D&D 5E Warcaster, polearm master and learning to love the optimizing?

[Kikuras]

But certain types of AoO (PM Reach) have such specific triggers that if you replace them with a spell the AoO can no longer occur in the first place to be replaced.

Quote the rule that says that. The Reach entry doesn't say that. Where is the rule that says an AoO can dissolve?

 

[Eejit]

Quote the rule that says that. The Reach entry doesn't say that. Where is the rule that says an AoO can dissolve?

What do you mean "dissolve"? This isn't a chain of distinct events. It's a single event.

 

[Kikuras]

What do you mean "dissolve"? This isn't a chain of distinct events. It's a single event.

Quote the rule that explains it all as one event and not a chain, that's all I'm asking. Without a rule that specifies, all you're saying is that in your mind it works the way you describe.

Pretty much everything works as a series of distinct actions, one after the other.

 

[Eejit]

Quote the rule that explains it all as one event and not a chain, that's all I'm asking. Without a rule that specifies, all you're saying is that in your mind it works the way you describe.

Pretty much everything works as a series of distinct actions, one after the other.

By the very nature of reactions.

A reaction is an instant response to a trigger of some kind, which can occur on your turn or on someone else’s.

 

[Kikuras]

By the very nature of reactions.

But you're saying that if at any time withing the greater thread of the action the reaction trigger is no longer valid, then the reaction is no longer valid. Which is not true.

Edit: And I still don't see how the AoO can ever not be an AoO, except in the case when a specific rule (like War Caster) says so. You're still going off of your interpolation of how it works, in fact what I see here (pg 190) is a clear example of a CHAIN of events.

 

[Eejit]

But you're saying that if at any time withing the greater thread of the action the reaction trigger is no longer valid, then the reaction is no longer valid. Which is not true.

A reaction is an instant response, one discrete event. It's not a chain of causality.

The only way you can get an AoO at 10' is if you meet the trigger conditions which requires the reaction to be used in a very specific way (attacking with a Reach weapon). If you aren't attacking with a Reach weapon you don't get to react as if you were.

 

[Kikuras]

A reaction is an instant response, one discrete event. It's not a chain of causality.

Incorrect. 'Instant response' is not a game-defined term. It's fluff and has no standing on how events unfold. In any event your logic still fails. If there is no chain of events, then War Caster cannot work at all, as the event that triggers War Caster would resolve before the feat could apply.

The only way you can get an AoO at 10' is if you meet the trigger conditions which requires the reaction to be used in a very specific way (attacking with a Reach weapon). If you aren't attacking with a Reach weapon you don't get to react as if you were.

Once the AoO trigger occurs, there is no reach or range requirement to fulfill the War Caster feat ability. You are inserting logic that does not exist as an in-game mechanic. Simply put, while it does[\b] stand to reason, it doesn't mean that's what's written (even if it's perhaps intended).

On a slight side note for the OP, it does require that the creature that triggered the AoO be the only one target by the spell.

 

[Eejit]

Once the AoO trigger occurs, there is no reach or range requirement to fulfill the War Caster feat ability. You are inserting logic that does not exist as an in-game mechanic. Simply put, while it does[\b] stand to reason, it doesn't mean that's what's written (even if it's perhaps intended).

You are removing logic from game mechanics, I'm not adding it. Reach weapon property/Polearm master interaction is very specific in how they combine, more specific than a general modifier to AoO options.

 

[Kikuras]

You are removing logic from game mechanics, I'm not adding it. Reach weapon property/Polearm master interaction is very specific in how they combine, more specific than a general modifier to AoO options.

Mechanics don't require logic, they work because the rules say they do, not because there's a logical explanation. The War Caster feat is also very specific in how it combines with an AoO, i.e. it doesn't matter if the reaction is replacing a AoO using reach or not. There is no status check because the mechanics do not require one. It is not an if-then-but statement, only an if-then. The spell replacement ability does in no way adopt the circumstances of the AoO it replaces, I know this because I cannot find a rule (nor can you, so far) that states that it does. If there were a rule that says the spell replacement must coincide with the AoO it is replacing then we would not be having this conversation. That is a restriction you have personally placed upon it.

You can demand that there are five lights all you want, but there are only four.

 

[Eejit]

The rules state that the Reach allowing 10' AoO only works with a Reach weapon attack. There's no unless. This is more specific (feat interacting with a mechanic while only with certain weapons) than Warcaster's reaction spell (generally allows replacement of an AoO).

We're arguing in circles, and as I'm not being held prisoner in a Cardassian biological warfare research facility I'm finished with you.