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Per the core rulebook, one of the options for combat is a Fighting Retreat:

Fighting retreat: This allows a character to move backwards at 1/2 normal encounter movement (20'). However, there must be a clear path for this movement.

It's not clear what the advantage is to the character to do this, versus moving backwards at full encounter movement (40').

Might I suggest that performing a fighting retreat prohibits the character from making an attack, but enables the characters armed with a melee weapon to perform a parry, which would subtract the character's combat bonus from any melee attacker's combat bonus during that round.

In other words, if the swordfight (or whatever) is getting too rough and the character needs to retreat through the nearest door, he can use his rapier (or whatever) to fend off any attacks from opponents similarly armed whilst making good his escape.

Just a suggestion.

Moving backwards at full encounter movement when engaged in melee combat is a full retreat (detailed below the fighting retreat). Once you are engaged in close melee combat this becomes a worry. The advantage to a fighting retreat is just that you can move while engaged without dropping your guard.

You are correct. I don't know why, but I read that as 1 1/2 encounter speed, e.g. running away like a bat out of the bad place.

Thanks for clarifying.