Attacks of opportunity seem to only trigger if a creature tries to move away from another - I couldn't see anything saying that you can get an attack of opportunity if a creature does something else.
It doesn't make sense to me, but I'm not using that as a basis for the rules - I just want to know if I missed something!
EG if you're in combat and instead of fighting, you decide to pull out a lute and start playing for your action - not in a bard sense, just a weird guy decided to play music mid-fight kind of way. You're not still engaging in the combat, but it takes the same time as trying to walk away without disengaging, but there's no opportunity attack. Heck, you could decide to use your turn to lie down and take your shield off, and not provoke anything, where stepping backwards warrants an opportunity attack? I feel like I've missed something here, perhaps in a different section? I feel like this has come up in a game in the distant past and there were rules for it... (only ever played 5e).
An opportunity attack does indeed only trigger when Creature A leaves the reach of Creature B. There are other options and feats that modify this, but that's the default:
Opportunity Attacks
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.
You can avoid provoking an opportunity attack by taking the Disengage action. You also don't provoke an opportunity attack when you teleport or when someone or something moves you without using your movement, action, or reaction. For example, you don't provoke an opportunity attack if an explosion hurls you out of a foe's reach or if gravity causes you to fall past an enemy.
This is correct: Moving out of a creature's range triggers an Opportunity Attack, none of the others you list do, RAW. However, why would you do one of those? Few would in normal combat situations, whereas someone could realistically move away leaving themselves exposed, either because they were fleeing or because they wanted to accomplish another objective.
As they are uncommon, and not well documented, actions to perform in combat, the DM could always rule that the OA does trigger.
Attacks of opportunity seem to only trigger if a creature tries to move away from another - I couldn't see anything saying that you can get an attack of opportunity if a creature does something else.
It doesn't make sense to me, but I'm not using that as a basis for the rules - I just want to know if I missed something!
EG if you're in combat and instead of fighting, you decide to pull out a lute and start playing for your action - not in a bard sense, just a weird guy decided to play music mid-fight kind of way. You're not still engaging in the combat, but it takes the same time as trying to walk away without disengaging, but there's no opportunity attack. Heck, you could decide to use your turn to lie down and take your shield off, and not provoke anything, where stepping backwards warrants an opportunity attack? I feel like I've missed something here, perhaps in a different section? I feel like this has come up in a game in the distant past and there were rules for it... (only ever played 5e).
In past editions of D&D, the rules were different, which may be what you're thinking of. You got the RAW right (and hence so did Davyd), but if you want to house rule OAs, I don't recommend house ruling that dropping prone triggers them, or combat will be a lot more dangerous for everyone (I don't know of any way to take a shield off in one turn, so I can't speak to that). The only activity you can do in a space without leaving it that I've seen house ruled to trigger OAs where I agreed that it made sense for gameplay was casting a spell with an S component, both because older editions did it and because 5E undeniably has a balance issue where magic>range>melee, so making melee more dangerous against magic feels very reasonable.
Awesome, thanks! I had a situation (I can't remember exactly what it was) where one creature was 5ft from another and did something entirely non-combat oriented, and I let it pass without an attack of opportunity - it seemed wrong, but that was the rules!
I think it may also, from what others have said, to call them Opportunity Attacks rather than Attacks of Opportunity. This can help people remember the difference between 5e's OA and previous editions' AoO.
I don't know, I never played any of the previous editions, but others have suggested it can be helpful.
Heck, you could decide to use your turn to lie down and take your shield off, and not provoke anything, where stepping backwards warrants an opportunity attack?
It isn't stepping backward (that is a disengage), it is turning and walking. The added time and difficulty of moving away from enemies without lowering your guard or exposing your back is why it takes an action.
You can drop a shield on the ground for free. No action required. Picking it back up will take an action. I believe "doffing" it would be putting it away for convenient retrieval later, like slinging it over your back.
You can drop a shield on the ground for free. No action required. Picking it back up will take an action. I believe "doffing" it would be putting it away for convenient retrieval later, like slinging it over your back.
Incorrect. Doffing is taking it off. You can certainly drop it for free, but only if it’s already been doffed. To go from “benefiting from its AC bonus” to “can drop for free,” you need to doff it, which requires an action.
