Cyrilion Nightwalker's page

First time poster, sorry if I trail off.

So here's the scenario. An 8th lvl monk/Master of many styles(not unchained) has Crane style and the Panther style/Panther claw feats. when he begins combat, he uses crane style and panther style both as a swift action and then activates the Total Defense action and moves through the enemies spaces to provoke AoO's and dish out his retaliatory attacks because they're free actions now.

Can the monk do this by RAW?

The argument my friends have is that the total defense action removes your ability to attack in any way, shape or form. They came to this conclusion by reading the Melee Tactics Toolbox pathfinder book which states on page 8:

Melee Tactics Toolbox book wrote:

Use Defensive Combat Options: If you’re easily hitting your opponent, or if survival is more important than dealing damage, you can increase your Armor Class at the expense of your attack bonus by fighting defensively or using the Combat Expertise feat. Using the total defense action prevents you from attacking—including making attacks of opportunity—but you still threaten foes for the purposes of f lanking. Alternatively, you can use the aid another action to increase another character’s Armor Class.

However, in the PFSRD, it states under the total defense action:

PFSRD wrote:

Total Defense: You can defend yourself as a standard action. You get a +4 dodge bonus to your AC for 1 round. Your AC improves at the start of this action. You can’t combine total defense with fighting defensively or with the benefit of the Combat Expertise feat. You can’t make attacks of opportunity while using total defense.

The actual explanation of the ability basically states you exchange your standard action, which is normally reserved for attacks, and AoO's to gain the benefits of the total defense AC. It doesn't, however, state that you're now in capable of attacking after using the total defense action.

Since the Melee Tactics Toolbox book says the total defense...

I would also add that the "Desperate Swing" inflicts a -4 penalty on the attack, just as Fighting defensively does, implying it's a more defensive form of fighting defensively, and if there were other forms of attacking intended then they would also likely have a -4 penalty, the absence of which implies that you shouldn't be able to attack while in Total Defense.