Rebuked Undead

[sdt]

According to the PHB "A rebuked undead creature cowers as if in awe". Can the undead act if it is attacked, or does it just cower from you; taking no actions?

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Cowering: The character is frozen in fear and can take no actions. A cowering character takes a –2 penalty to Armor Class and loses her Dexterity bonus (if any).

Basically, cowering is a lot like being stunned, though you don't drop what you're holding.

 

[Li Shenron]

According to the PHB "A rebuked undead creature cowers as if in awe". Can the undead act if it is attacked, or does it just cower from you; taking no actions?

It cannot take any action, which basically means that he cannot do anything except defending itself by dodging (and at the mentioned penalty). I don't think it ever gets to attack, even with an AoO.

Were you wondering about a specific action?

 

[Hypersmurf]

I've seen people debate whether you can make an AoO while stunned, since an AoO is not, strictly, an action...

-Hyp.

 

[Li Shenron]

I've seen people debate whether you can make an AoO while stunned, since an AoO is not, strictly, an action...

Yes I know... it's kind of common anyway to just whack the undead with normal attacks, I haven't seen characters doing something else which may provoke the AoO

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Hyp: Were they persuaded by the, "Because you cannot take actions, you cannot make a melee attack, and therefore do not threaten, and therefore cannot make AoOs" line of reasoning?

 

[Hypersmurf]

Hyp: Were they persuaded by the, "Because you cannot take actions, you cannot make a melee attack, and therefore do not threaten, and therefore cannot make AoOs" line of reasoning?

Not all of them - it depends where you break out of the chicken-and-egg loop.

You cannot make a melee attack that requires an action, but you can in theory make a melee attack that does not. Since an AoO is a melee attack that deos not, and since you'd be capable of making an AoO into the square, it's a square you threaten, and therefore you can make AoOs into it...

Or so the argument goes, from memory

-Hyp.