attack of oppurtunity question-moving away

[Keifer113]

A monster left a threatened square, and moved more than 5 feet to attack another character.

Does the character originally threatened get an AoO? The DM said no because he felt the monster moved out of the reach of the original character. I argued yes, you always provoke an AoO unless withdrawring or 5 foot stepping.

My memory is fuzzy, but I think the monster also moved through another threatened square to reach the second character.

Thoughts and opinions are welcome.

 

[parinho7]

since he moved out of a threatened square you get an attack of opportunity, unless he made the withdraw action, witch he didn't.

You provoke an attack of opportunity when you're in a square on the battlefield that a foe threatens and you leave that square.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rg/20041026a
it doesn't matter where you go after you leave the square

 

[HoboGod]

If those are the only circumstances of the encounter, yes, before the monster moves, he provokes AoO. However, if the monster moved 5 ft to attack a different target who withdrew after being hit, for example, then I'd see it no longer being in that original threat range. Most frequently, these AoO disputes in my group are caused by not using miniatures, or even plastic army men, to represent fights. DMing is alot of busy work, no DM in our group, including myself, is good about using miniatures. If this is your problem as well, try to encourage whoever is playing a generally passive role (like healer) to keep track of grid battle.

 

[Redeemer of Ogar]

A monster left a threatened square, and moved more than 5 feet to attack another character.

Does the character originally threatened get an AoO? The DM said no because he felt the monster moved out of the reach of the original character. I argued yes, you always provoke an AoO unless withdrawring or 5 foot stepping.

My memory is fuzzy, but I think the monster also moved through another threatened square to reach the second character.

Thoughts and opinions are welcome.

It is the action of the monster moving out of reach, while the monster is focusing on a different action (in this case, the action of attacking a new target), which provokes the attack of opportunity. If the monster is focusing on not provoking (ie, the Withdraw special movement action), then you will not get an AoO, and of course a 5' step by definition never provokes an AoO.

What most people who have AoO issues tend to overlook is that your move action and standard action really are simultaneous. You can't say "well, I moved out of range, and then I did something else", because the rules consider that you really did start preparing to do the Something Else when you started moving, whether it be uncorking a potion, readying your attack, or even shifting to a non-defensive stance as you reach for a doorknob.

 

[frankthedm]

What most people who have AoO issues tend to overlook is that your move action and standard action really are simultaneous. You can't say "well, I moved out of range, and then I did something else", because the rules consider that you really did start preparing to do the Something Else when you started moving, whether it be uncorking a potion, readying your attack, or even shifting to a non-defensive stance as you reach for a doorknob.

Yes. This was why the 3.5 upgrade made 'withdraw' it's own distinct action. In 3.0 the wording of how one withdrew confused a few people. It even lead to a character death or two at tables I was at.

3.0
Provoking an Attack of Opportunity by Moving
If a character moves through (not simply into) or out of a threatened area, a character usually provokes an attack of opportunity.

If all a character does during that character's turn is make a normal move or a double move (not a run), the space that the character started out in is not considered threatened.

If a character's entire move for the round is 5 feet the 5 foot move does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

3.5
Withdraw
Withdrawing from melee combat is a full-round action. When you withdraw, you can move up to double your speed. The square you start out in is not considered threatened by any opponent you can see, and therefore visible enemies do not get attacks of opportunity against you when you move from that square. (Invisible enemies still get attacks of opportunity against you, and you can’t withdraw from combat if you’re blinded.) You can’t take a 5-foot step during the same round in which you withdraw.

If, during the process of withdrawing, you move out of a threatened square (other than the one you started in), enemies get attacks of opportunity as normal.

You may not withdraw using a form of movement for which you don’t have a listed speed.

Note that despite the name of this action, you don’t actually have to leave combat entirely.

Restricted Withdraw
If you are limited to taking only a standard action each round you can withdraw as a standard action. In this case, you may move up to your speed (rather than up to double your speed).

 

[Vegepygmy]

What most people who have AoO issues tend to overlook is that your move action and standard action really are simultaneous.

That's because they aren't.

What people do overlook is the simple general rule (there are only rare exceptions) that if you leave a threatened square in any way other than (1) a 5-foot step or (2) the Withdraw action, you provoke an AoO.

It's that simple. Talking about "simultaneous" actions or whether someone is "focused on" something else just muddies the water, because those aren't actual rules of the game, they're just vague concepts.

 

[Empirate]

It's that simple.

+1

Also, always try and refer to the rules as written, not to fuzzy interpretations thereof. Get your DM to do that. If he wants to change a rule because he can't justify it, fine, but he should do that explicitly and beforehand. Your DM seems to have interpreted the situation from a "fluffy" standpoint, not a "crunchy" one. Tactical situations don't need any fluff to adjudicate - indeed, it's rather unhelpful.

 

[Volomon]

It's ultra easy if you just keep this one simple thought in mind: Distraction equals AOO.

When you walk away from someone you are no longer looking at them or focusing on that person, this allows that person to take advantage of the situation and attempt to sneak in an attack.

Your waving your arms around and grabbing a component for a spell again, you are distracted: AOO.

Withdrawn means you are entirely focused on escaping the current situation and that only thing in your attention is being attacked: Hence no AOO.

Start picking a door in the middle a of fight with an Ogre standing right next to you, your staring at the door using both hands to pick a lock: AOO.

Moving into a square does not provoke an attack of opportunity because you are focused onto moving into position to fight which means also to defend yourself.

5-foot step is like a strafing move or slowly stepping back you spend a great deal of time and delicacy to move into position again maintaining an awareness.

Basically any time you let down your guard.