A 5e Story That Illustrates Why You Should Know Your 5e Jumping Rules
By Riley Rath
Table of Contents
- "Flight for Your Life!" - A D&D 5e Story
- D&D 5e Jump Rules
- How to Calculate HIGH Jump Distance in 5e
- How to Calculate LONG Jump Distance in 5e
- D&D 5e Jump FAQ
- Building a D&D Character That JUMPS
- Special Racial Jump Abilities
- Special Character Class Jump Abilities
- What is the MOST a Character Can Jump?
- Conclusion: "And Everyone Died"
Jumping rules in D&D 5e... everyone's favorite topic, right?
Def not... they are almost as unknown as mounted combat rules.
But knowing how far/high you can or can't jump can be the difference between life and death.
Jumping in D&D is different for every monster and character, and it's not as intuitive as you might think.
Lots of people don't know how jumping in 5e works.
Of course, you could just look on page 182 and 190 of the Player's Handbook, and we could merely regurgitate what it says there...
But where's the fun in that?!?
Below is a story from my own campaign where the character's ability to jump literally saved their figurative, imaginative lives.
If you hate stories... well, I'll be honest, I'm confused that you like Dungeons and Dragons... but no worries!
You can skip directly to the jump rules here.
But if you love shared storytelling and being inspired by the epic moments of others, read on!
"Flight for Your Life!" - A D&D 5e Story
Echos of steel continue to ring throughout the stone courtyard as the bloody skirmish comes to an end...
The warlock, bard, paladin, and echo knight fighter stand amidst the wreckage... breathing heavily as the adrenaline wears off.
They stand over the bodies of the guards... as well as the corpses of strange human-hybrid monstrosities... all strewn across the courtyard of Castle Waldenstein.
© Wizards of the Coast
The battle was a tense fight:
- In the courtyard, the echo knight dueled a personal "close friend" from his academy days... echo's flashing as weapons were slashing.
- Meanwhile, the paladin, parrying strikes with his massive executioner's sword, secured their escape at the gate.
- All as the warlock and bard took care of the guards stationed along the walls before assisting with the eldritch horrors that streamed from the "stables."
Catching their breath, the party scans the grounds, searching for any sign of the Artificer who had unleashed the horrific monstrosities upon them... themselves the results of his cruel experiments.
"Everyone, please roll a perception check."
"9."
"Ugh... 3."
"16."
"24!"
The warlock and paladin spot him in the tower above them, his black cloak billowing in the wind and a wicked grin stretched across his face. He pulls a rest lever before quickly waving a wand and Dimension Door-ing away.
The earth seems to stand still as they wait for the effect...
At first, all they feel is a tremor... a mere quivering throughout the rock and mortar.
But soon the minor vibrations crescendo: the ground beneath their feet trembles... the walls and towers shake...
But rather than merely collapsing... they begin to CONTRACT.
All along the ring of the fortress, new centers of magic warp mass and create wells of gravity. The shaking pulls each stone deeper within the structure.
"Wait... so it's not a 'self destruct' bomb?"
"I mean... it sorta kinda still is."
"And there is no way he created black holes."
"Yeah, that would be like a 300th level spell slot."
"No... but the castle IS imploding..."
"Um— what now?"
Awesome Dice Image
The castle was IMPLODING!!
The gatehouse is the first to fell, the conjured graviturgy magic wreaking havoc upon the already-withered beams. The obvious way out was reduced to an impassable heap.
The bard, who had been inspiring and supporting from the ramparts, had the easiest escape. Casting a desperate glance at his companions, he screamed "To the river!" and, without hesitation, launches himself into the swirling stream below.
"So I came down the steps from the other side... is there a ladder on the southern wall?"
"No... on the far side from you, there are some stairs, but you're direct approach has a card next to the wall."
"How much higher is the wall from the cart?"
"Another 6 feet?"
"Can I climb on the cart and then jump to get on the ledge?"
"What's your strength modifier?"
"+2?"
