Separate triggers or just one?

[Heather 540]

I'd like a ruling on the feat combo Outflank, Paired Opportunist, and Butterfly's Sting.

With Outflank, when you crit, adjacent allies with Outflank get an AoO. If you both have Paired Opportunist, you get an AoO as well.

If you have Butterfly's Sting, when you crit, you can forgo the extra damage to give one ally a guaranteed crit on their next melee attack.

Would both attacks be considered a trigger for the AoO from Outflank? Or is it only a single trigger to be resolved on the ally's turn?

[Dave Justus]

Outflank requires you to 'score a critical hit'. Butteryfly Sting says you 'forgo the effect of the critical hit.'

I'm pretty sure that if you 'forgo the effect' you didn't 'score a critical'.

[Heather 540]

Ok. Just wanted to be sure.

[Zarius]

Teeeeeechnically, it gets weird here. Outflank requires you to score a crit, and would still go off if you were fighting, say, a Golem. The EFFECTS of a critical are burst enchantment damage (Flaming Burst, etc.) and the extra weapon damage. Outflank is not an effect of the critical hit, it activates when you confirm one. These are two very, very similar things in concept, but utterly different.

It'd be like having something that reacts to the sound of gunfire. It would still go off if you shot blanks.

Purely by RAW, yes, it would go off. You should check with your GM before you try to combine them, though, he may consider it OP to be able to auto-crit with some dude with a x4 Heavy Pick with like five Burst effects, by forgoing your own crit on a crit fisher with piddly squat for actual crit effects.

[toastedamphibian]

Actually flaming burst is a result of the enchantment. Even crit immunity wont prevent that fire damage.

[Zarius]

Mmmmmm. Fair enough. Given that the wording of it is similar to Outflank's, that makes me feel it should go off to, even if you forgo for Butterfly Sting.

[Heather 540]

What I have it in mind for is my Hunter and her Boar. I'm less crit fishing and more AoO generating with them. Outflank is the only thing that triggers on a crit, though I hope to be giving my Scimitar Keen soon so she's hitting crits on a 16.

My GM says I'm trying to break the game. He's not wrong. XD Thanks to my feats, spells, and items, my boar's max damage when full attacking can be as high as 16d6+1d8+31.