Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: You can increase the reach of your melee attacks by 5 feet until the end of your turn by taking a –2 penalty to your AC until your next turn. You must decide to use this ability before any attacks are made.
1) You are a level 6th fighter and Enemy A is 15+ feet away and you.
2) You are using a Longsword (5-foot reach).
3) You declare a readied action to attack them with then get to within 10-feet of you.
4) You have not moved this round.
5) Enemy B attacks you.
6) Opponent moves towards you and is now at 10-feet from you triggering your readied action.
7) You declare you are using Lundge.
8) You make 2 attacks at 10-feet.
9) You take a 5-foot step back.
10) Your turn is over and now your reach is at back to 5-feet.
11) Opponent is now at 5-feet and attacks you.
My question is, when do you declare take the AC for using Lunge? At step #3 (where Enemy B attacks you with -2 AC) or at step #8 when you actually take your attacks.
NOTE: I already know that Lunge returns your reach back to normal at the end of your turn, that's why you don't get an AoO when the Enemy A moves from 10-feet to 5-feet.
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I'd say the -2 AC penalty is applied the moment you declare your readied action to use Lunge - without Lunge you aren't even *able* to attack that square, so in order for your readied action to trigger, you must activate Lunge (of which the AC penalty is a part).
8) You make 2 attacks at 10-feet.
Not that it matters for your question, but how'd you make two attacks with a readied action?
Maybe his BAB was +6 or higher... that is what I assumed, because he mentions that he is a 6th level fighter... that doesn't work though because you can't ready a full attack (or any other full round action).
I would say the -2 AC kicks in when the fighter actually takes his attacks and lasts until the start of the fighters next turn.
You cannot ready a full round action, so at best the fighter could get 1 attack as a standard action, and they cannot take a 5 foot step back afterwards.
If the other guy tried to move through the fighters threatened area, the fighter may get an AoO, but that would happen after the fighter's turn was complete.
To use a readied action, you must declare everything when you ready the action. "I am going to use lunge to attack the first enemy who comes within 10 feet". Then, the player gets to do that if the condition happens. If no one comes within 10 feet, you get to twiddle you thumbs for a round. Finally, taking a readied action reset your initiative to just before the person how triggers the readied action.
So in your example.
Fighter is at initiative 20. Bad guy is at initiative 15.
Init 20:Fighter declares a lunge readied attack.
Init 15:Bad Guy moves in on fighter. Fighter take a single attack, fighter's turn is over. Now the bad guy finishes his turn. BG continues forward, and provokes an AoO from the fighter from moving through a threatened square. Bad guy attacks fighter.
Turn ends, start turn 2.
Init 15.5: Lunge penalty ends, fighter take a turn normally.
Init 15.0: Bad guy takes a normal turn.
I would say the -2 AC kicks in when the fighter actually takes his attacks and lasts until the start of the fighters next turn.
This is how I would rule it as well.. The combination of the name and the effect make me think the idea is that you reach so far that you throw yourself off balance, hence the AC penalty. Planning to reach (ie, readying the action) won't throw you off balance, so the AC penalty wouldn't kick in until the attack was actually taken. At least at my table. :p