Quote Originally Posted by brian c View Post
Unless I misread something, it's very easy for sword-guy (um... not the poster here by that name, any person using a sword, which i guess could include him) to take a step back and reestablish the 5ft range, attacking without penalty. Basically, in this sort of one-on-one fight you're moving 5ft backwards every round. The dagger-guy is pressing the advantage, which doesn't seem quite right; I'm not saying he can't win, but it seems odd for him to be able to be so aggressive, so easily, and not get smacked down for it.
I may have misread it myself; when it said the retreating sword-guy attacks 'as if' he were in the square he is retreating from, I assumed that the attack was with a penalty, and that dagger-guy could just keep pressing forward.

Yakk's suggestion is interesting, though. I'm not sure if it's too cumbersome to keep track of or not, but it's surely a step in the right direction. It makes it more dangerous to get into range, for sure, but retains the big advantage once you do, which feels both more 'realistic' and more balanced.