DM's and Rules Lawyers - How Would You Rule this Deadly Situation?

[OptionalRule]

The problem seems to be the Steed isn't specifically a friendly or an opponent so I say treat it as an obstacle. This means a tumble or jump to get past it or spending 2 squares of movement per it's square you move through as with any object. Unfortunatly for the player this only leaves tumbling as an option to avoid an AoO from the movement.

 

[TheEvil]

Very few things will save the fighter from an AoO at this point and the phantom steed allowing the fighter to pass through his square isn't one of them. It looks to me, baring magic or tumbling, the fighter was going to have to survive one more shot on the way out one way or the other. What did the GM rule that caused one of 'Those TM' arguments?

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Uh, as I read the situation, the Fighter is not 10 feet "into" the 15 foot reach, he's 10 feet "out from" (5 ft in).

15 feet is 3 squares, right? So if you're 10 feet into a 15 foot area from one direction, you're also 10 feet in from the other, standing in the middle square. If you start from the golem and move out, 10 feet is still only two squares. The fighter must leave a threatened square and pass through a second threatened square in order to exit the threatened area.

 

[Nail]

This situation is straight-forward. The GSG gets an AoO on the Ftr as he moves off. Period.

Where's the confusion? My only confusion is trying to find where someone would be confused.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Why bother to withdraw if it's not going to save hime from the AoO? He might as well just move away, leaving himself with the possibility of doing something else after (drinking a potion, firing an arrow, whatever).

But ruleswise I agree, it does seem pretty simple. The phantom steed is just a red herring since it's presence doesn't really make any difference.


glass.

Well, there's the chance that the golem has Combat Reflexes. Might as well Withdraw, just to be safe.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Very few things will save the fighter from an AoO at this point and the phantom steed allowing the fighter to pass through his square isn't one of them. It looks to me, baring magic or tumbling, the fighter was going to have to survive one more shot on the way out one way or the other. What did the GM rule that caused one of 'Those TM' arguments?

Yeah, when's the other shoe going to drop?
...so we can unmercifully rules-lawyer the DM's ruling...

 

[glass]

Well, there's the chance that the golem has Combat Reflexes. Might as well Withdraw, just to be safe.

Whether the golem has combat reflexes or not, whether you withdraw or not, you take exactly one AoO. In the circumstances as described (assuming I am understanding the positioning correctly), there is no point in withdrawing.


glass.

 

[JimAde]

I'm with Dr. Awkward. What was the ruling, already?

And for the record I agree with the consensus. The fighter should be able to move through the steed's square without trouble.

 

[William_2]

Total defense seems like a good choice in that situation, since the AOO is coming unless the Golem uses theirs some other way. A Phantom Steed does not fight in any event, and in this case I think should be regarded as a friendly creature, to the degree that it is a creature at all.
One question I have is how horse-like is this DMs Phantom Steed? Does it take up a 10’ space? If so, it seems to me like it would be terribly easy to get by a semi-substantial creature that does not fight, exists only to serve an ally, and is milling about in a 10’ space.

If one blow from the Golem killed the PC, the issue of whether the Steed blocked them does not seem relevant. So, I suspect they were pinned there and pummeled to death in another round. Could the character really have done nothing else but stand in that one spot? And what about their teammates? Sounds like they were in a very dicey situation even before the DM may have decided that the Steed was blocking the way.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

The real question is why did the fighter not retreat on 80hps? 40hps versus an appropriate CR heavy hitter is skirting with a 25k tax.