made a big mistake. It's not 6 seconds in a turn, it's 6 seconds in a ROUND. As in those 4 adventurers and 2 orcs taking their turn? All happening within the same 6 seconds. Also, reactions exist! These can be taken once a round by each player (or monster) and are used to do something in response to something someone else did. Did you shoot an arrow at me? I'll use my reaction to create a magical barrier, making it harder to hit me!

I'm only 1 minute in and I have two comments: 1) this is hysterical 2) nonchalant one-handed back scabbard

Aha, now we see Shad's true endgame: his desire to use his celebrity to get tabletop RPGs to change their combat systems! We're on to you, Mr Versity! ;p EDIT: Man I was joking, but he really is. XD GG Shad, I look forward to reading the rules of your new system.

Actually this video made me appreciate the 5 foot square. Because it would be the area opponents move around in. So if everyone is on the far edge of their square regularly and lunges in to strike this would totally make sense and explain why flanking gives advantage. But a lunge attack as an action that does not allow additional bonus attacks would be very interesting, if only allowed when the opponent is being flanked.

Little did he realize the only reason a human, such as himself, could perform such feats of sword mastery was because variant humans start with a feat...

"Effective" range is where the arguments should be made.

fun fact, you can attack 10ft away in 5e, if you "lunge" which i believe is one of the Battle Master Maneuvers "Lunging Attack When you make a melee weapon attack on your turn, you can expend one superiority die to increase your reach for that attack by 5 feet. If you hit, you add the superiority die to the attack's damage roll." Which is what i'd say you did. Also, spears do not have reach in 5e. you need a pike.

As someone who does larping I can honestly say, if u are fighting someone who isn’t a literal battle dummy and u lunge in to attack with anything other than a polearm, they WILL block and u WILL be killed. That’s why DnD says u need to be 5ft away to actually hit

If anything, the video proved to me the exact opposite what Shad says - yes, you need to move to adjacent square to hit someone with a sword. Leaving a toe behind isn't exactly the same as staying in the same square. However, this whole lunge things is an excellent way to flavour what you do in combat.

Ye, I get it but you are *LITERALLY MOVING* to the adjacent square.

"When you just face off against opponents, being ready to offend each other..." YOUR MOTHER WAS A HAMSTER, AND YOUR FATHER SMELT OF ELDERBERRIES.

"You need to be in the adjacent 5' large square, you're using melee" "This is an almost 8' long zwëihunder" "Still melee"

It's all fun and games until the DM uses an ancient red dragon

In response to the 6 second round...At 45 years of age, and had started playing D&D when I was just seven, I've been around the block a time or two. During that time I ran across rules in early D&D, basic/first ed, that state during a combat round there are many blows and furry of action assumed to take place, but only once in that span of time (unless you get more than 1 attack) does an opening present itself for you to truly make a to hit attempt.

So what Shad wants is: OFFENSIVELY Long Greatsword: two-handed, Slashing, 2d6, Reach Weapon, Can offend multiple targets in range at -1atk per additional target

Neighbor: "Mooom, the guy with the castle has put out a giant chessboard!"

I just wanted to say as well, when you were talking about combat turns in D&D, in the game, one combat round (meaning everyone's turns put together) is all 6 seconds. But not each turn. The WHOLE round is 6 seconds. So, because of initiative (basically indicating how fast you reacted when combat started) you get to go before others, as if you acted quicker in that 6 seconds.

As you mention at the start, a character “controls” a 5 foot square but their body isn’t necessarily centered. If the dummy backs to the far edge of the controlled space, then even the lunge doesn’t reach (setting aside the majority of the body entering the middle square issue). Two characters in a 5 foot square can also engage at approximately 10ft of actual distance between them. Better reflecting the danger zone you describe

I would disagree with your assessment that you are "technically" still in the square you originated from for your lunge. Look at your body. Not where your feet are, but look at where your torso, leg, head, and the vast majority of your weight is. You are clearly "in" the square closer to the target. And, as you established at the top of the episode, imagine that there's a hostile in that square who clearly controls that area. He wouldn't just let you get within breathing distance of himself. As a matter of fact, when you lunge (12:29 is my reference) you're standing directly where an enemy would be standing if they were occupying that space. Not roasting, just disagreeing. Have a good day!

