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I need some help on a part of the D&D 3rd edition rules. I don't understand exactly what the purpose of the attack of opportunity is and how it works.

Could anyone explain?

Well, attacks of opportunity is a vague concept that basically covers those areas of intense battle when your character can't defend himself against everything coming at him cuz he must do something else.

If you're parrying someone's attack with a sword, then pull out your crossbow to shoot, you're no longer able to parry his attack, so he gets an attack of opportunity. The same goes with spell casting.

Also, think of the movies where a huge battle is taking place. The two arch-rivals spot one another through the battle, and proceed to run towards each other. All the while, men from the opposing sides are jumping in their way, of course only to get cut down. Well, think of these men jumping out to confront the two heroes (or the hero and the villian) as men taking attacks of opportunity. Anytime you move through an area occupied by an opposing character, he has the option of making an attack of opportunity against you.

In other words, you can't just walk through fifty men unchecked to get to the one at the back. Some of em are gonna get a swing at you.

But you won't get any AC-penalty's or attackers get any attack bonuses??

Originally posted by Rudar Dimble
But you won't get any AC-penalty's or attackers get any attack bonuses??

I think if you are caught with an attack of oppourtunity you get an AC penalty because you are caught flat-footed...

As much as i can gather from PoR manual.

When a character gets an attack of opportunity, he can attack the enemies with all the bonuses that he has when making a normal attack. If the enemy runs he also loses the dexterity bonus to AC as well. There is also a feat called mobility that a character that use it recieves +4 dodge bonus to AC versus an attack of opportunity.

The attack of opportynity however has its uses when there is a turn-based combat system, already IWD2 has excluded the attack of opportunity from the game (i think i have red it somewhere) because of the real-time combat, so i'm not sure is NWN will use AoO.

thanks, it pretty clear to me now. It was an important issue, because I am DM-ing an adventure with some newbie's in the P&P, so I have to know the rules myself or lose my credebility.

@ Rudar Dimble, don't forget I read this too!

Tss... calling me a newbie

Well, you ARE a newbie in P&P. I have read your thread as well. You said you were going to have your first P&P, and that was 10 days ago .

Explanation to the other readers:
Rob-hin was one of the NEWBIES

Originally posted by Rudar Dimble
Well, you ARE a newbie in P&P. I have read your thread as well. You said you were going to have your first P&P, and that was 10 days ago .

Explanation to the other readers:
Rob-hin was one of the NEWBIES

LOL, so you've joined our little crew because Rob posts? LOL

Ahem.........

take it to SYM

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Originally posted by Nippy


I think if you are caught with an attack of oppourtunity you get an AC penalty because you are caught flat-footed...

Actually, I don't think this is the case. Just because someone makes an AoO against you does not make you flat-footed. For instance, if you take more than a five-foot step and move into an area someone threatens, you are not flat-footed, but they can still make an attack of opportunity against you.

Originally posted by average joe



Actually, I don't think this is the case. Just because someone makes an AoO against you does not make you flat-footed. For instance, if you take more than a five-foot step and move into an area someone threatens, you are not flat-footed, but they can still make an attack of opportunity against you.

All I know is that it's when you move out of a threatened area, not into.

An important benefit of attacks of opportunity is that it allows a fighter character to disrupt a wizard's spellcasting with a sword-blow, which would otherwise not be possible. It's basically there to compensate for some of the shortcomings of turn-based combat.