3
\$\begingroup\$

Scenario 1:

Enemy A has Greater Trip, allowing it to make an attack of opportunity on a successful trip. Player B has Landing Roll, which lets him move 5 feet as an immediate action upon being tripped, before falling prone.

If A trips B, does it get to make the attack of opportunity before B has a chance to roll away?

Scenario 2:

Player C has both Riptide Attack, which allows him to drag as a swift action on a successful trip, and Greater Trip, as above.

If he trips something, can he drag it before making the AoO, or must the AoO come first?

\$\endgroup\$
7
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ Curiosity: Did a PC actually take the feat Landing Roll? (Those are some awfully beefy prerequisites for such a feat that still leaves you prone!) \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jul 9, 2023 at 22:16
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ No, this is just the simplest theoretical situation I could come up with to ask about this interaction, as funny as it would be to run with Monkey Style. The actual situation I'm looking at is the interaction between Greater Trip and Riptide Attack, and whether or not you can make the AoO after the drag. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jul 10, 2023 at 3:39
  • 5
    \$\begingroup\$ How about asking the real question? \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jul 10, 2023 at 10:07
  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ Because interrupting an enemy's AoO with an immediate action seems like it would come up more than interrupting your own with a swift action. I was just trying to make a question that's useful to more people. The same thing would come up with the spell Mental Barrier, for instance. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jul 10, 2023 at 21:16
  • 3
    \$\begingroup\$ The site wants to help you. If helping you helps others, so be it, but that's entirely secondary to the site answering your question. Ask the real one you want an answer to, and let the site do the work. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jul 10, 2023 at 21:34

1 Answer 1

2
\$\begingroup\$

Greater Trip (unlike the D&D 3.5e version of Improved Trip that it’s partially based on) is ambiguous as to its timing: it says the target provokes an attack of opportunity when you successfully trip, but since attacks of opportunity usually interrupt the provoking action, that might mean that you AoO them while they’re still standing.

We can reject that possibility, however, on the ground that it could result in an arbitrary number of attacks: since the target is not prone, you can trip them again, provoking more AoOs. Since you are tripping and not attacking, this would be pointless—unless you have nearby allies with Combat Reflexes who can benefit.

Clearly, that is not a good thing to introduce to the game. We thus rule that the AoO occurs after the target is prone. That resolves the question regarding Landing Roll: since that occurs before falling prone, and Greater Trip’s AoO happens after, Landing Roll must occur first (and thus can potentially allow the target to avoid the AoO).

Riptide Attack is much more ambiguous. There is no clear ordering here, and furthermore it’s not clear that, after you have used one or the other, you are still eligible to use whichever you didn’t use immediately after the trip. It seems unconscionable to me that Paizo didn’t explicitly clarify this situation, when Greater Trip and Riptide Attack share so many prerequisites and are obviously going to be considered together.

As for ruling, you should allow them to both be used, in whichever order the tripper likes; it’s a minor thing, really, but Pathfinder melee types need an the help they can get.

\$\endgroup\$

You must log in to answer this question.

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