Attack of Opportunity Clarifications

[GhengisConrad]

In order to not derail my own post, I have started a new one.

But, wait a minute here.

If I move into a square my opponent threatens... this means that I provoke an attack of opportunity, no? Since my reach is 5', and his reach is 5', whoever comes in first provokes that attack of opportunity, no? Is that not a thing? Has my table somehow been just playing... horribly wrong for years?

We understand that if all you do is move, then no AoO, but if you move in and then want to take the standard action attack, you provoke an AoO from doing so.... unless you have something like Spring Attack which allows you to do that. No?

[OldTrees1]

Movement out of a threatened square provokes an Attack of Opportunity (resolved before leaving the square) unless it was a 5ft-step action (5ft of movement as your only movement that round)

So:
Tordek moves 20ft up next to Lidda (reach 5ft). Tordek moved into a threatened square but that does not provoke and attack. Tordek then attacks Lidda.

Lidda takes a 5ft step away from Tordek. Despite leaving a square Tordek threatened, Lidda avoids provoking an attack by only taking a 5ft step. Lidda then switches to her bow (no reach) and makes a full attack against Tordek.

Tordek moves up to and around Lidda. Since Lidda is not currently threatening an squares, Tordek does not provoke an attack. Tordek attacks Lidda and then switches to a halberd (reach 10ft).

Jozan (20ft away) sees Tordek's strange behavior and moves up to Tordek to protect Lidda. When Jozan tries to move from 10ft to 5ft away from Tordek he provokes and attack. Tordek threatens the squares 10ft away from himself. Leaving one of those squares provokes an attack before leaving the square so Jozan is still 10ft away when the Halberd swings. Jozan survives the attack and finishes moving up to Tordek.

[eggynack]

You don't provoke an AoO for entering a threatened square. You provoke an AoO for leaving a threatened square, whether you're leaving that square to enter another threatened square or not. As for attacking, hitting your enemy with a melee weapon does not provoke an AoO, while hitting them with a ranged weapon or unarmed strike while within a threatened area does do so. The rules governing the former claim can be found here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/attacksOfOpportunity.htm#provokinganAttackofOpport unity), and a table of what does and doesn't provoke can be found over here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/combat/attacksOfOpportunity.htm#provokinganAttackofOpport unity).

[TheIronGolem]

In order to not derail my own post, I have started a new one.

But, wait a minute here.

If I move into a square my opponent threatens... this means that I provoke an attack of opportunity, no? Since my reach is 5', and his reach is 5', whoever comes in first provokes that attack of opportunity, no? Is that not a thing? Has my table somehow been just playing... horribly wrong for years?

Yes, but don't feel bad, because a lot of people have made that same mistake.

It stems from poor wording in the 3.0 rulebook when 3rd edition was first released. If memory serves, it was said that you provoke when you move "within or out of" a threatened area. The "within" part is what caused the confusion. It meant moving from one square to another when both were threatened, but a lot of groups (my own at the time included) misinterpreted it as applying when you enter any threatened square. The wording was later changed, but the misinterpretation still persists in places.


We understand that if all you do is move, then no AoO, but if you move in and then want to take the standard action attack, you provoke an AoO from doing so.... unless you have something like Spring Attack which allows you to do that. No?
I'm afraid you got that wrong too.

You may be thinking of the 5-foot step, or possibly the withdraw action. To clarify, the 5-foot step lets you move one square without provoking IF that is your only movement for your turn (whether you attack or not makes no difference). The withdraw action is a full-round action, where you can move up to double speed, and the square you start out in isn't threatened so you don't provoke when you leave it, but you can still provoke when leaving other squares during your movement.

You mentioned Spring Attack, so I'll point out that what it allows you to do is 1) take your attack during your movement instead of before or after it (that is, go move-attack-move instead of just move-attack or attack-move) and 2) do this without provoking an AoO from the target you attacked (but other enemies may still get AoO's if you move through squares they threaten)