[3.0] Trip a charging opponent, can the opponent stand up?

Lord Thurham

First Post
I've been beating this around in the books and haven't come up to a concrete answer. I'm turning to the help of the great minds on this site.

In our last game session, one of the player characters tripped an opponent that was using the Charge Attack(A Full Round Action). The opponent had only moved 10' before coming into the threatened range of the spiked chains the character was wielding. The character succeeded in tripping the opponent with his AoO (for moving through a threatened square). The question is, can the opponent then make a move-equivalent action to Stand Up from prone? What do the rules say on this?

LT
 

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Tellerve said:
I would say no, but there is debate on this as it begins to muck up other odd situactions.

Tellerve

Yes, it does muck up things a little bit, which is why I have to be careful on how I rule on this. As far as I can tell, the Trip AoO disrupted the charge attack, so the charge attack is done and the opponent can't act further. It's possible for my players to take this line of thinking to the "Full Attack" which is also a Full-Round action. Suppose a fighter with 3 attacks does something on the first attack that provokes an AoO and gets tripped, could that fighter still attack from the prone position albiet the prone penalty? My line of thinking is that the fighter can still finish attacking from the prone position OR, chose to do a move equivalent to stand up from prone, this is supported by the Full Attack description, where it says that after your first attack, you may change your mind and do a move equivalent action. ARGH! a can of worms.

LT
 

Your correct in your example ruling there, at least I agree with you :)

If they had done two attacks and got tripped on the 2nd then they could have another on their back from prone, but they don't have a move-equ left.

For the charging guy, it is a full-round action and you commit to that action which by itself takes all your movement/action that round. So if you got tripped, well too bad, your tripped and no more attacks or movement. *shrugs* maybe not the right ruling but the one that strikes me currently as the correct one. You make the choice to have it interrupted like that for the double move plus attack and at +2 to hit.

Tellerve
 

He only moved 10 feet? Could that have been considered a Partial Charge instead?

I'm not sure offhand but, if it was a Partial Charge, wouldn't that leave a Move Action open?

Regardless, if you don't need to take a Double Move then the Partial Charge should be your choice in the future.
 

I don't think you could classify it as a partial charge as your only supposed to have a partial charge when you are restricted to partial actions...like slow and surprise. Or am I not right for 3.5?

Otherwise you have that point where people were doing a move to get in line and then partial charging, which they didn't want to have happen.

Tellerve
 

I think he is playing 3.0.....

I think this is an area that would be tough to set rules on... If the action was set, That should be the action he/she takes....

IE... I am readied for John to fire his arrow, then I want to shot my arrow.." John shots, and the arrow has no affect." wait. now I do not want to shot my arrow, I want to do "this" instead... The action was inturtpted when the first arrow had no affect..

I don't think so... Like the trip with the chains, being able to change your action in the middle of the action you started does not seem right... (if it is a full-round action)

To be able to trip with the chains, he/she would need to spend three feats... you should think about that too....
 

In MY 3.0 PHB (1st printing) it states that "a charge is a special standard action", and even goes on to detail how a Bull Rush (Charge) and an Overrun (Charge) are standard actions.

I must have missed where it changed a charge to a full round action. (FAQ? 2nd printing?)

Either way, it seems to me to be within the spirit of the rules to allow the tripped charger to stand up. If the charge had succeeded, he would have been able to perform an action at the end. The trip just stopped both the movement and the intended attack action.
There is precedent there, too: in the FAQ, it says that you can attack, and THEN decide whether to follow up with secondary attacks as part of a full attack action.

So the charger went into his movement phas of the charge, then got tripped, then decided to stand up instead of attack.
 


reapersaurus said:
In MY 3.0 PHB (1st printing) it states that "a charge is a special standard action", and even goes on to detail how a Bull Rush (Charge) and an Overrun (Charge) are standard actions.

I must have missed where it changed a charge to a full round action. (FAQ? 2nd printing?)

Here you go, this is from version 3.0 SRD(which is what our gaming group is playing):
_________________________________________________
Charge [Full][AoO: No]
Description: The character must move before attacking, not after. The character must move at least 10 feet and may move up to double base speed. All movement must be in a straight line, with no backing up allowed. The charge stops as soon as the character threatens the target. A character can't run past the target and attack from another direction.
After moving, the character may make a single melee attack or a bull rush. The character gets a +2 bonus on the attack roll. The character also suffers a -2 penalty to AC for 1 round.
A lance deals double damage if employed by a mounted character in a charge.
A target can ready certain piercing weapons, setting them to receive charges by using the ready action against receiving a charge. A weapon of this type deals double damage if the readied attack is successful.
_________________________________________________

LT
 

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