Sutek
Mongoose
SableWyvern said:
Combat Reflexes in Conan is exactly like D&D3.X. You gain a number of AOOs equal to your DEX mod added to the one afforded you normally.
I think that the key issue is that in the example, Valeria is moving away and out of Melee range, and since that's the main qualifier for an AOO, it gets confusing. No real explanation is given to the timeing of the "No Action". Even the name is confusing - is it an act, or isn't it? Delay is the only other "no action" and it has no chance of ever provoking an AOO, although it sounds like it should (standing there waiting for a new INIT would seem to make one more vunerable, but it doesn't - lol).
Free actions clearly take no time, but it's deinate activity. Where the 5' step crosses the line is that it's obviously an action (you are making a move and changing squares) but it's described as "sizing up" one's opponent and the actual movement on the tactical grid is not considered a move action at all. It's a move that isn't a move. Also, because the action is not "free," the 5' step then must take an ammount of time out of a given round of actions. What it seems to be then is an action which you may make and combine with other actions in a round, but it takes only as long as those other actions. Additionally then it must therefore use up the same fractin of a round as the action with which it is combined. If you 5' step and engage in a half-round action, the 5' step is considered part of that half-round action and you still have an entire half-round remaining.
All those aspects being true, why could a character not 5' step away from a single opponent, thus taking him out of melee range and therefore depriving that opponent of an AOO, and then take a normal Move action 30' away forgoing any chance to attack that oponent?
I guess what I'm getting at is that the implication is that the 5' move is happening at the same moment as the action it is combined with. In the above case, and in the case in the book where Valeria 5' moves away and shoots, both of these actions under normal AOO instances would provoke an AOO, so you simply have to play it out as if no distance had been gained. The 5' step was created with the intent of keeping people in melee but shifting to maximize a tactical advantage. If you move out of melee range, you are in essence giving that advantage up as well as making your self vulnerable.
Now, the other factor is that the book says tha the 5' step itself does not provoke an AOO unless...blah blah blah. In other words, normally it doesn't, but under [condition] it does. This really tends to make me think that the intent was to open up people to multiple shots as AOOs from opponents with Combat Reflexes. If I have a DEX of +4 then you're not likely to get away from me, but I can still only take as many AOO strikes as you provoke. The book makes a point to explain that moving out of more than one square is the same as moving out of just one - in other words you only provoke one AOO do to square movement from any given opponent. This reinforces that another means of accruing opportunities would be via 5' step since it is explained as provoking under the condition that the action with which it is combined also does.
What it boils down to is that if you want to remain in tactical range then you make a 5' step, but this step can be very costly if you're tryingot do more than one thing in that round that provokes an AOO. For instance, to get up from prone, make a 5' step and them try to trip a foe would acrue you 3 opportunities. :!:
