Standing up - AoO in D&D?

[RedSwan78]

Technically, one can't take a five-foot step while prone. Sure, I'd allow it, but you can only move while standing by strict reading of the rules in the PHB.
Greg

Really? I thought that one could crawl at like half speed while Prone. Maybe I'm just crazy and this is something that we've made up. So you can't "roll away 5 feet" on the ground?

Any passages in the PHB that say you can't move while prone? (this has me really curious now.. hehe)

 

[Plane Sailing]

Standing up from prone provokes an AoO? It says the opposite in the D&D3 PHB. Is this just for d20M? Or is this an errata for D&D? Or a change for 3.5?

Well, you found it on the d20Modern site, so what do *you* think? It isn't in the D&D errata or FAQ, it hasn't been mentioned in any 3.5e leaks yet, and that was the d20M site.

Personally, we house ruled from the very beginning that standing up provoked an AoO. We found it inconcievable that someone could stand up from prone in the middle of combat without provoking an AoO when merely moving past someone does. Has this caused us a problem? Not in any way.

 

[Hypersmurf]

... you can only move while standing by strict reading of the rules in the PHB.

I'm interested in your logic chain there as well... references?

-Hyp.

 

[00durrin]

anyone ever watch Pride FC or UFC?
if you've seen two fighters in what is known as the "stand and down" position (where one is standing, one is down)
you would think standing up should provoke an AoO

i ask you this, how could someone with a shield in one hand, a sword in the other, just stand up without leaving themselves just as open to an attack as someone firing a bow or other actions that provoke?

 

[rhammer2]

Standing up did provoke AOO in 2nd Ed, if you were using the C&T rules. I was surprised that 3rd Ed changed that. Knocking down the bad guys and hitting them when they tried to get back up was the favorite combat manuver for our dwarf warrior.

anyone ever watch Pride FC or UFC?
if you've seen two fighters in what is known as the "stand and down" position (where one is standing, one is down)
you would think standing up should provoke an AoO

i ask you this, how could someone with a shield in one hand, a sword in the other, just stand up without leaving themselves just as open to an attack as someone firing a bow or other actions that provoke?

 

[nimisgod]

personal experience

I don't think it's too reliable for other people but I did a little martial arts back then (called Arnis, the Philippine art of stick fighting). During a tournament, my opponent slipped and tripped.

I tried to attack him, but he managed to keep his guard up while he was standing up. He even gave me a poke at the ribs (which wasn't allowed by the Doce Pares school despite the fact we were wearing armor).

Then again, maybe I was just inept or something. (I did win a gold for that tourney though).

anyhoo, since attacks of opp. come when a person's guard is down, I found that the D&D rules made sense. Nobody is stopping you from houseruling it though.

 

[Darklone]

Has someone found something about moving while prone? IIRC it was something like quarter movement while prone and half while kneeing...

 

[Zhure]

I'm interested in your logic chain there as well... references?

-Hyp.

I'll try to dig some up, but it's more a matter of negative inference. In all cases where movement is mentioned, the PHB assumes the character is standing.

For example:
PHB, Page 121:
For instance, Tordek can use the attack action to move 15 feet and attack once, or to stand up from prone (a move-equivalent action) and attack once. He could also use the double move action to stand up from prone and move 15 feet. He could even use a double move action to stand up from prone and retrieve a stored item (both move-equivalent actions)."

Only specific counter to being prone is to stand.

Page 63:
"BALANCE (Dex; Armor Check Penalty)
You can keep your balance while walking on a tightrope, a narrow beam, a ledge, or an uneven floor.
Check: You can walk on a precarious surface as a move-equivalent action. A successful check lets you move at half your speed along the surface for 1 round. A failure means that you can’t move for 1 round. A failure by 5 or more means that you fall. "

No implication of any prone effects on movement.

Page 69:
"Check: Your Hide check is opposed by the Spot check of anyone
who might see you. You can move up to one-half your normal speed and hide at no penalty. At more than one-half and up to your full speed, you suffer a –5 penalty. "

Similar cites in other skills, make not mention of anything other than non-prone movement.

Page 74:
"SWIM
Using this skill, a land-based creature can swim, dive, navigate
underwater obstacles, and so on.
Check: A successful Swim check allows you to swim one-quarter
of your speed as a move-equivalent action or one-half your speed as a full-round action."

Again, the text assumes "normal" movement conditions and mentions any oddities in the skill.

Page 117:
"MOVEMENT
Each character has a speed measured in feet. You can move that
distance as well as attack or cast a 1-action spell, and you can move before or after attacking or casting.
You can also make a double move, which lets you move double your speed, or a run, which lets you move quadruple your speed."

No mention about what one's prone move should be.

Page 119"
"SPEED
Your speed tells you how far you can move in a round and still do
something, such as attack or cast a spell. Your speed depends mostly on your race and what armor you’re wearing.
Dwarves, gnomes, and halflings move 20 feet, or 15 feet when
wearing medium or heavy armor. Humans, elves, half-elves, and half-orcs move 30 feet, or 20 feet when wearing medium or heavy armor.
If you take a double move action in a round, you can move up to double your normal speed. If you run all out, you can move up to quadruple your normal speed (or triple if you are in heavy armor)."

Again, no "prone" move modifier.

etc, etc, etc. There's no specific mention I'm aware of about how fast one moves while prone or whether one is able to at all.

I'll gladly retract that if someone can find an exception to it. I've done a fairly diligent search and found nothing.

Greg

 

[Zhure]

i ask you this, how could someone with a shield in one hand, a sword in the other, just stand up without leaving themselves just as open to an attack as someone firing a bow or other actions that provoke?

Using either as a lever to assist while standing, keeping it between yourself and the foe.

 

[Artoomis]

Nice bunch of quotes, Zhure.

But I'd say that prone movment is simply not addressed in the PHB, not prohibited.

Since swimming is at 1/4 speed and prone movement would certainly be slower than swimming, I'd allow prone movement at 1/10 speed (I used 1/10 mostly for convenience - 1/8 might make more sense but in it's nearly the same given the "round down" rule).

This makes a lot of sense to me - yes, you can move prone, but it's so slow as to be pretty impractical most of the time. It could be useful at times, though.