Skirmish?

[Ogrork the Mighty]

A scout must move at least 10 feet to benefit from skirmish. Can a scout move two squares away and then back two squares to his/her original position and gain the benefits of skirmish? Or does the scout have to end up in different squares?

 

[Tharian]

The scout does have to end up in a different square. This has been covered in the errata for the Complete Adventurer.

There was a post about this on the Wizards' forum. You can see it here:
http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=897656

 

[blargney the second]

Specifically, they have to end up at least 10' away from where they started.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

But that's not what the errata says.

The errata says the scout must move at least 10 feet away from where they started and the benefits only kick in after moving at least 10 feet.

According to that, a scout could move 15 feet away and then 15 feet back and qualify for skirmish. Which seems pretty dumb to me since the net effect could be a scout starting and ending in the same square.

 

[irdeggman]

But that's not what the errata says.

The errata says the scout must move at least 10 feet away from where they started and the benefits only kick in after moving at least 10 feet.

According to that, a scout could move 15 feet away and then 15 feet back and qualify for skirmish. Which seems pretty dumb to me since the net effect could be a scout starting and ending in the same square.

Right but you can't split your move between actions - so you must move the full distance at one time and then the benefits kick in.

So you must move at least 10 feet away from where you start (thus ending your move) and then the benefits kick in (i.e., you take an attack action (standard action)).

 

[phindar]

Well, unless you have Spring Attack, which is not an unusual choice for Scouts.

For me, I don't see the big deal about where the scout ends up, since he is trading his full attack for a move + attack with the skirmish damage. It might be a little cheesy to have the scout pirouetting in place to get his extra d6's, but its not like he still wouldn't be better off going rogue and getting his sneak attack damage on every attack against a flanked foe.

 

[irdeggman]

Well, unless you have Spring Attack, which is not an unusual choice for Scouts.

For me, I don't see the big deal about where the scout ends up, since he is trading his full attack for a move + attack with the skirmish damage. It might be a little cheesy to have the scout pirouetting in place to get his extra d6's, but its not like he still wouldn't be better off going rogue and getting his sneak attack damage on every attack against a flanked foe.

Except that allows you to move before and after your attack. Not to be able to move 15 ft away, then back the 15 ft to where you started and then make an attack.

I believe the OP was looking for a way to make a skirmish attack from the square the scout started in - which I don't think you can find a way to do with the movement rules and the errata.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Right but you can't split your move between actions - so you must move the full distance at one time and then the benefits kick in.

So you must move at least 10 feet away from where you start (thus ending your move) and then the benefits kick in (i.e., you take an attack action (standard action)).

But couldn't you just spend a move action to move 15 away and then 15 feet back, and then a standard action to make the attack?

Why the, "thus ending your move"?

 

[irdeggman]

But couldn't you just spend a move action to move 15 away and then 15 feet back, and then a standard action to make the attack?

Why the, "thus ending your move"?

That is why the errata added in "away from where she was at the start of her turn", otherwise you could do exactly what you are proposing since movement can be in any direction (barring special movement types like charging, running, etc.) as long as it is completed during the action being used and the errata would be unnecessary.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

The errata says the scout must, (1) move at least 10 feet away from where they started; and (2) the benefits only kick in after moving at least 10 feet.

If you move 15 feet away then 15 feet back, you have moved away and you have moved at least 10 feet. Both criteria have been fulfilled.

What the errata should say is that you end your movement at least 10 feet from where you started your turn.