Tripping questions, lots of 'em.

[RangerWickett]

1. If you are prone, and you stand up next to someone with a spiked chain, you provoke an attack of opportunity, but can they use that attack of opportunity to trip you? I don't believe so, because attacks of opportunity interrupt the action. You're not standing when the AoO goes off; you're still on the ground, so you can't be tripped.

2. Say you're fighting a trip-happy foe. Now, if you're standing, you can ready an action to sunder their weapon when they attack you, which is great against whips. But if you're already on the ground, can you ready an action to sunder their weapon as they take their AoO against you as you stand? I don't think it works by the rules, but I'd allow it in my game probably.

3. If someone has a reach weapon that can trip, and you charge them, normally they'd get to try to trip you as an attack of opportunity. But could you jump before you enter their threatened range, making an aerial attack, thus avoiding a trip? Or would a 'trip' just cause you to fall out of the air somehow?

4. Can you use whirlwind attack and improved trip to trip everyone around you, then hit them all while they're down?

5. What happens when you trip a flying creature? Some things, like beholders and ghosts, obviously can't be tripped, but what about things with wings? If you 'trip' a dire bat, do you just mess up it's flight pattern and cause it to fall?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Egres]

1. If you are prone, and you stand up next to someone with a spiked chain, you provoke an attack of opportunity, but can they use that attack of opportunity to trip you? I don't believe so, because attacks of opportunity interrupt the action. You're not standing when the AoO goes off; you're still on the ground, so you can't be tripped.

From the Main 3.5 FAQ:

When a character gets up from prone, when does the
attack of opportunity take place? When he is still prone?
When he is standing? Can the attacker choose when to
attack?

In one case, the attacker can get a +4 bonus to hit.
In the other, he can make another trip attack.
All attacks of opportunity happen before the actions that
trigger them (see Chapter 8 in the Player’s Handbook). When
you make an attack of opportunity against someone who’s
getting up, your target is effectively prone, and therefore cannot
be tripped. You could ready an action to trip a prone foe after
he gets up, however.

2. Say you're fighting a trip-happy foe. Now, if you're standing, you can ready an action to sunder their weapon when they attack you, which is great against whips. But if you're already on the ground, can you ready an action to sunder their weapon as they take their AoO against you as you stand? I don't think it works by the rules, but I'd allow it in my game probably.

Why not?

4. Can you use whirlwind attack and improved trip to trip everyone around you, then hit them all while they're down?

From the SRD:

WHIRLWIND ATTACK [GENERAL]
Prerequisites: Dex 13, Int 13, Combat Expertise, Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, base attack bonus +4.
Benefit: When you use the full attack action, you can give up your regular attacks and instead make one melee attack at your full base attack bonus against each opponent within reach.
When you use the Whirlwind Attack feat, you also forfeit any bonus or extra attacks granted by other feats, spells, or abilities.
Special: A fighter may select Whirlwind Attack as one of his fighter bonus feats.

5. What happens when you trip a flying creature? Some things, like beholders and ghosts, obviously can't be tripped, but what about things with wings? If you 'trip' a dire bat, do you just mess up it's flight pattern and cause it to fall?

From the Rules of the Game article:

Trip

Most creature using wings or other appendages to fly can be tripped. Incorporeal creatures with perfect maneuverability, and creatures that don't rely on their limbs to fly cannot be tripped when in flight.

Resolving the Trip Attempt: The attacker makes a Strength check. The defender can oppose the attempt with a Strength check or a Dexterity check. Each creature gets a bonus based on its maneuverability rating, as follows: perfect +12, good maneuverability +8, average +4, poor +0, clumsy -4.

Stability bonuses do not apply in aerial overruns.

Trip Results: A successful trip forces the defender to stall (even if the tripped creature doesn't have a minimum forward speed) rather than knocking the defender prone.

 

[shilsen]

Since Egres handled the others:

3. If someone has a reach weapon that can trip, and you charge them, normally they'd get to try to trip you as an attack of opportunity. But could you jump before you enter their threatened range, making an aerial attack, thus avoiding a trip? Or would a 'trip' just cause you to fall out of the air somehow?

Firstly, I don't think jumping counts as making an aerial attack. And even if it did, you would still draw an AoO, since the reach applies vertically too.

 

[RangerWickett]

I don't think you can ready an action to sunder a weapon as you stand up.

Why not?

By the rules, readying is a standard action, and if you've readied an action you can't do anything until you finish that action. So if I ready an action to sunder, I can't stand to provoke the attack of opportunity. If I stand, I don't get a chance to ready before they take their attack against me.

Of course, as I said, I'd let it fly in my game. It's one of those areas that rules don't need to handle, because common sense applies. Or so I believe.

 

[Hypersmurf]

4. Can you use whirlwind attack and improved trip to trip everyone around you, then hit them all while they're down?

It's debated based on the wacky wording of Improved Trip.

The general consensus is that what Egres quoted applies.

-Hyp.

 

[Egres]

By the rules, readying is a standard action, and if you've readied an action you can't do anything until you finish that action. So if I ready an action to sunder, I can't stand to provoke the attack of opportunity. If I stand, I don't get a chance to ready before they take their attack against me.

Of course, as I said, I'd let it fly in my game. It's one of those areas that rules don't need to handle, because common sense applies. Or so I believe.

Nothing in the rules does imply that you cannot use your move action after you have declared a Ready action.

 

[RangerWickett]

Since Egres handled the others:



Firstly, I don't think jumping counts as making an aerial attack. And even if it did, you would still draw an AoO, since the reach applies vertically too.

But could you be tripped while making a jumping attack? Would it just cause you to land on your face after your attack? I'm looking for ways to hit people with spiked chains before they trip you.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Nothing in the rules does imply that you cannot use your move action after you have declared a Ready action.

"Then, any time before your next action, you may take the readied action in response to that condition."

If your next action is the Move action, the Ready action must be taken before it or not at all.

-Hyp.

 

[Antoine]

I'm looking for ways to hit people with spiked chains before they trip you.

Spring attack them (unless they prepared a ready action to trip you).
Tumble next to them the same way.

 

[Delemental]

But could you be tripped while making a jumping attack? Would it just cause you to land on your face after your attack? I'm looking for ways to hit people with spiked chains before they trip you.

Um, a longbow?

Seriously, as far as I can tell in the RAW the chain-wielder would still get an AoO, as the rules do not distinguish modes of travel when approaching a foe (a flying creature would still provoke an AoO, though whether they could make a trip attempt depends upon the mode of flight).

I'd say that if someone did use a jump to enter the threatened area (taking the risk of failing the Jump check and falling short), that the chain wielder would still get the AoO and could make a trip attempt, but that it would be resolved as a trip attempt against a limb-dependent flying opponent (the limbs in this case being your legs) using the Poor maneuverability modifier (possibly allowing someone with several ranks in Tumble to use the Average modifier instead). That way, if the trip is successful it merely stops their progress rather than knocking them prone.