Does this feat prevent the -2 penalty I would suffer with a composite long bow if I was within close range of the target? Or what does this feat do exactly?
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Does this feat prevent the -2 penalty I would suffer if I was within close range of the target? Or what does this feat do exactly?
Okay, here's the actual feat:
Source Core Rulebook pg. 145 1.1Fighter
Archetype Archer*
* This archetype offers Assisting Shot at a different level than displayed here.
With a quick shot, you interfere with a foe in combat. You can use the Aid action with a ranged weapon you wield. Instead of being within reach of the target, you must be within maximum range of the target. An Assisting Shot uses ammunition and incurs penalties just like any other attack.
The text states you can use the Aid reaction with your ranged weapon, potentially granting an ally a Circumstance bonus on their attack.
Core Rulebook pg. 470 1.1 Trigger An ally is about to use an action that requires a skill check or attack roll.Source
Requirements The ally is willing to accept your aid, and you have prepared to help (see below).You try to help your ally with a task. To use this reaction, you must first prepare to help, usually by using an action during your turn. You must explain to the GM exactly how you’re trying to help, and they determine whether you can Aid your ally.
When you use your Aid reaction, attempt a skill check or attack roll of a type decided by the GM. The typical DC is 20, but the GM might adjust this DC for particularly hard or easy tasks. The GM can add any relevant traits to your preparatory action or to your Aid reaction depending on the situation, or even allow you to Aid checks other than skill checks and attack rolls.
Critical Success You grant your ally a +2 circumstance bonus to the triggering check. If you’re a master with the check you attempted, the bonus is +3, and if you’re legendary, it’s +4.
Success You grant your ally a +1 circumstance bonus to the triggering check.
Critical Failure Your ally takes a –1 circumstance penalty to the triggering check.
So, I'm guessing you'd spend one of your actions this round, and then you can use your reaction later on to aid one attack from an ally.
Note that you still take any relevant attack penalties on your Aid check, such as the Volley penalty but not your MAP (since it is no longer your turn).
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Just Aid.
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This feat may be a relic of the playtest however, as nowhere in the aid rules does it say anything about needing to be within reach of a foe.
Originally the aid rules required you to be within melee reach, they were then updated to what they are now and this feat was left unchanged.
RAW this feat is only a penalty as it restricts you to your first range increment.
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What type of actions can be used effectively to Aid what other type of actions is pretty much entirely up to GM discretion. The GMG does advise usually requiring people to be adjacent to Aid most things, though.
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Can someone write out an example chain of events where someone uses this feat?Archer's Turn: Strides to a good spot to fire from, Strikes a target with their bow (which they've had drawn since before the encounter started), and for their third action they set up Assisting Shot.
Ally's Turn: Stride into melee, Strike - but we pause that for a second because the Archer's Reaction happens, so they roll an attack roll with their bow and use the result to determine the effects of Aid - apply any Aid modifier from the Archer, then let's say Raise a Shield to round out their actions.
Thanks for the breakdown!
What about the penalties?If the archer used their third action to set up Assisting Shot, but it's actually a "placeholder" for the archer's second attack, does that mean that the Assisting Shot will unravel with a -5 penalty at their Ally's turn?
If the archer attacked twice already (strike-strike-setup instead of stride-strike-setup from your example), would that place the Assisting Shot at -10 penalty?
Would it even be possible for the archer to set up the Assisting Shot with anything _but_ their final action? Could you theoretically strike-setup-stride or even strike-setup-strike? And would that mean that your second strike during your turn is taken at -10 penalty, but your Assisting Shot during your ally's turn will be taken at -5?
Thanks in advance, all of this is much more complicated than the very terse feat description might insinuate.
Unless your GM is taking the GMG advice on adjudicating the Aid action where it says "Similarly, a character usually needs to be next to their ally or a foe to Aid the ally in attacking the foe" on page 13.
Or here on AoN
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If the archer used their third action to set up Assisting Shot, but it's actually a "placeholder" for the archer's second attack, does that mean that the Assisting Shot will unravel with a -5 penalty at their Ally's turn?Multi-Attack Penalty only applies within your turn unless explicitly stated otherwise (as is the case with Readied attacks, but not with Aid attacks) - so no, the number of attacks the archer made on their turn before setting up to aid is not relevant to what their modifier for the Aid roll will be.
The modifiers that would apply are things like the volley trait, range increment penalties, penalties from any conditions the archer is under such as frightened or clumsy, or those caused by the environment (which I don't have specific examples of off the top of my head because I can't remember if things like strong wind affect attacks in this edition or not).
Would it even be possible for the archer to set up the Assisting Shot with anything _but_ their final action?Yes, the order of actions doesn't particularly matter, it's effectively just a 1-action surcharge to gain access to the Aid reaction.
Though I do have to say at this point I am leaning toward agreement with Djinn71 that this feat isn't actually necessary in order to Aid with a ranged attack according to RAW because nothing in the Aid rules states or implies a positional limitation beyond "You must explain to the GM exactly how you’re trying to help, and they determine whether you can Aid your ally." so you could Aid an ally's attack with a ranged attack just as well as you could Aid their attack by shining a bright light in their eyes (or any other distant, but definitely distracting, thing you could describe).
Thanks for the clarification!
Yeah, I must constantly remind myself that the Assisting Shot never actually deals damage, although, as mrspaghetti pointed out, it would make all the sense in the world to distract an enemy by shooting them. An arrow in the shaft of their warhammer would certainly be distracting, but not as distracting as an arrow in their shoulder. :)But yeah, that would open a whole new can of worms and probably be too powerful, cause you could then have more than one attack per round at no penalty, ideally, and the feat is not really designed to do that.
I think I get it now, and I still feel like it's a feat worth taking. It might lend itself to some interesting situations on the battlefield.
Since you have turn orders, you don't distract by shooting someone and then x amount of time later your friend attacks. You aid at range by aiming your shot and putting an arrow by someone's head just as your friends weapon comes in for a hit.
I think they assumed aid would require you to be adjacent as how can you use athletics to help someone climb or thievery to pick a lock if you aren't right there physically helping them, likely one of those things they got so used to they forgot to clarify when they changed it.
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Now I want to shoot arrows into a wall for hand holds, to aid in climbing.
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I would note that the rules text of this feat has changed drastically somewhere in the last two and a half years.
This is what was quoted as the rule from way back in the day.
Okay, here's the actual feat:
Source Core Rulebook pg. 145 1.1Fighter
Archetype Archer*
* This archetype offers Assisting Shot at a different level than displayed here.
With a quick shot, you interfere with a foe in combat. You can use the Aid action with a ranged weapon you wield. Instead of being within reach of the target, you must be within maximum range of the target. An Assisting Shot uses ammunition and incurs penalties just like any other attack.
Currently it no longer even references Aid at all.
With a quick shot, you interfere with a foe in combat. Make a Strike with a ranged weapon. If the Strike hits, the next creature other than you to attack the same target before the start of your next turn gains a +1 circumstance bonus to their roll, or a +2 circumstance bonus if your Strike was a critical hit.
So you make a normal Strike as a subordinate action. Using ammunition and dealing damage as normal for a ranged Strike.
Additionally, and with no additional action cost or rolling of anything, if your Strike hits or critically hits, then your next ally to attack that target gains a circumstance bonus to the attack.