Why doesn't the 5' step provoke AoO?

[General Barron]

I'm just curious as to the purpose behind the 5' step not provoking an attack of opportunity. It seems odd that a spellcaster can just step back from a fight, and cast a spell no sweat. In my mind this makes no sense at all, assuming everybody's action is supposed to happen at the same time. Is there some kind of game-balance reason for this rule that I'm just not seeing? Or would it be fine to simply rule that the 5' step DOES provoke AoO?

 

[Len]

It seems odd that a spellcaster can just step back from a fight, and cast a spell no sweat.

Yes, that is the reason for the rule. (Not just for spellcasters - it's also useful for any character who feels the need to drink a healing potion.)

The main effect of removing that rule would be that your players lynch you.

 

[RigaMortus2]

It seems odd that a spellcaster can just step back from a fight, and cast a spell no sweat. In my mind this makes no sense at all, assuming everybody's action is supposed to happen at the same time.

That is what Ready is for.

Plus, I beleive there is a feat in one of the supplimental books that actually allows you to follow someone when they make a 5 foot step (might be a class feature of a PrC).

 

[Thanee]

The reason for the 5-ft. step is, that combat is not and should not be static. Combat is a dynamic process with lots of movement, where opponents circle each other and try to outmaneuver their adversaries.

With the 5-ft. step, such movement is possible, since it has no serious penalties attached.

If you basically remove the 5-ft. step, then you will have the result, that characters will rarely move from the spot in a fight, things will just be very static.

If you want to remove the inherent advantages for non-meleers, which can use the 5-ft. step to get away from opponents, you could house rule it in the following way, but be aware, that this makes the life of archers and spellcasters a little more difficult, which does not necessarily have to be a bad thing, tho.

House Rule:

A 5-ft. step does not provoke an attack of opportunity from an opponent, if both the square the creature starts in and the square the creature moves to are within the threatened area of the opponent. If the target square is outside the threatened area, then the 5-ft. step provokes just as normal movement.

Or a slightly different approach...

5-ft. step of opportunity:

If a 5-ft. step brings a creature outside of the threatened area of an opponent, that opponent may immediately make a 5-ft. step outside of the normal turn, when the following requirements are met:
1) The opponent threatens the creature after moving to the new square.
2) The opponent has not otherwise moved any distance (including making a 5-ft. step) during the round (or during the last action).

Bye
Thanee

 

[StormCrow42]

Just as your spellcaster can 5' step away to cast a spell, or your archer can 5' step away to use his bow, your fighter can 5' step back to pull out a potion and drink it. After this, you can then 5' step back into range and let loose a full attack. The rules are working AS DESIGNED. Attacks of opportunity aren't a right, they're a privlige when your opponent does something incredibly risky, and are primarily designed to make it more difficult for opponents to move past your front rank to get to people behind your frontliners.

 

[General Barron]

Yes, that is the reason for the rule. (Not just for spellcasters - it's also useful for any character who feels the need to drink a healing potion.)

The main effect of removing that rule would be that your players lynch you.

That's what I thought, though I don't think my players are so wimpy that they can't think ahead about not casting spells or drinking potions in melee :0.

Anyway, this confirms my belief that the rule makes no sense. If a character wants to get away from a fight, they should take a withdraw action. If they don't have any buddies nearby who can cover their withdraw, and the enemy just follows them on their round, then it's the player's fault for being so foolish, and they deserve an AoO .

5-ft. step of opportunity

This sounds like the perfect fix. I see no reason to require a feat or PrC in order to make the combat rules make sense. I only have a Q about this:

2) The opponent does not otherwise move any distance (including making a 5-ft. step) during the round.

Would this mean that on the opponent's NEXT turn, they cannot move any distance? Or do you mean that if they moved any distance on their LAST turn, then they can't take the 5' SoO?

 

[Lamoni]

Anyway, this confirms my belief that the rule makes no sense. If a character wants to get away from a fight, they should take a withdraw action. If they don't have any buddies nearby who can cover their withdraw, and the enemy just follows them on their round, then it's the player's fault for being so foolish, and they deserve an AoO .

It is still the case that if you want to get away from a fight, you should take a withdraw action. Taking a 5' step doesn't get you away from anyone. They'll just full attack you on their turn as if you had stayed in place.

The advantage in Melee is already on the fighter's side. The spellcaster and archer rarely have the hit points to survive more than a single full attack, but they should still have the option to try and fight back rather than always running away.

 

[Thanee]

It's the same way the Ready action works. In fact, the exact text is copied from the Ready action (and just altered to fit in the sentence).

I think it should mean, that if you have moved during your last action, then you cannot perform the 5-ft. step.

Bye
Thanee

 

[General Barron]

It is still the case that if you want to get away from a fight, you should take a withdraw action. Taking a 5' step doesn't get you away from anyone. They'll just full attack you on their turn as if you had stayed in place.

Perhaps we have different opinions on what an AoO means. Picture someone, in the middle of a sword-fight, pulling a bottle out of a belt, then uncorking and drinking it. During that time, would they be able to defend themselves just as well as if they were only fighting? I have a hard time believing that. Same goes for someone shooting a bow at a guy 30' away, when an enemy is right next to him trying to cut his head off (shooting at the guy next to him would seem ok though). Depending on how complex you picture spellcasting to be, the same would also apply.

So, sticking with the potion, if somebody tries to do something as risky as this, they should suffer an AoO. If they want to be completely safe, they should withdraw so they can drink their potion without worrying about the guy trying to cut their head off. The 5' step as written does not do this. The posted house rule does.

 

[RigaMortus2]

How do the rules not make sense? If your players are using 5 foot steps in order to try and retreat from a fight, they'll quickly find out what a bad idea that is. All 5 foot step is really trying to simulate it the small movements one does in combat, such as circling opponents.