RANT: Attacks of Opportunity
- Thread starter Justin Bacon
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delericho
Legend
I never had a problems with AoOs, but some of my players did. So, at the start of the second ever session I ran using the 3rd Edition rules, I spent a few minutes walking them through the rules, with counters and battle-mat, and we've not had a problem since.
I think a lot of the problem people have is that the rules were really badly explained in the 3.0 PHB. When 3.5 was released, I think a lot of people probably didn't reread the entire book, and most likely skimmed the (much improved) new AoO explanations, so didn't get the benefit of them.
But, as the OP says, they're really not that hard. Just follow his summary.
I think a lot of the problem people have is that the rules were really badly explained in the 3.0 PHB. When 3.5 was released, I think a lot of people probably didn't reread the entire book, and most likely skimmed the (much improved) new AoO explanations, so didn't get the benefit of them.
But, as the OP says, they're really not that hard. Just follow his summary.
Sammael
Adventurer
I never had any problems with AoOs. None of the players I know had any problems with them, either. I was confused when I first heard that people were having problems with AoOs. Sure, there can be some wanky situations (such as when the AoO action provokes another AoO from the person who provoked the first AoO), but those are the exception, not the norm.
AoO Æturnus!
Mystery Man
First Post
Psion said:
Amen!
I don't like AOO's. Dealing with new or part-time players, they can't parse the rules. Dealing with some expert power gamers, they take a very long time mapping out moves to avoid all possible AOO's. I prefer rulesets (1E) that force you to stop moving when you contact an enemy - that's much clearer to part-time players.
(1) Player may not know a priori if someone can hit them. (Hidden, invisible, unarmed, armed with reach weapon, natural reach, etc.) Need to track exceptions for cover.
(2) There's a 100-odd list of cases that need to be memorized or tabulated for these "do somethings".
(3) See above.
(4) This is a forward-looking statement that some players have difficulty with. In other words, you need to mentally map out the entire future move before you can determine if starting the move stops the move and lets someone else act first (AOO).
(5) Then you also need to mentally track if any or all opponents have made AOO's earlier in the turn, against anyone, so as to be eligible to take AOO's. Then you need to know whether any have Combat Reflexes to act as an exception to that.
So when predicting AOO's you need to consider the past (enemies making AOO's in previous turn), the present (my action, position on map, all enemy positions on map, enemy weapons wielded, cover), and the future (entire movement I'm about to take), before knowing whether AOO's will occur. That's a lot, and a lot of the information is not available by just looking at the battlemap.
More generally, for part-time game players, the idea of it being "my turn" in a game and having it be invisibly interrupted by someone else getting an action is very unsettling and confusing.
Justin Bacon said:
(1) Player may not know a priori if someone can hit them. (Hidden, invisible, unarmed, armed with reach weapon, natural reach, etc.) Need to track exceptions for cover.
(2) There's a 100-odd list of cases that need to be memorized or tabulated for these "do somethings".
Justin Bacon said:
(3) See above.
(4) This is a forward-looking statement that some players have difficulty with. In other words, you need to mentally map out the entire future move before you can determine if starting the move stops the move and lets someone else act first (AOO).
(5) Then you also need to mentally track if any or all opponents have made AOO's earlier in the turn, against anyone, so as to be eligible to take AOO's. Then you need to know whether any have Combat Reflexes to act as an exception to that.
So when predicting AOO's you need to consider the past (enemies making AOO's in previous turn), the present (my action, position on map, all enemy positions on map, enemy weapons wielded, cover), and the future (entire movement I'm about to take), before knowing whether AOO's will occur. That's a lot, and a lot of the information is not available by just looking at the battlemap.
More generally, for part-time game players, the idea of it being "my turn" in a game and having it be invisibly interrupted by someone else getting an action is very unsettling and confusing.
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