"Oooo... it's a stretch... make an athletics check."
"(rolls)... 15?"
The warlock follows suit: dashing across the rumbling courtyard, climbing on a cart, and springing to the ledge. She pulls herself up and tumbles over the ledge down into the water.
Awesome Dice Image
They both resurface downstream, gasping for breath but relieved to have escaped the collapsing fortress.
As the paladin races toward the east wall... he turns to speak to the echo knight, but finds him absent. He glances up to the ramparts to see if he swapped places with his incarnation upon the walls.
Nothing.
So he turns around and witnesses a heartbreaking sight.
Awesome Dice Image
With the fury of combat faded, the echo knight's heart is filled with sorrow. Despite the crumbling citadel, he remains motionless, kneeling beside the corpse of his long lost love, consumed by confusion and anguish.
"What's your character thinking?"
"I mean... it's not great."
"Yeeeeeah, I bet..."
"On the same day that he discovers the empire he has served his whole life is experimenting on humans, he also watches his 'the one that got away' get impaled and freaking DIE. He's kinda devastated... his world is falling apart and he's not exactly great with emotions."
© Miramax
"Roll a wisdom saving throw at disadvantage."
"Dude!"
"It makes sense, like, given the circumstances and all."
"8."
The echo knight can't tear his gaze away from the lifeless body lying at his feet. Memories of their past, the good times and the heartbreak, flood his mind. Brief washes over him, blinding him to the chaos around him.
"How far away is he?"
"About 50 feet, so you could reach him, but you couldn't shake him awake too."
"Can I yell? Like, to get is attention?"
"You can try, though the DC will be pretty high given all the noise and his state."
"Ok, what roll would that be?"
"Uuuuuuuuuugh... persuasion?"
"I mean, it's kinda intimidation, that would work too, right?"
"Yeah, I'd be ok with that."
"Alright, I'll roll to intimidate... F-yeah, 24!"
"Haha, aight, what do you say?"
In the midst of the painful haze, the echo knight hears the paladin's commanding voice break through the cacophony, screaming: "We gotta move! We gotta move! It's coming down, WE GOTTA MOVE... NOW!!!!" urging them onward.
As the paladin's cries pierce the deafening noise, the echo knight's training kicks in and his laser focus returns. Reluctantly, he tears his gaze away after snatching a small necklace.. a new memento to remember her by.
He stands, gathers himself, and in a moment assesses his situation for the first time. One by one, towers and walls give in to the relentless pressure, collapsing inward with a deafening crash.
(DM rolls on random table)
He's in luck... the East and Southeast towers remain standing... if she can reach the southern wall, he can maybe leap into the river and join his now-far-downstream friends. He races to his right, and in one swift motion summons his echo to the top of the wall and switches places with his ethereal self.
The paladin and echo knight sprint as fast as they can across the teetering, cracking rock... though it is not easy. The crumbling walls are uneven, difficult terrain, threatening o engulf them at any moment. The paladin reaches the edge first and notices that, unlike the southwest wall, it is not a straight drop off... they'll have to REALLY leap. Perched on the edge of the wall, he turns to witness disaster:
The eastern tower has begun to implode... with the echo knight directly beneath it.
The stone lifts from the causeway, tripping the echo knight and sending him hurtling into a free fall. In a split second, the echo knight finds himself swallowed by the chaos, dragged down amidst the rubble and enveloped by darkness.
Awesome Dice Image
"So... what would the falling damage be?"
"Well, it's only 20 feet, so only 2d6 bludgeoning damage. But the falling rock is going to be another 3d6."
(Rolls)
"You still up?"
"Yeah, I'm good, I didn't take too much from the damage."
"Buuuuuut also... you're blinded and restrained... and with all the stone, it's gonna be one hell of an athletics check to get out on your own."
The echo knight's heart pounds in his chest. For all his "professional" career, he could escape from any tight space by manifesting his echo into the open. But beneath the stony debris, he cannot move or see, and he can barely breathe.
