Timing question?

[DMaple]

A question on Spring Attack, Flanking and Initiative.

If two characters are going on the same initiative due to delaying in a previous round. Then this situation arrives in the following round.

Barbarian (B) is facing the Monster (M) the party rogue acting on initiative count 14, uses Spring Attack to jump into position X, gains flanking and so sneak attacks. Then jumps out again.

0B0
0M0
0X0

The Barbarian does a full attack, also on initiative count 14. Does he get a flanking bonus? Since he is effectively acting at the same time as the rogue.

 

[Xahn'Tyr]

Since 3rd Ed doesn't really allow for simultaneous actions, I do not believe that the barbarian would gain a flanking bonus. Since the barbarian and the rogue have the same init, the one with the higher Dex goes first (flipping a coin if both have the same Dex). If he goes first, even in the same init count, he may as well have gone several counts before the barbarian - makes no difference by the rules.

For that barbarian to get the flank bonus, he would need to ready an action (in which case he gets only a single attack), or the rogue is going to have to stay in melee for a few seconds.

 

[Hypersmurf]

The Barbarian does a full attack, also on initiative count 14. Does he get a flanking bonus? Since he is effectively acting at the same time as the rogue.

By the rules, no, because one of the two is attacking at count 14+, and the other at count 14.

The barbarian could Ready a single attack with a flanking bonus, or he could make a full attack without one.

The DM could make a special case for coordinated actions, but it would involve House Rules - perhaps requiring something like Wisdom or Dexterity checks, or Innuendo rolls for quick communication in the chaos of battle.

But the way to perfectly time things by the rules is to use the Ready action.

-Hyp.