Trip question

[Ruined]

Hi All, Simple question here regarding the trip attack. It's a two-part attack where first you go for the hit, and then second you compare the strength. What I'm wondering about is the failed trip attempt where the opponent gets to attempt a trip against you. Does this occur if you fail either check or only if you fail the compared rolls?

Ex. An orc priest tries to trip our paladin with his flail. He rolls poorly and misses the touch attack, so they don't reach the comparison stage. Does the paladin get the chance to trip back? (I know about dropping the weapon in response, just not if the chance occurs).

Thanks!

 

[PallidPatience]

The reactive, retaliatory trip attempt can only be attempted if you strike the foe but fail to trip him. In other words, only if you fail at the opposed roll.

 

[Bad Paper]

Think of it this way: orc wrapped his flail around the paladin's thigh. Priest failed (...or shall we say..."flailed") on his attempt, so here he is looking like a doofus up at the paladin who simply has to yank his leg back to pull the priest off his feet...or force the priest to drop the weapon.

If he chose to drop it, I would probably rule that the weapon falls in the paladin's space instead of the priest's space, but that is 100% flavor and not RAW at all.