How Were AoOs / OAs Explained to You?

[Janx]

I learned how Attacks of Opportunity worked from Eric Noah's site before 3e was released. He even had some examples of how what was known of the rules worked in play.

By the time the game released, those of us who had been following along already knew how to play it. Then, people started complaining about how difficult AoOs were to understand (which, frankly, I didn't understand--they're really not that complicated).

between reading the rules and see Eric's explanation, was sufficient.

Frankly, every old-timer on this site should KNOW the AoO rules because of that demo.

 

[the Jester]

Just what the title says:

Uh- I read the books. It was described to me by the PH in 3e and 4e, by the Players Option: Combat and Tactics book in 2e, in vague form ("enemies get a free attack if you run away") by the DMG in 1e, etc.

And a follow-up question:

Did/do you understand how AoOs / OAs work, based on how they were explained to you? (Knowing all thirty-seven and a half corner-cases that provoke AoOs isn't necessary to understanding them!)

Yes.

 

[Dragoslav]

I learned about them from playing Neverwinter Nights 2 (in which I generally understood them) and playing a couple sessions of 4e and having someone briefly explain when they occur as those situations arose. Now I understand them completely.

 

[Yora]

I think I got it pretty quick when I've first read it, or at least it didn't take noticably longer than any other combat rule to learn, like cover or concealment and understanding Turn Undead or Trip was a lot more difficult.

I tought D&D to pretty much everyone who ever played in one of my games, and I simply told them that you provoke AoOs when you do something that makes it difficult to defend yourself. Like casting a spell, starting to rummage through your bags to get a potion, or turning your back to enemies by moving away from them.
I guess when you make a 5 foot step or a double move, you slowly move backwards until you are out of your enemies range.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

My group learned them from reading the 3.0 rules and grasped them pretty easily. I had a little trouble understanding why a monster with reach was able to attack me when I came straight at it but that didn't take very long to understand either.

 

[Holy Bovine]

"They're very similar to tackle zones from Blood Bowl."

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

We learned altogether from the books Never quite got the hang of it because I tend to not notice when it happens unless I GM.

How do you mean? Like you completely forget about them, or you forget which actions provoke them?

I finally got OAs/AoOs when I read the 4e PHB. I never understood them in 3e. I don't really know how/if they're different in 4e than they were in 3e (or if there were any changes to them for 3.5, since I never played 3.5) or if they simply explained them better in 4e (or if something simply happened to my brain in the meantime).

Some of the details are different, but the concept is the same.

I just checked out the Combat chapter of the 3.5 and 4e PHBs (don't have my 3.0 PHB anymore), and I don't think the explanations are terribly different. The 3.5 PHB isn't as concise about it, and the first instance where AoOs are mentioned uses very crunchy language. (No mention of "dropping their guard" until the second instance, pages later.)

I think I got it pretty quick when I've first read it, or at least it didn't take noticably longer than any other combat rule to learn, like cover or concealment and understanding Turn Undead or Trip was a lot more difficult.

No kidding! To this day, I can't say how undead turning works before 4e without looking it up. And I still wonder how it escaped the system unification process going from AD&D into 3e. Thank Pelor for the Complete Divine's direct damage turning variant!

 

[hemera]

Well, I learned from the book and taught it to the group since I was the early adopter but...

I explained it basically as a cheap shot. Your guard slips for a second and bam, someone takes a swipe at you. Why doesn't everything do this?

~~~handwave~~~

It's magic!

 

[Lwaxy]

How do you mean? Like you completely forget about them, or you forget which actions provoke them?

Completely forgot. I think this is because anytime I play a PC who gets close enough to provoke AoOs more or less regularly, it is a fighter type. I am not intuitive with all the fighter options or remember what weapon/attack does what damage so I need to constantly look it up in my sheet. Being so focussed on my character's options, I overlook the other situations on the map.

For some reason, this doesn't happen when I play barbarians.

 

[Jhaelen]

Or did you learn directly from the PHB?

This!

Did/do you understand how AoOs / OAs work, based on how they were explained to you? (Knowing all thirty-seven and a half corner-cases that provoke AoOs isn't necessary to understanding them!)

I understood it once the penny fell, that it's the _leaving_ of a threatened space that triggers it.

I've never really tried to reationalize the rule. I guess, I just accepted it since something similar existed in previous versions of the game (and the SSI CRPGs!).