Greetings fellow adventurers!

One of the more controversial rules within 5^th Edition is actually one of the most commonly used and abused. Wizards of the Coast further expedited the already simplified and streamlined combat of 5E with the inclusion of “Flanking.” The rule can be found on page 251 of the DMG, where it states:

Optional Rule: Flanking:

If you regularly use miniatures, flanking gives combatants a simple way to gain advantage on attack rolls against a common enemy.

A creature can’t flank an enemy that it can’t see. A creature also can’t flank while it is incapacitated. A Large or larger creature is flanking as long as at least one square or hex of its space qualifies for flanking.

Flanking on Squares. When a creature and at least one of its allies are adjacent to an enemy and on opposite sides or corners of the enemy’s space, they flank that enemy, and each of them has advantage on melee attack rolls against that enemy.

When in doubt about whether two creatures flank an enemy on a grid, trace an imaginary line between the centers of the creatures’ spaces, if the line passes through opposite sides or corners of the enemy’s space, the enemy is flanked.

Flanking on Hexes. When a creature and at least one of its allies are adjacent to an enemy and on opposite sides of the enemy’s space, they flank that enemy, and each of them has advantage on attack rolls against that enemy. On hexes, count around the enemy from one creature to its ally. Against a medium or smaller creature, the allies flank if there are 2 hexes between them. Against a Large creature, the allies flank if there are 4 hexes between them. Against a Huge creature, they must have 5 hexes between them. Against a Gargantuan creature, they must have at least 6 hexes between them.

This rule is deceptively simple, in which it looks incredibly complex, but when broken down into its core components, it’s not that difficult to understand.

The main thing to remember about 5E is that it’s not a simulation of real life, it wasn’t designed to be an exact recreation of how our reality works. It’s a framework that we operate within as players and DM’s to tell communal stories. Let’s break down how this rule fits into that framework.

Starting off simply, you can’t flank an enemy you can’t see. Simple enough, operates as expected. You also wouldn’t be able to flank someone if you were unconscious, makes sense. And as using miniatures simplifies placement, it’s restricted in how nuanced their position can be perceived, so that can easily justify the final statement of the first section.

The way that flanking functions is under the assumption that a flanked creature does not easily have the ability to fend off two attackers coming from opposite sides. Few people can split their focus effectively enough not to be in a disadvantaged state.

Seems easy enough to see why this rule exists, but why is it so contentious? Why do so many people within the community dislike it or use variants of it? Because it’s incredibly abusable. 5E got rid of floating modifiers and instead simplified it to advantage, this fits with the overhaul to make the game more approachable to newcomers and to streamline combat.

Advantage can take a critical miss and turn it into a critical hit or might not benefit the attacker at all. It’s also astoundingly easy to acquire with the flanking rule, as it only requires a set of positions being held by creatures operating together in combat. While it speeds combat up, it can also make it less challenging and tactical.

Of course, if combat is not a focus of your campaign nor do you want to make it more decisive or tactical, feel free to continue to use this rule as written and go about your day. My goal here is never to tell you how to play your game. If you’re so inclined, feel free to continue reading further and state your case in the comments below! I’d love to hear your opinions on this topic.

If you’re not in the above category, then this is what you’re probably looking for:

Homebrew Alternatives:

Bring back floating modifiers.

If you don’t like advantage and how easy it is to obtain, provide creatures a bonus to their attack roll when they satisfy the requirements listed above for flanking. This results in a more predictable experience and is more reliable than advantage. The volatility of advantage means that it can feel absolutely terrible when you roll poorly on both d20’s.

Use the Surrounding Variant.

Stepping off of floating modifiers, have an additional bonus for the more creatures that surround their target, starting with a flanked position with each flanking creature getting a +5 to hit. For every other creature that surrounds the target, add another +2 to each of their rolls. This can make getting surrounded incredibly dangerous and usually deadly, but could be effective in a darker, grittier game.

Require action from the flanking creatures.

