Moving to a Kneeling or Sitting position?

[howandwhy99]

Table 8-6: Armor Class Modifiers on PHB p151 lists "Kneeling or Sitting" as a position a defender can be in. (-2 AC to melee attacks and +2 AC vs. ranged attack)

My question is: How do combatants move to a Kneeling or Sitting position and does it incur an attack of opportunity?

Dropping Prone is a free action incurring no AoO. Standing up from Prone is a move action and incurs an AoO.

My guess is dropping to kneeling/sitting is a free action without AoO. But is standing up from kneeling or sitting a move action? Does it incur an AoO?

Also, what about moving up to kneeling or sitting position from Prone? I'd say it is safe to assume dropping to Prone from kneeling or sitting is still a free action without AoO.

In my own game I've ruled: Moving from Prone to kneeling/sitting is a Move Equivalent action that does not incur an AoO. Getting up from kneeling/sitting to a standing position is the same. So a tripped or fallen foe could take a Full Round action to stand up without an AoO.

But do the rules bear this out?

Lastly, there are no rules on Table 8-5:Attack Roll Modifiers for attacking from a kneeling/sitting position. I'm going to assume they are the same as attacking from a prone position. But what is actual rule for this in the SRD?

 

[3d6]

In d20 Modern, dropping to a prone, sitting, or kneeling position is a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity, and standing up from a prone, sitting, or kneeling position is a move action that provokes an attack of opportunity. There aren't any rules in D&D or d20 Modern covering moving from prone to kneeling or kneeling to prone, so you should make up your own rules to cover that.

 

[howandwhy99]

In d20 Modern, dropping to a prone, sitting, or kneeling position is a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity, and standing up from a prone, sitting, or kneeling position is a move action that provokes an attack of opportunity. There aren't any rules in D&D or d20 Modern covering moving from prone to kneeling or kneeling to prone, so you should make up your own rules to cover that.

Thank you. That does help clarify things. I think I'm going to keep my house rule in place though.

 

[airwalkrr]

This is just opinion here based on my interpretation of the rules, but I would say standing up from kneeling or sitting as well as moving to kneeling or sitting from prone would be the same kind of action as standing up from prone (i.e. it provokes). Of course, if you've been using your house rule for a while, it might be a good idea to just stick with it for the time being. My experience has taught me PCs prefer consistency in rules rather than rules in particular.

 

[Infiniti2000]

I have the following houserules on kneeling/sitting and standing up. The reasons why I chose them are also given.

[sblock]Kneeling/Sitting

Rule: You have a -2 penalty on attack rolls while kneeling or sitting. If you are kneeling or sitting, you can be tripped, but you have a +2 bonus to avoid being tripped.

Change: There is no attack penalty assigned to kneeling, but it seems more like that condition was left out. Because this rule effectively defines kneeling/sitting as a condition, there’s an additional note on being tripped (which makes you prone).

Standing Up

Rule: You can get up from prone into a kneeling position as a move action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. You can stand up from a kneeling position as a move action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

Change: There is no action specifically designed to get up to a kneeling position or to get up from a kneeling position, thus by default it would be just “get up from prone” which is a move action that provokes an attack of opportunity. This rule allows you to get up from prone (to standing) without provoking an attack of opportunity at the cost of basically a full round action.
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