Facing

Most creatures have a direction towards which their attention and appendages are focused, represented by the arrow around them on the map. For medium and small characters, their front is three squares, flanks are one square on either side, and rear is three squares. Facing defines the area that the creature can most directly affect with actions and reactions. Each hand may typically affect a creature’s front and the flank corresponding to the side of the hand without penalty. Offensive maneuvers that are not dependent on a hand can affect targets in a creature’s front, while hands-free defensive combat maneuvers like Dodge can affect the front or flanks without penalty. For each square outside of this preferred range, actions and reactions suffer disadvantage.

Whenever you move, you may change your facing. Sprinting must typically be done toward your front, while movement to the rear is typically limited to steps and half movement (including Guarded Moves). Whenever an adversary takes a movement action, you may spend a reaction to face toward them. If you react to an adversary’s action, you may also face toward them at no additional cost, but any rolls associated with your reaction suffers disadvantage.

For each size category above medium, the front, rear, and each flank include one additional square. The disadvantage for taking actions or reactions outside of these areas likewise allows for one additional square for each size category above medium.