Follow up on "retargeting" attacks

[etherio]

In a previous post, Mancer asked about the following situation, in brief:

Malleable Man and Dexy Guy engage in a DEX vs. DEX contest to see who gets to act first...
Dexy Guy intends to move a few inches and fire his attack, while Malleable Man intends to hammer the hex Dexy Guy is presently in with an Area Effect HTH attack...
Dexy Guy wins the contest.

Mancer wondered if Malleable Man would be able to "re-target" his attack to hit the hex that Dexy Guy moved to. Your answer was that Malleable Man could not change the targeting of his attack after losing the DEX contest, and that he would have to attack the hex that he had declared initially.

My question is this: If Malleable Man's attack was a non-Area Effect attack (and thus his chosen target was his opponent, Dexy Guy, rather than a particular hex), would he be able to still strike at Dexy Guy once Dexy Guy had moved, or would he be forced, as in the original example, to swing at an empty hex and automatically miss his target as if Dexy Guy had performed a Dive for Cover?

Thanks in advance

[Steve Long]

The important thing to keep in mind when thinking about this situation is that the combat rules model a dynamic situation. They have to break it down into discrete steps for game management purposes, but from the point of view of “visualizing” the battle or providing a dramatic explanation for what a die roll signifies, everything’s happening at once. It’s not as if the combatants line up on the battlefield, then High DEX Guy does all of his actions while Low DEX Guy stands there like a statue, then Low DEX Guy takes his actions while HDG stands around. Everything is all flowing together simultaneously — it just has to be broken down into discrete, ordered steps for game purposes.

Since Dexy Guy is not performing a Dive For Cover, he doesn’t get the benefits of a Dive For Cover (i.e., a potential automatic miss). MM can still make his Attack Roll as usual. If he hits, the GM can explain it in any way that makes sense. One possible explanation is “MM got his shot off just in time to nick Dexy Guy as he started to move.” Another is “MM tracked Dexy Guy’s movement and fired right at him.”

In short: apply the rules as written in the best, most logical way you can, then come up with a good explanation for what they mean in real-world terms. ;)

Does that clarify things? If not, please post another follow-up.