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Hi all,
Question, short version: Can the Sidestep feat (APG) be used more than once per round?
Long version: One of my players is consistently using the Sidestep feat with success, repositioning himself to flank enemies and get out of reach when fighting 3-4 enemies. In those cases, it's not clear if the feat can be used more than once per round. Allow me to quote the Sidestep feat on the PRD:
Note the wording on the trigger: whenever. Does this mean that a TWF missing twice allows for two immediate 5-foot movements? Shall I, as the GM, bastardly optimize the order of my attacking monsters as to impede the player's movement?
Because, if the feat can be used more than once per round, we can desing a stupidly efficient means of mass transit with this. I shall name this the Goblin Sidestepping Train:
* Get a few thousand goblins. Strip them of their dogslicers and chain then to the ground in two parallel rows, leaving room inside for the "carriage".
* Get a mount with the sidestep feat. Yeah, it takes three feat slots, so get a ranger companion animal or whatever. Somehow pump its AC up to 20 add DR 1/- to it, with adamantine barding maybe.
* Position the mount between the two rows of goblins and...
* ... let the mount be attacked by the first bare-handed goblin. 19 times out of 20 it will sidestep their attack, advancing 5 feet. The remaining 1 time out of 20, the goblin in the other row will make an attack.
* Rinse, lather, repeat. The sidestepping mount will keep sidestepping until all adjacent goblins miss their attacks. This can easily happen once every 20^6 times, or even once every 20^8 times.
In other words, one can expect the train to travel a billion feet per round until all adjacent goblins miss. That's 31 million kilometers (or 19 million miles) per round, folks. Which is one hundred times faster than the speed of light.
I don't have any problem allowing my PCs to sidestep more than once per round, but I do have a problem with feats that can be used to turn goblins into particle accelerators.
Your thoughts?
Immediate Action:
Much like a swift action, an immediate action consumes a very small amount of time but represents a larger expenditure of effort and energy than a free action. However, unlike a swift action, an immediate action can be performed at any time—even if it's not your turn. Casting feather fall is an immediate action, since the spell can be cast at any time.
Using an immediate action on your turn is the same as using a swift action and counts as your swift action for that turn. You cannot use another immediate action or a swift action until after your next turn if you have used an immediate action when it is not currently your turn (effectively, using an immediate action before your turn is equivalent to using your swift action for the coming turn). You also cannot use an immediate action if you are flat-footed.
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So he can only do it once. Also he can't do a swift and immediate action in the same round.
Only usable once per round
Immediate Actions
Much like a swift action, an immediate action consumes a very small amount of time but represents a larger expenditure of effort and energy than a free action. However, unlike a swift action, an immediate action can be performed at any time—even if it's not your turn. Casting feather fall is an immediate action, since the spell can be cast at any time.
Using an immediate action on your turn is the same as using a swift action and counts as your swift action for that turn. You cannot use another immediate action or a swift action until after your next turn if you have used an immediate action when it is not currently your turn (effectively, using an immediate action before your turn is equivalent to using your swift action for the coming turn). You also cannot use an immediate action if you are flat-footed.
What they said!
No. The definition of an Immediate Action according to RAW is that it operates like a Swift Action, except that it can be used at any point during the round, assuming the action follows the other guidelines/proxy's required for it to be functionable.
Yes, the character who has Sidestep can make a 5 foot step after a creature misses an attack, but can only do this once a round as the Sidestep option is an Immediate Action, which going by definition, operates as once per round regardless.
Though, this also throws a crutch as to the viability of the Step Up and Strike set of feats, as this means that the character can only make one Attack of Opportunity from that feat per round (actually, two if they continue moving, though the character with the feats does not follow them afterward), as I also remember during a session with PVP characters, that a character that had those set of Feats read it as "They move, I move with them, and get a free swing," when the RAW actually dictates that they can only move once for that immediate action.
The worst part is the "DM" allowed that to happen (though it was still questionable, there was no evidence to disprove that it can happen); I'll just need to keep that in mind if such a thing happens in another PVP session, or otherwise.