[RPG] Moving between attacks with Flying Kick (Unchained Monk)

monkpathfinder-1eunchained

Flying Kick says some things that, to me, contradict each other…

The monk leaps through the air to strike a foe with a kick.

Well ok, that I understand.

Before the attack, the monk can move a distance equal to his fast movement bonus.

Notice the "Before the attack".

Side question: What's my fast movement speed? So far I only dealt with 5-footsteps, normal movement (1 time my speed) and double movement (2 times my speed)… ?

This movement is made as part of the monk's flurry of blows attack and does not require an additional action.

Okay, so basically my "Full Attack" action now encompasses moving AND attacking with Flurry of Blows. Neat.

At the end of this movement, the monk must make an attack against an adjacent foe.

Okay, sure. I can't use it to "just move". Fair enough.

This movement may be between attacks.

Wait, what? Didn't it say "Before the attack" above? How does this work?

Does it mean I can freely move between my Flurry of Blows attacks? Like: Attack A, move to B, attack B with 2nd Flurry attack?

And what about when I get more than 2 attacks. Can I split the movement up, like "Attack A, move 5 feet, attack B, move 5 feet, attack C?"

This movement provokes an attack of opportunity as normal. The attack made after the movement must be a kick.

Why does it matter that the attack must be a kick? I'm playing an unarmed Monk, so why is this specified?

Best Answer

A Full Attack option is (usually) compromised of several attack rolls, or individual attacks, which takes the entire round (6 seconds) to complete. As noted in the description of a Full Attack (emphasis mine):

If you get more than one attack per round because your base attack bonus is high enough (see Base Attack Bonus in Classes), because you fight with two weapons or a double weapon, or for some special reason, you must use a full-round action to get your additional attacks.

This means that the "Before the attack" refers to the attack roll which you want to use Flying Kick with. So, yes. Starting Flurry of Blows with attacking A with one attack, then using Flying Kick to move to and attack B with the next attack, is what this ability does.

The Fast Movement Bonus is the bonus to your speed, as listed in the Monk level table. Meaning at third level you can move up to 10 feet, when using Flying Kick.

The reason why it specifies that this attack must be a kick, is for two reasons:

  1. It's called "Flying Kick", as in the actual martial arts move's popular name.
  2. To prevent it from being abused to attack with a weapon instead.

As for the movement bit being broken up. It states that the monk can move up to that distance. Meaning if you move only some of the Fast Movement bonus distance, you won't get the rest as "extra movement" later on.
Effectively the movement stops when you hit something, as in real life. ;)

Lastly, the multiple attacks bit. From the description of Style Strikes (emphasis mine, again):

.. he can designate one of his unarmed strikes as a style strike. This attack is resolved as normal, but it has an additional effect depending on the type of strike chosen. At 9th level, and every 4 levels thereafter, a monk learns an additional style strike. He must choose which style strike to apply before the attack roll is made. At 15th level, he can designate up to two of his unarmed strikes each round as a style strike, and each one can be a different type.

So only at level 15 can you use Flying Kick twice in a round, but you can move up to the full distance for both of them.