Osirion: Land of Pharaohs has a feat called Serpent's Lash. One of the players in my low level game selected it for her Magus. The extra attack from Serpent's Lash combined with the fact that she was able to do lethal damage to armored foes with a whip (due to having a scorpion whip) caused quite a stir, and some of the other players objected that she must be reading the rules wrong. Below (in the spoiler) are the rules as written. I'm hoping that somebody can help us determine how this feat is supposed to work.
You are skilled at using rapid lashes of your whip to snatch at targets and draw them to you.
Prerequisites: Weapon Finesse, proficient in whip.
Benefit: When you successfully trip a creature with your whip, you get an immediate extra attack with the whip against another opponent. You cannot take a 5-foot step before making this extra attack. The extra attack is at the same bonus as the attack that tripped the previous creature. You can use this ability once per round.
You may use a whip to pull an opponent closer to you. Make a trip attack as normal. If you win, you pull the target 5 feet closer to you; as a move action you can pull the target even closer (an additional 5 feet for each 5 points by which your CMB check result exceeds the target’s CMD). The moving defender provokes attacks of opportunity. If your attack fails by 10 or more, you are tripped instead; you may drop the whip to avoid being tripped.
You can use this ability to attempt to snatch an object with your whip and pull it toward yourself. If the object is in the possession of another creature, make a disarm check. If successful, the item is on the ground in the target’s square (the normal result). If you beat their CMD by 5 or more, the item is on the ground in your square. If you beat their CMD by 10 or more and you have a free hand, you may automatically catch the item when it enters your square before it lands on the ground.
Key questions:
1 - Is the "extra attack" you get a regular attack or just a trip?
1b - Is the "extra attack" against the same creature you tripped or somebody different? The rules clearly say that it is "against another opponent", but Jason Nelson seemed to imply in another thread that maybe this was a misprint and the "extra attack" was just to let you drag the tripped foe closer.
2 - If you "make a trip attack as normal" to pull a foe 5 feet closer to you does the opponent also get tripped? In other words, is the 5 foot drag something you add onto a normal trip if desired, or does it replace the trip with something more like a drag attack, only using your trip bonuses?
2b - If pulling foes closer does actually trip them would it also trigger the "extra attack" for tripping a foe? I think that would be a no brainer, but one player feels that if a feat gives you multiple options only one of them should be usable in a given round. I've never heard of that rule before but figure I might as well ask.
3 - Based on Archives of Nethys, it looks like this feat is legal for Pathfinder Society play. Does anybody know how this feat is adjudicated in PFS?
How I would rule as a DM:
1) It is an extra attack with the whip, which may be made as a trip attempt.
1b) As written, it suggests it must be a separate opponent. I would rule you can use it against any target your whip can reach from your current position.
2 and 2b) I could go one of two ways: either the drag replaces the trip, or the opponent gets tripped, but dragging them closer consumes the extra attack.
Disclosure: I'm the player with the feat.
How I would rule as a DM:
1) It is an extra attack with the whip, which may be made as a trip attempt.
Agreed. In the game yesterday, I was using them as standard attacks only because it was easier to hit those monsters' ACs than CMDs, but standard melee attacks can be replaced by trips, as per the trip rules.
1b) As written, it suggests it must be a separate opponent. I would rule you can use it against any target your whip can reach from your current position.
Yes. The feat specifically says that you can't take a 5' step between the attacks.
2 and 2b) I could go one of two ways: either the drag replaces the trip, or the opponent gets tripped, but dragging them closer consumes the extra attack.
When reading the feat, I read the line "Make a trip attack as normal" to mean that I'd make a normal trip attack with normal effect, then the rest of the feat may occur. (If there's room to drag them, if I don't mind pulling an enemy to where they can AOO me for using my weapon, etc.)
In the other thread, Jason Nelson seemed to be saying that the "extra attack" wasn't actually an attack but only a description of the second roll to drag the same opponent who'd already been tripped, so 2b would be a valid solution rules as intended, even though the rules as written say that the extra attack must target somebody else, and that it's a move action to drag them more than 5'.
Then again, he also said that if he were writing it now, the feat would allow you use a whip to make a drag or steal combat maneuver with a whip, without provoking AOOs (which you'd still do, since you were using a whip), probably with +2.
And, well... at that point I'd be spending four feats (plus getting whip proficiency in the first place, effectively five feats) to use a d4 weapon that doesn't threaten and provokes AOOs, to use a standard action (no spellstrike or spellcombat) to have a 50%-and-shrinking chance to do something slightly useful in certain situations (my opponent is surrounded by my melee allies but with room for me to drag them directly towards me), if my target has legs but not too many, isn't flying, noncorporeal, or too big. Meh... not too shiny.
James Nelson's response seems to indicate that Serpent Lash lets you trip and then drag the tripped opponent, nothing else.
My ruling, using the interpretation that dragging consumes the extra attack, could be summed up thusly: "When you trip an opponent with your whip, you may immediately make an extra attack against any opponent you can reach with the whip without taking a 5-ft. step, OR you may immediately drag that opponent 5 squares closer, +5 ft. for every 5 by which your CMB check exceeded their CMD; this movement provokes attacks of opportunity."
Might also rule that you can't chain trip attacks with it--you don't get another extra attack if you use the first extra attack as a successful trip.
It seems like the chained trips are already prohibited by "You can use this ability once per round".
It seems like the chained trips are already prohibited by "You can use this ability once per round".
It is worth noting, I believe, that the feat as written is designed for the 3.5 rules set specifically and not Pathfinder (although they are compatible of course). The feat has been updated for Pathfinder in the recent Rival Guide release.
Thanks to HalifaxDM for providing the answer. We hadn't noticed for some reason, but it turns out that the version of the feat from the Osirion book has been superseded by the one in the Rival Guide. It looks like using the feat is now a standard action and the "extra attack" can only be used to trip another foe.