Cleave Question [Archive] - Wizards Community

Cleave Question [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Kihon
06-19-07, 09:11 AM Need Help Please. A character in my group has come to a disagreement with the DM over the Cleave Feat. Basically he's a 16th level fight with four attacks. Say he kills a monster in two swings, and another is within the 5 foot radius needed to use his cleave feat. The fighter believes he should get his last two attacks against the creature, but the DM reads the feat to say a single attack only. Because we hope to go Epic, this needs to be solved sooner then later. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks.
runestar
06-19-07, 09:19 AM You get the extra attack from cleave, then follow up with your last 2 iterative attacks.
_Jayne_Cobb_
06-19-07, 09:22 AM The fighter is wrong, the DM is right.

The sequence would be:

Attack 1 > Attack 2 (killshot) > [Cleave] > Attack 3 > Attack 4
T3hB4k4
06-19-07, 09:23 AM They both are correct in a way.

The DM is right in that Cleave says you may make an immediate extra attack at the same attack bonus that dealt the killing blow, provided he threatens another creature. I am not sure of the rest of it however I believe there are no restrictions on using the two remaining attacks against another creature provided he threatens said creature.
Kihon
06-19-07, 09:30 AM Thanks for the quick responses... I'll make sure to pass them along.
_Jayne_Cobb_
06-19-07, 09:56 AM They both are correct in a way.

The DM is right in that Cleave says you may make an immediate extra attack at the same attack bonus that dealt the killing blow, provided he threatens another creature. I am not sure of the rest of it however I believe there are no restrictions on using the two remaining attacks against another creature provided he threatens said creature.

Yup, sorry, I misread the OP slightly. I thought the fighter in question was suggesting he get multiple Cleave attacks against the new target. My bad.

A creature can attack any target he threatens with a melee attack. He need not commit to a single target. If there are four creatures in his melee range and he has four attacks he could choose to hit each of them once, two of them twice, one of them once and one three time, or one of them four times. If a creature is within range to be hit with a Cleave it can be targeted with normal melee attacks as well.
Nom
06-19-07, 09:22 PM And the rules explicitly say that you don't need to decide where your later attacks go until you have resolved your earlier attacks. Cleave adds one bonus attack into the sequence that must be taken as soon as you become eligible for it (or not at all, which is also OK) and doesn't in any way count as part of your regular attack sequence.

Great Cleave removes the once per round restriction, but you still only get one bonus attack each time you take out an opponent. If the bonus attack or another regular attack later in the round takes out another opponent then you would get another bonus attack.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kihon 06-19-07, 09:11 AM	Need Help Please. A character in my group has come to a disagreement with the DM over the Cleave Feat. Basically he's a 16th level fight with four attacks. Say he kills a monster in two swings, and another is within the 5 foot radius needed to use his cleave feat. The fighter believes he should get his last two attacks against the creature, but the DM reads the feat to say a single attack only. Because we hope to go Epic, this needs to be solved sooner then later. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks.
runestar 06-19-07, 09:19 AM	You get the extra attack from cleave, then follow up with your last 2 iterative attacks.
_Jayne_Cobb_ 06-19-07, 09:22 AM	The fighter is wrong, the DM is right. The sequence would be: Attack 1 > Attack 2 (killshot) > [Cleave] > Attack 3 > Attack 4
T3hB4k4 06-19-07, 09:23 AM	They both are correct in a way. The DM is right in that Cleave says you may make an immediate extra attack at the same attack bonus that dealt the killing blow, provided he threatens another creature. I am not sure of the rest of it however I believe there are no restrictions on using the two remaining attacks against another creature provided he threatens said creature.
Kihon 06-19-07, 09:30 AM	Thanks for the quick responses... I'll make sure to pass them along.
_Jayne_Cobb_ 06-19-07, 09:56 AM	They both are correct in a way. The DM is right in that Cleave says you may make an immediate extra attack at the same attack bonus that dealt the killing blow, provided he threatens another creature. I am not sure of the rest of it however I believe there are no restrictions on using the two remaining attacks against another creature provided he threatens said creature. Yup, sorry, I misread the OP slightly. I thought the fighter in question was suggesting he get multiple Cleave attacks against the new target. My bad. A creature can attack any target he threatens with a melee attack. He need not commit to a single target. If there are four creatures in his melee range and he has four attacks he could choose to hit each of them once, two of them twice, one of them once and one three time, or one of them four times. If a creature is within range to be hit with a Cleave it can be targeted with normal melee attacks as well.
Nom 06-19-07, 09:22 PM	And the rules explicitly say that you don't need to decide where your later attacks go until you have resolved your earlier attacks. Cleave adds one bonus attack into the sequence that must be taken as soon as you become eligible for it (or not at all, which is also OK) and doesn't in any way count as part of your regular attack sequence. Great Cleave removes the once per round restriction, but you still only get one bonus attack each time you take out an opponent. If the bonus attack or another regular attack later in the round takes out another opponent then you would get another bonus attack.