Attack of Opportunity -- does it deserve to survive to v.4?

[howandwhy99]

I like provoking thoughts. They smack of opportunity.

 

[Drowbane]

AoOs and the provoking and avoidance thereof are one of the most fun parts of 3E combat. I hope they keep them!

QFT

 

[silver_wizard]

Indeed they are; they are a good compromise between the fluidity of battle (which, by definition, cannot be captured) and the rigidity of a turn-based system.

 

[the black knight]

May Attacks of Opportunity die a slow painful death...


but be fully dead before 4e.

 

[Celtavian]

Yes

Yes if for no other reason than you shouldn't be able to drink a potion in combat with impunity.

 

[el-remmen]

I had AoOs in my 2E games - I will have them in my *shudder* 4E games.

 

[Squire James]

I think they should keep them, though perhaps there should be some simplifying of the rules in this respect. In particular, I think there should be some other mechanic to handle close-combat archery and spellcasting, like requiring a Concentration check or lose the attack/spell (like casting defensively, but compulsory). Perhaps an AC penalty until next round can be applied instead of "minor actions" that currently provoke an AoO.

Of course, this echoes into one's feat choices. Combat Reflexes is not considered an attractive option for any player in my game. They don't like having to rely on a foe making a mistake to use their feats as it is, and if AoO's were rarer, that feat might as well not exist.

Readied actions should be clarified to the extent that there should be no question whether someone can move out of range in response to an attack, and if the attacker can alter his action to something else as a result (since the fighter obligingly moved out of my way, can I continue and attack the mage instead of swinging at empty air like some sort of idiot?). This is more confusing than AoO's in my game.

 

[RangerWickett]

The problems with AoOs in my opinion are the 5-ft. step and the special attacks like disarming, tripping, and grappling.

I would change the 5-ft. step so that you cannot take it before your action. You can try to attack then back up, but you can't back up and cast a spell or shoot an arrow.

I would change disarming and such so that you only provoke an AoO if you fail your attempt. As is, it's foolish to try these maneuvers without special feats, which means most people will just stick to grinding away at each other's hit points. This makes combat less interesting. I want people to try weird tricks in combat.

Of course, there is some weird illogic in the idea that if I'm a big warrior battling a pair of monsters that are trying to tear my face off, and suddenly a little monster tries to run behind me, that I would suddenly spin around and hack at him, but I'm willing to accept that for the sake of the aforementioned desire to make movement through combat important.

 

[Storm Raven]

Attacks of Opportunity should be tossed. Either that or made optional, rather than being the built-in balancing factor for many actions.

If you don't want to use them with 3e, just go back to the 1e/2e rule for a lot of things that now draw AoOs and simply rule that you cannot do them at all while in melee.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I'd like to see them disappear. There are plenty of other ways for disallowing actions that don't make sense in combat (used in other OGL/d20 games now and a wide range of RPG's in the past).

They add a little something to the game, but for my money it doesn't make up for the added complexity and wierdness that it introduces too.

I'd happy to see them disappear as an experiment that didn't stand the test of time.

Cheers