Attacks of Opportunity

[francisca]

Do you inform player's when they may make AoOs?

Example: The fighter is fighting two orcs that are side by side, one of the orcs moves to take a flanking position. Do you tell the fighter he is allowed an attack of opportunity, or do you assume if he misses the chance then his character does as well?

When I was DMing 3.5, sometimes I would. They were keen on AOOs, so I usually didn't have to.

In 1e, many of the experienced and newer players ask about free shots all the time. Sometimes I give an "AOO", if the situation warrants.

 

[Mercule]

Mixed bag. If the NPCs provoke AoO, I tell the players that they're entitled to take one. If I miss it, the players are free to remind me. If they remind me and the monster, for some reason, isn't subject to that AoO, I give a cryptic "they seemed to be skilled at that manuever" sort of answer. Pretty similar to how players discover an NPC has Combat Reflexes.

If the PCs are trying something new or oddball that they may not be aware of the rules, I'll warn them "You're lower your defenses if you do that". For things like moving through threatened areas or moving out without Withdrawing, I just assume that the players are cognizant of what they are doing after 5(?) years of playing d20.

This attitude has been reinforced by having a couple of players who habitually (several times per combat) would move in ways to provoke AoOs and then ask to redo their whole turn. The "once you've moved, you're committed" rule has proved to be the most successful "encouragement" to get them to pay attension to the game.

 

[KB9JMQ]

I normally tell them.

 

[Umbran]

I generally tell them. Combat is chaotic enough that a player might forget a thing that would be bloody obvious to his character, and i usually tell my players when they run into such things.

Characters with sufficiently low Wisdom or Intelligence might not get that benefit, as they're supposed to do occasionally stupid things without thinking of it.

 

[Argonel]

Most of my players understand the AoO rules pretty well, but tend to remind them anyways. I typically find myself using phrases such as Monster X provokes an attack of opportunity as moves to position Y to attack. By the same token my players Also point out when they provoke AoO during their actions in case I don't notice.

In yesterdays session I killed the mount of one of my players in a single AoO as he charged a large creature. Later in the evening it took the players a couple rounds to relize that they would not provoke an AoO by moving and casting near a blinded opponent. I thought it was a great example of realistic combat confusion.

 

[Arnwyn]

Do you inform player's when they may make AoOs?

My answer is "usually, but not always", but to be honest, I can't think of a time in which I wouldn't tell them that they can do so.

(Aside: On the other hand, I virtually never tell the players if their own action(s) are going to cause an AoO against themselves. I'm not wasting my time reminding them - they know the rules.)

 

[The_Universe]

I try to remind them. But, if I forget and they don't remind me in time, I just go without.

 

[shilsen]

I tell my players. That's more likely to happen in one of my groups, which consists of more people with a weak grasp of the rules, but I'll remind anyone who forgets, experienced or not.