He is trapped within the crushing rubble.
With each passing second, the echo knight's desperate attempts to escape grow more frantic.
- His hands claw at the debris... but any space he makes is filled with more stone.
- He tried to yell, but dirt filled his throat.
- He tried to move, but the weight of the collapsing castle pressed down on him.
"Mother f... So ok, like, if I try to help him, will I get sucked into the gravity well?"
"No, it's not hat strong yet... it's enough to severely weaken the supports, but, like, living matter can resist this."
"What spell is this?"
"Don't worry about it."
"So it's magic b%llsh*t?"
"I said don't worry about it!"
"So it will just make strength checks a lot harder?"
"Yep, yep, yep."
"Ok, so I'm only, like, 15 feet ahead now, right?"
"Yeah."
"Ok, I run over and try to lift the rocks off of him."
Resisting the effects of the imploding pull, the paladin takes a deep breath and braces himself for the strength test of his life.
The weight is staggering. He summons every ounce of strength within him, muscles training, heart beating in panic. With a roar of righteous anger born from complete devotion to Tyr, he manages to barely lift the huge boulder... moving it just a foot or two.
He could never recover his friend in time... as the boulder lifted, a tiny sliver of light fell upon the echo knight, revealing a flag still blowing in the wind.
That was enough.
Hope instantly restored, the echo knight manifests his echo up to the flag and switches places. The paladin is shocked when his friend suddenly topples down on him. He was gasping for air, bruised and battered, covered in dirt... but he was alive.
And without a moment to spare: the castle continued to crumble around them.
The remaining walls and towers swayed precariously, their foundations weakened by the relentless assault of destruction.
The paladin and echo knight lock eyes for a split second before making haste for the southern castle wall. They weave past the stones that fly up from the ground toward them. They dodge falling debris that rains down from the collapsing southeast tower. The roar of destruction fills their ears, drowning out all other sounds, fueling their every step.
"Ok, so we just fall?"
"Not exactly... the other side of the southern wall is a sheer cliff... this side has a bit of a slope."
"So we have to jump for it? Action movie style."
"Hell yeah."
"Ok... well, how far can be jump?"
D&D 5e Jump Rules
© Middle-earth Enterprises
I'll finish the story in the conclusion, but by now the reason for telling it is clear:
Knowing 5e jump rules might determine whether your character lives or dies!
So often in Dungeons and Dragons, your character will be placed in life-threatening situations:
- They will need to jump over a fairy road (or be executed)
- Or reach for a ledge as the floor begins to sink into molten lava...
- Or leap onto a moving vehicle to escape shadowy wraiths.
And if you have a plan to jump in combat or a deadly puzzle, you can't afford to make a mistake.
If you spend a whole turn running to a ledge, only to discover you cannot jump up and grasp it... congrats, you are now monster meat.
So here are all the jumping rules in Dnd 5e so you stay safe and sound:
What is jumping? Does it take an action?
Nope :)
Jumping is part of your MOVEMENT in D&D 5e... it does not require an action.
However, being part of movement means you CANNOT use your full movement (usually 30ft) and then choose to jump as an action.
You CAN use the Dash Action where you forgot normal actions in order to double your movement speed for a round. If you do that, you can both use your full movement and jump in the same combat round.
How to Calculate HIGH Jump Distance in 5e
The important thing to know about the 5e high jump is that it relies on your Strength MODIFIER... not your score. With 10ft of a running start, you can jump 3 + STR MODIFIER high.
You can jump half of that with no running start. Every foot you clear costs 1ft of your movement.
Most player characters have arms, and most times if a player high jumps, they are trying to reach something rather than just jump over something.
How to Calculate LONG Jump Distance in 5e
Inversely, the important thing to know about the 5e LONG jump is that it relies on your strength SCORE... that is the bigger number of the two under "Strength" on your character sheet.
With a running start of 10 feet or more, you can jump the distance equal to your STR SCORE.
