Folks are over thinking the movement portion of the ability. All examples are using missile weapons but don't forget that steady aim can also be used in melee. Do you now think you need to stand perfectly still in order to line up your attack against your opponent? What if it is only you vs the opponent? That is mainly how steady aim would be used because most good rogues will use disengage to protect themselves and/or incur opportunity attacks from an ally who is in melee with the same target. It was also pointed out by another poster that as per RAW all you need to do is declare the steady aim first on your turn as the bonus action can only be limited to "movement" done prior to the declaration. The second portion of the ability states that after the attack your speed becomes "0". This is key to defining what "movement" actually means in this context. The first definition of 'The Order of Combat' in the rule book is as follows. "A typical Combat encounter is a clash between two sides, a Flurry of weapon swings, feints, parries, footwork, and Spellcasting." There is also the rule for 'Other Activity on Your Turn' which states, "Your Turn can include a variety of flourishes that require neither your Action nor your move." So with all this the answer is, no, you don't have to stand perfectly still to use steady aim. In addition to this, some have brought up issues with mounted combat but those issues do not lie with steady-aim, they lie with the mounted combat rules which all agree are under developed in 5e. Rather than thinking about reasons why you can't attempt to steady your aim while on a moving mount you should consider that a moving mount would likely create disadvantage for anyone attempting to fire from one. Now let's solution it with God's gift to D&D, the house rule. "Disadvantage is imposed on missile fire from a mount that dashed on its previous turn." This allows room for believably allowing the mount to stop & start during normal movement but assumes a dash means the mount was moving the entire turn as its action (dash). The best steady aim will do under those circumstances is allow a normal attack roll. Take it further and allow the mounted combatant feat to negate this and voila, we have horse archers.
Read this entire thread and no one pointed out that even a warhorse is AC 11 with 19hp. By late Tier 1 play, a standard mount is getting blasted. Even with the Mounted Combat feat, I don’t love the mount’s survivability. Maybe in combination with another PC using their concentration on a summon spell.
I personally wouldn’t allow the rogue to have a mount that’s superior to a beast companion, drakewarden’s drake, or battle smith artificers construct, no matter how good their animal handling roll was, any more than I would let them learn to cast from a wizards spell book just by cracking a 30 arcana check.
Read this entire thread and no one pointed out that even a warhorse is AC 11 with 19hp. By late Tier 1 play, a standard mount is getting blasted. Even with the Mounted Combat feat, I don’t love the mount’s survivability. Maybe in combination with another PC using their concentration on a summon spell.
I personally wouldn’t allow the rogue to have a mount that’s superior to a beast companion, drakewarden’s drake, or battle smith artificers construct, no matter how good their animal handling roll was, any more than I would let them learn to cast from a wizards spell book just by cracking a 30 arcana check.
Standing from a crouch does not cost movement. 'Movement' is a specific game term in D&D, and is not used in its general language sense. Moving your arm, for example, is not 'movement' insofar as the rules are concerned.
It sounds to me like your player is basically "taking a knee" which has no in game ruling so it is completely up to the GM. Personally I would rule it as no movement used and Steady Aim is allowed. Standing up from a one knee position is as easy as opening a door or drawing a weapon and should be considered a free action. Anyone that wants to argue that aiming a ranged weapon would take a full six seconds has never aimed a ranged weapon featured in D&D. I would assume that the character has already loaded an arrow and pulls the bow to full draw while standing up from the one knee position which would allow them to not sacrifice any of their time aiming the weapon. Stating that crouching and laying prone are the same is just false both in game and IRL. If you doubt that, I suggest you mimic the motion of drawing a bow while standing from a one knee stance and then try to do the same from a prone position.
I know this topic is years old, but has anyone actually brought up that the Hide option is not always available. Only if cover or I think potential low light or darkness is around right?
Soooooo if in that case....Hide is NOT an option, then the possibility of using Steady Aim is available to use. It is just that the rogue can not have moved the last turn before correct. Theee bonus action is like stated, taking a second or two to aim, then using advantage to roll for bonus damage. Personally, I just reached level 3 in my group, half elf. Planning to take Elven Accuracy Feat at 4th!!!
There are some differences between them though. Stealth is part of core rules while Steady Aim is optional rule. Hiding is also defensive principaly to not reveal your location while Steady Aim is purely an offensive ability.
