Combat Superiority issues

[Keenath]

I've been trying to see if I'm using Combat Superiority (the fighter feature) correctly.

Suppose I have an orc standing next to the fighter. The orc starts to move away. The fighter gets an OA on the orc, hits, and deals his damage. Now Combat Superiority comes into effect, and immediately ends the orc's move.

So: Which square does the orc wind up in? Does the orc get to complete the movement that provoked and then stop there, or does the interrupt effect cancel the provoking movement?

Relevant Text:
Opportunity Attack:
"If an enemy leaves a square adjacent to you, you can make an opportunity attack against that enemy."
"An opportunity action takes place before the target finishes its action. After the opportunity attack, the creature resumes its action."
Combat Superiority:
"An enemy struck by your opportunity attack stops moving, if a move provoked the attack."

Option 1
The enemy got interrupted, yes, but he already left the square -- that was the trigger of the attack. As such, he finishes his action, entering the square that is not adjacent to the fighter, and CS causes him to stop moving, leaving him there; if he chooses, he can then use another move action to freely move his speed.

Option 2
The OA interrupts the act of leaving the square. Clearly the target has not yet left the square, as he is still in melee range. The CS effect makes him stop moving, which cancels leaving the square, and the target takes the OA damage with no benefit.


Possible Outcomes
Option 1 means that a fighter is sort of like difficult terrain -- he's tough to get past, but not impossible. Option 2 makes him virtually impossible to move past without shifting. That makes me favor Option 1. But a strict reading of the rules, at least to me, seems to support Option 2, which makes a fighter almost brokenly sticky. But then again, on the other hand, it isn't clear what "stops moving" really means.


For a bonus question, how does it work when you're using Polearm Gamble? PG triggers when an enemy "Enters a square adjacent to you". If you hit and stop the target's movement, does he stop in the square he was in before he moved adjacent*, or does he get to complete the interrupted act of entering the square and then stop there, unable to move on (if he had wanted to)?


* This interpretation could have the bizarre side effect of causing a teleporting monster to get hit so hard that it bounces back all the way to the space it teleported from.

 

[Regicide]

Meh. An Interrupt happens before the action completes, effectively the target is in both squares since it happens when the target "leaves." It's a very poorly done mechanic, but there you go. It stops beside the fighter. Think of it this way, if it had actually left the square, the fighter couldn't hit it (without reach), and when it is hit, it stops where it's hit.

 

[Mistwell]

This question is answered in the FAQ, under the Polearm Gamble question. The answer is the orc remains in the square he started in. It's his attempt to move that triggers, and he stays in the square he was in before he tried to move.

 

[Black Knight Irios]

This question is answered in the FAQ, under the Polearm Gamble question. The answer is the orc remains in the square he started in. It's his attempt to move that triggers, and he stays in the square he was in before he tried to move.

That's right!

 

[Brain]

Yeah, option 2. It doesn't make it impossible to move by, just inconvienient and takes more actions. If the enemy's move is stopped, they can use another move action to move again, and the fighter doesn't have another AO available on their turn. Or shift + move to get away. (which is probably the better option because combat challenge is probably less likely to hit than an AO, given the wismod bonus.) Also, the fighter can always miss.

Teleportation isn't an issue because it doesn't provoke AO.

It gets a little wacky when a line of enemies is trying to move through their own ranks (that are adjacent to the fighter) to get around. They have to go back to the last unoccupied square that they were in before they started moving through the occupied squares.

 

[Keenath]

This question is answered in the FAQ, under the Polearm Gamble question.

Oh, hey! Awesome. Thanks.

If the enemy's move is stopped, they can use another move action to move again, and the fighter doesn't have another AO available on their turn.

Well, that's true. I'd forgotten that limitation.

Teleportation isn't an issue because it doesn't provoke AO.

Eh? Polearm gamble doesn't depend on provoking by movement. It says "when an enemy enters a square adjacent to you". Teleporting into a square is certainly entering!

 

[Alex319]

Eh? Polearm gamble doesn't depend on provoking by movement. It says "when an enemy enters a square adjacent to you". Teleporting into a square is certainly entering!

That's correct. However, the enemy will most likely be teleporting from a square outside the PC's melee reach. Therefore, when Polearm Gamble triggers (immediately before the teleport), the enemy will not be in a square that the PC can legally attack, so the PC won't be able to benefit from the Polearm Gamble.

 

[Keenath]

That's correct. However, the enemy will most likely be teleporting from a square outside the PC's melee reach. Therefore, when Polearm Gamble triggers (immediately before the teleport), the enemy will not be in a square that the PC can legally attack, so the PC won't be able to benefit from the Polearm Gamble.

Oh, good call. Now I have a reason to rule that it doesn't work beyond mere "logic".