The Switcheroo

[werk]

Here's the scenario: 5' wide hallway in a maze, blink dog appears at the end of the party line and starts chewing on the wizard, I am adjacent to the wizard and would like to switch places with him so I am able to attack the blink dog and he is shielded from its attacks.

How do we switch positions by RAW?

For convenience, say I go first in initiative order(11), then the dog(6), then the wizard(1)...if it matters.

I know I have to be missing something, but pretty much every solution I can think of results in the moving character getting shunted back into the square he previously occupied for zero net gain.

The party continues ahead of us down the hallway and around a corner, and are similarly engaged with another blink dog, so the wizard can not simply move through the party to safety.

Hoping the attached image works, but it's pretty easy to visualize.

Thanks!

 

[Infiniti2000]

You could ready to take a 5ft-step and attack the blink dog (or some other standard action that does not include a move). The trigger could be that the wizard moves "through" your space. The wizard then gets a standard action after your action, if he wasn't withdrawing. I don't think the wizard could 5ft-step, so unless he withdrew, the blink dog gets an AoO.

 

[two]

Readied action

Here's the scenario: 5' wide hallway in a maze, blink dog appears at the end of the party line and starts chewing on the wizard, I am adjacent to the wizard and would like to switch places with him so I am able to attack the blink dog and he is shielded from its attacks.

How do we switch positions by RAW?

For convenience, say I go first in initiative order(11), then the dog(6), then the wizard(1)...if it matters.

I know I have to be missing something, but pretty much every solution I can think of results in the moving character getting shunted back into the square he previously occupied for zero net gain.

The party continues ahead of us down the hallway and around a corner, and are similarly engaged with another blink dog, so the wizard can not simply move through the party to safety.

Hoping the attached image works, but it's pretty easy to visualize.

Thanks!

Shout "move into my place when I move into yours" (free action) and do a readied action to move soon as the Wiz 5' steps into your square.

You lose your attack, but you are now next to the blink dog.

Wiz did a 5' step so no AOO for doggie.

EDIT: actuall you can still attack as you can make a 5' step as part of a readied action.

Ditto the Wiz, he can 5' step then cast a spell.

 

[werk]

Readied actions is what I was thinking, but I was having trouble reconciling it.

I ready to move into the wizard's space and attack the dog when the wizard moves.
dog attacks wiz
Wiz moves into my square, which triggers my ready, which is reconciled first.
-I move into the wizard's space and am shunted back into my own because that square is occupied.
-Wiz's move goes off and is shunted back.

Since our turns are not simultaneous, I can't see why it would work unless the DM hand waves it.

For the record, I did an overrun (unopposed) and popped out the other side, flanking the blink dog...just wondering how to do a switch.

 

[two]

Readied actions is what I was thinking, but I was having trouble reconciling it.

I ready to move into the wizard's space and attack the dog when the wizard moves.
dog attacks wiz
Wiz moves into my square, which triggers my ready, which is reconciled first.
-I move into the wizard's space and am shunted back into my own because that square is occupied.
-Wiz's move goes off and is shunted back.

Since our turns are not simultaneous, I can't see why it would work unless the DM hand waves it.

For the record, I did an overrun (unopposed) and popped out the other side, flanking the blink dog...just wondering how to do a switch.

The readied action is resolved before the wizard's action.

That does not mean the readied action actually takes place BEFORE the Wizard action.

It's just resolved before.

Wiz moves into your square, triggering the readied action.

Your RESOLVE your action before the wizard casts a spell. You move into the now-empty square (5' step), and attack the dog (the readied attack action).

I don't see why you think you are shunted back. The wizard left the square. The dog isn't there. It's open. Move in.

(the wizard can move through friendly occupied squares. Act as though the wizard was gonna move to your square and then back to his own for his complete movement. In the middle of that action, you slip into his square)

 

[werk]

The readied action is resolved before the wizard's action.

I don't see why you think you are shunted back.

I move into an occupied square, cannot attack, and am shunted back...

I guess I don't see why we are not shunted back, since there is never an open space to move to.

 

[tzor]

Based on the RAW, I don't think you can. Two, the key RAW wording is "You can’t end your movement in the same square as another creature unless it is helpless" so your argument is flawed from the get go, the wizard cannot move into his square at all. There appears to be only one possible solution. The wizard must move through the square, and through the square of person3 as well. "You can move through a square occupied by a friendly character, unless you are charging." In adition the wizard can perform a withdraw action and not have to worry about attacks of opportunity. This frees you to make a 5' step and attack the creature.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

The Readied Action would be the way to do it.

Everything is happening in six seconds, all at the same time. Because we choose to resolve things in a certain order doesn't mean they're really only in that order. The readied action allows you to sort of side-step into the realm of simultaniety.

--fje

 

[two]

Based on the RAW, I don't think you can. Two, the key RAW wording is "You can’t end your movement in the same square as another creature unless it is helpless" so your argument is flawed from the get go, the wizard cannot move into his square at all. There appears to be only one possible solution. The wizard must move through the square, and through the square of person3 as well. "You can move through a square occupied by a friendly character, unless you are charging." In adition the wizard can perform a withdraw action and not have to worry about attacks of opportunity. This frees you to make a 5' step and attack the creature.

The wizard is not ENDING movement in an occupied square. The Wizard had planned to move through another square and then who knows.

The wizard moved into the fighter's square, planning to keep going.

This triggers the fighter's readied action.

The fighter 5' steps into the now empty square where the wizard was.

The fighter resolves his attack.

The wizard, now alone in the square, can stop if he/she wants.

No raw rules issue at all.

The trigger is:

"When the wizard moves into my square heading somewhere, I 5's step over and attack the dog"

The readied action "interrupts" the wizard's move. He's not done moving.

 

[kjenks]

Two solutions:

A) First, you ready an action to take a 5 ft. step and attack the blink dog if the wizard happens to move out of the way. Second, the wizard moves out of the way. This triggers your readied action so you step forward and attack Blinky.

B) Bull rush the wizard. He ends up in Blinky's square, but by the strange rules for ending up in an illegal square, the wizard is bumped to the nearest legal square. That happens to be the square that you started in.