Charge and Other Questions

[swordsmasher]

Okay, Does charging provoke attacks of opportunity?



also, In the Miniatures game, is there a 5-foot step type of action? (If not, why not?)

 

[npiccini]

Charging does not change the AoO rules. It is a full round attack action that will trigger an AoO if the attacker satisfies the AoO rules, i.e. she exits a threatened square (most common means of provoking one). A careful reading of the rules & examination of the battle board (if you use one), should allow an attacker to pretty much avoid one (unless of course they are charging that pesky giant with reach!)....


Can't answer the miniatures game question cause I dont have the miniatures handbook nor do I play the skirmish game. My instincts would indicate that no...a 5' step in the regular rules is not an action either. It is free as part of a full-round action. A character is not able to remove an item from a potion belt (move-equiv), swing a sword (standard act) AND take a 5' step. Many Many Many of my PC's forget that quite often.
I hope that helps!

 

[IronWolf]

also, In the Miniatures game, is there a 5-foot step type of action? (If not, why not?)

There is not a 5' step action in the minis game that I am aware of. I am not sure of the why part of the question.

 

[IronWolf]

A character is not able to remove an item from a potion belt (move-equiv), swing a sword (standard act) AND take a 5' step. Many Many Many of my PC's forget that quite often.
I hope that helps!

I am not sure I agree with that. From the SRD:

If you move no actual distance in a round (commonly because you have swapped your move for one or more equivalent actions), you can take one 5-foot step either before, during, or after the action.

From that section it looks more like you can take a move action and a 5' step *unless* you actually moved distance in that round, then you cannot. Since no distance was covered in the move action (retrieving a potion) the 5' step is still a valid option.

 

[MichaelH]

A character is not able to remove an item from a potion belt (move-equiv), swing a sword (standard act) AND take a 5' step. Many Many Many of my PC's forget that quite often.

You're PC's are forgetting nothing. As long as you do not actually move during your turn, you may take a 5 ft. step. You may pull a potion from your pouch and drink it (a move action and a standard action), and then take a 5 ft. step. IronWolf points out the rule on this. A 5 ft. step is not ONLY part of a full round action.

 

[MichaelH]

Okay, Does charging provoke attacks of opportunity?

The action of charging itself does not provoke an attack of opportunity. See the chart in the PH on page 141 under Full-Round Action. However, note footnote number 1. If, during a charge, you move out of a threatened square, that movement provokes an attack of opportunity. This would include closing to within 5 ft. of a target with reach. But the charge itself does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

 

[swordsmasher]

thanks for answering my questions.

I am new to the minis game. the issue i had with the miniatures game was that it is virtually impossible to move a piece on the board when it is being threatened by a creature with reach. If i move it one square to attack something, the creature with reach will always get an attack of opportunity against it. also, with the minis game allowing a creature to make any number of attacks of opportunity a round (but never more than one during any given creature's turn), it made our game absolutely horrible, because all i did was move my cloud giant up (we were playing 500 point skirmish) and suddenly i had half of my opponent's force gridlocked, because anything he moved during his turn was gonna be smushed.

so we decided to institute the 5-foot step rule, along with the fighting withdrawal actions from the roleplaying game. we tested it out the other night, and it didn't seem to upset the flow of the game any.

otherwise creatures with reach always dominate the game, and i think that is no fun.