The timing of presence attacks

[Sean Waters]

From the FAQ:

 

Q: Can a character use a Presence Attack as part of a multiple-Power attack?

 

A: No — but since a Presence Attack takes no time, any character can perform one after attacking anyway.

 

It may not come up often as you can make a PRE attack before an attack action and then use the result of the attack action as a modifier to the PRE attack, but can you make a presence attack after an attack action in the same phase, and if so is this an exception to the rule on FRED 237 that you can't take any action after an attack action in the same phase (a PRE attack being a 'no time' action, according to the actions table?

[Steve Long]

Re: The timing of presence attacks

 

The rules say that a character may perform an Action that takes no time (such as a Presence Attack) "whenever he wishes." "Whenever" means "whenever," be it before attacking, after attacking, in the middle of attacking, etc. An Attack Action ends a character's Phase, but as the rules for Actions that take no time indicate, a character doesn't have to have a Phase to perform one. Many Presence Attacks are performed immediately after attacking, to take advantage of the effects of an attack.