You're right Saga. The only reference I can find to being able to drop a shield for free is one of those infamous Jeremy Crawford tweets and even I don't consider those reliable.
Your reach but echo knight's reach is different, so a long as they dont leave the reach of YOU not the echo, you still get the AOO, but not when someone leaves the echo? wording is weird, i guess it will be based on DM ruling?
Your reach but echo knight's reach is different, so a long as they dont leave the reach of YOU not the echo, you still get the AOO, but not when someone leaves the echo? wording is weird, i guess it will be based on DM ruling?
Not sure what you are talking about really. You and your Echo are two different things and thus your reach only matters for yourself.
But the rules for the Manifest Echo feature allows you to make an OA if a creature moves 5ft (or more) away from the Echo so you still get the same effect.
Hi all Quick question; one of my players A pulled another player B away from harms way (and out of reach of the goblin he was fighting), it’s an involuntary movement for player B, does the goblin get an opportunity attack? Thanks! Gyupu
Hi all Quick question; one of my players A pulled another player B away from harms way (and out of reach of the goblin he was fighting), it’s an involuntary movement for player B, does the goblin get an opportunity attack? Thanks! Gyupu
No attack of opportunity against player B. Player A could provoke one depending on their position.
Notes: Please be sure to check your posts for duplicated copy-pastes and quotes.
Soooo a PC with 10' reach. Would they get an OA when a foe passes through the first 5' of their threatened area?
You can make an opportunity attack when a creature leaves your reach. If your reach is 10 feet, they'd have to move more than 10 feet away from you to provoke an opportunity attack.
There is an exception to that and if I'm mistaken do forgive me it's very early and that is the polearm master feat which does infact grant an attack when a creature enters your reach which is why it's commonly coupled with sentinel.
The Polearm Master feat originally had creatures provoke an opportunity attack when they enter the reach you have with that weapon but no longer do in the 2024 revision of the Player's Handbook;
Reactive Strike.While you're holding a Quarterstaff, a Spear, or a weapon that has the Heavy and Reach properties, you can take a Reaction to make one melee attack against a creature that enters the reach you have with that weapon.
There is an exception to that and if I'm mistaken do forgive me it's very early and that is the polearm master feat which does infact grant an attack when a creature enters your reach which is why it's commonly coupled with sentinel.
The feat was updated in 2024, so the mentioned feats no longer synergize.
Reactive Strike. While you’re holding a Quarterstaff, a Spear, or a weapon that has the Heavy and Reach properties, you can take a Reaction to make one melee attack against a creature that enters the reach you have with that weapon.
I remember some old threads on this topic where it was argued that if you were a creature that normally had a 5-foot reach, and you were wielding a weapon that causes your reach to increase to 10 feet when attacking with that weapon . . . that if an enemy was within 5 feet and exited your 5-foot radius that you could choose to make an opportunity attack by making an Unarmed Strike by, say, kicking the enemy for example. Of course, if you chose to do that you would be using up your Reaction to do that and so if that enemy immediately proceeded to exit your 10-foot radius then you would no longer have a Reaction with which to make an opportunity attack with your weapon.
Not sure if any of that would still be a thing in the 2024 rules without looking into it further.
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I am wondering if I got this right.
Attacks of opportunity seem to only trigger if a creature tries to move away from another - I couldn't see anything saying that you can get an attack of opportunity if a creature does something else.
It doesn't make sense to me, but I'm not using that as a basis for the rules - I just want to know if I missed something!
EG if you're in combat and instead of fighting, you decide to pull out a lute and start playing for your action - not in a bard sense, just a weird guy decided to play music mid-fight kind of way. You're not still engaging in the combat, but it takes the same time as trying to walk away without disengaging, but there's no opportunity attack. Heck, you could decide to use your turn to lie down and take your shield off, and not provoke anything, where stepping backwards warrants an opportunity attack? I feel like I've missed something here, perhaps in a different section? I feel like this has come up in a game in the distant past and there were rules for it... (only ever played 5e).
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
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An opportunity attack does indeed only trigger when Creature A leaves the reach of Creature B. There are other options and feats that modify this, but that's the default:
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This is correct: Moving out of a creature's range triggers an Opportunity Attack, none of the others you list do, RAW. However, why would you do one of those? Few would in normal combat situations, whereas someone could realistically move away leaving themselves exposed, either because they were fleeing or because they wanted to accomplish another objective.
