Skirmish and Ready Attack

[Pinotage]

If a scout moves 10 ft. and then readies an attack to fire at an enemy should it come around the corner, does the skirmish damage bonus apply to this attack? Does skirmish apply when you ready an action and have moved 10 ft. before hand even if you can't see the enemy yet?

I've justified skirmish as a case of getting into position to find the most advantageous strike, but if you can't see the enemy, and ready against its arrival, I'm not sure if skirmish is valid.

Thanks!

Pinotage

 

[shilsen]

As written, you would get skirmish damage under the circumstances you mentioned. The errataed version of the ability says a scout "deals an extra 1d6 points of damage on all attacks she makes during any round in which she moves at least 10 feet away from where she was at the start of her turn. The extra damage applies only to attacks made after the scout has moved at least 10 feet."

So if you move 10 ft and ready, you would get the damage.

 

[Infiniti2000]

I would caution against your proposed readied action, but that's a slight tangent. I personally don't allow something as ambiguous as 'enemy' in the readied conditional expression, despite the fact that some spell descriptions use it.

Also, I don't believe it would work because of the bolded part of this sentence under the Ready description: "The ready action lets you prepare to take an action later, after your turn is over but before your next one has begun." It gets much more complicated if you try to use "round" literally. You could allow, for instance, the skirmish to work if you ready until initiative count -50 (e.g.), but once the new 'round' begins, the skirmish no longer applies. That would be a weird scenario but seemingly rules-compliant.

Other than that, the best way to rule it is based on how you deem skirmish to really apply. Does readying for an as-yet unknown opponent really indicate a form of skirmishing to you?

 

[Jin_Kataki]

I suppose by the way it is worded you could rule that it is possible. However I would not allow it cause the idea of it being skirmish damage is meant to entail that the person making the attack is moving in quickly to strike a vital area. I would say your move and attack has to be all one fluid motion. Not move/wait/strike. I have played the scout class quite a few times as well as the harrier class in Iron Heroes which has similar abilities and I have never interpreted the abilities as being able to do that.

 

[Patlin]

I agree with I2k. I don't think the readied action going off is part of your turn, so your movement before readying wouln't cout IMO.

 

[Pinotage]

Weird as it may seem, in this case the 'advance' party has spotted some enemies around the corner and have yelled to the scout to guard the retreat. So the scout knows the enemy is coming and what it is that's coming.

I think it's the round/turn thing that's difficult to adjudicate. My gut feel says it shouldn't apply.

Thanks!

Pinotage

 

[Hypersmurf]

As written, you would get skirmish damage under the circumstances you mentioned. The errataed version of the ability says a scout "deals an extra 1d6 points of damage on all attacks she makes during any round in which she moves at least 10 feet away from where she was at the start of her turn. The extra damage applies only to attacks made after the scout has moved at least 10 feet."

So if you move 10 ft and ready, you would get the damage.

As written, you wouldn't get skirmish damage under the circumstances you mentioned. If you move 10 ft and ready, you won't get the damage.

shilsen, you didn't quote the entirety of the errataed skirmish ability. Remember, the errata only affects the second sentence of the text.

Original text: A scout relies on mobility to deal extra damage and improve her defense. She deals an extra 1d6 points of damage on all attacks she makes during any round in which she moves at least 10 feet. The extra damage applies only to attacks taken during the scout's turn. This extra damage increases by 1d6...

Errata: The second sentence of the skirmish class feature
should read as follows (new text indicated in red): She
deals an extra 1d6 points of damage on all attacks she
makes during any round in which she moves at least 10
feet away from where she was at the start of her turn.
The extra damage applies only to attacks made after the
scout has moved at least 10 feet. The skirmish ability
cannot be used while mounted.
This update should be made wherever the skirmish
ability description is presented (see also pages 31, 56,
and 177).

So, the revised text: A scout relies on mobility to deal extra damage and improve her defense. She deals an extra 1d6 points of damage on all attacks she makes during any round in which she moves at least 10 feet away from where she was at the start of her turn. The extra damage applies only to attacks made after the scout has moved at least 10 feet. The skirmish ability cannot be used while mounted. The extra damage applies only to attacks taken during the scout's turn. This extra damage increases by 1d6...

The key point to note is that even after the errata, "The extra damage applies only to attacks taken during the scout's turn".

And as I2K pointed out, "The ready action lets you prepare to take an action later, after your turn is over but before your next one has begun". It's not important how one defines a round - whether it's from initiative count to initiative count, or from start-of-initiative-cycle to end-of-initiative-cycle; it could certainly be argued that the readied action (and any AoOs) are occurring during the same round that the scout moved. But it's clear that the readied action (and any AoOs) does not occur during the scout's turn; the readied action explicitly occurs after the scout's turn is over, making it ineligible for skirmish damage.

The AC bonus, on the other hand, lasts until the start of the scout's next turn, so it will still be in effect when the readied action occurs.

-Hyp.

 

[Jhulae]

But, the way readied actions are described, I think it would work, since if nothing triggers your readied action, you get to act again when your 'normal' initiative comes back around and it's your turn again.

The fact that the reaidied action changes your initiative doesn't change the fact you're readying the action on your turn..

Regardless, it'd definitely work on a Delay, since you can move and attack. However, that might not be good if the tactic is to damage a spellcaster or something.

 

[Hypersmurf]

But, the way readied actions are described, I think it would work, since if nothing triggers your readied action, you get to act again when your 'normal' initiative comes back around and it's your turn again.

The fact that the reaidied action changes your initiative doesn't change the fact you're readying the action on your turn..

You ready the action on your turn. You take the action after your turn is over and before your next has begun.

When you ready the action, it is your turn. When you take the action, it is not your turn. The action is to attack; when you attack, it is not your turn. The attack is not an attack taken during the scout's turn; it is an attack taken after the scout's turn is over and before her next has begun.

-Hyp.

 

[shilsen]

The key point to note is that even after the errata, "The extra damage applies only to attacks taken during the scout's turn".

Yup, I forgot about that clause. I stand corrected.