Rule Clarification: Disengaging from Melee

[cailano]

Disengaging from Melee is described on page 52 of the Core Rule Book. Since I think there is some potential for confusion in that passage, I want to clarify its effects on battlefield movement.

The key thing to understand is that the moment your PC gets within five feet of an opponent, they are engaged in melee even if no one makes an attack.

That means you'll be subject to the disengaging from melee rule to move away from that opponent. Attempting to simply move away will allow your opponent a free attack with a +4 bonus.

Avoiding that attack means making a fighting withdraw, which is made by baking away at half your PC's normal movement.

This also means that if your PC uses half their movement to get within melee range of an opponent, they will not be able to move past them that round. This could have an effect if you attempt to charge by an enemy to attack a different enemy, like a boss character or a spell-caster.