Moves whole body into next square except for back foot "see I didn't leave this square at all"

Love your videos, Shad. I think you might've misunderstood a few rules in D&D, though. There are already rules in place for almost everything you mentioned in this video. According to 5th Edition rules: - Movement already allows you to get into and out of an adjacent tile. If an enemy occupies a tile adjacent to you and you move away, you're subject to an opportunity attack, requiring the Disengage action to prevent. It makes a certain sense that a person could advance 5 feet, strike, then retreat with their guard up, but that is what your AC is for. Remember that AC is partially determined by Dexterity, and represents your natural hardiness (10), the strength of your armor, and your Dexterity. Disengage, conversely, is when you devote your full attention to keeping the enemy too occupied to take a cheeky swipe at your leg as you back up. - Reaching across a river: Costs double movement. So a 5 foot river costs ten feet to cross, ten to retreat. 20 feet total. The difficult terrain mechanic covers this already. Also, the enemy will get an opportunity attack as you retreat. - The weapon sweep example is essentially the Disengage action, as described. A "noob" can't *effectively* harm adjacent enemies, because the sweep is clumsy, but it would allow him free movement without them offending him as he dances about in the combat zone, because they're busy trying not to get hit by has wild sword sweeps. - Combat rounds are six second per round, not six seconds per turn. They're already simultaneous. - Your example of tripping everyone up with a high enough combat roll is already covered by improvisational actions in combat and ability checks. For example, a player kicks over a barrel of fish. Cool, that's creative. Everybody in the puddle zone makes a Dex saving throw or falls prone. DM can invent the DC off the top of their head, probably 15 or so. Similar answer if they get creative with rope, or try something clever with a sack of marbles. A broad-area leg sweep could conceivably fall under this umbrella. I can't speak to the rules of earlier editions, I started playing at 5th. I do think D&D rules can get a little bloated at times, and if this video is basically an advertisement for simplification, it works. Maybe Cogent is the answer to that issue. I hope so, I'm honestly tired of having to fumble for the right die every time I cast a spell, or review combat actions every time a new player needs to understand what, exactly, they're permitted to do besides simply whack a goblin on the head. But I wanted to point out that most of your complaints on the limitations of D&D are actually not limited in 5e, the rules mostly allow for it, but maybe not precisely as you describe.

Shad's neighbor at 7:57 "This is getting out of hand. Now there are TWO of them!"

Bandit: "Attack!!!" Me: "You can't do that" Bandit: "Why not?" Me: "It's not your turn yet..."

I'm no combat expert, but like when mythbusters did the "zombie" episode, there is a difference between tickling an opponent and killing one. The point of 5ft square or even hexes is to give a simplified representation. Their system is far from infallible, like abilities / spells with 1ft increments :/

"I technically didn't leave the square" you say, having completely left the square except the foot you left behind. If you're playing 5e you can already step up into the danger zone and step back after striking, but after your little lunge you're left vulnerable to a counter attack(an AoO) when you pull back. Especially if there are multiple opponents. I will agree that in the case of 3.5/Pathfinder where it's a feat, that should probably just be a thing anyone with proficiency could do.

I'm 11 minutes in, and the thing that stands out the most is just how overextended most of those lunges are, and how most of them barely make contact. So, maybe it's less of a rule about maximum attack range, and more a rule about EFFECTIVE attack range. Tippy-tapping someone with the very point of your sword ain't gonna do much, unless you're using a lightsaber. Maybe Shad addresses this. Dunno, just wanted to comment before I keep watching.

This video has real "when you tell your dog to stay outside so he stands in the doorway with 1 foot still outside" vibes.

Distance really should be measured between centers of mass, not back feet.

You have an interesting initiative system there that many others tried before, also. What you probably don't grasp is that you double the initiave phase this way and also you have to remember the announced actions of ALL combat participants while resolving them. It's easy to see why so few systems rely on anouncing the actions beforehand.

I once heard someone say the idea is when engaged you’re probably on opposite sides of your 5ft squares rather than in the direct middle

I wanna point out two things 1: Each round is 6 seconds in lore and in reality, everyone does their actions almost simultaneously. 2: and movement is its own thing in 5E, so you're free to move as long you got the movement speed left, but moving out of someone's 5ft gives them an opportunity to attack.