Most people trying to hide already benefit from Unseen Attackers and Targets since to use Stealth this way you must first not be seen clearly and thus normally have advantage. The rare exception are things like Halfling's Naturally Stealthy, Elf's Mask of the Wild and or the Skulker feat for example.
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You are not prone, just crouched down
Folks are over thinking the movement portion of the ability. All examples are using missile weapons but don't forget that steady aim can also be used in melee. Do you now think you need to stand perfectly still in order to line up your attack against your opponent? What if it is only you vs the opponent? That is mainly how steady aim would be used because most good rogues will use disengage to protect themselves and/or incur opportunity attacks from an ally who is in melee with the same target. It was also pointed out by another poster that as per RAW all you need to do is declare the steady aim first on your turn as the bonus action can only be limited to "movement" done prior to the declaration. The second portion of the ability states that after the attack your speed becomes "0". This is key to defining what "movement" actually means in this context.
The first definition of 'The Order of Combat' in the rule book is as follows. "A typical Combat encounter is a clash between two sides, a Flurry of weapon swings, feints, parries, footwork, and Spellcasting." There is also the rule for 'Other Activity on Your Turn' which states, "Your Turn can include a variety of flourishes that require neither your Action nor your move." So with all this the answer is, no, you don't have to stand perfectly still to use steady aim.
In addition to this, some have brought up issues with mounted combat but those issues do not lie with steady-aim, they lie with the mounted combat rules which all agree are under developed in 5e. Rather than thinking about reasons why you can't attempt to steady your aim while on a moving mount you should consider that a moving mount would likely create disadvantage for anyone attempting to fire from one.
Now let's solution it with God's gift to D&D, the house rule. "Disadvantage is imposed on missile fire from a mount that dashed on its previous turn." This allows room for believably allowing the mount to stop & start during normal movement but assumes a dash means the mount was moving the entire turn as its action (dash). The best steady aim will do under those circumstances is allow a normal attack roll. Take it further and allow the mounted combatant feat to negate this and voila, we have horse archers.
Going prone does not cost movement to do.
Prone is eating dirt. Face up is supine.
Read this entire thread and no one pointed out that even a warhorse is AC 11 with 19hp. By late Tier 1 play, a standard mount is getting blasted. Even with the Mounted Combat feat, I don’t love the mount’s survivability. Maybe in combination with another PC using their concentration on a summon spell.
I personally wouldn’t allow the rogue to have a mount that’s superior to a beast companion, drakewarden’s drake, or battle smith artificers construct, no matter how good their animal handling roll was, any more than I would let them learn to cast from a wizards spell book just by cracking a 30 arcana check.
I think you're lost, friend.
Standing from a crouch does not cost movement. 'Movement' is a specific game term in D&D, and is not used in its general language sense. Moving your arm, for example, is not 'movement' insofar as the rules are concerned.
Super late to the convo but I don't care.
It sounds to me like your player is basically "taking a knee" which has no in game ruling so it is completely up to the GM. Personally I would rule it as no movement used and Steady Aim is allowed. Standing up from a one knee position is as easy as opening a door or drawing a weapon and should be considered a free action. Anyone that wants to argue that aiming a ranged weapon would take a full six seconds has never aimed a ranged weapon featured in D&D. I would assume that the character has already loaded an arrow and pulls the bow to full draw while standing up from the one knee position which would allow them to not sacrifice any of their time aiming the weapon. Stating that crouching and laying prone are the same is just false both in game and IRL. If you doubt that, I suggest you mimic the motion of drawing a bow while standing from a one knee stance and then try to do the same from a prone position.
I know this topic is years old, but has anyone actually brought up that the Hide option is not always available. Only if cover or I think potential low light or darkness is around right?
Soooooo if in that case....Hide is NOT an option, then the possibility of using Steady Aim is available to use. It is just that the rogue can not have moved the last turn before correct. Theee bonus action is like stated, taking a second or two to aim, then using advantage to roll for bonus damage. Personally, I just reached level 3 in my group, half elf. Planning to take Elven Accuracy Feat at 4th!!!
There are some differences between them though. Stealth is part of core rules while Steady Aim is optional rule. Hiding is also defensive principaly to not reveal your location while Steady Aim is purely an offensive ability.
Most people trying to hide already benefit from Unseen Attackers and Targets since to use Stealth this way you must first not be seen clearly and thus normally have advantage. The rare exception are things like Halfling's Naturally Stealthy, Elf's Mask of the Wild and or the Skulker feat for example.