Light Knight
First Post
Subject says it all.
Pathfinder 1E Can you ready a five foot step?
- Thread starter Light Knight
- Start date
x93edwards
First Post
Yes-assuming you didn't make any other movement already and aren't in difficult terrain. You can actually take the 5-foot step along with a different action that you've readied--but if the only thing you want is a 5-foot step, then that's fine too.
Light Knight
First Post
Okay...one step further.
Invisible rogue running around. I'm an archer...I ready a five step, and shoot the rogue if he attacks me. Does this work? Does rogue still get the attack if he doesn't have reach?
Invisible rogue running around. I'm an archer...I ready a five step, and shoot the rogue if he attacks me. Does this work? Does rogue still get the attack if he doesn't have reach?
Mad Hamish
First Post
My ruling would be that he'll get to attack you because that's what's triggering the action, until he attacks you you don't know he's there (you generally won't detect an invisible rogue any other way unless you have scent, blindsight, blindsense or something similar). Once you know he's there you can do the 5 foot step and shoot him, although if he has improved invisibility he'll still be invisible so you need to attack the square and you have a miss chance.
DogBackward
First Post
Basically, you can't ready an action that's triggered by an attack you can't see coming. You would have to ready an action triggered by the Rogue hitting you with an attack, otherwise you wouldn't know the attack was coming in time to take your readied action. I would, however, agree that a readied action triggered by a visible opponent attacking you would allow you to step out of the way and cause the attack to fail.
MortalPlague
Adventurer
It seems like you'd be opening up a can of worms on that one. You're low on hit points, the big orc barbarian lumbers up to you and swings his greataxe. Your readied action to step five feet back goes off, and he can't attack you?
Unless the orc also has the option to pursue if he still has movement left. Otherwise it's a readied dodge that makes you immune to melee attacks.
reelo
Hero
I'd say in that case (ready a 5-foot step against an attack) make a Reflex save (DC attack roll) in order to avoid the attack. But that'd just be my houserule in the unlikely event a pc would come up with such an idea...
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2
It's not that bad -- note that the defending character is sacrificing both his standard action to Ready and all movement to allow for the possibility of making a 5-foot step. In effect, it's a more effective, more action-intensive form of Total Defence that works really well against a single opponent in a large featureless environment but not where the character can be pressed into a wall/difficult terrain, or the like.
Light Knight
First Post
So there is NO defense against an invisible rogue? Outside See Invis things or maybe blind-fighting? Even with preparation? Seems to me if you are aware he is on the battlefield somewhere, you should be able to tactically protect yourself against it (ie like burning your full round with a ready)..
delericho
Legend
Per the rules, I believe that's legit (but see below). At least, provided you know the Rogue is there somewhere. If you're unaware of his existence, it's hard to see how you can Ready against him without metagaming.
However, bear in mind that until the Rogue actually attacks, he remains invisible. What this means is that you have to take your five-foot step 'blind' - the DM should not reveal which square the Rogue is in. And that means that you may very well end up in a square adjacent to the Rogue anyway (in which case, when you fire your bow, he'll get an Attack of Opportunity as well as his regular attack).
And, again, until he actually attacks he remains invisible. Which means that if your five foot step does take you out of his reach, he does not become visible.
All that said...
The five foot step is probably the most abused part of the 3e/PF combat system (and, to a much lesser extent, 4e). Basically, it's an artifact of the battle grid, meant to represent all the minor adjustments that happen in combat - opponents seeking flanking opportunities, or making use of terrain, or the like.
It's not really intended for the "step back and cast" routine, or for characters to ready a step to spoil an opponent's attack, or pretty much any of the ways it's actually used. Because if you try something like that in a real fight, you'll just see your opponent step right along with you, and continue hitting you.
Unfortunately, I don't see any good way to actually fix the problem, other than just saying "don't!". There are genuine cases where a five-foot step is indeed required, and nothing else will really do the job (although 4e's approach of making a Shift a Move action goes a long way towards fixing the abuses). But it's never really been a clean bit of the rules.
