Combat casting and movement

[Wippit Guud]

Little diagreement I got into with my DM last night (hi Cor) concerning combat casting (casting on defensive) and moving. I told him outright I'd go with the DM's interpretation of the rules, but just wanted an opinion.

Cast on defensive: pass a DC 15+spell level check, and you can cast a spell without taking an AoO.

Movement: If you move more than 5 ft our of a threatened area, and do nothing, you're ok. If you take an action, you suffer an AoO from the movement.

Scenario:
Ranger threatens a drow cleric.
Cleric moves back 30ft.
Cleric casts a spell defensively.

So, now we have a conflicting rule. Cast on defense says ranger gets no AoO, movement rules says he does.

Go by the spirit of the rules, cast on defensive seems to imply it's effective while being threatened. But not if he takes an AoO from another source.

Just looking for some opinions (and I'm probably in the wrong even thinking this, but I'm an inquisitive guy).

 

[dvvega]

Actually you have it a bit mixed up ...

You draw the AOO for the movement, not for the casting in the scenario you stated.

Even if the cleric flipped it and cast the spell defensively and then moved, he would take the AOO for the movement, not for the spell casting.

Even the SRD is pretty straight forward

Casting Defensively: If the character wants to cast a spell without provoking any attacks of opportunity, the character needs to dodge and weave. The character must make a Concentration check (DC 15 + the level of the spell the character is casting) to succeed. The character loses the spell if the character fails.

Note it says if the character wants to cast a spell without provoking ... IT DOES NOT say if the character wants to do more than just cast.

 

[Darklone]

Right. If the spellcaster would have moved away 30ft and then lifted his kilt (does this provoke an AoO by itself?), he would have gotten smacked.

Simply step back 5ft and cast then.

 

[Pielorinho]

Exactly. Note that the drow cleric's spell would not have been disrupted by this action, though: had the ranger whacked him when he tried to move back 30', he could still cast his spell without making a concentration check. Only damage taken during the spell's casting (from a readied action, an attack of opportunity, or a source of continuous damage) can disrupt a spell. (Things other than damage, natch, can also disrupt a spell -- I don't want to be ambiguous).

The ranger should've gotten an AoO, but the spell should've gone off.

Unless, of course, the ranger used his AoO to trip or grapple the cleric -- then it's a whole nother kettle of fish.

Daniel

 

[Nail]

Pielorinho's got it, of course. Let me take a stab at it too.

If the drow cleric's actions were: Move 30', then cast.

Then you, Mr. Ranger, get an AoO, provoked by the movement, not by the casting. The Drow provoked the AoO with his move because he "did something else at the end". It doesn't matter what that something else is. Your AoO happens well before the casting.

Once the AoO and Move are resolved, the drow casts his spell. Casting it defensively gives the Drow no advantage, unless he was in a threatened area while he was casting his spell.

So "casting defensively" was probably a wasted effort.