Standing up from prone while invisible...AoO?

[TracerBullet42]

Ok, unusual situation tonight...

Fighting some dire wolves...wizard gets bit, and thusly ends up being tripped. (Dang you, free trip attack!!!)

Anyhoo, the wizard then casts, defensively, an invisibility spell on herself and then stands up. The wolf, having the scent ability, is still able to determine her position and movement and, therefore, gets to take an AoO on the invisible wizard. It makes enough sense to me, though I didn't actually look up the rules on the situation.

However, where it gets fuzzy is when the enemy does NOT have the scent ability...would they still get an AoO if an invisible person stands up from prone in a threatened square? I would rule not, but did not find the rules to support such a ruling...

And perhaps even the scent ability does not allow for making an AoO on an invisible opponent...(but I think it should...)

Anyhoo...thoughts? Ideas? Snide remarks?

 

[Eraslin]

Things may have changed in 3.5 (don't have that PHB), but in my 3.0 PHB standing from prone doesn't provoke an AoO at all.

-Eraslin

 

[buchw001]

3.5 SRD says standing from prone does provoke.

As for the question from TracerBullet42, I would allow the AoO [with 50% miss of course] only if the creature had successfully pinpointed the wizards location (scent or otherwise).

 

[dcollins]

However, where it gets fuzzy is when the enemy does NOT have the scent ability...would they still get an AoO if an invisible person stands up from prone in a threatened square? I would rule not, but did not find the rules to support such a ruling...

This is just one example of the broader question "Does an invisible person provoke AOOs?" which pops up in both 3.0 and 3.5. The rules aren't clear in either case. I've seen designer comments which run in both directions.

Personally, my ruling is "no AOOs on unseen figures". The alternative is to interupt the action and call for a round of Listen/Spot checks by everyone nearby to pinpoint the character, and then resolution of AOOs, and in any case giving away the existence of the invisible person from the call-for-checks in the first place. That's sufficiently murky rules-wise, and a total time sink in the middle of a combat action, that I think just ruling "no" is a lot easier and more fun.

 

[Daedrova]

A character will provoke an Attack of Opportunity only from those who threaten and detect him while performing a certain action. In most circumstances an invisible creature will not provoke an AoO. The scent ability allows the creature to adequately pinpoint the location of an invisible character who, as would a spot check DC 40.
In either case (scent or spot) you must still question if the Attacker would be able to properly detect the provoking action itself. Can the dire wolf “smell” the character getting up from prone? I doubt it, and that would be poor reason to allow the wolf to take an AoO against the player. The wolf being able to hear the action might be more reasonable, but still arguable as to if could properly hear such a thing (could be determined by a Listen check), or if hearing the character in such a way allow/cause the wolf to know that the character is performing such an action (provoking of AoOs) regardless.
An intelligent creature/character might be able to tell that an action he could here but not see would provoke an AoO, but that is up to you as DM to determine. Ultimately, if you believe all conditions to be in favor of granting the AoO, it would suffer the 50% miss chance.

 

[Caliban]

In 3.0 you don't provoke an AoO for standing up.

In 3.5 you cannot make an AoO against someone who has total concealment (such as provided by invisibility), even if you know which square they are in. (PHB, page 152)

 

[shilsen]

What the Rules Monkey said.

 

[Trainz]

What Shilsen said.

 

[sdt]

Go ahead, cast a spell, drink a potion, break dance; if they can't see you then they don't get an AoO.

 

[TracerBullet42]

Go ahead, cast a spell, drink a potion, break dance; if they can't see you then they don't get an AoO.

Sweet...so my Skill Focus: Break Dance will finally pay off...

Well, I mean, it's always paid off before, but even moreso now.

Thanks for the clarification!