Sliding Axe Throw

[Dustin Knight]

Dwarves of Golarion p. 21 wrote:

Benefit: You can choose to take a –2 penalty on a ranged
attack roll with an axe, bouncing it or sliding it along the
ground. If the target is flat-footed, running, or charging,
this attack ignores any bonuses to the target’s AC from
its shield. If the attack hits, you may immediately make
a trip attempt against the target as a free action. If you
fail to trip your opponent, your opponent does not get an
attempt to trip you in return.

Do you get the trip attempt against any target of your "axe slide", or only targets who are running/flat-footed/charging?

Its a new sentence and a new "If/Then" statement...it can be easily argued that you get the trip against any target you hit, and you get to bypass the shield bonus of any running target...but you don't necessarily bypass the shield bonus of any target you hit the same way you don't necessarily trip a target whose shield bonus you bypassed (as you can miss them).

[Wonderstell]

The description does not state that the creature must be either "flat-footed, running or charging" for the free trip attempt, so you'll get that attempt against any target of your "axe slide".

The description is a little wonky, and it could have been written a little clearer. Writing it like this would have avoided confusion.

Sliding Axe Throw, easier version wrote:

Benefit: You can choose to take a –2 penalty on a ranged
attack roll with an axe, bouncing it or sliding it along the
ground. If the attack hits, you may immediately make a trip
attempt against the target as a free action. If you fail to
trip your opponent, your opponent does not get an attempt to
trip you in return.

This ability may not work in certain circumstances as determined
by the GM, such as if the ground is soft, there is an obstacle or
difficult terrain on the floor between you and your target, and so on.

Special: If the target is flat-footed, running, or charging, this attack
ignores any bonuses to the target’s AC from its shield.

*****

KitsuneWarlock wrote:

Its a new sentence and a new "If/Then" statement...it can be easily argued that you get the trip against any target you hit, and you get to bypass the shield bonus of any running target...but you don't necessarily bypass the shield bonus of any target you hit the same way you don't necessarily trip a target whose shield bonus you bypassed (as you can miss them).

I think your confusion comes from the term "Hit" in the feat description. In pathfinder terms, "Hit" doesn't mean simply touching/grazing your opponent when you're making an attack roll.

PRD; Combat; Attack Roll wrote:

An attack roll represents your attempt to strike your opponent on your turn in a round. When you make an attack roll, you roll a d20 and add your attack bonus. (Other modifiers may also apply to this roll.) If your result equals or beats the target's Armor Class, you hit and deal damage.

So "Hit" in the context of this feat would be "overcoming the target's Armor Class".

[Dustin Knight]

Thank you for your response. Thread has been favorited because I'm ninety percent sure I'll need it for a GM at some point in the future.