Any Way to Get Away When Prone?

[Thanee]

I know someone who made it a move action to move from prone to kneeling, and a move action to move from kneeling to standing, neither of which provoke. It meant that, if you did nothing else in the round, you could stand without provoking.

I allow to make a 5-ft. step while prone, but you have to spend a move action in addition.

This basically replaces crawling, which is pretty much a pointless action.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Prism]

Get your friendly party member to delay and then trigger an AoO and hope the enemy doesn't have combat reflexes i.e create a distraction. Only works the once per combat unless the opponent is a bit stupid.

Other than that maybe bullrush them 5' back from the floor and then get up if they only have 5' reach

 

[Elephant]

Where in the rules is the support for taking a 5' move while prone?

 

[Hypersmurf]

Where in the rules is the support for taking a 5' move while prone?

It's not a 5' step; it's crawling five feet as a move action that provokes an AoO.

From the Actions in Combat section of the PHB:
Crawling: You can crawl 5 feet as a move action. Crawling incurs attacks of opportunity from any attackers who threaten you at any point of your crawl.

-Hyp.

 

[Christian]

Where in the rules is the support for taking a 5' move while prone?

If a character is not immobilized, he can always move 5'. PH 3.5 pg. 149.

 

[Hypersmurf]

If a character is not immobilized, he can always move 5'. PH 3.5 pg. 149.

But "You can't take a 5-foot step if your movement is hampered" (3.5PHB p304). If you can normally take a move action to move 30 feet, and while prone can only take a move action to move 5 feet, is your movement not hampered (thus disallowing a 5' step)?

Edit - oh, you're talking about the full round action to move 5 feet provoking an AoO? I misunderstood - thought you meant a prone 5' step.

Well, crawling's faster

-Hyp.

 

[kjenks]

I agree with that. You just can't go up.

True, you can't take a 5-ft. step straight up because you have "Up speed" of "Half." But you can take a 5-ft. step to the side and do a "Turn" of "90º/5 ft." -- effectively standing up as a free action without provoking an AoO.

 

[Crunchy Frog]

If you're prone, you can still make special attacks, if you put up with the appropriate penalties. This includes:

Bull Rush
Yes, you can bull rush someone if you're prone. I mean, the RAW don't say otherwise, right? Your opponent gets a +4 to his AOO (unless you have the appropriate feat to avoid it), and you get no penalty to your opposed STR check. This can give your allies AOOs if you push your opponent through their threatened areas. If you choose not to follow him, your opponent leaves your threatened area, and you can take your move action to stand up safely.

Disarm
Not such a good idea, since you get a -4 and your opponent gets a +4 to the opposed attack roll. On the plus side, if it works, you can take your move action to stand up, and your opponent won't get an AOO, since he is unarmed.

Grapple
This one actually makes sense. +4 to your opponent's AOO (again, unless you have the right feat), and a -4 to your melee touch attack to grab him. No penalties to your opposed grapple checks.

Sunder
(See Disarm above)

Trip
(See Bull Rush above. Again, if it works, you're out of the threatened area.)

Also, you can cast spells that prevent an opponent from taking actions, such as ones that daze, stun, paralyze, etc., then stand afterwards. Casting on the defensive is no more difficult when you're prone than when you're standing.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Oh, there are plenty of things you can do while prone but I find it a little odd when fighters would rather fight from the ground rather than try to get up (provoking an AoO) just to get knocked back down again (and suffer an extra attack from Trip). You have entire battles where fighters are duking it out on the ground.

Personally, I think there should be some way to get up or withdraw without provoking an AoO. Maybe it requires the aid of a comrade, but there should be some way IMO.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Bull Rush
Yes, you can bull rush someone if you're prone. I mean, the RAW don't say otherwise, right? Your opponent gets a +4 to his AOO (unless you have the appropriate feat to avoid it), and you get no penalty to your opposed STR check. This can give your allies AOOs if you push your opponent through their threatened areas. If you choose not to follow him, your opponent leaves your threatened area, and you can take your move action to stand up safely.

It rather defeats the purpose, though, doesn't it?

"If I stand up, I'll provoke an AoO. How can I avoid that? I know - I'll Bull Rush him, provoking an AoO, with the possibility of not actually moving him any distance, so I can stand up without provoking an AoO!"

Grapple
This one actually makes sense. +4 to your opponent's AOO (again, unless you have the right feat), and a -4 to your melee touch attack to grab him. No penalties to your opposed grapple checks.

Although if one considers the FAQ authoritative, the penalty does apply:

Earlier, you talked about Bob the fighter, who was
unconscious and later woke up, prone, to find Grog the orc
standing in his space. You said Bob has to stay prone so
long as he remained in Grog’s space, and that Bob would
provoke an attack of opportunity upon leaving that space.
Suppose Bob made a grapple attack on Grog? He can
grapple Grog, can’t he? Bob would be at a negative for
being prone but would not provoke an attack of
opportunity, would he? Assuming Bob establishes a hold on
Grog, how long does the prone penalty last?

Sure, Bob can grapple Grog. Bob’s initial grab attack
provokes an attack of opportunity from Grog unless Bob has
the Improved Grapple feat or some other circumstance prevents
Grog from threatening Bob. (For example, Grog would not
threaten Bob if Grog were wielding a reach weapon.) If Grog
deals damage to Bob with an attack of opportunity, Bob’s
grapple attempt is over.

If Grog doesn’t damage Bob, Bob’s initial touch attack
would suffer a –4 penalty for being prone. If the grab succeeds,
Bob is still prone and still suffers the –4 penalty for being
prone for the ensuing opposed grapple check. (Some DMs I
know would give Bob an offsetting bonus for being able to
wrap himself around Grog’s ankles, but I don’t recommend
doing so; it’s pretty easy to kick loose from somebody lying on
the ground when you’re standing up).

If Bob gets a hold on Grog, he normally would have to
move into Grog’s space to maintain the hold. This movement
would provoke attacks of opportunity from foes that threaten
Bob. However, Bob is in Grog’s space already, so he doesn’t
have to move to maintain the hold, and he is spared attacks of
opportunity from Grog’s allies.

You can move when grappling (see page 156 in the
Player’s Handbook). Normally you drag foes along with you
when you move during grappling, but there’s no reason why
Bob can’t just use a move action to stand up in Grog’s space
once he has hold of Grog. Bob has to win an opposed grapple
check against Grog (still at –4 for being prone) to stand up.
This doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity from Grog (who
doesn’t threaten Bob or anyone else while grappling), but it
does from Grog’s allies if they threaten Bob (see page 143 in
the Player’s Handbook). Once on his feet, Bob can keep
grappling without the prone penalty, or just let Grog go. If Bob
lets go, he can leave Grog’s space with a 5-foot step and not
provoke any attacks of opportunity. (Getting up is a move
action, but its not “movement” for purposes of taking a 5-foot
step because Bob isn’t actually moving any distance, see page
144 in the Player’s Handbook).

-Hyp.