Lay on hands and AoO

[durath]

Does a paladin incur an attack of oppurtunity if he uses his lay on hands ability in a threatened area?

If so, can he negate it with a concentration check as a spellcaster would? If yes, what would the DC be?

 

[gfunk]

Yes, it provokes an AoO b/c it is listed as a spell-like ability.

Your second question is tough to answer. In our campaign, we just ruled that the DC was 16 (15 + 1 for a 1st level spell equivalent).

 

[Hypersmurf]

I don't have a paladin in my party, so it hasn't come up... but I'd be inclined to make the DC scale with the number of points he's curing.

Something like 15 +1/5 points, or +1/8 points.

If you're healing 10 points of damage, that's more like a Cure Moderate Wounds than a Cure Light Wounds, so the DC should be slightly higher IMO.

But since there are no fixed rules on the subject, it's up to the DM.

Isn't there a ruling somewhere that he doesn't provoke an AoO if he's using it to damage undead instead of heal?

-Hyp.

 

[Kraedin]

You provoke an AoO when activating it (it's still a spell-like ability) but you don't provoke an AoO when touching the undead because it's an armed attack. Works just like a touch spell

 

[durath]

alrighty then....

It seems that everyone is in agreement that a paladin does provoke an AoO when activating his lay on hands ability no matter whether it is to heal or to harm.

If this is the case then what would happen if the paladin activated the ability 30 feet away then moved forward to heal his friend in a threatened area? Would he now provoke an AoO for the healing?

If you say yes then why would he not provoke the AoO if had instead used it as a harmful effect on an undead?

Also, does anyone have any official rulings on this or is this all just in the realm of DM making a call?

 

[Hypersmurf]

Re: alrighty then....

Also, does anyone have any official rulings on this or is this all just in the realm of DM making a call?

There's a passage near the start of Defenders of the Faith that addresses it, from memory.

I just can't remember exactly what it says

-Hyp.

 

[durath]

hypersmurf to the rescue

Thanks Hypersmurf. DotF answered the question pretty well for me. I completely forgot to look there.

I guess that the Paladin does not have the option to make a concentration check to try and avoid an AoO when using Lay on Hands to heal someone in a threatened area since neither the PHB or DotF make any mention of it.

Good idea for a house-rule as some other posters have mentioned.

 

[Destil]

The best house rule is to just make it supernatural, IMHO.

 

[Darklone]

Call of Duty has some nice feats to lay on hands with reach or without provoking AoOs...

 

[Dr_Rictus]

Re: hypersmurf to the rescue

I guess that the Paladin does not have the option to make a concentration check to try and avoid an AoO when using Lay on Hands to heal someone in a threatened area since neither the PHB or DotF make any mention of it.

Not true. The PHB describes using a spell-like ability defensively, right there on p. 126, which you can find by looking for "spell-like ability" in the very useful index you will find in the back of the book.