I'd question the difference between "reach" and "effective reach" - you were barely able to reach and touch the opponent from 10ft with several weapons, but I would argue that the reach accomplished was insufficient to strike with any real force (I'll grant that this might have been a matter of perspective on the video, or the demo methodology being based more on touching the opponent than achieving an effective strike)

This is a great demonstration. Shad literally said that when fighting you stand 10ft away from your opponent. 5ft + 5ft is 10ft. Adjacent.

18:05 No, the ENTIRE round takes 6 seconds. It is not 6 seconds per turn, per actor, for every single actor during the round. You are NOT waiting 6 seconds for your opponent to take action. All of the events of the round are taking place within a 6 second span. 20:47 Same as the above. This is a core misunderstanding of what is happening.

What if the target also took a step backwards while still keeping one leg on the square to evade you lunge?

In public places: *Keep 6 feet apart due to social distancing* DnD: "Hey, let me have some of that action in the rules!"

I feel like the weight and momentum required to effectively use these weapons. Yes at 15 feet you could poke him but the concept of ac would imply he could easily slap it away leading to the 5 foot radius to deal damage not to annoy.

As a great man always said “context” When you talk about what you *can* do in dnd you must considere the word * effectively * When the system says you can’t hit 10feat away it does not says it is absolutely impossible. It instead says that most of classes would not be able to do it in a effective manner. Lounges are actually not a piece of cake to master. One thing is to touch an enemy 10 feat away, other is to pull that out in a way that would effectively hurt the opponent. A pour technic could easily take to a bad edge directing or a to weak strike. In the other hand, battlemasters (fighter subclasse) can have a maneuver called “lounge” that does exactly that. He would be a martial artist and could pull that off consistently. One more interesting point about it is that when you made some lounges, your feat work was a bit off and retreating from that attack would put you in danger. Let’s remind Dnd rules: you must walk 5 feat, strike and get back 5feat if you what to do that lounge of yours. That would imply in a opportunity attack to your opponent, which would make sense considering what a pointed out about your foot work. About the distance between player and enemy, you don’t have to think they are exactly in the middle of the square. I always describe it as if they are going back and forth inside the square. I believe the rules says that 2 people can’t be at the same time in a 5feat square because of such movement inside. If you take that motion in consideration, it would be logical to describe the two contenders in the further edges of their own squares, what would give nearly 10 feat distance. As a HEMA student, I totally agreed that 5 feat is not a preferable distance to fight. Um last thing. Despite of the fact I disagree with you, you gave me some ideias of homebrew rules to my games. Some time ago I rework the entire table of weapons so they could make them more like their historical counterparts. I’m thinking of add a “lounger” attribute so some big weapons, that are not long enough to have “reach” Lounger : you may attack 10 feat away, but with disadvantage. Thank you Shad! Really love you videos, especially those that mix fantasy and history. Keep up the good work and a shout-out from São Paulo - Brasil!!

Historians agree that all badasses in world history where just Shad in disguise.

I'm an active DM in D&D 5e and I have to say, I love Cogent. It brings in what I always thought was missing from D&D combat and that's having more opportunities to actively narrate a combat encounter. Yes, you can activelty describe what is happening between each movement, but Cogent allows so much more versatility. It even brings in some fun strategic elements for players during combat, something I find 5e can lack at times. All around, it makes the experience funner for the players, which allows more fun as a DM. Highly recommend checking it out and I'm so grateful Cogent exist.

I love how well you are proving that the DD distances are perfectly measured. You leaning your full body into the adjacent square would still give an opportunity attack, movement speed used or not

"Can you fight in 5ft square?" Thunbnail: **picture of 10ft circle**

"on a blazing hot day like this" Sometimes I forget Shad lives in Australia. And what that means for weather.

There are feats like "Lunge" that allow you to attack at a +5 reach. So exactly what you are talking about. When trained in lunging you gain the +5 feet reach

For the movement thing, you have to keep in mind that each round takes 6 seconds. so assuming moving 5 feet takes a little less than a second, moving 30 feet would take a little less than 6 seconds, making it reasonable, especially if you also make an attack during those 6 seconds.

Hexagons are the bestagons. But seriously, D&D should use hexagons,

Alternative title: Shad explains why real-life sword combat incorporated social distancing.

