Spring attack & charge?

[Emirikol]

Can a character use the spring attack feat with the charge action?

em

 

[jlhorner1974]

I believe the answer is no. When you charge, all movement for the entire round has to be in one direction, on a straight line, and must come before the attack.

Edit: Quote from the SRD:

"The character must move before attacking, not after. The character must move at least 10 feet and may move up to double base speed. All movement must be in a straight line, with no backing up allowed. The charge stops as soon as the character threatens the target. A character can't run past the target and attack from another direction. "

 

[Fenris]

So, couldn't you charge 20' in a straight line, attack, thereby ending the charge and then using spring attack, move back 10'?

 

[DizzyKungFu]

I would agree that you couldn't move back after a charge, but you could still use a Spring Attack with the charge. Remember, there is still a benefit from declaring a Spring Attack that you won't provoke an AoO from the target (great for closing in on that big, tough ogre with a 10 ft. reach).

 

[Skaros]

No, you couldn't "spring back" after the attack because the charge requires all movement to happen before the attack...

It is a little murky as to whether you could benefit from the spring attack feat as you charge in though. For instance, if the creature you are charging has 10' reach, one can argue that spring attack allows you to bypass the attack of opportunity as you charge in.

Spring attack doesn't require movement after the attack, just allows it.

That last sentence has been argued to death in a number of threads on this board though, centering on the semantics of "the character can move both before and after the attack" combined with "Moving in this way does not provoke an attack of opportunity ".

You can, for instance, spend pages of threads arguing about what exactly "in this way" means in the above quotes.

Good luck!

-Skaros

 

[Sejs]

It says specifically "No backing up allowed" under the entry for charge. So no, no backing up. I would probably let a character with Spring Attack charge an opponent, attack, then continue running in a straight line past the opponent, however.

Sort of a Run-By-Attack.

 

[AuraSeer]

So, couldn't you charge 20' in a straight line, attack, thereby ending the charge and then using spring attack, move back 10'?

No.
If you charge, all your movement for the entire round is in a straight line toward the opponent, stopping once you're within reach. The movement may end when you attack, but the -2 AC penalty and the restriction against additional movement stick around until the beginning of your action next round.

 

[Artoomis]

The question really comes down to whether Spring Attack's ability to move before and after the attack trumps the charge restriction of moving only before the attack.

It's reasonable to allow it (of course, still in a straight line only).

You could easily make a very strong argument on either side of this debate, so I think it comes down to what you (as DM) think is reasonable.

 

[Fenris]

No.
If you charge, all your movement for the entire round is in a straight line toward the opponent, stopping once you're within reach. The movement may end when you attack, but the -2 AC penalty and the restriction against additional movement stick around until the beginning of your action next round.

It doesn't say ALL of your movement, it says you must move before you attack. All of your movement BEFORE the attack must be in a straight line with no backing up. In a normal situation you must be at least 10' away and you can't back up. The verabge says you must move forward towards the target in a straight line. Once you threaten you stop moving. You then may attack. The stoppage from threatening ends the charge. The movement restrictions (but not AC and to hit) are then lifted. Most characters cannot move again. But spring attack should allow this. It takes 3 feats to get it, it should not be so limited.

 

[Number47]

Allowing movement after a charge is just a way of guaranteeing that 90% of spring attacks will be charges, as you cannot full attack after either. If it were intended for spring attack to gain you +2 to hit, it would say so. I would only allow the benefits spring attack gain you (not attracting AoO) that don't contradict the penalties of charge. Remember that you cannot move after a charge even if hasted!