Now, winning initiative is all well and good; but even an initiative modifier of +∞ does you no good when you’re on the receiving end of a surprise round.
So, before we can talk about immediate actions, we have to talk about flat-footedness:
Arch Supports – a mini-guide to Flat-footedness.Flat-footed
At the start of a battle, before you have had a chance to act (specifically, before your first regular turn in the initiative order), you are flat-footed.
A character who has not yet acted during a combat is flat-footed, not yet reacting normally to the situation. A flat-footed character loses his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) and cannot make attacks of opportunity.
That means that even though you may have somehow managed to get off an immediate action (or any kind of action, really), you’re still flat-footed until your actual initiative-ordered 1st turn (well, depending on exactly what action that is, of course – see below).
Being flat-footed sucks. So much so, that you really do need to actively find ways to avoid it. Not only does it leave you vulnerable (that’s the easy part to deal with), but it robs you of being able to use immediate actions … and that’s just a crying shame.
*Special note:
Now, unfortunately, I’ve encountered some confusion on this issue in the past (at my own table, that is). So, just to clarify:
* just because you are denied your dex bonus to AC does not necessarily mean you are flat-footed (in other words, there are more ways to lose your dex bonus to AC than just being flat-footed – e.g., feinting)
* just because you avoid losing your dex bonus to AC does not mean that you are not still flat-footed (e.g., a rogue’s Uncanny Dodge ability only lets him maintain his dex bonus while flat-footed – he’s still flat-footed, and thus still unable to act)
Surprise round
Let us not forget the
surprise round. If you get caught
unaware, now you run the risk of your opponent getting
2chances to kill you before you get to even get your bearings (and I don’t even want to talk about your opponent activating his own immediate actions ….).
Solutions:
So, how to go about avoiding this unfortunate set of circumstances.
First, we have to avoid being caught “unaware”, so as to not give that closet troll a surprise round.
- Spot and Listen: the better you are able to see/hear, the more likely you are to see them coming.
-- Scent: let’s you use your highly-tuned nose to spot (nice for when you can’t see or for bypassing concealment)
-
See invisibility: see that invisible stalker coming. Usable with the
permanency spell.
-
True seeing: it’s like
see invisibility, but better (sadly, though, not usable with
permanency).
-
Foresight: never surprised
or flat-footed.
-
Detect Hostile Intent – 2nd-level psionic power; never surprised
or flat-footed. Limited range and duration makes it significantly less useful than
foresight.
-
Inhibit: 1st-level spell from SC – could be a candidate for the spell you use when your
contingency-ed celerity goes off, so that you at least get a chance to roll initiative before they attack (definitely not the most optimal use of resources; but it
is an option, nonetheless).
- Mark of Stars (Dragonmarked, p142) prevents you from being surprised or flat-footed no matter what. Unfortunately, it requires taking a level in heir of Siberys (Eberron Campaign Setting, p80).
- Avoid dire tortoises and their hunting grounds (whether or not you would benefit by actually
being one is debatable).
- (I’m out of ideas for this one – let me know if I’m missing anything)
And
then we have to avoid having our feet flattened:
- Win
initiative – duh. (btw, has anyone ported that thread over to here yet? t’would be nice)
- Be a
minotaur- “Cunning” Legacy Weapon ability – p.193, Menu D.
-
Warning Shout – Spell Compendium. Makes rest of party no longer flat-footed. Is a paladin-only spell.
-
Foresight: as mentioned above (included here for completeness).
-
Detect Hostile Intent: – as above (included here for completeness).
- Mark of Stars (dragonmark): -- as above (included here for completeness).
- Scout, 2nd level (CAdv): this version of Uncanny Dodge states that “a scout cannot be caught flat-footed”. However, I suspect that this was an accidental oversight, rather than on purpose; since instead of actually fully describing the ability, it simply tells you to go look at the rogue/barbarian ability in PHB – suggesting that that sentence was meant as flavor text. (a similar mistake occurred with the
shock and awe spell in SC) For further precedence on this type of mistake, see the
Whisperknife PrC, where the verbiage is
internally-conflicting.
But hey, RAW is RAW, right?
If all else fails, there
are actually some actions that you can take
even if you are flat-footed.
- AoO: Typically, you can’t take AoOs while flat-footed; however, there are some exceptions:
-- Combat Reflexes (PHB): in addition to getting you extra AoOs/round, this feat lets you use them while you are flat-footed
-- Canny Opportunist (DragMag340): this feat lets you make AoOs when your threatened opponent tries to draw a Weapon, ready/loosen a shield, or attempts a feint in combat, even when flat-footed.
- Instantaneous Rage (CW): this feat lets you rage when it’s not your turn, even while flat-footed.
- Reactive Shifting (RoE): Shifter racial feat – lets you shift out of turn, even flat-footed.
- Initiate of Helm (PGF): Initiate feat (clerics and paladins only) – lets you make AoO while flat-footed (plus it adds some spells to your class list)
-
Nerverskitter (SC): Give somebody a +5 to initiative; explicitly can be cast while flat-footed (the spell’s intended purpose, after all, is to be used when initiative is rolled).
- (let me know if I’m missing anything)
