PHB wording differences

[suplee215]

Today I encountered a problem due to the version of the PHB a player is using different wording than others. And this is not something I've seen in the errata as something that was changed. I am just trying to see where this change came from and if anyone knows of any other errors in there?

The version of the text the player used (he has it on his tablet). "In a fight, everyone is constantly watching for enemies
to drop their guard. You can rarely move heedlessly past your foes without putting yourself in danger; doing so
provokes an opportunity attack."

The version in the PHB I and other players have is "In a fight, everyone is constantly watching for a chance to strike an enemy who is fleeing or passing by. Such a strike is called an opportunity attack." The rules argument came from the difference in the first sentence with the guy trying to argue you drop your guard to pick up a weapon that was dropped (this is not about that ruling though). So does anyone know where the first version comes from?

[Sigreid]

Both of those only talk about an opponent moving away from you. Neither says anything about bending over, picking something up, closing a door, sitting in a chair, circling your opponent, picking your nose or any other activity that doesn't move the opponent away from you.

[PhoenixPhyre]

A common error in interpreting rules is to look too narrowly (at the sentence or clause level). Read the whole paragraph (at least) for context. Taken from D&D Beyond (which matches the SRD):


In a fight, everyone is constantly watching for a chance to strike an enemy who is fleeing or passing by. Such a strike is called an opportunity Attack.
You can make an opportunity Attack when a Hostile creature that you can see moves out of your reach. To make the opportunity Attack, you use your Reaction to make one melee Attack against the provoking creature. The Attack occurs right before the creature leaves your reach.

The first sentence give a motivational description of the fiction. The second gives this piece of fiction a name. The third sentence (bold added) describes what the trigger for an opportunity attack is--a hostile creature that you can see moves out of your reach. Nothing else triggers it. The fourth sentence gives the resolution mechanic for an opportunity attack, and the fifth describes the timing.

The next paragraph, not copied, gives limitations on the trigger (no trigger on forced movement, no trigger on teleportation, among others).

This is standard for 5e's rules. The first sentence or two of a paragraph gives the fiction that the characters are experiencing. Some call this fluff, but it's also rules. The later sentences give the mechanical implementation of that fiction. And that's the only mechanical implementation. If it doesn't say that a certain action triggers it, then by default[1] that is not a trigger. If it doesn't say a spell or ability acts in a certain way (not all fire spells light objects on fire, for instance), it doesn't. Interactions with other rules must be explicitly called out to have effect.

[1] as with everything, subject to DM's discretion.

[Tanarii]

The version the player matches the current Basic Rules PDF.

It's not listed in the 10th printing Errata though.

They did change the wording of Melee unarmed attacks above it though. Maybe they modified the part you've noticed is different as a result, to make the formatting line up right?

(I'll check my PHB when I get home, its an early printing so I assume it'll match yours.)

Edit: the players PDF, the Basic Rules (Nov 2018 version, confirmed the latest on the Wotc website), and my first printing August 2014 rules all match, they all say "drop their guard" at the end of the first sentence. I don't know where your PHB and D&D beyond/SRD got them from.