Pulling and Tripping

This maneuver is designed to knock opponents down.

When using the Pull/trip maneuver, the attacker announces his intention when it's his turn to attack, He describes how he's performing the maneuver to the DM, who may rule that it's impossible.

If it is possible, though, the attacker rolls vs. the target's AC as with any normal attack.

The target then rolls 1d20 against his Dexterity. If he succeeds, he stays on his feet. If he fails, he falls down. Modifiers to his Dexterity include:

+6 Target Was Not Moving
-3 Target Was Unaware of Attack

The Pull/Trip maneuver is best performed on someone who is moving and unaware of you. A target who is standing stili (not walking or running) and is aware of his attacker is very hard to knock down.

Use of Polearms

Polearms (and any other weapons with long staff-like elements (quarterstaves, lances, spears, etc.) are good weapons to have when you're trying the Pull/Trip maneuver.

You can Pull/Trip someone at the maximum range of your weapon, for instance, with no additional penalty to hit.

You can Pull/Trlp moving animals with a polearm; this is at a -6 penalty to hit if the animal is Large (but you can't even try it on a Large animal without a pole of some sort).

And finally, they are very useful for knocking riders off their mounts. With a mancatcher or polearm (though not with a quarterstaff, lance or spear), you can attack a mounted rider and have a good chance of pulling him from his horse. The Dexterity modifiers listed above also apply to the rider's chance to stay mounted.