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i was introduced to an oddity at gen con, someone who claimed that a magus can deliver his spell with a trip attack, or with an aid another action. this was partially comparing builds/odd rules known. so i didn't have to rule on it or see it ruled on either way.
by the wording, the CMB check and Aid Another are 'attack rolls'. in a home game i don't see this working. But i'm just wondering, Should it work? does it work RAW? it certainly doesn't feel RAI.
delivering it with aid another, I would rule no. Your not really attacking so much as helping to make it easier for someone to hit (be it distracting motions, or whatever.) I don't think RAW mentions ANYWHERE that you get to do damage to someone as well on aid another, or we'd have everyone hitting enemies and giving their buds +2 to hit or -2 AC to enemies (or whatever it is.)
Trip, with a weapon, maybe, but I'm not sure.
Aid other is an attack against ac 10. Aid other says nothing about actually touching the target. So, If you don't touch the target you can't discharge a spell. As far as trip goes, I would say yes, conditionally. Because you are touching the target therefor the spell would discharge even if you didn't want it to, if using your arms or legs. As far as using a weapon tho (other than a weapons with trip) I would say no because the weapon isn't actually charged the spell is just held. "Trip: You can use a trip weapon to make trip attacks. If you are tripped during your own trip attempt, you can drop the weapon to avoid being tripped."
Since trip is an attack (even tho it uses cmb (witch does have attack bonus)) it would count for spell strike since" 2nd level, whenever a magus casts a spell with a range of “touch” from the magus spell list, he can deliver the spell through any weapon he is wielding as part of a melee attack." Question would be does a trip attack count as a melee attack... it is in melee and it is an attack.
Here's what is listed from the reference document of the Core Rulebook
Touch Spells in Combat: Many spells have a range of touch. To use these spells, you cast the spell and then touch the subject. In the same round that you cast the spell, you may also touch (or attempt to touch) as a free action. You may take your move before casting the spell, after touching the target, or between casting the spell and touching the target. You can automatically touch one friend or use the spell on yourself, but to touch an opponent, you must succeed on an attack roll.
Touch Attacks: Touching an opponent with a touch spell is considered to be an armed attack and therefore does not provoke attacks of opportunity. The act of casting a spell, however, does provoke an attack of opportunity. Touch attacks come in two types: melee touch attacks and ranged touch attacks. You can score critical hits with either type of attack as long as the spell deals damage. Your opponent's AC against a touch attack does not include any armor bonus, shield bonus, or natural armor bonus. His size modifier, Dexterity modifier, and deflection bonus (if any) all apply normally.
Holding the Charge: If you don't discharge the spell in the round when you cast the spell, you can hold the charge indefinitely. You can continue to make touch attacks round after round. If you touch anything or anyone while holding a charge, even unintentionally, the spell discharges. If you cast another spell, the touch spell dissipates. You can touch one friend as a standard action or up to six friends as a full-round action. Alternatively, you may make a normal unarmed attack (or an attack with a natural weapon) while holding a charge. In this case, you aren't considered armed and you provoke attacks of opportunity as normal for the attack. If your unarmed attack or natural weapon attack normally doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity, neither does this attack. If the attack hits, you deal normal damage for your unarmed attack or natural weapon and the spell discharges. If the attack misses, you are still holding the charge.
Ranged Touch Spells in Combat: Some spells allow you to make a ranged touch attack as part of the casting of the spell. These attacks are made as part of the spell and do not require a separate action. Ranged touch attacks provoke an attack of opportunity, even if the spell that causes the attacks was cast defensively. Unless otherwise noted, ranged touch attacks cannot be held until a later turn.
If the Magus makes a successful Combat Maneuver attempt with a spell stored onto the weapon, the spell does discharge; but if he fails, the spell should otherwise still be stored on the weapon. (Or is it, since the rules of CMB and CMD aren't based on hitting and missing? I'd think that if the Magus failed the CMB roll, he'd have to roll for the touch spell to see if it even touched the creature, and if he failed, the spell would still be on the weapon.)
As far as aiding another is concerned, that's just a bunch of hooey. The Aid Another is a standard action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity; even while used during combat, the character aiding is not making any sort of attack action or other action that makes physical contact with the creature.
so, sound like the answer is No for aid other and yes for trips. But can a cmb be used in place of the free attack granted from spell strike or does the magus have to hold the spell and attempt the trip on the next round?
No for Aid Another because it's a standard action, not an Attack Action or Action that has the character make physical contact with the creature. (I could argue that the Aid Another action would have the spell instead discharge on the target the Magus is aiding, but it is subjective and dependent upon what kind of Aid action it is.)
Plausibly for Combat Maneuvers; if the Combat Maneuver is at a Range, then the Magus cannot discharge the spell (and if it's a spell, the one stored in the weapon is lost), if it is a melee attempt at a trip, then it depends on if the Magus is successful with the CMB roll. If he succeeds, only the spell deals damage. If he fails, he should have to make a touch attack roll to see if he even made physical contact with the creature. If he affects the touch AC of that creature, then the spell discharges.
As far as the Spell Strike is concerned, this might help:
When performing a combat maneuver, you must use an action appropriate to the maneuver you are attempting to perform. While many combat maneuvers can be performed as part of an attack action, full-attack action, or attack of opportunity (in place of a melee attack), others require a specific action. Unless otherwise noted, performing a combat maneuver provokes an attack of opportunity from the target of the maneuver. If you are hit by the target, you take the damage normally and apply that amount as a penalty to the attack roll to perform the maneuver.
With what is stated with Spellstrike, I personally don't see why not, since it is an attack option. One can argue as per RAW that it must be from what is listed in order for it to work, but again, realistically I would rule it can be done (since it's still a type of attack action).
Bear in mind that even if the Magus wants to make a Trip Attempt, he will provoke an attack of opportunity unless he takes the Improved Trip feat, and penalties on successful hits from said attack do apply accordingly to the attempt.
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playing devils advocate on the Aid Another, you and your ally have to be threatening the target to aid another, you're making swipes and slashes.
. Instead of the free melee touch attack normally allowed to deliver the spell, a magus can make one free melee attack with his weapon (at his highest base attack bonus) as part of casting this spell. If successful, this melee attack deals its normal damage as well as the effects of the spell.
an aid another check is a melee attack roll.
it just doesn't deal damage. so its normal damage is 0, and the effects of the spell would be discharged.
playing devils advocate on the Aid Another, you and your ally have to be threatening the target to aid another, you're making swipes and slashes.
. Instead of the free melee touch attack normally allowed to deliver the spell, a magus can make one free melee attack with his weapon (at his highest base attack bonus) as part of casting this spell. If successful, this melee attack deals its normal damage as well as the effects of the spell.an aid another check is a melee attack roll.
it just doesn't deal damage. so its normal damage is 0, and the effects of the spell would be discharged.
You need to be threatening them, at no point are you actually hitting them technically, you could be standing there growling and waving your weapon around to distract them. Heck the AC to hit a square is 10, for all that it matters you are poking around haphazardly in the square to limit where the opponent can go not actually attempting any real contact with the opponent.
Yes it is an attack roll, so we can determine what to add to the roll, yes you need to be threatening an opponent to use it. No actual contact is stated to be made in regards to a real attack, not to mention it completely bypasses the various defenses against an attack (as if touch attacks weren't easy enough to make, you think making it a flat 10 roll is a good idea?), while giving a bonus to someone else. Pretty sure we're getting way outside of RAI and heading into "broken" territory to boot.
Here's a FAQ Request thread for Combat Maneuvers and Held Charges if anyone feels like contributing.