Solo Tactics and Escape Route Teamwork Feat

[morbon]

Escape Route
You have trained to watch your allies' backs, covering them as they make tactical withdraws.

Benefit: An ally who also has this feat provokes no attacks of opportunity for moving through squares adjacent to you or within your space.

Solo Tactics (Ex): At 3rd level, all of the inquisitor's allies are treated as if they possessed the same teamwork feats as the inquisitor for the purpose of determining whether the inquisitor receives a bonus from her teamwork feats. Her allies do not receive any bonuses from these feats unless they actually possess the feats themselves. The allies' positioning and actions must still meet the prerequisites listed in the teamwork feat for the inquisitor to receive the listed bonus.

This is a bit confusing. Thematically, I am watching my allies back, so I am the one providing a benefit to them by destracting the monster so it can't take an attack of opportunity on them.

So, does Escape Route work with the Solo Tactics ability or not, since it looks like my ally is the one gaining a benefit even though I am the one using the feat to make squares around me not threaten for them?

[ryric]

morbon wrote:

So, does Escape Route work with the Solo Tactics ability or not, since it looks like my ally is the one gaining a benefit even though I am the one using the feat to make squares around me not threaten for them?

It seems like yes, you get the benefit - Solo Tactics conceptually gives your allies all of your teamwork feats, for purposes of your use of them. So, you have Escape Route - when you move, all your allies also "have" Escape Route, and since you are an ally of them moving with the feat, its protection from AoOs triggers.

I hope that wasn't too confusing.

[Grick]

morbon wrote:

This is a bit confusing. Thematically, I am watching my allies back, so I am the one providing a benefit to them by destracting the monster so it can't take an attack of opportunity on them.

So, does Escape Route work with the Solo Tactics ability or not, since it looks like my ally is the one gaining a benefit even though I am the one using the feat to make squares around me not threaten for them?

Well, the Precedent is that the "bonus" in Solo Tactics is not the "Benefit:" line in the feat, but the positive result of using the feat. Therefore, the likely intent would be for the Inquisitor to be able to move around his allies without provoking AoOs.

[morbon]

I guess I've been looking at it wrong.

I would agree that my allies would count as having the feat so that I could move through squares adjacent to them without provoking.

What I was really looking for was to be able to allow my allies, who don't have this feat, to move out of harms way by going through squares adjacent to me but not provoking AoO.

[The Diplomat]

*bump*

[Seriphim84]

Be a Cavalier

[Umbranus]

Seriphim84 wrote:

Be a Cavalier

Or a tactician fighter or a holy tactician paladin.

[cheolkeong]

ryric wrote:

morbon wrote:

So, does Escape Route work with the Solo Tactics ability or not, since it looks like my ally is the one gaining a benefit even though I am the one using the feat to make squares around me not threaten for them?

It seems like yes, you get the benefit - Solo Tactics conceptually gives your allies all of your teamwork feats, for purposes of your use of them. So, you have Escape Route - when you move, all your allies also "have" Escape Route, and since you are an ally of them moving with the feat, its protection from AoOs triggers.

I hope that wasn't too confusing.

There’s a debate on RAW specifically due to the wording of bonus vs benefit, and the fact that the wording of the feat makes it seem like the benefit is that you prevent AoO for your allies. I think it’s worthwhile to revisit what solo tactics is and why inquisitors have it. Inquisitors are lone wolves at heart, abandoning the comfort and security of their faith to spend their time behind enemy lines hunting down enemies of their faith. One large reason that an inquisitor would even be adventuring with a party of randos in the first place is that they act as camouflage for hiding their intense auras of divine zeal. Inquisitors are like religious Batman.

The nature of solo tactics is less about the inquisitor’s willingness to help his friends, and a lot more about the calculated way the inquisitor views a battle. They benefit from timely coordination by timing their attacks for when allies create an opening, whether or not their ally is smart enough to be part of the plan. They take advantage of their ally’s positioning to benefit from coordinated shot, even if their ally wasn’t in on the plan. Shielded caster is the inquisitor using their ally as a shield while they cast defensively.

In the majority of teamwork feat examples, the end result is that solo tactics makes use of an untrained ally. It’s about what the inquisitor can do with anyone, not what he can depend on people doing for him. The wording of escape route would make it seem like the inquisitor protects his allies, but it would seem much more likely that an inquisitor would use his allies as a means to escape. Selfishness seems to be a key theme to the design behind solo tactics.

Up to GM discretion, anything is possible. This interpretation should be chosen and locked down when you take the feat. If your inquisitor is more of a protective person that is willing to sacrifice themselves for their allies, maybe you flip the definition on its head? But as written, solo tactics is for a character that would prefer to work alone and travels with allies for the sole purpose of their usefulness. The technicalities of what the bonus is in this case are tricky, but generally I would lean towards what feels a bit more scummy. The inquisitor can take betrayal teamwork feats that are the epitome of what solo tactics is about. “Yea I included you in my damaging area spell, yea it terrified the enemy, and now that we’ve won you can have a healing potion. You’re welcome.”

[That Crazy Alchemist]

7 year necro. Not bad.

[Java Man]

Pathfinder rounds fractions down, only a six year necro.