The Savage Tide [IC]

[lostsole31]

R3T12: Ka'Xet backs up 5', finding it hard to push through the crowd, and the woman kicks him in the right shoulder for a whopping 13 damage as he backs off through the press of bodies. Ka'Xet throws his mindblade at the leader and she kicks it aside.

Spoiler

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Okay, a couple different things wrong at once, but nothing terrible. I'm not quite sure what you were thinking, so I went in order of stated actions. Also, you did not (yet) know the game effect of the crowd ... that's experience fighting in this unfamiliar 'environment' for the wilderness warrior.

First, if you are moving (that is, covering distance more than a 5-foot free move, you cannot split with move-attack-move unless you have Shot on the Run. If you want that feat in the future, you need to get the Dodge feat, then the Mobility feat, then finally Shot on the Run. That said, considering you are going to end up going soulbow (archer-focused), this feat-tree progression is actually recommended for you.

Second, if the mindset was take a 5-foot free move, take an action, and then move ... remember that you can't take a 5-foot free move in a round in which you actually move.

Next, drawing a weapon can be done on the move. A 5-foot free move is not "on the move" unless you designate the move-draw as your move action. I'm sure you know this, but it's important to note now. You don't get to take a move action enveloped in a free action (5' free move) and call it a free action.

Drawing a weapon can be done "one the move." It is the only time I know of - without any special training - that two move actions can be combined into one move action. That said, manifesting your mindblade is NOT the same as drawing a weapon. Drawing a weapon is the physical readying of a physical weapon. Manifesting a mindblade is using a supernatural ability, but only having to take a move action instead of a standard action (which is normally required for supernatural powers). Despite the manifesting being similar to the concept of drawing a weapon, they are not the same. It's only considered a weapon-like object once it is manifested, not before.

Now the part which is not "should be known" game mechanics, and is just a function of Ka'Xet not realizing how so many bodies would affect him - he's used to fighting in wilderness terrain, not a crowded street with panicked people running to-and-fro - is that right now, movement through any square is difficult terrain. That means every square of actual movement costs 2 squares (10') of speed ... and a 5' free move only applies if moving 5' only costs 1 square (5') of movement. The extra effort pushing through the crowd opened him up to an AOO since he moved away, vice free-moving away. Acrobatics can help him on subsequent rounds if he needs, though remember, the double-cost of Acrobatics means that it would cost him base 2 squares/ per square x 2 (Acrobatics) = 4 squares of movement to Acrobatically move just one square. Crowds are not great .... and the unique nature of stilts are such that a stiltwalker doesn't have to worry about that movement.

So, I interpreted the round as:
MA: 2 squares of movement in difficult terrain to move 5', provoking AOO.
SA: Ranged attack with mindblade.

No actions remaining to draw mindblade. Hands are empty.

R3T6: The last man on stilts draws a dagger, backs up 5' on his stilts, and throws his dagger at Celiss. It gets past her geometrically-derived defenses of body positioning, her agility, and blows through her force armor, and is finally stopped by the very thin layer of scales she has.

R3T5.9: Celiss, you recognize that attacking his stilts instead of him - given the hardness of wood - would take far longer than just pummeling the man into unconsciousness. Because of the crowd, filling in the gaps, it would take an actual move action just to close the 5' (2 squares/ 10' of movement). What do you do? [See spoiler above, but the man gets a 5' free move on stilts, where you do not on the ground.]