Stormguard Warrior + Robilar's Gambit vs. Attacks with Reach

[JKTrickster]

Hey Playground! I have a heavy RAW question for you guys and I would really appreciate the help!


Suppose character X has Stormguard Warrior and Robilar's Gambit. Character Y has reach on X and attacks from outside X's threatened area.

Can X use Robilar's Gambit and Stormguard Warrior to channel the storm against Y, to gain a +4 to hit and damage on X's next turn?

Stormguard Warrior can be found on page 36 of Tome of Battle. Robilar's Gambit is on page 82 of Player's Handbook II

[Laura Eternata]

RAW, I guess that would technically work... I mean, Robilar's Gambit's wording is "Anyone who strikes at you...", so... yeah, I suppose that's legal. It's also ridiculous, and if I was DMing, I'd forbid it.

[Keld Denar]

No. If you don't threaten a foe, you can't make AoOs against that foe. If you can't make AoOs, you can't forfeit those AoOs for other bonuses. Simple logical extension.

You can't make AoOs against someone outside of your reach. Thus, you don't gain any benefit from Stormguard Warrior from someone outside of your reach. Sorry.

[Laura Eternata]

That's debatable. It does say that ANYONE who strikes at you provokes an attack of opportunity. I will use your argument against my players if the situation ever comes up, though.

[Hiro Protagonest]

That's debatable. It does say that ANYONE who strikes at you provokes an attack of opportunity. I will use your argument against my players if the situation ever comes up, though.

I believe TVTropes has something for this in The Grand Tabletop Game List (I hope I got that right).


Rule 00 - The GM is Always Right: No matter how eloquently the Rules Lawyer states his case for the loophole he's trying to abuse, the GM always has the last word.

[Keld Denar]

That's debatable. It does say that ANYONE who strikes at you provokes an attack of opportunity. I will use your argument against my players if the situation ever comes up, though.

Exactly, they provoke an AoO. But, if you look up AoOs, you find:

Threatened Squares
You threaten all squares into which you can make a melee attack, even when it is not your action. Generally, that means everything in all squares adjacent to your space (including diagonally). An enemy that takes certain actions while in a threatened square provokes an attack of opportunity from you. If you’re unarmed, you don’t normally threaten any squares and thus can’t make attacks of opportunity.
Casting a spell provokes AoOs, but if you don't threaten the spellcaster, you don't get to take them. Attacking a foe with Robilar's Gambit provokes AoOs, but if you don't threaten the attacker, you don't get to take them.

Same thing if a foe tries to disarm you with a reach weapon without Imp Disarm. That foe provokes an AoO from you, but if you don't threaten them, you can't claim it. Robilar's Gambit is no different.

[Laura Eternata]

I... concede. I didn't think about it that way.

This page is getting bookmarked for future reference!

[Greenish]

Same thing if a foe tries to disarm you with a reach weapon without Imp Disarm. That foe provokes an AoO from you, but if you don't threaten them, you can't claim it.And that's why they invented ranseur.