Can someone please further explain to me what flat footed means and how it applies to the game? Thanks!
Roosh
All characters begin combat flat-footed until they have acted, and a flat-footed character does not add their Dexterity modifier to their armor class. Furthermore, any condition that denies a character their Dexterity modifier also denies them their dodge modifiers, so they don't add that to their armor class when flat-footed either.
Lakesidefantasy is correct with two minor additions. There are some ways to retain dexterity even when flat-footed or prevent being flat-footed. One such ability is uncanny dodge (which prevents being flat-footed entirely).
The second addition is that there are abilities/situations that can cause a creature to become flat-footed or count as flat-footed when they would not otherwise qualify. Example: the rogue talent Suprise Attack.
- Gauss
Psst - http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/glossary.html#flat-footed
Being flat footed also stops you from taking attacks of opportunity, unless you have combat reflexes (a feat).
Can someone please further explain to me what flat footed means and how it applies to the game? Thanks!
Concept that a lot of players don't understand is that the terms 'flat-footed' and 'denied DEX bonus to AC' are NOT synonymous. They are often used interchangeably but there are subtle differences.
When you are flat-footed, which typically only happens at the beginning of combat when a character has not yet acted, you are denied your Dexterity bonus to AC and cannot make attacks of opportunity.
You are denied you're Dexterity bonus to AC when your climbing, attacked by invisible attacker, running, stunned, lifting an extremely heavy load, blinded, squeezing, cowering, pinned or pinning an opponent, feinted, however none of these conditions automatically prevent you from making attacks of opportunity.
Can someone please further explain to me what flat footed means and how it applies to the game? Thanks!
Concept that a lot of players don't understand is that the terms 'flat-footed' and 'denied DEX bonus to AC' are NOT synonymous. They are often used interchangeably but there are subtle differences.
When you are flat-footed, which typically only happens at the beginning of combat when a character has not yet acted, you are denied your Dexterity bonus to AC and cannot make attacks of opportunity.
You are denied you're Dexterity bonus to AC when your climbing, attacked by invisible attacker, running, stunned, lifting an extremely heavy load, blinded, squeezing, cowering, pinned or pinning an opponent, feinted, however none of these conditions automatically prevent you from making attacks of opportunity.
Yes, it's true that flat footed and denied a dex bonus are not one and the same thing. However, most of the conditions you listed do in fact prevent you from taking AOOs. For instance, Blinded gives all your opponents total concealment, and opponents with total concealment do not provoke. Similarly, pinned creatures are limited in what they can do to a very narrow list of actions, and making AOOs is not on that list.
Your basic premise that being denied a dex bonus does not automatically prevent you from taking AOOs is correct though. Sorry to be excessively nit-picky!
EDIT: Actually, I can't find anything that says opponents w/ concealment don't provoke. I could have sworn that was a rule. Otherwise it leads to counterintuitive results (invisible creatures provoking AOOs). Can somebody confirm or deny this for me?
Pretty much, in PF a true “flatfooted” can only occur in the surprise and/or first rounds of a combat. You can lose your dex bonus in several ways and times, of course
Your basic premise that being denied a dex bonus does not automatically prevent you from taking AOOs is correct though. Sorry to be excessively nit-picky!
No worries, as that is why I worded it carefully, as a lot of things on the list prevent an AoO but it isn't merely by virtue of being denied your Dexterity bonus.
EDIT: Actually, I can't find anything that says opponents w/ concealment don't provoke. I could have sworn that was a rule. Otherwise it leads to counterintuitive results (invisible creatures provoking AOOs). Can somebody confirm or deny this for me?
As far as I know that is correct. It has been a point of contention for a while. In some cases, such as casting a spell, you would probably know they were performing the action, others are a lot harder to justify.
Actually, I can't find anything that says opponents w/ concealment don't provoke.
Total Concealment: "You can't execute an attack of opportunity against an opponent with total concealment, even if you know what square or squares the opponent occupies."
EDIT: Actually, I can't find anything that says opponents w/ concealment don't provoke. I could have sworn that was a rule. Otherwise it leads to counterintuitive results (invisible creatures provoking AOOs). Can somebody confirm or deny this for me?
It's in the section on Concealment:
{snip}You can't execute an attack of opportunity against an opponent with total concealment, even if you know what square or squares the opponent occupies.
Actually, I can't find anything that says opponents w/ concealment don't provoke.Total Concealment: "You can't execute an attack of opportunity against an opponent with total concealment, even if you know what square or squares the opponent occupies."
Hilarious… That's exactly the source I went to and somehow missed that text. Thank you!
If you lured the kobolds out, combat began when you first started luring them (unless you used extreme trickery, such as disguising yourselves as kobolds and convincing them you were allies), and thus you got a surprise round, which you used to do something like say "Hey, you stupid kobolds, we're over here, scale-butt", and you were never flat-footed, but you used the moment the kobolds were flat-footed to taunt them instead of attack when they had a severe dex penalty.
When I read the flat footed rules in the Combat chapter it seems to indicate that you're always flat footed in the opening round (until you've acted), but it doesn't make sense to me that there would not be an exception when you're already prepared for battle. For instance, in our last game we knew that there was a room full of kobolds and we lured them out into the area that we were in, fully prepared to attack them. RAW we should be flat footed, but I can't understand why that would be under such a circumstance, and as a matter of fact our GM didn't flat foot us. I think that flat footed should only apply when surprised.
I agree, but I think the flat-footed rules are there to make having a high initiative modifier both interesting and advantageous.
