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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Felix" data-source="post: 3648935" data-attributes="member: 3929">I doubt you'd win friends on the House Rules board calling something that didn't appeal to you personally, "silly". Not that there aren't worse things you could have said.I asked because the biggest source of confusion on the Rules board is the difference between asking "What the rules say" and "What should the rules say". I simply wanted to clarify.If it was your opinion that someone surprised should not be able to act, then there really isn't anywhere for the discussion to go. Since your strict reading of the rules renders a different result than mine, then further discussion is warranted.----Ok. Here's the text:Unaware Combatants Combatants who are unaware at the start of battle don’t get to act in the surprise round. Unaware combatants are flat-footed because they have not acted yet, so they lose any Dexterity bonus to AC. Flat-footed A character who has not yet acted during a combat is flat-footed, not yet reacting normally to the situation. A flat-footed character loses his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) and cannot make attacks of opportunity. Combat Reflexes With this feat, you may also make attacks of opportunity while flat-footed.I should say that the Attack of Opportunity text does not say "this is not an action". It does say that an "Attack of Opportunity is a single melee attack". It is also of note that the Attack of Opportunity section of the Combat chapter in the PHB is not part of the Actions In Combat section.----Being unaware does not make you flat-footed: all characters who are aware must roll initiative; that character who goes last in the Surprise round remains flat-footed until his turn in the initiative order. He remains flat-footed despite being aware.If you are unaware you do not get to act until your initiative in the first round of combat; unawareness merely delays the beginning your first turn, and does not cause you to be flat-footed.Flat-footedness prevents taking an AoO. Combat Reflexes strictly allows taking an AoO while flat-footed, as long as all the other AoO criterion are met. Is it possible to be aware and flat-footed? Yes. Is it possible to be unaware and flat-footed? Yes. If you have Combat Reflexes are you able to take an AoO while flat-footed? Yes.Combatants who are unaware at the start of battle don’t get to act in the surprise round.A combatant who is unaware and makes an AoO because of Combat Reflexes still does not get to act: he may not move, mount a horse, or perform any of the actions listed in the Actions In Combat section of the Combat chapter. He may both take an AoO and not take any actions.I should say that while the AoO definition is, "a single melee attack", it is not, "a single melee attack action". There is a difference between "an attack" and "an attack action".</blockquote>

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