You can jump only half that distance with a "standing long jump"... where you try to jump a distance with no running start.
To summarize, here are the basic D&D 5e jump rules:
- Long Jump: run 10 ft... jump your Strength Ability Score
- High Jump: run 10 ft... jump your Strength Ability Modifier +3
- No running start... half the distance.
D&D 5e Jump FAQ
A) What about jumping on difficult terrain?
Sometimes your character is jumping from something flat, like a grassy knoll or a stone floor. Other times they are jumping off something more difficult, like sand, rocky terrain, or magically conjured grasping plants.
When jumping into difficult terrain, the PHB suggests players succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. If they fail, they land prone.
If players do have to jump over something, it is suggested they succeed on a DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check to leap over it.
B) Are there spells that can help me jump?
There is only one spell that directly impacts jumping in D&D 5e. It is, unsurprisingly, called Jump. It allows the player to triple (that's right... TRIPLE... 3x) your jump distance for 1 minute.
If a player has a low strength score to 10, they would use MORE THAN ALL OF THEIR MOVEMENT to long jump!
© Wizards of the Coast
C) What about magic items?
There are two magic items that are designed to help any D&D character jump:
Boots of Striding: Your walking speed isn't reduced by encumbrance rules, and you can jump 3x the normal distance.
Ring of Jumping: Allows you to cast the Jump spell on yourself as a bonus action.
D) What happens if you jump at the END of your movement speed?
The rules are unclear, but so far I have heard of two ideas:
1. As soon as your movement speed ends, your turn ends.
2. You remain in the air! You can still take your action, but it is assumed that you are taking the action mid-jump.
I believe this is still in line with what Mike Mearls and Jeremy Crawford clarify in this tweet. Your movement speeds CAPS how far you can jump.
Pretty cool, but here is the downside: it means that some of your movement is predetermined for the next turn. So when it's the next round, you simply continued moving through the air.
A player COULD decide not to jump all the way, but they would have to announce this to the DM beforehand.
E) Can I attack mid-air?
And YES... YOU CAN ATTACK WHILE JUMPING. The rules are silent on the issue, which means anything goes.
HOWEVER... if you are jumping PAST someone, the rules are clear that the enemy would get an opportunity attack on your character.
So if you plan on doing this a lot, be sure to take the Mobile Feat.
F) What is the best D&D jump calculator?
If your disgust for math has reached desperate levels, there are auto calculators that will tell you EXACTLY how far your character can jump.
However... there are no estimates with these: you need to know precisely how tall your character is.
The best one I have found is Flexlabs (click here).
G) What if I REALLY NEED to jump father/higher?
And, of course... if the distance is too great, the DM can always ask you to make an additional Strength (Athletics) check!
© Wizards of the Coast
Building a D&D Character That JUMPS
We've covered the jump rules and different ways you can make your jumps a little better.
But what if you're building a new character for a campaign that hasn't yet begun?
What if... for whatever reason... you want your character to be freaking AMAZING at jumping?
Spells? Who needs 'em!
Skills? Don't care.
Extra attack? More like shmextra shmattack.
I JUST WANT TO JUMP.
Well... your options are limited, but it is possible...
Special Racial Jump Abilities
None of the standard 5e races have any special jump abilities.
However, there are three exotic races that impact how far a character can leap:
- Satyr: Half-human, half-goat people that love drinking and making merry... and bounding along hillsides!
- Grung: Tropical frog people that emit a slimy toxin and live in a rigid, caste society.
- Harengon: Curious, wandering, fey rabbits that happen to be strong linguists and polyglots.
Special Character Class Jump Abilities
Once you have picked your jumping race that will stand out in the Forgotten Realms like a sore thumb (no problem with that... just want to be clear that even a tiefling would do a double take!), it's time to pick your class.
As joked about at the beginning of the post, jumping isn't the end-all, be-all of Dungeons and Dragons... there isn't a lass that has "jumping" as its mechanical foundation.
