Are actions interrupted by an AoO abortable?

[0-hr]

A dwarf with an axe is in melee with a bow wielding orc. The dwarf readies to attack (or step and attack) if the orc tries to shoot the bow.

The orc then takes a 5ft step away and tries to shoot his bow. This triggers the dwarf's readied action, so he steps forward and attacks the orc (missing).

1) Does the orc HAVE to finish his shooting attempt (or can he abort to "no-action")?

2) If he does have to take the shot, does it provoke and Attack of Opportunity from the dwarf (who is now adjacent, even through he wasn't when the orc announded his intention to shoot)?

Any help is much appreciated (and I'm really more interested in what's in the rules as written, as opposed to opinions).

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

1) Does the orc HAVE to finish his shooting attempt (or can he abort to "no-action")?

Yes. Though, if the dwarf had sundered the orc's bow, he wouldn't get to shoot, and his attack action would be wasted.

Similarly, a Wizard who is hit by a readied action for when he casts a spell must continue to cast that spell - even if the hit caused the spell to be disrupted.

2) If he does have to take the shot, does it provoke and Attack of Opportunity from the dwarf (who is now adjacent, even through he wasn't when the orc announded his intention to shoot)?

That's a good question. Let me think about it for a bit.

 

[dcollins]

1) Does the orc HAVE to finish his shooting attempt (or can he abort to "no-action")?

2) If he does have to take the shot, does it provoke and Attack of Opportunity from the dwarf (who is now adjacent, even through he wasn't when the orc announded his intention to shoot)?

1) There's nothing in the rules that specifically allows this (aborting an action between starting & ending it). As DM I might actually rule that you can do that (to head off an argument about can you declare a move across a room and stop halfway across when you spot something).

2) There's a FAQ entry, which in passing asserts you don't get an AOO if you readied an attack on the same action (specifically, a move through reach). There's no real rule support for that, however.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

Its all in the Timing..

"The dwarf readies to attack (or step and attack) if the orc tries to shoot the bow."

I would rule that he does not get the readied attack and the AoO due to the condition stated. I see it as the readied action and the AoO occur at the same point in the opponents action. I can't see a precognitive condition such as this working. Its 'I ready to step and attack when he shoots'.. not 'ready to step and attack when he thinks about shooting'.

As such, you don't have to worry about aborting actions which have not actually happened yet.. which in turn negates a readied attack or AoO... bah.

If the Dwarf had stated he was going to step and attack when the Orc moved away.. then he would be in place to take an AoO.

This would be the better statement anyway as:
If the Orc 5'steps, you are still within range and get 1 normal attack and potential AoO from the Orc's ranged attack.
If the Orc moves, you get an AoO (first square), step and normal attack, and possibly another AoO as the Orc continues movement.
If the Orc withdraws, you get a step and normal attack, and potential AoO (second square) as the Orc continues movement.

Anyway, sorry for offering opinion despite your request I don't think the raw an cover the vagueries of the given ready statement.

 

[Infiniti2000]

1. Nothing specifically allows aborting as dcollins points out, but you do lose your action as Patryn points out. So, you don't abort to a no-action, you abort to a wasted (e.g.) standard action. As dcollins, I would allow it.

2. In this case, the orc would provoke an AoO because he's performing a distracting act. Only when casting a spell do you not provoke attacks later during the action. I don't believe any other action that provokes AoO has this stipulation.

 

[Hypersmurf]

2) There's a FAQ entry, which in passing asserts you don't get an AOO if you readied an attack on the same action (specifically, a move through reach). There's no real rule support for that, however.

I can't find that one, but I can find this one in the 3.5 Main FAQ, p33:

Suppose a fighter and an archer go at the same
initiative. The archer is not in an adjacent square but only
one square over. The fighter is not using a reach weapon.
Assuming the archer plans to use a full attack action (and
doesn’t use a 5-foot step), and since they have the same
initiative, could the fighter move his 5-foot step (toward the
archer) as the archer is firing and get an attack of
opportunity?

The question is moot, because two characters never have
the same initiative. If two characters tie with their initiative
rolls, you must break the tie before starting the combat (see
Initiative in Chapter 8 of the Player’s Handbook).

The fighter could use the ready or delay special initiative
actions to act at about the same time as the archer. In the case
of the ready action, the fighter could ready an attack against the
archer when the archer shoots. When the archer shoots, the
readied action is triggered. The fighter acts before the archer
shoots (readied actions are resolved prior to the actions that
trigger them, see the ready description in Chapter 8 of the
Player’s Handbook). Assuming that the fighter has not
previously moved this round, he could make a 5-foot step and
then attack the archer. Since the fighter now threatens the
archer, the fighter can make an attack of opportunity against the
archer when the archer fires, provided the archer does not use a
5-foot step to get out of reach first.

If the fighter was delaying, the action would be resolved in
the same way, provided the fighter chose to act before the
archer. If the delaying fighter acts after the archer, the fighter
won’t get any attack of opportunity against the archer (this turn,
at least).

This one explicitly allows a readied step-and-attack triggered and an AoO provoked by the same action - in fact, the very action (shooting an arrow) discussed in this thread.

-Hyp.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

Ouch! Damn FAQ

Thanks for enlightening me!

 

[dcollins]

Hyp, thanks for looking for that. I'm kind of embarassed, either that got changed or I'm remembering it exactly wrong. Geez.

Same ruling is in Sword & Fist p. 66 (paragraph 4), and also the 3.0 FAQ:

If a character charges a foe who has a reach weapon
(such as a longspear) set to receive a charge, does the
creature receiving the charge get an attack of opportunity?
Does the character with the spear get to attack for being set
to receive a charge and get an attack of opportunity before
the charging character gets to make his attack? What about
a creature with reach who has prepared to receive a
charge?

Preparing an action doesn’t affect who you threaten or
impair your ability to make attacks of opportunity. If a
character with a reach weapon (or creature with natural reach)
prepares an attack, the creature makes the prepared attack when
the first foe comes within reach. If the foe survives the
prepared attack and leaves the 5-foot square where the prepared
attack was delivered, it draws an attack of opportunity from the
creature because it’s leaving a threatened space.

 

[0-hr]

Since the fighter now threatens the
archer, the fighter can make an attack of opportunity against the
archer when the archer fires, provided the archer does not use a
5-foot step to get out of reach first.

Thanks for the FAQ research, that helps a lot. The bit quoted above, hovever, still confuses me. How could the archer take a 5ft step between the fighter's readied action and the archer finishing his shot?

 

[Deset Gled]

How could the archer take a 5ft step between the fighter's readied action and the archer finishing his shot?

Well, the archer couldn't make a 5ft step to stop the first AoO, but he could take his 5ft step after he fires his first arrow (and is attacked twice) to avoid AoOs on the rest of his attacks (he was taking a full attack, after all). I think this is just another case of the FAQ not being to picking about wording.