Every extraordinary ability costs a standard action?


Rules Questions


For example, the Hunter´s Surprise, says nothing about which action uses to be activated.

Hunter’s Surprise (Ex)
Benefit: Once per day, a rogue with this talent can designate a single enemy she is adjacent to as her prey. Until the end of her next turn, she can add her sneak attack damage to all attacks made against her prey, even if she is not flanking it or it is not flat-footed.

Same thing with this other EX

Redirect Attack (Ex)
Prerequisite: Advanced talents

Benefit: Once per day, when a rogue with this talent is hit with a melee attack, she can redirect the attack to strike at an adjacent creature with a free action. The creature targeted must be within melee reach of the attack that hit the rogue, and the creature that made the attack against the rogue must make a new attack roll against the new target.

So, which type of action we must make to activacte those tow abilities above??


-in general-
Rules As Written(RAW) are in descriptive english with some paragraph hierarchy. You have to read the ability/feature description to see what is in context. Sometimes readers are overly pedantic, overparse the text, or don't read things in context.
Often reading the basics and opening paragraphs clarifies the later details that people take out of context.
The books are easier to read than the online PRD at archiveofnethys. d20pfsrd isn't official and has embedded commentary but it is easier to search.
RAW is not explicitly detailed. It does not use rigorous technical writing. It is not uniformly consistent. It is a Work of Art and a Game. A GM is required to smooth, balance, and clarify details.
Ignore chat about Rules As Intended(RAI) as it's just commentary.


basically you've gone awry by being overly pedantic and applying RAW out of context. I think you are worrying too much and focusing on one detail. Relax. Read paragraphs and the class again. Write down your questions and re-reading see if the description answers them.

Fly(Ex) does not take a standard action to activate as it describes a form of movement.
The rule about something taking a standard action is usually about activating Spell-like abilities(SLAs) or casting a spell or activating a magic item.

In the second part of your question RAW told you it was a free action. So reading the ability will clarify your questions.


Hunter's Surprise: standard action once per day.
Activate it, then until the end of your next turn, all your attacks against that target add sneak attack. So any Attacks of Opportunity before you next turn, and any attacks you take on your next turn against that creature.

Redirect attack: free action when hit with a melee attack once per day. It says it.


Pizza Lord wrote:

Hunter's Surprise: standard action once per day.

Activate it, then until the end of your next turn, all your attacks against that target add sneak attack. So any Attacks of Opportunity before you next turn, and any attacks you take on your next turn against that creature.

Redirect attack: free action when hit with a melee attack once per day. It says it.

Rogue Talents, yep


CRB Actions in Combat wrote:
Extraordinary Abilities (Ex): Using an extraordinary ability is usually not an action because most extraordinary abilities automatically happen in a reactive fashion. Those extraordinary abilities that are actions are usually standard actions that cannot be disrupted, do not require concentration, and do not provoke attacks of opportunity.

"hunter's surprise" seems to lack an obvious action type, but I think it is most likely a standard action, since it is not something happen automatically.


Hunter’s surprise is its own standard action.

The tricky ones are the ones that are done as part of some other action, “when performing a move” or “as part of an attack”. I think those are classed as “not an action” but never explicitly stated to be so.

Redirect attack is its own complication. It is triggered from “when… hit”, but uses a free action which you can’t normally use off turn but this is its own specific exception to that.


What is tricky about it as happykj pointed out most extraordinary abilities do not require any action. Redirect is a perfect example of this. Redirect action should have just left out mentioning a free action. But since it does redirect attack grants the rouge the ability to take the free action.

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