2
\$\begingroup\$

The Pack Master PP (Dragon 364) gets this as the 11th level feature:

When you end your movement 2 squares from an enemy, you can shift 1 square as a free action.

If I need to approach an enemy with threatening reach this is very handy.

  1. If I shift one from adjacent as a move action (so I am now 2 squares away), can I shift another?
  2. If an attack power like Nimble Footwork1 lets me shift, can I shift another?
  3. If I charge the bodyguard, can I shift one before or after the attack, to get close to the guarded controller?
  4. If I stand up (ending my move action) can I shift 1 if an enemy happens to be 2 squares away where I was prone?

1) Warlord 1 (Martial Power), lets you shift 1 if you hit

\$\endgroup\$

1 Answer 1

2
\$\begingroup\$

Free actions happen whenever*.

*Unless they're attacks. Then you only get one a turn.

move: any instance of movement, whether it is done willingly or unwillingly. When a creature, an object, or an effect leaves a square to enter another, it is moving.

4e Rules Compendium, p.314 "Glossary"

For purposes of the feat, consider "your movement" to be "movement you control", so you can decide where it ends. So, any time you move and end two squares from an enemy, you can shift 1 square. (This was published in the first issue of Dragon and my errata is spotty at best, but I'm pretty sure this movement isn't intended to chain into itself.)

So:

  1. A shift is a move from square to square. When you use your move action to shift one square away, you can then take the Pack Master shift.

  2. A shift is a move from square to square. Immediately after you end your shift from Nimble Footwork, you can take the Pack Master shift.

  3. Remember the specific procedure of the Charge action:

    Action: standard action. When a creature takes this action, it chooses a target. [... F]ollow these steps.

    Move: The creature moves up to its speed toward the target. Each square of movement must bring the creature closer to the target, and the creature must end the move at least 2 squares away from its starting position.

    Attack: The creature either makes a melee basic attack against the target or uses bull rush against it.

    4e Rules Compendium, p.240 "Combat"

After you end the movement from your charge, and before you attack, you can take the Pack Master shift. Note that because it happens before the attack, this will let you successfully charge attack a target you stop 2 squares away from.

  1. Using your move action to stand up from prone is not a move from square to square. You cannot take the Pack Master shift.
\$\endgroup\$
3
  • \$\begingroup\$ It may not be intended to chain into itself, but it saw no errata and as written it 100% chains into itself. \$\endgroup\$
    – Keledrath
    Jun 6, 2020 at 18:57
  • \$\begingroup\$ Would it trigger on forced movement? \$\endgroup\$
    – András
    Jun 6, 2020 at 19:09
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ @András Not in the push, pull, or slide sense, no. Someone else is moving you and you don't end that move; they do. If you're subject to an effect like cause fear that forces you to move away from or toward something, you are controlling where that move ends and the feature applies. \$\endgroup\$
    – Glazius
    Jun 6, 2020 at 19:31

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .