Bullrushing & AoOs... It's not the question you think it is.

[Pbartender]

Here's a conundrum we came up with during our last gaming session...

Let's say I'm a tough, strong Dwarf fighter. I decide to bushrush the Orc and make a little room on the battlefield. My bullrush check is high enough to push the Orc back through the threatened area of the Elf ranger.

With the Orc moving through the Elf's threatened area, albeit unwillingly, does he provoke an attack of opportunity from the Elf?

 

[Liquidsabre]

As long as the elf threatens, yes. But only once in a round (an AoO caused by movement through threatened space).

 

[Alduk]

Liquidsabre is right. Just to add some official backing, from the SRD:

Bull Rush Results: If you beat the defender?s Strength check result, you push him back 5 feet. If you wish to move with the defender, you can push him back an additional 5 feet for each 5 points by which your check result is greater than the defender?s check result. You can?t, however, exceed your normal movement limit. (Note: The defender provokes attacks of opportunity if he is moved. So do you, if you move with him. The two of you do not provoke attacks of opportunity from each other, however.)

 

[Pbartender]

Ah... That's what we suspected, but I'd missed the blurb in Bull Rush. It was just an odd little sistuation that had never really occured before... Involuntary movement causing an AoO.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Okay, so that was the question I thought it was. Now I want to know what question you thought I was going to think it was.

 

[dcollins]

Yeah, that's pretty much exactly the question I expected that to be. Fairly commonly asked, actually.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Now, it's unclear, but this:

Any attack of opportunity made by anyone other than the defender against you during a bull rush has a 25% chance of accidentally targeting the defender instead, and any attack of opportunity by anyone other than you against the defender likewise has a 25% chance of accidentally targeting you. (When someone makes an attack of opportunity, make the attack roll and then roll to see whether the attack went astray.)

... might or might not apply to the elf's AoO.

It seems likely that it does, but bizarrely, it's positioned in such a way that it initially appears to apply only to the AoO for entering the defender's space.

-Hyp.

 

[Pbartender]

...any attack of opportunity by anyone other than you against the defender likewise has a 25% chance of accidentally targeting you.

Right... But it does say 'any attack of opportunity', not 'the attack of opportunity for entering the defender's space'.

So, the dwarf bull rushes the orc through the elf's threatened area. The elf can take an attack of opportunity against the orc, but there's a 1-in-4 chance that the attack with target the dwarf instead.

Pretty straight forward... I just completely missed that part in the rulebook for some reason. Time to get my glasses checked, I think.

 

[shilsen]

Now, it's unclear, but this:

Any attack of opportunity made by anyone other than the defender against you during a bull rush has a 25% chance of accidentally targeting the defender instead, and any attack of opportunity by anyone other than you against the defender likewise has a 25% chance of accidentally targeting you. (When someone makes an attack of opportunity, make the attack roll and then roll to see whether the attack went astray.)

... might or might not apply to the elf's AoO.

It seems likely that it does, but bizarrely, it's positioned in such a way that it initially appears to apply only to the AoO for entering the defender's space.

-Hyp.

Confusion due to positioning? Ah, how quickly we forget crossbows and TWF rules!

More seriously, I agree with Pbartender - that section definitely applies.

 

[Liquidsabre]

Looks good, very cool, I hadn't seen that bit of rules there Hyper, thanks! Very flavorful bit O'rule crunch that! Makes a load of sense what with the brutal and somewhat chaotic nature of a physical bull rush heh. Neat stuff...*bags this info for later game use* muhahaha!