Gammadoodler
Hero
Restrained ConditionIf it's not difficult for you, help me out. Despite the glaring typo/contradiction:
- Your action options are listed for you, on the Player Reference Card (PRC). And they're on page 65 of the Hero's Handbook. And they're in your class description.
- Once you've corralled these options, each one gets special treatment based on its trait, which according to the PRC are Move, Manipulate, Concentrate, Secret, and Attack. Almost as many traits as there are PRC actions.
- When Restrained, you can't use the attack/manipulate trait-actions. Except to attempt to Escape (which is not a PRC action). So you can use Interact or Strike as long as you're attempting to Escape. Otherwise, no.
- The condition starts with "you can't move," but doesn't mention the Move Trait. It says that Interact and Strike are okay (as long as you're trying to Escape), so one might assume that other actions involving movement are okay too, as long as you're trying to escape. Which leaves:
- Drop Prone, Leap, and Stand don't have the attack or manipulate traits, nor do they involve movement (like Step and Stride explicitly do), so they must be viable options while Restrained.
So can I Leap to avoid a Bowling Ball of Doom while I'm restrained? Can I Interact with the Bowling Ball as long as it's part of my Escape attempt? Is there an "everything else" action, since my action list seems pretty restrictive, and can I use it to avoid the BBoD, or does it depend on what traits the Everything Else action has (or doesn't have)?
Notes that you have the flat-footed (penalty to AC) and immobilized (no actions with the Move trait) conditions
Escape action
"Escape" is a specific action in PF2e.
It is an action with the "Attack" trait. It is distinct from "Strike" (which shares the Attack trait).
When you are "restrained", you cannot use a generic Strike. Some specific class or other abilities may allow otherwise and would say so in their descriptions.
Interact is a type of action in Pf2e. It has the "manipulate" trait. When you are "restrained" you cannot take generic Interact actions. Some specific class or other abilities may allow otherwise and would say so in their descriptions.
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So. You cannot Leap the Bowling Ball of Doom while Restrained. And you would need a specific class or other ability to use Interact or Strike as part of an Escape attempt.
Typically your options while restrained are:
- attempt to Escape using the Escape action or
- use some other action that does not include the Move, Manipulate, or Attack traits. PF2e Actions
A common option might be something like raising a shield.
Being restrained is bad. It is also, in my experience at least, very uncommon (and often require actions on the part of the restrainor to maintain the condition).
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While I, personally, do not think this is particularly difficult to parse, it is a good example of Nested Conditions, which are an aspect of PF2e that I find both useful and frustrating at times.
They are nice once you know them, since descriptions can reference more crunch in fewer words, but they are a pain if you don't, since you may have to work your way down the rabbit trails of condition effects, to understand what all is happening with a given effect or ability.
Getting handy with the Archives of Nethys helps considerably in building familiarity with these, and Foundry does a good job of tracking most of them for you.
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