What happens if everyone could split movement before and after taking an action?

[Yora]

Basically, everyone would have free Spring Attack, Shot on the Run, and Ride-by attack.

I see some potential for very effective hit and run attacks, and I am sure with a little munchkinnery it could be exploited to no end.

But I think, if I were a lone guy standing in a field and a rider or giant bird is constantly making strafing runs at me, I wouldn't try to run after them but stand my ground and wait for just the right moment to strike when they are inside my reach.
Which with attacks of opportunity is very easy to do. With a readied action, I can do it even against an additional enemy every round. And in cases the enemy has reach, you can ready an action to make a 5 foot movement towards the attackers path, triggered by the condition "I move up when he gets within 10 feet of me". Then the enemy can continue his movement and I get my attack of opportunity.

So in a group that is fairly easygoing, I don't see any trouble ahead. But there still could be some important detail that I am missing and I could take into consideration before it happens while I'm in the middle of a great encounter and have to make something up on the fly. So, anything you are seeing?

[Acanous]

I could see allowing Move+Standard to be split up like that, with the feats allowing you to use a full attack during your move.

If you give everyone Ride-by attack, though... every 1st level fighter is going to have Spirited Charge. :p

Could be worth exploring, but there's a number of abilities that'll need to be looked at (Skirmish, for one).

[Yora]

I could see allowing Move+Standard to be split up like that, with the feats allowing you to use a full attack during your move.

If you give everyone Ride-by attack, though... every 1st level fighter is going to have Spirited Charge. :p

Could be worth exploring, but there's a number of abilities that'll need to be looked at (Skirmish, for one).

You still would have to take the Mounted Combat Feat. And then, you also might make some people with polearms quite happy, who also get double damage against you without investing two feats.

Allowing people to move at full speed and making full attacks with a feat does indeed sound interesting, but in that case I would add the rule that you can only make another attack after having moved 5 feet. Having barbarians with two weapons move 20 feet, full attack, and move 20 feet again smells quite cheesy to me. But if you have to use up 15 feet of movement by hopping between two squares to get four attacks done, it doesn't sound as bad. Still potential for abuse if you stack up lots of speed increases, but I doubt that would be nearly as bad as spellcasters using their exploits.

Also, I did check it, and you can make your 5-foot step as part of your readied action. So even if you have an enemy who is very fast, has reach, and a sky-high bonus to Tumble to avoid any Attacks of Opportunity, you still can ready a standard attack and close in on him before you strike. That's the worst case scenario I can think off and still both attacker and defender only get one attack each.

[Eldonauran]

I can see Combat Reflexes becoming a very popular feat (more so than now), since a strafing run past you is going to provoke at least two attacks of opportunity, if they go in a straight line.

[Yora]

One, with diagonal movement.

Also, do you get to make 3 attacks of opportunity any time an enemy tries to run past you?
At least PF says "Moving out of more than one square threatened by the same opponent in the same round doesn't count as more than one opportunity for that opponent." Which prevents exactly that.

[Acanous]

Movement only provokes once per character. You could run circles around an enemy, they only get to attack you once, even with Combat Reflexes.

[Kane0]

I've been tossing this idea up too. Not by giving the feats, but more by working it into the rules that you can use a standard or swift action at some point during a move (but not both).

My players are still only level 2 so no cheesiness yet, but I'm confident that i won't be a gamebreaker (moreso than all the other things I'm doing to the rules)

[Crake]

The feats ride by attack, spring attack and (im not 100% sure about this one) shot on the run do the added benefit of not giving your target an attack of opportunity. So they would be still somewhat worthwhile in a game like this.

[Slipperychicken]

It's a slippery slope. Next, the players will start asking for balanced and usable unarmed combat rules. You know what comes after that? Chaos, that's what.

[TuggyNE]

It's a slippery slope. Next, the players will start asking for balanced and usable unarmed combat rules. You know what comes after that? Chaos, that's what.

… The fact that Monks, the poster children of unarmed combat, are required to be Lawful is making me laugh so hard at this.

[avr]

Archery duels turn in to 'I ready an action to hit the other archer as he pops up'. Which is fine on its own, but spells can be readied the same way and generally have more effect than a standard-action attack (you can't ready a full attack). So, you'd also need to do something for standard action attacks or you'd tilt the field further in favour of spells.

[ngilop]

so bascially re-enacting the old 1st/2nd edition rules


well Im all for that.

honstly spring attack, power attack, and combat expertise should just be bsae rules not feats IMO.