Full Defense, stand up and 5 foot step

[Baronjett]

We had the core rule book on PDF and a brief slow down in our game over the weekend over this situation.

Full defense is a standard action, standing up is a move equivalent action, and then you take your free 5 foot step.

Could someone please reference the passage on the current edition that allows this?

Thank you!

Baron Jett

[Morgen]

Call in the Combat Chapter:

Total Defense is a standard action. I don't know what Full Defense is but that's probably what your talking about.

Stand up from prone is a move action.

Take 5-Foot Step: You can move 5 feet in any round when you don't perform any other kind of movement.

[Gauss]

You will find no rules to enable this because none are required. Each is an individual action that has it's own criteria.

Can you take Total Defense as a standard action? Yes

CRB p186 Total Defense wrote:

You can defend yourself as a standard action. You get a +4 dodge bonus to your AC for 1 round. Your AC improves at the start of this action. You can’t combine total defense with fighting defensively or with the benefit of the Combat Expertise feat. You can’t make attacks of opportunity while using total defense.

Nothing in there about not being able to use it while prone. In fact, being prone has nothing to do with benefiting from dodge bonuses.

Can you stand up from Prone with a move action? Yes

CRB p187 Stand Up wrote:

Standing up from a prone position requires a move action and provokes attacks of opportunity.

Can you take a 5' step if you have not moved any distance? Yes

Does standing up count as a moving any distance? No. Your starting position has not changed. Measure the distance from the square you started in to the square you are currently in. If the distance is zero then you have not moved even if you change positions.

CRB p189 wrote:

You can move 5 feet in any round when you don’t perform any other kind of movement. Taking this 5-foot step never provokes an attack of opportunity. You can’t take more than one 5-foot step in a round, and you can’t take a 5-foot step in the same round that you move any distance. You can take a 5-foot step before, during, or after your other actions in the round.

You can only take a 5-foot-step if your movement isn’t hampered by difficult terrain or darkness. Any creature with a speed of 5 feet or less can’t take a 5-foot step, since moving even 5 feet requires a move action for such a slow creature.

You may not take a 5-foot step using a form of movement for which you do not have a listed speed.

Using Total Defense before standing up is a pretty normal tactic for someone in a bad situation while prone.

[Nefreet]

Since everyone's already provided the appropriate quotes, I'll just second them. You can absolutely use Total Defense while Prone and take a 5 foot step after standing from Prone.

I think where people get hung up the most is the 5 foot step part. Thinking in real world terms, it would seem that "standing up" would equate to "moving distance", but in the game rules this is not the case.

A prone character occupies the same 5 foot "cube" of space that they would be if they were standing (or flying). Leaving that space is what Pathfinder considers "movement".

[Ascalaphus]

People sometimes get hung up on the difference between moving and move action. For 5ft-step purposes, look only at the former.