Ride-By Attack Clarifications

[Dr. Zoom]

Unfortunately, the SRD's Ride-By Attack feat description indicate singular as in "the character."

The PH does not use the same language.

 

[Ranger REG]

Why not? Are the context in the SRD supposed to be different from the Player's Handbook and open to ambiguous interpretation?

I thought something like the Dodge feat in the SRD are supposed to be mechanically similar to the Dodge feat in the PH. Is that a false assumption?

 

[Dr. Zoom]

Yes, the PH and the SRD are not always the same. The PH text of Ride-by Attack does not contain the phrase "the character," for instance, just "you." And it also says "you" when refering to your movement, when it is not the character that moves, but the mount. That is why, for the purpose of this feat, the "you" refers to both the character and the mount.

 

[Ranger REG]

But that is wrong. They should mean the same thing. Does that mean the entire SRD is in error?

 

[Dr. Zoom]

That's not my call. The differance in wording, however, is there. The SRD is not supposed to be the D&D PH, though. It is a more "bare bones" d20 document. I never consult it for D&D rulings, only the PH (or DMG or MM).

FWIW, the wording in the SRD for this feat is poor, IMO. It leads to what I believe is a misunderstanding of this feat. The intention of the feat (according to the Sage) is that both you and your mount do not provoke an AoO when performing the Ride-by Attack.

 

[Spatzimaus]

You're wrong!

Wilbur (not Bob) is the name Paladin who has a mount called Mr. Ed!

I name all my example characters Bob.

What I meant with my example was, let's say I'm a member of an intelligent beast race. Blink dog, or Giant Owl (I have a Giant Owl Psion named "Tweety" I play on occasion), etc.

I want to run past an enemy to attack the spellcaster in the back row. Normally, I'd have to take an AoO running past the front guy, or Tumble, or something. But, simply by putting someone with the Ride-By Attack Feat on my back, I avoid an AoO on my own attack, and he only needs to make a Ride check for his own attacks! It's like getting Spring Attack for free just by putting a guy on my back.

There's a thought; take Leadership, get a Halfling cohort with Ride-By Attack, and have him on your back... if he's a Paladin, can you declare yourself to be his Mount to get some bonuses?

 

[dcollins]

But that is wrong. They should mean the same thing. Does that mean the entire SRD is in error?

The PH and SRD definitely differ in several places. My belief is that disjoint/mistaken editing gave rise to most of those instances. The SRD also includes none of the errata specified for the core books, as far as I know.