Mounted Rider + Spring Attack


Rules Questions


So I am designing a ranged, mounted combat ranger, and noticed that spring attack is on the list of feats for the animal companion. If I take spring attack with my animal companion, can it ride in and get an attack, and then I shoot it without provoking an attack of opportunity. I know that you fire from the midpoint of your movement, so I'm not worrying about the ranged attack AoO. I am wondering if the rider provokes an AoO if his mount uses spring attack.

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Caineach wrote:
So I am designing a ranged, mounted combat ranger, and noticed that spring attack is on the list of feats for the animal companion. If I take spring attack with my animal companion, can it ride in and get an attack, and then I shoot it without provoking an attack of opportunity. I know that you fire from the midpoint of your movement, so I'm not worrying about the ranged attack AoO. I am wondering if the rider provokes an AoO if his mount uses spring attack.

If I understand you correctly, there are two answers dependign on the exact question:

1) Do I provoke an AoO by my mount moving if the mount has Spring Attack? The answer is no, as you and your mount are acting as one entity with regard to movement.

2) Do I provoke an AoO by firing from a moving mount as Spring Attack says it doesn't cause any AoO? RAW, ask the GM. As a GM, I'd say the ranged attack still provokes as it's clear RAI is that Spring Attack only protects against movement AoO.


Paul Watson wrote:
Caineach wrote:
So I am designing a ranged, mounted combat ranger, and noticed that spring attack is on the list of feats for the animal companion. If I take spring attack with my animal companion, can it ride in and get an attack, and then I shoot it without provoking an attack of opportunity. I know that you fire from the midpoint of your movement, so I'm not worrying about the ranged attack AoO. I am wondering if the rider provokes an AoO if his mount uses spring attack.

If I understand you correctly, there are two answers dependign on the exact question:

1) Do I provoke an AoO by my mount moving if the mount has Spring Attack? The answer is no, as you and your mount are acting as one entity with regard to movement.

2) Do I provoke an AoO by firing from a moving mount as Spring Attack says it doesn't cause any AoO? RAW, ask the GM. As a GM, I'd say the ranged attack still provokes as it's clear RAI is that Spring Attack only protects against movement AoO.

I agree with 2, but, since you fire from the midpoint of your movement when mounted, if you asymetrically move you will be out of AoO range when you are actually shooting.

Silver Crusade

Caineach wrote:


1) Do I provoke an AoO by my mount moving if the mount has Spring Attack? The answer is no, as you and your mount are acting as one entity with regard to movement.

This is something I wondered about also. If I ready an an action to attack as soon as in melee range with a sword, and my horse has spring attack. The horse moves in, I attack when close enough, because with a ready, I can even interrupt another's turn, and my horse attacks, then moves back, neither of us provoke from movement? Does that sound right?


Paul Watson wrote:


1) Do I provoke an AoO by my mount moving if the mount has Spring Attack? The answer is no, as you and your mount are acting as one entity with regard to movement.

Is there someplace where Pathfinder has changed this?

For example- A rider and mount leave a threatened square via normal movement (forget spring attack here).

Do both provoke? I think so.

If only one does, which?

If you have combat reflexes I think you could take attacks against both, and without it you could elect to attack either.

-James


noretoc wrote:
Caineach wrote:


1) Do I provoke an AoO by my mount moving if the mount has Spring Attack? The answer is no, as you and your mount are acting as one entity with regard to movement.

This is something I wondered about also. If I ready an an action to attack as soon as in melee range with a sword, and my horse has spring attack. The horse moves in, I attack when close enough, because with a ready, I can even interrupt another's turn, and my horse attacks, then moves back, neither of us provoke from movement? Does that sound right?

You cannot use ready actions in mounted combat this way. Ready actions have to be declared after finishing a turn but before taking the next. But controlling your mount takes a move action. Therefore, your move action to control the mount would negate any ready action you had declared.


daeruin wrote:
noretoc wrote:


This is something I wondered about also. If I ready an an action to attack as soon as in melee range with a sword, and my horse has spring attack. The horse moves in, I attack when close enough, because with a ready, I can even interrupt another's turn, and my horse attacks, then moves back, neither of us provoke from movement? Does that sound right?
You cannot use ready actions in mounted combat this way. Ready actions have to be declared after finishing a turn but before taking the next. But controlling your mount takes a move action. Therefore, your move action to control the mount would negate any ready action you had declared.

Ready does not work like that at all.

PRD wrote:

Ready

The ready action lets you prepare to take an action later, after your turn is over but before your next one has begun. Readying is a standard action. It does not provoke an attack of opportunity (though the action that you ready might do so).

Readying an Action: You can ready a standard action, a move action, a swift action, or a free action. To do so, specify the action you will take and the conditions under which you will take it. Then, anytime before your next action, you may take the readied action in response to that condition. The action occurs just before the action that triggers it. If the triggered action is part of another character's activities, you interrupt the other character. Assuming he is still capable of doing so, he continues his actions once you complete your readied action. Your initiative result changes. For the rest of the encounter, your initiative result is the count on which you took the readied action, and you act immediately ahead of the character whose action triggered your readied action.

You can take a 5-foot step as part of your readied action, but only if you don't otherwise move any distance during the round.

Readying an action is a standard action. You do this during you turn (you can't take standard actions outside of your turn.

You can take other actions during your turn and still ready an action. You can even ready an action, then take other actions.

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