Disengage and Shadow Walk

Aegypto

What the title says. If you are already in combat, can you disengage and Shadow Walk in the same turn, using just one move action?

I'm inclined to think 'no', but my friend who plays the Rogue at our gaming table thinks otherwise, so I'd like to hear other people's thoughts on the matter.

verez

Hi there. You can use the Shadow walk at-will power "as a move action before you have used your standard action this turn, if you are not engaged". (pg 128 of the core rule book)." To use the power, it essentially has to meet all three requirements.

It sounds like your friend is up to some roguish antics if you ask me (haha! jokes!), but maybe a gentle reminder for them to re-read the power might help.

To me it sounds like the intention behind the power is to sacrifice all other (or at least major) activities normally involved in the characters turn, in return for invulnerability for one round (the rogue can't get attacked when their not there, right?) while doubling their damage on the next turn, as well as to move anywhere they can see without worry of being intercepted.

If they are attempting to do other stuff like disengage from an enemy, than I would argue its not in compliance with the intentions of the power.

Hope that helps

Gothire

Verez has the right of it, but I'll add a corner case. It doesn't say that Shadow walk must be the first thing you do on your turn, only that it is a move action that must be used before your standard action. So if you had some way to disengage as a free or a quick action (via a class ability or magic item power, perhaps), you could do that first, become unengaged, then Shadow Walk. Heck, if you had an attack that was a free or quick action, you could do that before Shadow Walking too. An alternative way to think of it is "Shadow Walk can only be used when you are unengaged, and it uses both your move and your standard action, unless it fails, in which case it only uses a move action."

verez

Very good point Gothire. An example would be a hybrid Rogue Wizard, with Shocking Grasp and it's adventurer's feat to disengage from an enemy with a quick action, before using Shadow Walk.