The turns being 6 seconds long isn't everyone's individual turn being 6 seconds long, it is the entire round being 6 seconds and every turn happens within that 6 seconds. That's why there is the reaction action. The turns are there so that everyone isn't talking over each other about what they are doing and what they are doing in response to each other Edit: I understand that due to the limitations the game there are still an order to things that might not make complete sense in real life, like for example someone who has a significantly higher movement speed getting killed because they didn't roll so high on initiative. It's not perfect but it certainly isn't everyone waiting around for 24 seconds for their turn to do something

Have I ever given a player's character syphilis out of spite? No. Have I ever given a player's character syphilis for being *that* bard? .....Frick yes, I have, and I'll fricking do it again, too.

This man got told "No" by a DM once, and really made a whole video going off on how the rules suck.

DISCLAIMER: This comment is a defense of the D&D system, based on my knowledge on 5e. It is not an attack on Cogent Roleplay, its mechanics or its relevance. Cogent Roleplay sounds interesting. I'm not claiming D&D is more fun or realistic than Cogent, I'm just saying D&D is not as unrealistic as this video makes it out to be, as almost everything can be justified. The lunging point is kind of overlooking the fact in real life, it takes the same amount of time to lunge as it would to step, and would reduce your movement. What you're essentially doing is moving (your torso/center of mass) to a square adjacent to the enemy, attacking, and moving back. Should it be a free action and not cost movement? No, how does that make sense? You're definitely moving your feet, you're even having to come to a full stop and moving back. In D&D, most humans can do this fully 3 times in 6 seconds, (6 times if they're dashing, which, if you were just seeing how quickly you could step back and forth, I'd say you were doing, as you were focusing on moving as quickly as possible.) I feel like it's accurate. In real life, you don't stand within 5 feet of eachother because that's where the enemy doesn't need to first get closer, giving you time to step back. In D&D, you'd do the same, if it wasn't for opportunity attacks. You take the same risk of a counterattack in real life when you back away, but it's up to skill rather than dice in real life. Let's also take into account a single-handed sword has significantly more reach in real life, than bare fists, which also have a 5 foot reach in D&D. Beyond that, you can just barely even reach the enemy like this, making it stupidly easy for the opponent to step back within his square. If you do engage with an enemy within 5-foot squares, you'd likely be standing as far away from eachother within those squares. That's why, when you're flanked from the other side, you lack room for comfort and are much easier to hit from either side. You could give each weapon its own specific reach, but that would just make everything complicated. This justifies the first three points for me, being the distance between fighters, the ability to reach across 10 feet and free action lunging and moving back. As for obstacles, a good DM can very well allow you to move onto the space of the obstacle and move back, maybe with a dexterity check involved. The rules don't contradict that. There's a million ways a DM can rule this, it's going to vary from one DM to the other. I'm honestly losing the next point, unsure what the problem is. Initiative not making sense? Well, there's always reactions, but D&D isn't made for realism in that regard, just fun and simplicity. The wide slash would stop at the first opponent, unless they completely avoid contact with it. Something like this would never damage multiple opponents, except with a shallow cut on bare skin. Don't take this as a hate comment yelling at everything Shad says. I'm here because I like D&D and I also like Shadiversity. I just also like defending things I like when points are made about them.

I've never heard that each person's turn took 6 seconds - the round, starting with the person who rolled the highest and ending with the person who rolled the lowest, takes 6 seconds, not the individual turns.

Well now I know what the Battle Master’s ‘Lunge’ maneuver looks like.

You do understand, even though each player is going in Int order, everyone's actions take place in the same 6 seconds. Think of it this wayIt takes 10 full rounds for a min to pass. So if are at the top of the order and there are 15 other players taking their owns turns. After you have had your 10th turn and after the 16th player has gone only 1 minute has passed. I feel this is something fundamental about D&D and from watching your vid I'm not sure you do.

Me, who’s never played that game: “Oh, okay interesting. Cool”

It's funny we actually have a house rule that lets you us the lunge action, It lets you add 5ft to your attack with a minus 2 attack modifier and the attack must be performed through an empty square, unlike just having reach that can be used over a friendly.

That's why I've discarded melee combat for the power of internet. With that, me and my opponents can offend each other over unlimited distances!