Snake style and sense motive

[Carnil Amlach]

Hi all
I have a question about monk's snake skyle feat.

If I use this feat and I spend an immediate action for the Sense motive check, I'm forced to use the roll result or i can choose if use my the roll or my original AC?

Text say "can", so seems possible a choice AFTER the roll, but seem a little over-power for a 3 lv pc. Anyway i'm not an English motherlanguage, so there can be some "inflexion" i can't understand...

Example:
Alpha, monk 3 lv, has 18 AC and SenseMotive 10.
An enemy Warrior want attack Alpha.
Alpha uses the Sense motive check, and roll 3, for 13 (3+10) total.
Alpha's AC is 13 or he can choose to retain 18?

Thanks in advance.

Snake Style (Combat, Style)
You watch your foe’s every movement and then punch
through its defense.
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Acrobatics 1
rank, Sense Motive 3 ranks.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on Sense Motive checks,
and you can deal piercing damage with your unarmed
strikes. While using the Snake Style feat, when an
opponent targets you with a melee or ranged attack, you
can spend an immediate action to make a Sense Motive
check. You can use the result as your AC or touch AC
against that attack. You must be aware of the attack and
not f lat-footed.
Normal: An unarmed strike deals bludgeoning damage.

[Jader7777]

From reading, it replaces your AC score without the option to 'take back' your role. Might want to wait until your sense motive is equal to you AC before using it.

[Blake's Tiger]

Because of the wording, it will require GM adjucation, but I would argue that it can't lower your AC. If true, then the "can" is sequential (I choose to make the check and then I choose to use the result or not) and not parallel (I choose to make the check and must use the results, even if worse, which is a common phrasing in feats so it's absence is also telling).

[DrakeRoberts]

The first 'can' implies choice to roll or not. The second 'can' is a different choice. It is unclear if the choice is to use it or not OR to use it for AC or touch AC; if the former, you'te fine, if the latter than you can always replace the type of AC not being targeted by the attack. In effect, either interpretation gives the same result: first you get to choose whether or not to spend the action and roll, and then after the roll, you get to choose whether or not it will apply (instead of your normal AC rating) to the attack.

[Mathmuse]

The Pathfinder rulebooks use "can" as a synonym for "may." This is not proper English, but they do it regardless. If an effect says "can," it is optional. Thus, for Snake Style, the player can make the Sense Motive roll and, after seeing the result, may chose to use ordinary AC instead.

Snake Style is not overpowered. It costs an immediate action, which limits it to once per round and prevents activating 4th-level ki pool abilities as a swift action next turn.

The hypothetical monk Alpha with AC 18 and a +10 bonus to Sense Motive, would roll an average of 20.5 on a Sense Motive check. If we replaced every result below 18 with a 18, the adjusted average would be 21.9. An average increase of +1.4 once per round is minor. For a monk with higher AC, the adjusted average would look better, but Snake Style would be less useful since the monk could rely on AC alone.

[dragonhunterq]

Agreed with Mathmmuse.
can =/= must

[Carnil Amlach]

Ok, thank a lot! :)