Ride by attack and movement

[Elthbert]

Question in short.

Bob the knight has a lance and ride by attack. He charges omarthe unlucky who is caught flatfooted.

Bob moves towards him and attacks when he is still 10 feet out (reach) and then keeps moving forward OVER Omar (this would be an overrun or trample) out to double his movement?

OR

Does Bob move along a path adjacent to Omar, reach out and touch him with his lance (easily done since the lance has reach he could do this from multiple squares away) and then keep moving.

I understand tha t the charge rules do not support number 2 all that well, but I don't see how ride by attack can work without trampling the enemy otherwise.

IF number 2 is correct couldn't Bob simply charge near the opponants and pick anyone he wanted within range to poke at?

[Elthbert]

Hello?

[Maezer]

By RAW, ride by attack doesn't work well. You move toward the closest point at which you can attack the target from in an unobstructed line. You make your attack. You may continue your movement along the same line until you hit an obstruction or run out of movement. In the majority of cases you run into your target and are forced to stop in front of him.

There is a feat 'Wheeling Charge' which allows you to make a turn while charging that makes ride-by attack vastly more useable.

That said I have seen a wide variety of house rules regarding ride-by attack, so I'd ask your GM how/if it works in his game. Often you get something closer to fly-by attack from the bestiary or at least the elimination of the charge requirement of going to the nearest square you can attack from.

[Elthbert]

Maezer wrote:

By RAW, ride by attack doesn't work well. You move toward the closest point at which you can attack the target from in an unobstructed line. You make your attack. You may continue your movement along the same line until you hit an obstruction or run out of movement. In the majority of cases you run into your target and are forced to stop in front of him.

There is a feat 'Wheeling Charge' which allows you to make a turn while charging that makes ride-by attack vastly more useable.

That said I have seen a wide variety of house rules regarding ride-by attack, so I'd ask your GM how/if it works in his game. Often you get something closer to fly-by attack from the bestiary or at least the elimination of the charge requirement of going to the nearest square you can attack from.

Well I have been house rulling it for years (I actually thought this is one thing 3.0 did better than 3.5) but I was really hoping it was cleared up in Pathfinder, I find it has not been. By RAW this feat seems completely unusable.

[Trikk]

Remember that you determine range in this game by counting feet (squares) so the closest square can be one of three different squares in most situations. The first diagonal is 5 feet.

[Dessio]

And if you're doing a mounted charge, you should be doing it with a lance and thus with 10' reach. Even if you're not using a reach weapon, you can slide alongside him in a straight line- the feat lets you move through his threatened squares w/o provoking AoO.

[Elthbert]

Dessio wrote:

And if you're doing a mounted charge, you should be doing it with a lance and thus with 10' reach. Even if you're not using a reach weapon, you can slide alongside him in a straight line- the feat lets you move through his threatened squares w/o provoking AoO.

Exactly, but then you are not moving directly towards him.

I allow my players to literally ride-by the target, but that does not fit with the rules.

[Elthbert]

Does anyone else have some way of expaining how this works, a way that actually allows it to work and fits the rules, or does everyone just allow their players to actually ride by, carging in a square adjacent to the target?

[Elthbert]

No one? So it really is just a boned rule?

[BigNorseWolf]

Yes, the rules are boned on this one. One of the devs admited it. Basically toss out the rules and as long as the guy moves in a strait line and lances someone on the way through let them go for it.

[Elthbert]

BigNorseWolf wrote:

Yes, the rules are boned on this one. One of the devs admited it. Basically toss out the rules and as long as the guy moves in a strait line and lances someone on the way through let them go for it.

Thank you, will do.