Fighting Defensively

Fighting Defensively

At the start of your turn, you may declare that you are fighting defensively. If you do so, you take a -4 penalty on all attacks until the start of your next turn, in order to gain a +2 dodge bonus to AC until the start of your next turn.

If you use any offensive ability (any spell, spell-like, supernatural or extraordinary which either deals damage or inflicts a condition) that requires an action to use but does not require an attack roll, you must make a concentration check. This means using something like the Ifrit's Aura of Fire stance or the Bard's Staccato ability would require a concentration check to use while fighting defensively. Only one concentration check is ever required per action taken, even if multiple abilities occur during that action, and the concentration check is ONLY necessary if no attack roll is being made during that action. Abilities which are free actions to use do not incur a concentration check. The DC of the concentration check is equal to 15 + the character's level. For casters, a concentration check is a d20 + their character level + their caster's stat modifier. Non-casters use the same stat modifier as the one they chose for their Bailiwick skill at level 1.

Fighting defensively can also be used in a round in which you make a full attack action, but must always be declared before the first attack of the full attack and applies all bonuses and penalties to all actions made until the start of the character's next turn.

• Special: If you have at least 5 ranks of acrobatics, the dodge bonus to AC while fighting defensively is +3 instead of +2.