AoOs and Slowed creatures (The Sage's Ruling)

[Ferox4]

This came up the other day in another thread: source of question

I asked the Sage and he responded earlier this morning. Thought you might like to see his ruling.

Q: I have found nothing in the core rules that states a creature under the
effects of a Slow spell cannot takes AoOs. However, it seems intuitive
to me that a slowed creature either: A) would not be able to take an
AoO or B) can take only one/round regardless if it has the ability to
take more. Is this covered somewhere or another area in which we need
to make our own judgment?

from the Sage:

A: You still threaten an area if you're slowed (if you're armed) and you can still make attack of opportunity (which is why you can't find anything in the rules that says you can't). Your number and kind of actions you can take when slowed is restricted, but making an AoO isn't an action.

Cheers
F4

 

[Darklone]

Houserule from a friend: If you are slowed, your AoOs are at a -4 (doesn't stack with the slow penalty).

 

[Hypersmurf]

The answer is exactly right. But beware the loophole that the answer, in a way, confirms:

Both the dazed condition and the stunned condition state that the affected creature "can't take any actions".

But, as the Sage has just noted, an AoO is not an action.

I have seen it argued that, with these points in mind, neither the dazed nor stunned conditions prevent a creature from taking an AoO. (Assuming the stunned creature still threatens an area after dropping everything he is holding.)

As a DM, I'd simply say "Um, no."

But just be aware that the interpretation exists.

-Hyp.

 

[The Souljourner]

Yeah, I don't really see the point of even asking the Sage about that, it's perfectly clear in the rules that being slowed doesn't stop attacks of opportunity. If it were supposed to, it would say so.

As for stunned and dazed - no actions is, unfortunately, not that descriptive. Action is a very over-used word, so what exactly that means... I don't know.

-The Souljourner

 

[Ferox4]

Yeah, I don't really see the point of even asking the Sage about that, it's perfectly clear in the rules that being slowed doesn't stop attacks of opportunity. If it were supposed to, it would say so.

Oh, just like it say that a stunned creature can't take AoOs?

 

[The Souljourner]

There's a world of difference between the wording of the two. Stunned says the character "can't take actions ... and loses his dex bonus to AC", whereas slow merely says you are restricted from taking a full round's worth of actions. Since you are able to make an attack while slowed, you obviously threaten a square, and thus may make attacks of opportunity.

Whether or not you can when you are stunned is an entirely different matter, and far less clear, in my opinion.

-The Souljourner

 

[Celtavian]

re

It still does seem strange that a slowed character could take more AOO's than regular attacks if they had a high dex and Combat Reflexes. I've never really had the instance come up, but if it did it would seem strange.

 

[LordAO]

An Attack of Opportunity IS an action, but it is a free action.

At least that's how it seems to me. Wouldn't be the first time I've disagreed with the Sage.

 

[Caliban]

An Attack of Opportunity IS an action, but it is a free action.

At least that's how it seems to me. Wouldn't be the first time I've disagreed with the Sage.

You can't take actions when it's not your turn, not even free actions. If an AoO was an action, you couldn't do it on somone elses turn.

They should have made a special category of actions called "reactions" that are specifically taken in response to an action or event, even when it's not your turn.

We have those types of responses in the core rules, but they aren't codified in a consistent manner.

 

[Li Shenron]

The word "action" is used in the core books sometimes as the generic english noun and sometimes as it had the value of a technical definition, such as "standard action" or "full-round action" are. This can bring up some confusion in fact...

A couple of weeks ago I was pointing out for example that Combat Expertise says that the bonus/penalty lasts until your next "action" which could be read in different ways.

As for the original question, I think that by the rules a Slowed character still makes the same number of AoOs as before. The only penalty on the AoO is a -1 because the reduced speed (which applies to all attacks). On the other end, a Hasted character doesn't make more AoOs than usual. I would anyway accept a DM's call for worse bonuses if that would make more sense.