Renaming the AoO

[Merlin the Tuna]

"Attack of Opportunity." It's a fairly straightforward name, and while the rules surrounding them can sometimes get muddy, the concept makes enough sense. When you try to drink a potion in the middle of a fencing match, you open yourself up to your opponent -- fair enough. And so, for the last 7 years or so, gamers have been dealing with quite a few of them, sometimes dominating the battlefield with them, sometimes not quite grasping the rules. But certainly we've all seen enough to have a few opinions about the things.

Now, whether you make them stronger, weaker, more common or more frequent, I think the word itself is unnecessarily clunky. 8 syllables and no usable acronym in sight for something that will get mentioned at least once or twice in every single combat round? I think we can do better than that. So far we've read mentions of Opportunity Attacks in blog updates. While it shortens the phrase a (very little) bit, it also doesn't really sit well on its own. Two nouns in a row? Methinks you want Opportunistic Attacks or Opportune Attacks... and neither of those rolls off the tongue, either.

So with that in mind, does anyone have a better idea of what to call the things? I think we can do something more elegant than Attack of Opportunity, more evocative than Free Attack, and more appropriate than Potshot... but crap if I know what it is.

 

[KoshPWNZYou]

How about Emerald Phoenix Initiate Reactive Crystalwing Attack?

Ok, I'll be serious ... how about Reactive Strike?

 

[Warbringer]

Opportunity Attack

 

[Woas]

Sucker Punch


But Emerald Phoenix Initiate Reactive Crystalwing Attack works too.

 

[Odysseus]

I'd say either Immediate attack, or reactive attack. To reflect thats you have an immediate opportunity to attack, or you are reacting to an opportunity.

Having said that ,"Emerald Phoenix Initiate Reactive Crystalwing Attack" works for me too

 

[Cadfan]

"Attack."

No, really. I'd just put a line in the "drinking a potion" text that said, "If you drink a potion while in an opponent's threatened square, that opponent may make a melee attack against you by spending their immediate action."

I vote for full transparency between immediate actions and attacks of opportunity.

 

[ruleslawyer]

So no more Combat Reflexes-ish type of ability, then?

 

[Clavis]

How about "free attack".

As in, stop fighting someone who is still fighting you, and they'll get a free attack on you. Subject to DM discretion, of course.

That's it. All the rules that were ever needed. And none of this nonsense about threatened squares, different types of actions, etc.

 

[Cadfan]

So no more Combat Reflexes-ish type of ability, then?

Actually, I'd just put in a feat that gave you an extra immediate action per turn. Why not?

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

Actually, I'd just put in a feat that gave you an extra immediate action per turn. Why not?

That could be pretty nasty if you've got spells or other awesome special abilities that activate on an immediate action.