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Question: How do you rationalize opportunity attacks?
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<blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 5880537" data-attributes="member: 63"><p>I've got a sword. A man in front of me has a sword too. He decides I'm scary and so he turns and runs away in a hurry. Do I get to hit him with a bonus attack?</p><p></p><p>I've got a sword, he's got a sword. But he needs a magic potion, so he rummages through his hip pouch trying to find the potion, then draws it. Do I get to hit him with a bonus attack?</p><p></p><p>The default logic in D&D for both cases is, sure, he's dropped his guard. You get to hit him.</p><p></p><p>If "he drops his guard" is the rubric that determines when I get a bonus attack, but about things that have no guard at all?</p><p></p><p>I have a sword, but he has no weapon, and he's not trained in martial arts. Do I get to hit him with a bonus attack, simply because he has no way to block or parry my weapon?</p><p></p><p>I have a sword, he's paralyzed? Do I get to stab him as a bonus attack? If not, why is being paralyzed less dangerous to him than running away?</p><p></p><p>I have a sword. He is a tree (so not exactly a "he," at least not in English). Do I get to chop at him as a bonus attack? After all, a man running away has to be harder to hit than a stationary tree.</p><p></p><p> </p><p></p><p>What about other Opportunity Attack situations? A man with a sword runs behind me, but within 5 ft. Even if I'm engaged in the duel of my life, I have no trouble whatsoever swinging at this guy who's in the opposite direction than where most of my attention is focused.</p><p></p><p>What if, instead of him running past me, the wizard blasts him with a gust of wind that blows him past me? Do I get a bonus attack against him (or does it not count because he's not moving under his own power; in which case, can I ride around in combat on a horse, letting my mount provoke OAs while I'm safe)?</p><p></p><p>What if I'm a solipsist, and I believe I'm the center of the universe, and every time I take a step, I stay stationary but the rest of the world moves around me? Can I make people provoke OAs whenever I want?</p><p></p><p> </p><p></p><p>I get why OAs exist in the rules. In reality, if someone's trying to keep you from running past him, it's dangerous to try to run past him. If you're in a duel and you stop to check your watch, you'll probably die.</p><p></p><p>But I'd rather the mechanics did it some way other than by granting bonus attacks all the time. There should be a specific action, like call it "Hold the Line," which lets you attack anyone who moves adjacent to you and stop their movement. And if you don't have a melee weapon out, you should take a penalty to your AC against other melee attacks. And if you pull something out of your bag during combat, you <em>are</em> more-likely to die, because you're giving him an extra attack on his turn without taking an attack of your own; no need to penalize you twice.</p><p></p><p>What do you think?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RangerWickett, post: 5880537, member: 63"] I've got a sword. A man in front of me has a sword too. He decides I'm scary and so he turns and runs away in a hurry. Do I get to hit him with a bonus attack? I've got a sword, he's got a sword. But he needs a magic potion, so he rummages through his hip pouch trying to find the potion, then draws it. Do I get to hit him with a bonus attack? The default logic in D&D for both cases is, sure, he's dropped his guard. You get to hit him. If "he drops his guard" is the rubric that determines when I get a bonus attack, but about things that have no guard at all? I have a sword, but he has no weapon, and he's not trained in martial arts. Do I get to hit him with a bonus attack, simply because he has no way to block or parry my weapon? I have a sword, he's paralyzed? Do I get to stab him as a bonus attack? If not, why is being paralyzed less dangerous to him than running away? I have a sword. He is a tree (so not exactly a "he," at least not in English). Do I get to chop at him as a bonus attack? After all, a man running away has to be harder to hit than a stationary tree. What about other Opportunity Attack situations? A man with a sword runs behind me, but within 5 ft. Even if I'm engaged in the duel of my life, I have no trouble whatsoever swinging at this guy who's in the opposite direction than where most of my attention is focused. What if, instead of him running past me, the wizard blasts him with a gust of wind that blows him past me? Do I get a bonus attack against him (or does it not count because he's not moving under his own power; in which case, can I ride around in combat on a horse, letting my mount provoke OAs while I'm safe)? What if I'm a solipsist, and I believe I'm the center of the universe, and every time I take a step, I stay stationary but the rest of the world moves around me? Can I make people provoke OAs whenever I want? I get why OAs exist in the rules. In reality, if someone's trying to keep you from running past him, it's dangerous to try to run past him. If you're in a duel and you stop to check your watch, you'll probably die. But I'd rather the mechanics did it some way other than by granting bonus attacks all the time. There should be a specific action, like call it "Hold the Line," which lets you attack anyone who moves adjacent to you and stop their movement. And if you don't have a melee weapon out, you should take a penalty to your AC against other melee attacks. And if you pull something out of your bag during combat, you [i]are[/i] more-likely to die, because you're giving him an extra attack on his turn without taking an attack of your own; no need to penalize you twice. What do you think? [/QUOTE]
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Question: How do you rationalize opportunity attacks?
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