| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The text for Snagging Strike has always been a bit confusing, and it looks like the reprinted version in Player Core 1 is identical (aside from replacing "flat-footed" with "off-guard").
Here's the text of the feat, as a refresher:
"You combine an attack with quick grappling moves to throw an enemy off balance as long as it stays in your reach. Make a Strike while keeping one hand free. If this Strike hits, the target is flat-footed until the start of your next turn or until it's no longer within the reach of your hand, whichever comes first."
My point of confusion: what does "within the reach of your hand" mean here, exactly? I need to have a hand free to use Snagging Strike itself, of course, but what about afterwards? Is my hand now occupied, or does my target just need to stay within that hand's unarmed reach? Snagging Strike isn't a "real" grapple (i.e, it doesn't impose the Grabbed or Restrained conditions), but is the design intent that I'm keeping the target flat-footed with a loose grip, or just that my initial attack involved a quick pull on the arm or something and they're just off-balance until they take a few steps away from me?
I've searched several places online for an answer about this, and nobody else seems to be able to come to a consensus either. This is frustrating, because this seems like a fairly essential feat for a free-hand fighter build, and that's the exact build where knowing what your hands are being used for is important. For instance...
- • If I hit a target with Snagging Strike as my first action on a turn, can I then use other actions that require a free hand (such as Combat Grab or Dueling Parry) on the same turn while keeping the target flat-footed?
- • If I hit with Snagging Strike, then pick up an object with my free hand (such as a potion or a weapon), does the target remain flat-footed? What if I use the hand for some other Interact action (such as opening a door or reloading a weapon)?
- • Does using Snagging Strike end stances that require a free hand (such as Disarming Stance or Dueling Dance)?
If anyone has a definitive ruling on this feat, I'd like to hear it.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Looking over the feat, I'd say that your free hand just messes with the enemy, enough that as long as they're within reach of that hand they're off-guard. Your hand isn't occupied doing this. Think of it as quick grabs and releases, slaps, brushes, the occasional eyepoke attempt, and so on.
That said, I can imagine a GM requiring that the hand *stay* free to keep the nuisance going, and filling it would break the original requirement, just like climbing a tree would break Mountain Stance for a monk. I kind'a agree with that too. So to go with your examples ...
* Snagging Strike, then Combat Grab? Mwahahaha. Yes, the foe loses offguard from Snagging if Combat Grab hits. They then get offguard from being grabbed. Duelling Parry keeps the hand free in and of itself so no issue.
* Snagging, then Interact or Manipulate? Assuming you're not dropped from a reactive strike, I'd go with whether your hand is occupied afterwards. So drawing a weapon would end it, but reloading your hand crossbow wouldn't. (Why you're pistolwhipping someone with a hand crossbow to use Snagging Strike is another matter.) Note that I'd say raising a buckler WOULD break it.
* Snagging Strike wouldn't end stances that require a free hand, as it itself requires a free hand and doesn't fill it as such.
Of course, I could be wrong.