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Message: <blockquote data-quote="touc" data-source="post: 8157499" data-attributes="member: 19270">They did, just not using that term.Basic D&D: Free attack on foes who exit melee with you at +2, shields don't apply. Future version allowed 1/2 movement or less to avoid this.AD&D 1st (DMG): Free attack or "full attack routine" (all your attacks if you have multiple) on foes who exit melee with you with a bonus to the attack as if attacking a stunned opponent from rear. Also, obscure rule that if attacked by unarmed opponent, go first and if attack is "fended off," get a free attack.AD&D 2nd (DMG revised): Free attack on foes who exit melee, unless they're "withdrawing" at 1/3rd speed. Third Edition: Added numerous triggers for a free attack to, as Skip Williams put it, "spice up" combat with a layer of complexity, prevent unrestricted movement around the battlefield, add realism (e.g. archers vs. melee), and give purpose to tactical actions in that edition like Trip and Disarm (standing up or grabbing a dropped weapon triggered an AOO). Imposed a cap on # of times you could use AoO, unlike prior editions. Heavy reliance on grid map to track exact location for triggers.4E: Free attack on those voluntarily leaving your reach if you can see them, 1/turn default.5E: Free attack on those voluntarily leaving your reach without disengaging, similar to 4E, with a cap (your Reaction). Simple for use with theater of the mind or grid map.Hackmaster: I toss this in here because it boasts a super-realistic AD&D style combat system. If you exit melee, everyone gets a free attack on you, unless you're making a "strategic" withdrawal (walk speed, -2 on next attack). In this game system, movement can occur every initiative tick rather than only on your turn.With all that in mind, if you remove AOO, monsters can freely saunter past your fighter rows to your wizard and pummel them. Because monsters tend, in many encounter designs, to outnumber PCs, advantage goes to monsters. The Rogue gets a severe diminishment because one of its core features - Cunning Action - is neutered. No more hit and run because everyone can. Also, you remove that tension in those moments when a PC must decide: do I risk the AOO to get to the lever and close the portcullis, or heal my ally, and so on. It's a simple enough rule, but if you want to remove them entirely, consider imposing a movement penalty instead. You can exit melee, but it costs 1/2 your movement. While it won't prevent the enemy from running past your fighter willy-nilly, it'll at least slow them down.</blockquote>

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