[D&D 3.5] Fear Aura mechanics?

[Shammikaze]

Hey everyone, new user here.

The other night my DM said that my Dread Necromancer's Fear Aura would not affect targets that he approached, only those that approach him.

This makes no sense at all, on any level. I'd like to get some idea of how it should work.

Here's how I PERSONALLY think it is intended to work:

-5 ft radius
-Any enemy within it is subject to needing to make a will save
-Successful save makes subject immune for 1 day
-Failed save makes target shaken until they leave aura's range (or at least 1 round)
-If target leaves range and shaken falls from them, I can enter range again and force another will save
-Auras are not "conditional", therefore approaching a target does not nullify my aura. Any enemy that is in it for any reason is subject to it, no matter how they got there.

Opinions? Telling me that this aura can't be used offensively really negates the usefulness of it and makes me wish I had played a different class altogether (he also nerfed my Undead Mastery class feature to 50% effectiveness, which I'm ok with compared to this).

Thanks

[BowStreetRunner]

What may be confusing the DM is the part where it says "a dread necromancer radiates a 5-foot-radius fear aura as a free action" [emphasis added is mine]. This simply means it is a free action to activate the aura - not that it takes an action on the part of the dread necromancer to force each save.

Otherwise I would say you are on-the-mark with your assumptions as stated in your post.

[Zanos]

Everything in your post seems correct. I don't see how you could interpret it as the fear aura not working if you approach them.

[Shammikaze]

Thanks for the fast responses. Everything seems to make sense to me. I'm also wondering if there's anyone with a conflicting opinion on this matter? I'd like to get both sides discussed.

[Urpriest]

There are many other auras and abjurations that explicitly don't work if you walk towards your enemy while radiating them. Likely your DM is confusing your aura with one of those.