Did I play this right and oh boy, another AoO question.

[fenzer]

Last night I sicked an air elemental on my group. Its Whirlwind ability is an interesting and powerful one. Basically, I moved it around, base move 100', and had the players make saving throws or take damage/be scouped up into the air. I considered the elementals actions to be movement and movement only and so it did not provoke any AoO.

But the more I think about it the more I think I did this incorrectly. When you move through a threatened area, taking more than a 5 foot step, you provoke an AoO, even if the only thing you do is move. I was not putting any kind of careful thought into its movement. It basically jumped from player to player. I think I should have allowed my players AoO.

Did I blow it here?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Two things...

1. Remember, if all you do in a round is move, the square you start in is not considered threatened. So if it's just jumping from player to player, it might not provoke any AoOs anyway.

2. I think there's something around - a Sage letter, maybe? - that suggests you treat the whirlwind like a spell effect, rather than a creature... ie no AoOs for movement. But I could be misremembering that. It came up in a thread some time in the past few weeks.

-Hyp.

 

[Dreaddisease]

Yes through a threatened area is an AoO definetly no matter what (besides tumble).

 

[Dr. Zoom]

I don't see anywhere in the MM where an air elemental is immune to AoO's, so it should provoke them normally. Remember to apply concealment if it is moving along the ground due to its debris cloud.

 

[fenzer]

I don't want to get into the particulars of AoO. We have all been down those threads and no one can agree on all the issues it seems.

My take was similar to Hypersmurfs second point. I pictured a tornado sweeping through the room. Its very presence was the danger not some special attack. All it did was move around nothing more. I did not think of it as a spell effect but that would seem to solidify my original thought that there sould be no AoO.

I'll see if I can find what the sage has to say. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[Seravin]

Here's a handy link

This has come up a couple times.
Probably the best is here.

 

[Hypersmurf]

That's the one I was thinking of

-Hyp.

 

[fenzer]

Thanks guys, that link was spot on. Makes me wonder if we will see this rewrite in 3.5. For not having a real grasp on the Whirlwind Supernatural ability, I think I came pretty close. However, I think I did give the elemental and AoO, ironically, assuming it threaten the area around it. Also, I let it slam attack but only once.

Thanks again guys.