Step Up, Following Step, Step Up and Strike


Rules Questions


help me understand this.

a fighter has step up and is adjacent to an opponent.

enemy takes a 5-foot step and tries to cast a spell.
fighter follows with his 5 foot step and gets an attack of opportunity. right?

but does that opponent get to simply take the 5 foot step and then do nothing knowing that the fighter is stepping up with him?

supposed the opponent simply moved 15 feet and tried to cast a spell.
does the fighter get to follow for 5 feet? attack of opportunity as the enemy moves away?

if the opponent does a withdraw action can the fighter follow for 5 feet and get an attack of opportunity since the enemy is out of its free square?

what if the person moves 5 feet as a move action not as a 5 foot step?

same questions with following step

now how does all of that change when step up and strike is involved?


For the first question.

The caster 5 foot steps and then the fighter moves up right after as an immediate action. You don't get the attack of opportunity at that point since the caster hasn't casted yet. At that point, the caster has a choice. They can not cast, cast normally and get an AoO, or they can cast defensively. I'd try and cast defensively personally, but I'm kind of ballsy like that :)

For the second question.

He cannot use Step Up. Step up specifically states it has to be a 5 foot step.

Quote:
Benefit: Whenever an adjacent foe attempts to take a 5-foot step away from you, you may also make a 5-foot step as an immediate action so long as you end up adjacent to the foe that triggered this ability. If you take this step, you cannot take a 5-foot step during your next turn. If you take an action to move during your next turn, subtract 5 feet from your total movement.

Same with Withdraw. Withdraw is a full round action that is not a 5 foot step. It simply makes the first square they leave non-threatening.

For the Following Step Question, same answer as with Step Up since Following Step is meant to work like Step Up.


blue_the_wolf wrote:

help me understand this.

a fighter has step up and is adjacent to an opponent.

enemy takes a 5-foot step and tries to cast a spell.
fighter follows with his 5 foot step and gets an attack of opportunity. right?

The Fighter gets an AoO for the spellcasting, unless the caster chooses to cast defensively. No AoO for the movement.

blue_the_wolf wrote:


but does that opponent get to simply take the 5 foot step and then do nothing knowing that the fighter is stepping up with him?

Yes. Things are resolved and declared seperately.

blue_the_wolf wrote:


supposed the opponent simply moved 15 feet and tried to cast a spell.
does the fighter get to follow for 5 feet? attack of opportunity as the enemy moves away?

Attack of Opportunity for moving, step up does nothing. Taking a move action and taking "a 5' step" are different things. step up triggers on "a 5' step".

blue_the_wolf wrote:


if the opponent does a withdraw action can the fighter follow for 5 feet and get an attack of opportunity since the enemy is out of its free square?

Withdraw action is not "a 5' step". step Up does nothing.

blue_the_wolf wrote:


what if the person moves 5 feet as a move action not as a 5 foot step?

A move action, even if you only use 5' of movement, is not "a 5' step". step Up does nothing. But you get to make an AoO for the movement.

blue_the_wolf wrote:


same questions with following step

Following step doesn't change any of the above answers. It still only triggers on "a 5' step".

blue_the_wolf wrote:


now how does all of that change when step up and strike is involved?

Every time you use step Up (which is a maximum of once per turn, as immediate actions are limited), you get to make an attack, that counts against your attacks of opportunity for the turn.

Case: step-and-cast. You step, and attack. He casts; if he doesn't cast defensively, he provokes an AoO. You've already used one AoO, but if you have multiple AoOs per turn (Combat Reflexes), you can make one now (provided he doesn't cast defensively).


Quote:
Following step doesn't change any of the above answers. It still only triggers on "a 5' step".

other than a feat tax for step up and strike whats the point of following step then?

if it ONLY triggers when the adjacent opponent takes a 5 foot step away from you what would be the point of being able to move 10 feet?


blue_the_wolf wrote:
Quote:
Following step doesn't change any of the above answers. It still only triggers on "a 5' step".

other than a feat tax for step up and strike whats the point of following step then?

if it ONLY triggers when the adjacent opponent takes a 5 foot step away from you what would be the point of being able to move 10 feet?

I've used it before to get flanking when it would have normally been out of reach. Also good for better positioning to set up flanking for other characters, like my party's rogue.


blue_the_wolf wrote:
Quote:
Following step doesn't change any of the above answers. It still only triggers on "a 5' step".

other than a feat tax for step up and strike whats the point of following step then?

if it ONLY triggers when the adjacent opponent takes a 5 foot step away from you what would be the point of being able to move 10 feet?

Nailed it in one, it's a feat tax. With added consolation prize.

Grand Lodge

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Following Step also allows you to take an additional 5' step on your next turn. Step Up, stops you from taking a 5' step on your next turn. But, it is a bit of a feat tax before Step up and Strike.

Sczarni

The next feat to get is "Step Up and Thread Necro".

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