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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FatherTome" data-source="post: 4065067" data-attributes="member: 50815">The rules are a bit fuzzy on how jump interacts with the combat system.For example, it seems like you should theoretically be able to jump and attack a flying target if your jump check is high enough. But there is little in the rules to support this:First, jumping is not a separate action, but part of movement (like using the Move Silently skill). Second, if your jump check is high enough that your movement for the round cannot complete it, you stay hanging in mid-air and complete your jump on your next turn.For example, a monk with a movement of 70' is trying to jump a chasm 30' wide. He moves 50' to the edge of the chasm and succeeds on his jump DC of 30 to clear the chasm, but only has 20' left of movement. He ends his turn 20' across the chasm, 10' from the edge, in mid-air and MUST spend a move action at the beginning of his next turn to complete his movement.However, let's take the example of a creature flying 15' in the air above a Medium-sized Human Monk without reach. The Monk has a vertical reach of 8' according to the DMG, but for attack purposes can reach something that is flying 5' (one square) above the ground, since his 5' reach means he can hit something one square in any direction.So, the Monk has to make up a difference of 10' in his jump check in order to be able to reach the creature flying 15' up. A standing 10' high jump is a whopping DC 80 without a running start, or DC 40 with, without any other applicable feats or abilities. Assuming the Monk takes a running jump and can make the jump check to be able to reach, there remains no way under the rules for any character to be able to attack mid-jump short of spring attack, shot on the run, or any of the feats that allow you to move and attack as part of a single action.Here's the logic: First, charging is generally out because you must charge in a straight line to the target which precludes any running start for a high jump. If your jump check is excessively large, you could make the DC 80 check and charge straight up, but you'd still be spending your next turn's move action to fall back to the ground. At a sufficient distance, it is possible to hit a flying target with a sufficiently large long jump - the DC is actually the same as a high jump to hit the same target, since you need a jump with a horizontal distance of four times the vertical distance you are trying to reach. To reach 10 feet up, in other words, you need to jump 40 feet and you reach the 10 foot vertical height 20 feet into your jump. While you are not really moving in a straight line towards your target, you could probably convince your DM to let you pull this off, if for no other reason than to cause the neglected jump skill to actually have an occasional use for bagging low-height flyers. However, you still have to finish up your jump with a move action on your next turn.Without using the charge action, however, it is nearly impossible for any creature who is not flying or falling involuntarily to attack a flying target. Any movement intended to bring you within reach of the target does not allow you to make an attack before you are forced to complete your movement. Certain exceptions exist: Karmic Strike and Robilar's Gambit both allow you to circumstantially make an attack of opportunity against any target who makes an attack against you, so you could jump through threatened squares and hope that you provoke your opponent into attacking you so that you can attack, but this is somewhat contrived and probably not worth the effort.Spring attack, however. renders the technical problems inherent in the attempt moot: You can move both before and after your attack, so as long as you can make the jump check to move yourself to a square where you can attack your opponent, you are free to jump, attack, and land all in one action.Offhand, I can't think of any other means by which a character can make a standard melee attack against a flying target. Mobile Spellcaster(/ing?) allows you to cast a spell and move as part of the same standard action, so you could theoretically jump and hit a flying target with a touch spell, and I'm sure there's a couple more unusual circumstances if anyone more knowledgeable would care to point them about, but according to RAW Spring Attack is the only way to consistently pull off the trick of jumping to hit a flying target.The point I'm attempting to make, therefore, is that there is marginal tactical benefit while attempting to jump out of reach of an opponent. While technically possible, you would have to use up your movement for the round in such a way that you would end your total movement for the round in mid-air - you can't voluntarily sacrifice some of your movement to stop in mid-air during a jump. Since you will be sacrificing one move action every round for the express purpose of finishing your jump, you will need spring attack in order to do anything but move if you are trying to keep this jumping manuever up every round.However, bear in mind by the time you can make a DC 40 jump check with any regularity (the minimum DC of a running jump you would need to be out of the standing reach of a Medium or Small sized creature without reach weapons) such tactics are probably going to be ineffective. Since you're effectively taking yourself out of the fight, those few enemies that can't affect you in some way will probably just focus on the rest of your party while you're doing your Tigger impression, and the rest of the enemies probably either have reach, ranged weapons, or spells with which they can reach you.At the very least, if you're performing a high jump and end your movement in mid-air, enemies can move into the square directly underneath you and force you to drop prone when you land. (Two Small or larger sized creatures cannot both occupy the same square unless they are grappling, and any creature which is forced to move into a square another creature is occupying must drop prone and cannot stand until they move out of the square.)So, yes, according to RAW you can avoid attacks by jumping and ending your movement in mid-air. However, the DC is prohibitive and it is of dubious utility.</blockquote>

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