2 questions


Rules Questions


The first question is probably pretty obvious but I want to confirm. Under the buckler it says that if you fight with a weapon in both hands or use your off hand to help on a 2 handed weapon you get a -1 to hit. It also says that if you attack with a weapon in your off hand you lose the AC bonus for that round. I says nothing specifically there about using your off hand to help with a 2H weapon for an att. Do you retain the AC bonus from a buckler if you use the off hand to help with a 2 handed weapon for that round?

Second is a question about a prone opponent: it says that you get a -4 AC to melee attacks which makes sense to me but it says nothing about having negatives to hit or dam. on melee attacks. That seems very odd to me as it almost has to be harder to hit with a melee weapon while you are laying on the floor since you have limited maneuverability and it seems like those attacks would be much easier to avoid. If you visualize(or at least when I do) someone laying on the floor in front of you trying to hit you with a melee weapon it just feels like that would be much more difficult then if he is standing. In my mind they almost look silly trying, poking at me from the floor with a sword or trying to crush my toes with a blunt weapon. Swinging up is highly ineffective since they have no leverage and all that. It should even be a much weaker attack as far as power(like half less str bonus to dam.) as well as less likely to hit. Since medium opponent that actual part of you they can attack from laying down are much fewer that should also make the attacks easier to avoid. My question is, is it true that there are no negative effects to your melee att chances or damage results while prone? Is it further true that prone characters do not lose there dex bonus to ac? That also seems odd to me though not as odd as laying prone not effecting your melee att chance or dam. Is this just a game balancing issue that in a real situation makes no sense? One that had to be applied to stop things like trip becoming to powerful? I really don't have a problem if that's true, some things are just necessary for balance, I'm just curious.

I just want to confirm these things as the prone thing seems odd to me and I just want to get the definitive word on the buckler, thanks for the feedback all


Nahtar wrote:

The first question is probably pretty obvious but I want to confirm. Under the buckler it says that if you fight with a weapon in both hands or use your off hand to help on a 2 handed weapon you get a -1 to hit. It also says that if you attack with a weapon in your off hand you lose the AC bonus for that round. I says nothing specifically there about using your off hand to help with a 2H weapon for an att. Do you retain the AC bonus from a buckler if you use the off hand to help with a 2 handed weapon for that round?

Second is a question about a prone opponent: it says that you get a -4 AC to melee attacks which makes sense to me but it says nothing about having negatives to hit or dam. on melee attacks. That seems very odd to me as it almost has to be harder to hit with a melee weapon while you are laying on the floor since you have limited maneuverability and it seems like those attacks would be much easier to avoid. If you visualize(or at least when I do) someone laying on the floor in front of you trying to hit you with a melee weapon it just feels like that would be much more difficult then if he is standing. In my mind they almost look silly trying, poking at me from the floor with a sword or trying to crush my toes with a blunt weapon. Swinging up is highly ineffective since they have no leverage and all that. It should even be a much weaker attack as far as power(like half less str bonus to dam.) as well as less likely to hit. Since medium opponent that actual part of you they can attack from laying down are much fewer that should also make the attacks easier to avoid. My question is, is it true that there are no negative effects to your melee att chances or damage results while prone? Is it further true that prone characters do not lose there dex bonus to ac? That also seems odd to me though not as odd as laying prone not effecting your melee att chance or dam. Is this just a game balancing issue that in a real situation makes no sense? One that had to be applied to stop things like trip...

1) "You can also use your shield arm to wield

a weapon (whether you are using an off-hand weapon or
using your off hand to help wield a two-handed weapon),

but you take a –1 penalty on attack rolls while doing so.This penalty stacks with those that may apply for fighting
with your off hand and for fighting with two weapons. In
any case, if you use a weapon in your off hand, you lose the
buckler’s AC bonus until your next turn."

quoted from the corebook page 150

just for the sake of completeness, it seems like it is already clarified in the text

2) "Prone: The character is lying on the ground. A prone
attacker has a –4 penalty on melee attack rolls and cannot
use a ranged weapon (except for a crossbow). A prone
defender gains a +4 bonus to Armor Class against ranged
attacks, but takes a –4 penalty to AC against melee attacks.
Standing up is a move-equivalent action that provokes
an attack of opportunity."

quoted from corebook page 568 it has a summary of conditions you might want to keep handy.

Scarab Sages

Remco Sommeling wrote:
"You can also use your shield arm to wield a weapon (whether you are using an off-hand weapon or using your off hand to help wield a two-handed weapon), but you take a –1 penalty on attack rolls while doing so.This penalty stacks with those that may apply for fighting with your off hand and for fighting with two weapons. In any case, if you use a weapon in your off hand, you lose the buckler’s AC bonus until your next turn."

Just thought I'd help make that connection.


Resurrecting this thread because neither Google nor a search on Paizo answered my question on STR bonus:

Intuitively, it seems like a prone character should not be able to do as much damage, so I'd cut the STR bonus in half or even eliminate it. I find no such conditions in the rules.

Has anyone spoken on this? Do you still do full damage with a melee weapon when fighting while prone?


NobodyHome, I've found no ruling nor have I been in any group that has ruled that a prone PC or Enemy has less strength just because of the prone condition. You deal full damage while prone only the -4 to attack roles with melee weapons.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Rules Questions / 2 questions All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.