However, several subclasses have a bonus here and there that you'll need if you want to bound across the battlefield.
In D&D 5e, there are a few character classes and subclasses that have abilities or features that can increase the jump distance of player characters. Here are the official subclasses and classes with such abilities:
(There are two 5e Barbarian subclasses that increase jump distance)
- Path of the Berserker Barbarian: These frenzy-filled, furious, tribal warriors gain a "Mindless Rage" feature at 6th level, which grants advantage on all strength checks and saving throws. This would include any Athletics checks for any hard jumps the DM may ask you to make.
- Path of the Beast Barbarian: Some children are born from werewolves or shape-shifting druids... allowing them to retain some of their parents' animalistic abilities. At 6th level, these barbarians can pounce like a tiger when they roll a strenght check and add that total to their normal jump distance.
Monks (all subclasses): Though calm and seeking inner peace, the monk can pack quite a punch... or just many, many punches. But they can also channel their ki to defy gravity as they leap from buildings. Monks can choose to spend 1 ki point and get 2x the jump distance.
Thief Rogue: Despite not having any magic (usually), rogues are skill monkeys... always seeming to have a solution to every problem. Their "Second-Story Work" feature gained at 3rd level is a perfect example. It allows the rogue to climb without sacrificing movement and, if they make a running jump, allows them to increase their horizontal jump distance to equal their dexterity modifier.
© Wizards of the Coast
(There are two 5e fighter subclasses that increase jump distance)
- Champion Fighter: The BMOC of the fighter class... they are "Remarkable Athletes"... the cool guy with sunglasses that just effortlessly crits better. At 7th level, they can increase their long jump distance by their strength modifier. Basically, they get to use BOTH their strength ability score and modifier to long jump.
- Rune Knight Fighter: These fighters carve giant runes into their armor and weapons, giving them magical abilities. With the "Frost Rune," they gain +2 to any strength ability checks. And at 3rd level they get the "Giant's Might" feature, which additionally grants advantage on strength checks... that's +2 AND advantage on your jumps!
School of Graviturgy Wizard: Much like the story above, this wizards specialize in manipulating the forces of gravity. At level 2, they gain the "Adjust Density" feature, which an help with jumps in two ways:
- If they are made a size smaller, heir movement increases 10ft... allowing them to jump father.
- If they are made a size larger, their movement is reduced by 10ft, buuuuut your character has advantage on all Strength (Athletic) checks.
Armorer Artificer: Good armor should fit like a glove... literally. It should allow not only protection, but flexibility. The Armorer Artificer takes this to the next level. At 9th level, the "Infiltrator: Powered Steps" ability means their armor not only doesn't slow them down, but actually SPEEDS UP their walking speed by 5 feet (and, consequently, increases the distance they can jump).
Warlocks (all): Warlocks are probably the most customizable class in all of D&D 5e, and he invocations are a perfect example why. There are 54 different invocations players can choose from, one of them being "Otherworldly Leap," which enables a warlock to cast he Jump spell at will at no cost to their spell plots.
What is the MOST a Character Can Jump?
Long story short: 288 feet.
Long story long: check out this post by redditor Yogzula. It breaks down aaaaaaaaall the math, special abilities, circumstances, and rules-fudging necessary to jump nearly 10x the standard movement speed.
Conclusion: "And Everyone Died"
(Just kidding...)
With one final burst of speed, the echo knight and paladin leapt over the wall...
Paladin strength score: 18
Echo knight strength score: 12 (DEX fighter)
"I mean... just jumping alone isn't going to be enough."
The paladin, armor and all, hurdles down into the water... but the echo knight is in trouble... mere seconds away from crashing into the cliff side.
"Ok... can I echo down... swap... and jump AGAIN?"
"Haha, yeah, roll an intelligence saving throw... that requires you being VERY smart."
(Rolls)... (smiles)... "19 +3 good enough for you?"
The castle groaned in protest, as if the very earth rejected its existence. It comes heaving down in a thunderous crash.
