Holding Action For Flyby + Diagonal Fighting + Acrobatics From Prone

[TheScarletSpider]

Need some rules help to make sure I'm doing everything correctly as we progress, because sometimes I can't find these specific instances in the book.

1) My creature had Flyby, and could move, attack, and then move again where the party could not fight her (incorporeal; so they are through the wall now, for instance). I assume that, if the party held their action to attack when she appeared, they could then attack, but they'd have to call holding their action each time it was their turn.

2) Here is the setup.

Space / Wall / Creature / Wall
PC2 / No Wall / PC1 / Wall

PC2 went to attack it, because they said they could still reach it, even though the creature was surrounded by a wall on the left and right, and PC2 was in front of the creature, so they could attack diagonally to reach it.

3) Party is under a giant spider that knocked them prone. It is not grappling, pinning, or holding them in any way. They have to make an Acrobatics Check to roll out from under the spider, but does a Success mean they also automatically stand up once they roll out from under it?

[EvilMinion]

note: The action you're thinking of is 'readying an action'

1) that is fine... just note that Flyby attack does *not* prevent AoO's (unlike spring attack, which does)... so the creature would provoke for its movement, unless it had reach. Also, barring special abilities, the creature is effectively blind while inside a solid object... thus really should be moving at half speed during those periods.

2) You can certainly attack around hard corners like that, but the creature would get cover (+4 to its AC).

3) Being prone has severe limitations on what you can do and not provoke.
When using acrobatics to avoid provoking an AoO while prone:

Acrobatics Skill wrote:

You can use Acrobatics in this way while prone, but doing so requires a full-round action to move 5 feet, and the DC is increased by 5.

And of course, you're still prone at the end of it.

[Gary Bush]

Flagging to be moved to rules forum.

[TheScarletSpider]

Thanks. This was really helpful for the future of the game, and i'll have to remind my party about how Acrobatics works while prone (everything else is more me as the GM to remember).

The last thing I couldn't understand was Strength Checks when another party member sends someone a rope while they are prone.

4) The Wizard has failed his Acrobatics Check and fallen prone onto slopped and moving sand (not quicksand), and moves 10 feet every round toward the center every time he fails an Acrobatics Check. The Cavalier tosses him a rope (he's only 15 feet from the edge after his first Acrobatics Check failure). Now, the Wizard makes a Strength Check to hold onto the rope, while the Cavalier makes a Strength Check to pull him forward. I just had to invent Strength 10 for the Wizard to hold on, and Strength 15 for the Cavalier to lift his body, and he could pull him 10 feet forward each round.

5) Later, the same party was on a floor that was wet and cast with a Grease spell (I think that was the spell). They assumed they could just crawl at half speed without a check. Normal crawling is only 5 feet per round. But, I can't find anything about crawling through anything other than normal terrain, and 5 feet isn't made for being halved in speed except for this rule:

"Move 5 Feet through Difficult Terrain - In some situations, your movement may be so hampered that you don’t have sufficient speed even to move 5 feet (a single square). In such a case, you may spend a full-round action to move 5 feet (1 square) in any direction, even diagonally. Even though this looks like a 5-foot step, it’s not, and thus it provokes attacks of opportunity normally."

I assume they can just move 5 feet without having to crawl by using this method.

They also had to rescue the Wizard yet again with a rope and drag him on the slippery floor because he had horrible Acrobatics Checks.