As they are uncommon, and not well documented, actions to perform in combat, the DM could always rule that the OA does trigger.
In past editions of D&D, the rules were different, which may be what you're thinking of. You got the RAW right (and hence so did Davyd), but if you want to house rule OAs, I don't recommend house ruling that dropping prone triggers them, or combat will be a lot more dangerous for everyone (I don't know of any way to take a shield off in one turn, so I can't speak to that). The only activity you can do in a space without leaving it that I've seen house ruled to trigger OAs where I agreed that it made sense for gameplay was casting a spell with an S component, both because older editions did it and because 5E undeniably has a balance issue where magic>range>melee, so making melee more dangerous against magic feels very reasonable.
Awesome, thanks! I had a situation (I can't remember exactly what it was) where one creature was 5ft from another and did something entirely non-combat oriented, and I let it pass without an attack of opportunity - it seemed wrong, but that was the rules!
Cheers!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
I think it may also, from what others have said, to call them Opportunity Attacks rather than Attacks of Opportunity. This can help people remember the difference between 5e's OA and previous editions' AoO.
I don't know, I never played any of the previous editions, but others have suggested it can be helpful.
It isn't stepping backward (that is a disengage), it is turning and walking. The added time and difficulty of moving away from enemies without lowering your guard or exposing your back is why it takes an action.
By doffing it with an action... ?
You can drop a shield on the ground for free. No action required. Picking it back up will take an action. I believe "doffing" it would be putting it away for convenient retrieval later, like slinging it over your back.
<Insert clever signature here>
Incorrect. Doffing is taking it off. You can certainly drop it for free, but only if it’s already been doffed. To go from “benefiting from its AC bonus” to “can drop for free,” you need to doff it, which requires an action.
You're right Saga. The only reference I can find to being able to drop a shield for free is one of those infamous Jeremy Crawford tweets and even I don't consider those reliable.
<Insert clever signature here>
Your reach but echo knight's reach is different, so a long as they dont leave the reach of YOU not the echo, you still get the AOO, but not when someone leaves the echo? wording is weird, i guess it will be based on DM ruling?
Not sure what you are talking about really. You and your Echo are two different things and thus your reach only matters for yourself.
But the rules for the Manifest Echo feature allows you to make an OA if a creature moves 5ft (or more) away from the Echo so you still get the same effect.
Hi all
Quick question; one of my players A pulled another player B away from harms way (and out of reach of the goblin he was fighting), it’s an involuntary movement for player B, does the goblin get an opportunity attack?
Thanks!
Gyupu
No attack of opportunity against player B. Player A could provoke one depending on their position.
Soooo a PC with 10' reach. Would they get an OA when a foe passes through the first 5' of their threatened area?
You can make an opportunity attack when a creature leaves your reach. If your reach is 10 feet, they'd have to move more than 10 feet away from you to provoke an opportunity attack.
pronouns: he/she/they
There is an exception to that and if I'm mistaken do forgive me it's very early and that is the polearm master feat which does infact grant an attack when a creature enters your reach which is why it's commonly coupled with sentinel.
The Polearm Master feat originally had creatures provoke an opportunity attack when they enter the reach you have with that weapon but no longer do in the 2024 revision of the Player's Handbook;
The feat was updated in 2024, so the mentioned feats no longer synergize.
2014 Polearm Master
2024 Polearm Master
EDIT: oh, I got ninja'd by @Plaguescarred!
I remember some old threads on this topic where it was argued that if you were a creature that normally had a 5-foot reach, and you were wielding a weapon that causes your reach to increase to 10 feet when attacking with that weapon . . . that if an enemy was within 5 feet and exited your 5-foot radius that you could choose to make an opportunity attack by making an Unarmed Strike by, say, kicking the enemy for example. Of course, if you chose to do that you would be using up your Reaction to do that and so if that enemy immediately proceeded to exit your 10-foot radius then you would no longer have a Reaction with which to make an opportunity attack with your weapon.
Not sure if any of that would still be a thing in the 2024 rules without looking into it further.