Where do they fall?

Kodam · Aug 8, 2003

Just another spiked chain question:

An enemy moves through my 10 ft. threatened area provoking an AoO. I trip him successfully.

Q¹: Where does he fall prone: in 5 ft. or 10 ft. distance?
Q²: If its 5 ft. could he possibly still attack me from prone position and simply take the malus to his attack roll?

Thanks for your comments

Bauglir · Aug 8, 2003

It's 10' distant and here's why:

1. The AoO is fired by the creature leaving the threatened square (ie moving from 10' to 5')

2. The AoO happens BEFORE the triggering event

Secondly a prone creature:

Prone: The character is on the ground. An attacker who is prone has a –4 penalty on melee attack rolls and cannot use a ranged weapon (except for a crossbow). A defender who is prone gains a +4 bonus to Armor Class against ranged attacks, but takes a –4 penalty to AC against melee attacks.
Standing up is a move-equivalent action that provokes an attack of opportunity.

So a prone creature can threaten and attack creatures with a melee weapon, just at a -4 penalty.