spiked chain -- would this work?

[Henry]

See if I am correct in my thinking, here...


Theorize a 6th level fighter, with the feats of Exotic weapon (spiked chain) and Combat reflexes, standing 10 feet away from his opponent. The fighter readies an action that if any opponent approaches within 5 feet of him, he will make an attack and make a 5' step.

said opponent moves in to attack. He takes an attack of opportunity from moving from the 10' range to the 5' range, then moves within 5'. The fighter's readied action kicks off at this time, he attacks once, then moves 5'. The opponent, who only has a melee weapon that reaches 5', cannot attack, because he has already moved where he intended to go, even though he had some movement left. (Let's hypothesize that he only moved 20 feet to get there).

Is this the correct sequence of events? Could the opponent move further if he still had movement left, or must he take another action for the round? Does he get off his attack this round still, or does the readied action mean the fighter was already out of the way, and therefore cannot?

I am not asking for DM ruled opinions, but the letter of the rules in this instance.

Summary:

1) Is a combatant's move completely declared at his time of move, or can be "move a little more"?
2) Can a combatant change his action if a readied action spoils what he planned to do?

 

[CRGreathouse]

I'd let the opponent continue to move, as long as its within his/her movement rate. I think the majority of those on the board would disagree with me, though.

 

[Orco42]

I'd let the opponent continue to move, as long as its within his/her movement rate. I think the majority of those on the board would disagree with me, though.

I agree with you.

 

[Benben]

> I'd let the opponent continue to move, as long as its within
> his/her movement rate. I think the majority of those on the
> board would disagree with me, though.

Perhaps a majority but certainly not all.

If the attacker was allowed to attack the spiked chain weilder, then I wouldn't allow him to move in. As readied actions are simultaneous with the trigger, then not allowing further movement is legal and by the rules.

If the attacker wasn't allowed to attack for some reason, and if he has the remaining movement then he should be allowed to move in and attack the spiked chain weilder. The attacker's action is to close and attack his enemy.

Anybody want to disagree?

 

[jontherev]

Sure

A combatant gets to complete his/her turn unless he is prevented from doing so. A readied action to attack does not prevent this from happening. A readied action to grapple, or trip, however, would still not do so, but would make the foe probably do something other than attack you. So, if they still had anything left to do after your attack, then they are free to do so. Why is it you think a readied attack should prevent this? If it did, everyone would ready attacks to prevent anyone from attacking them.

 

[Benben]

My thinking:

Spiked Chain weilder has readied an action to move back 5' is an oppenent close within 5'.

Opponent closes, SC Weilder moves back.

Does the opponent get to attack before the SC Weilder moves out of the attackers reach?

Depends how a DM implements the timing and causality of the readied action.

 

[CRGreathouse]

Spiked Chain weilder has readied an action to move back 5' is an oppenent close within 5'.

Opponent closes, SC Weilder moves back.

Does the opponent get to attack before the SC Weilder moves out of the attackers reach?

No, because readied actions go first.

 

[jontherev]

no, but...

My thinking:

Spiked Chain weilder has readied an action to move back 5' is an oppenent close within 5'.

Opponent closes, SC Weilder moves back.

Does the opponent get to attack before the SC Weilder moves out of the attackers reach?

Depends how a DM implements the timing and causality of the readied action.

No, but look...if you want your foe to NOT attack you, you'd have to ready an action to MOVE your full movement rate away as he closed within 5', not ready an attack + 5' move. Your foe is allowed to finish his turn after your readied attack and 5' move. And this means all he needs is 5' of movement left over in order to be within melee range of you. Are you guys suggesting that a readied action completely stops another combatant's turn if they are the triggerer, regardless of what the readied action is? That's what it seems like. Remember, you only get one readied action, so you can't move 5' back, have your foe close on you, and then move again. You either gamble that they don't have enough movement to reach you (w/o metagaming by measuring the distance on the board) and try this, simply move away, or stay put and get your AoO.

 

[Dragonjester]

He is choosing to move in to attack (regardless of distance) if that distance changes from 5' to 10' he would continue to move with your character. I believe the opponent would simply lose his ability to make a full round attack for taking more then a 5' foot step.

But then I tend to over simplify these things.

 

[SpikeyFreak]

johntherev, what he is asking is:

If you declare your move, eg to a certain spot, and you have movement left over after you get to that spot, can you say, "okay, now that I'm here, I'm going to keep moving."

I'm going to have to say that yes, I would allow you to keep going, because I don't think you have to declare your whole move when you start.

There are times when it would be important though. If you were moving from a threatened space and you wanted to avoid an AoO for leaving that space, you can only move your normal movement. In that case you would have to say that you were going to do that and stick to it.

--Flexible Spikey