Flanking can be more involved than just standing on opposite sides of a creature, so you might consider requiring a skill check, either using a passive skill or a rolled check, from the flanking creatures. Allow players to argue for what skill they could use to give their ally advantage, either by distracting the target by using Performance, or by terrifying the target with Intimidation, or whatever else your players suggest. Set the DC based on their description of their character’s actions, and let them roll for it, on a success their ally gets advantage on the next attack they make versus the target before the flankers next turn. This could be a full action; in which case it’s just functioning as the Help action. But consider making it a bonus action or their free action, so that they can still attack during their turn.

This serves to make flanking significantly more of a tactical decision, as it requires players to consider exactly how it is that they’re giving their ally advantage, and if you make it a bonus action or even a full action, they really need to consider the risk versus the potential reward.

One of the more interesting aspects of this rule is that it’s listed as “optional,” but so many use it as if it were required. If you don’t like the rule to begin with, and don’t agree with any of my alternatives, you never had to use the rule in the first place. The same is true with any rule, optional or not. As always, it is your game to play how you and your friends want.

What do you think about flanking? Do you use it in your game, or do you ignore it? If you’ve used it or plan to use any of the alternatives I’ve provided, let me know how it goes in the comments below! As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic, thank you for reading, good luck on your adventures, and may your 20’s always be natural.

Glossary of jargon, listed in order of appearance:

• DMG – Dungeon Master’s Guide, one of the core rulebooks of Dungeons & Dragons.
• Miniatures – Small figures used to represent combatants to make it easier to keep track of.
• Advantage – Whenever you would roll a d20 to perform an attack or skill check, you roll an additional d20 and use the higher result.
• Attack rolls – A roll made with a d20 used to determine whether or not the attacker hits their target.
• Large/Huge/Gargantuan – Different size categories used to represent the scale of creatures and how much space they take up on a grid
• Squares/Hexes – Different layouts of grids used to represent and simplify how creatures move through and occupy space, up to preference of DM.
• Players – Those who create characters and exist within the world that the DM creates. The “protagonists.”
• DM – The one who creates or modifies the world, plays any and all characters that are not the players’ characters. They have complete control over the rules and are the final arbiter in any situation.
• Critical miss/hit – When an attack roll is made, and the d20 results in a 1, it is a critical miss, and regardless of any modifiers, does not connect with its target. When the d20 results in a 20, it is a critical hit, and always hits, regardless of any modifiers. It also modifies damage, but that isn’t important in this article.
• Modifier – Each creature has skills and proficiencies, and values associated with both. These values are known as modifiers and provide creatures with bonuses to their rolls to make it easier or more difficult to succeed.
• Homebrew – Custom content made by unofficial sources that are not affiliated with the publishers of D&D.
• Floating modifier – While modifiers are normally universally applied to relevant checks and rolls, a floating modifier is only able to be applied situationally. I.E. when flanking. Some requirement must be met to be able to apply these modifiers.
• Action/Bonus Action/Free Action – In combat, each creature is given (usually) an action, a bonus action, and a free action, as well as movement. This is a limitation on what they can do within combat, as each “round” is meant to represent 6 seconds of time. The Action is the main thing a creature can do, such as cast a spell or attack another creature. The Bonus Action is something less intensive, but can also be used to cast certain spells or attack, depending on the creature in question’s abilities. The Free Action is usually something simple and that can be done while performing other tasks, such as speaking aloud or dropping or drawing a weapon.
• Skill check – Combining a d20 roll with a modifier to represent a creatures attempt at performing an action.
• Performance/Intimidation – Different skills available to players, used to represent things they would be proficient in or naturally good or bad at.
• DC – Difficulty Class, used to represent how difficult something would be. What skill checks are compared against. A difficult task would have a higher DC, such as 20 or higher. That means that a creature would have to roll above a 20 by combining the d20 roll they make and their relevant modifier, if they fail to surpass the DC, they fail the check.
• “Natural” 20’s – This is a critical hit, a d20 rolling a 20 without any modifiers and usually celebrated as extreme successes, wishing someone natural 20’s is another way of wishing them good fortune.