Does the feat Step Up (and thus Step Up and Strike) trigger when an adjacent enemy takes a guarded step to another square that is also adjacent to me? (e.g. to use me as soft cover, and/or move to a flanking position)
I'd obviously like to have the option to use my reaction to negate the flanking / soft cover (and give 'em a whack with the strike feat), but the feat says 'away' and it's not clear that going from adjacent to adjacent meets that condition.
Step Up: "Whenever an adjacent foe attempts to take a guarded step away from you, you can also take a guarded step as a reaction as long as you end up adjacent to the foe that triggered this ability." (italic emphasis mine)
looks like a no. It might have been intended to not trigger aoos when someone steps towards you , but as written a lateral move from 5 feet away to 5 feet away isn't away from you.
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I think it's quite clear that "away" doesn't mean lateral movement. It means movement away from you. If it's not increasing the distance between them and you, it's not "away".
For what it's worth, I find the feat quite useful for ensuring enemies don't walk out of my full attack zone. And step up and strike is usually worth a few extra AoOs every adventure.
Yeah, I would also agree that there isn't really any reason to consider the lateral step to be a trigger.