major image question

[rogueone]

As a 3.5 warlock, my character has Flee the Scene invocation. Assume he is flanking an opponent to aid a rogue, so the rogue can get his sneak attack. If the warlock uses Flee the Scene, will the major image, left behind for one round, still "threaten" the opponent, so that the rogue will get one more round of sneak attack?

 

[Marius Delphus]

Because the major image is a figment, and the opponent is in melee with it, I'd rule that the opponent is interacting with it in a meaningful way, and that therefore that the opponent gets a saving throw to disbelieve. Failure means the opponent believes the major image is still the warlock, and thus a threat, and therefore he's still flanked; success means the opponent disbelieves and is free to focus on the rogue (is no longer flanked).

Note that using a spell-like ability while threatened provokes an attack of opportunity. You can use spell-like abilities on the defensive as though you're casting the appropriate spell on the defensive.

 

[Dandu]

Flanking

When making a melee attack, you get a +2 flanking bonus if your opponent is threatened by a character or creature friendly to you on the opponent’s opposite border or opposite corner.
When in doubt about whether two friendly characters flank an opponent in the middle, trace an imaginary line between the two friendly characters’ centers. If the line passes through opposite borders of the opponent’s space (including corners of those borders), then the opponent is flanked.
Exception: If a flanker takes up more than 1 square, it gets the flanking bonus if any square it occupies counts for flanking.
Only a creature or character that threatens the defender can help an attacker get a flanking bonus.
Creatures with a reach of 0 feet can’t flank an opponent.

Threatened Squares
You threaten all squares into which you can make a melee attack, even when it is not your action. Generally, that means everything in all squares adjacent to your space (including diagonally). An enemy that takes certain actions while in a threatened square provokes an attack of opportunity from you. If you’re unarmed, you don’t normally threaten any squares and thus can’t make attacks of opportunity.

Seems to indicate that you only flank if you can threaten, and if you only threaten if you can make melee attacks.

 

[Persiflage]

Seems to indicate that you only flank if you can threaten, and if you only threaten if you can make melee attacks.

Meh. You're right, of course, but there are several corner-cases where the edges get a bit blurry... One that leaps to mind is Distracting Ember, the Swordsage maneuver. On the one hand, you summon a Fire Elemental explicitly to "threaten" an opponent so that you or an ally can gain the benefits of flanking. On the other hand, the creature - also explicitly - can take no actions or attacks of opportunity during the time it manifests (i.e. for the duration of your turn), and therefore in a very real way doesn't threaten. Except it does. Ow.

There are other spells or effects that do similar things, I'm sure, but I can't cudgel my tired brains into enough order to think where to look for them. In any case, I believe the precedent to be set: Distracting Ember summons into being something that can't attack but can "threaten" an opponent. It's a threat purely because the opponent believes it could be...

As such, I've certainly ruled in exactly the same way as Marius describes: if the opponent believes in a "flanking" illusion, their attention is sufficiently distracted as to provide the +2 bonus to hit. If they don't believe it, they can ignore it... although of course, if they choose to ignore a flanking opponent who turns out to be real, that's bad.

Conversely, I've always gone with the optional-unofficial-house-rule take on ignoring flankers (by exactly the same rationale):

"You can disregard attacks from an opponent flanking you. When you do, that opponent doesn't get the +2 flanking bonus when attacking you and that opponent does not provide a flanking bonus to any of its allies. Ignoring a flanker, however, provokes an attack of opportunity from that flanker, and you lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class against that flanker. You do, however, continue to threaten that flanker."

I first introduced this primarily for the benefit of monsters who were immune to one or more of the PC's attacks, where it was just weird that they could be "flanked" by someone who absolutely couldn't hurt them... Naturally, my group then made great (ab)use of said rule by the creative use of illusions. One bright spark had the idea of introducing a bunch of unconvincing illusory party rogues identical to the original so the bad guys would get used to the concept and ignore the real one (who was also subject to illusory "fuzzing") when he finally waded in.

I was so impressed at the resulting carnage that I gave them extra XP for the encounter

 

[steeldragons]

What Marius said...I probably wouldn't even make the save to disbelieve.

Rules shmules...it's makes obvious common sense. When their are "rules" in place that contradict this, it just bugs the hell out of me.

You get a flanking bonus when the opponent believes himself to be flanked. Someone standing next to them invisible doesn't give the person a bonus. The enemy's attention is diverted. He's off balance. He's trying to "do two things at once." So you get a better chance of hitting him while he's distracted.

Whether your character IS standing there holding a dagger or he SEES your character is there holding the dagger (the, um, intrinsic POINT of using illusion magic) he still, for all intents and purposes, THINKS he's "threatened", for that single additional round...and thus, flanking bonuses for errrvrybody.

Have fun and happy fleeing.
--Steel Dragons

 

[Vegepygmy]

As a 3.5 warlock, my character has Flee the Scene invocation. Assume he is flanking an opponent to aid a rogue, so the rogue can get his sneak attack. If the warlock uses Flee the Scene, will the major image, left behind for one round, still "threaten" the opponent, so that the rogue will get one more round of sneak attack?

RAW: What Dandu said.
RAI: What Marius said.