Can you make an Attack of Opportunity against another Attack of Opportunity?


Rules Questions


This section from the PFSRD is what I'm wondering about:

Making an Attack of Opportunity wrote:
An attack of opportunity "interrupts" the normal flow of actions in the round. If an attack of opportunity is provoked, immediately resolve the attack of opportunity, then continue with the next character's turn (or complete the current turn, if the attack of opportunity was provoked in the midst of a character's turn).

To me, this means that you can't make an AoO (Attack of Opportunity) against another such action. For example, let's say you move through a larger creature's threatened area and provoke an AoO. They attempt an untrained (no Improved <maneuver> feat) disarm/trip/sunder attempt against you in retaliation. By the way the rules, it seems you can't retaliate with an AoO like you could if they were doing this as part of a normal attack action against you in melee. The rules even seem to suggest you could be adjacent to the creature when provoking the AoO in this matter and you still couldn't retaliate against their AoO with one of your own.

Does this reading make sense and is it consistent with the game rules overall?


My understanding is that AoOs can indeed provoke additional AoOs, so be careful when you try to trip someone as an attack of opportunity.

In particular, I see nothing in the rules that you cite suggesting that an interruption can't be further interrupted (if I'm missing something, feel free to elaborate on what you consider to be the relevant passage).

Grand Lodge

Cerberus Seven wrote:

This section from the PFSRD is what I'm wondering about:

Making an Attack of Opportunity wrote:
An attack of opportunity "interrupts" the normal flow of actions in the round. If an attack of opportunity is provoked, immediately resolve the attack of opportunity, then continue with the next character's turn (or complete the current turn, if the attack of opportunity was provoked in the midst of a character's turn).

To me, this means that you can't make an AoO (Attack of Opportunity) against another such action. For example, let's say you move through a larger creature's threatened area and provoke an AoO. They attempt an untrained (no Improved <maneuver> feat) disarm/trip/sunder attempt against you in retaliation. By the way the rules, it seems you can't retaliate with an AoO like you could if they were doing this as part of a normal attack action against you in melee. The rules even seem to suggest you could be adjacent to the creature when provoking the AoO in this matter and you still couldn't retaliate against their AoO with one of your own.

Does this reading make sense and is it consistent with the game rules overall?

Well, chances are if you're moving through a larger creature's threatened area, you're trying to approach it to hit it. Chances are that you're outside of range to hit it so you wouldn't get your AoO (your AoO is from where you're moving from, not from to where you're moving). Other than that little fiat, yes, AoOs can provoke AoOs and I don't see anything in your quote that negates that.


Yes, you can. And this can make things really interesting.


I should also point out that this can't cause an infinite regress, as the number of attacks of opportunity you can make is limited.

So while it's possible to have something like this:
Trip!
Counter-trip!
Counter-counter-trip!
Counter-counter-counter-trip!
Counter-counter-counter-counter-trip!
Counter-counter-counter-counter-counter-trip!
Counter-counter-counter-counter-counter-counter-trip!
Counter-counter-counter-counter-counter-counter-counter-trip!

... eventually someone will run out of AoO and everything will get resolved. Or more likely, everyone will end up prone, rendering the others moot.


Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

D&D 4E has a rule that you cannot perform an attack of opportunity on your own turn, which limits but does not totally eliminate attack of opportunity chains (since you could still provoke an opportunity attack from somebody other than the foe you are attacking during your own opportunity attack).

But since Pathfinder has no such rule, it is more common for opportunity attacks to provoke further opportunity attacks even from the target of the first opportunity attack.


claudekennilol wrote:
Cerberus Seven wrote:

This section from the PFSRD is what I'm wondering about:

Making an Attack of Opportunity wrote:
An attack of opportunity "interrupts" the normal flow of actions in the round. If an attack of opportunity is provoked, immediately resolve the attack of opportunity, then continue with the next character's turn (or complete the current turn, if the attack of opportunity was provoked in the midst of a character's turn).

To me, this means that you can't make an AoO (Attack of Opportunity) against another such action. For example, let's say you move through a larger creature's threatened area and provoke an AoO. They attempt an untrained (no Improved <maneuver> feat) disarm/trip/sunder attempt against you in retaliation. By the way the rules, it seems you can't retaliate with an AoO like you could if they were doing this as part of a normal attack action against you in melee. The rules even seem to suggest you could be adjacent to the creature when provoking the AoO in this matter and you still couldn't retaliate against their AoO with one of your own.

Does this reading make sense and is it consistent with the game rules overall?

Well, chances are if you're moving through a larger creature's threatened area, you're trying to approach it to hit it. Chances are that you're outside of range to hit it so you wouldn't get your AoO (your AoO is from where you're moving from, not from to where you're moving). Other than that little fiat, yes, AoOs can provoke AoOs and I don't see anything in your quote that negates that.

The 'AoO' something that's outside your normal reach is the scenario in my group that has prompted this post. I agree with you on the at range matter, but a further reading of the CRB rules seemed to suggest it went even further than that.

Grand Lodge

Is there a smaller part of the rule quote that's misleading? In the quote as a whole, I don't see anything that would imply that AoOs don't provoke AoOs. If there's a more specific part of the quote that's misleading point that part out and perhaps we can dissect it to see what it means.


claudekennilol wrote:
Is there a smaller part of the rule quote that's misleading? In the quote as a whole, I don't see anything that would imply that AoOs don't provoke AoOs. If there's a more specific part of the quote that's misleading point that part out and perhaps we can dissect it to see what it means.

Not really 'misleading', no. I was just wondering if the interrupt mechanic of AoOs meant the process flowed more as a First-In/First-Out, in which case you couldn't AoO another such action, or First-In/Last-Out, where the kind of stacking interrupts Orfmay Quest mentioned would be possible.

So, do I have it right that everyone's take on this matter so far is that you CAN AoO another AoO, but you have to be able to reach the initiator of the first AoO normally to do so?

Grand Lodge

Cerberus Seven wrote:
claudekennilol wrote:
Is there a smaller part of the rule quote that's misleading? In the quote as a whole, I don't see anything that would imply that AoOs don't provoke AoOs. If there's a more specific part of the quote that's misleading point that part out and perhaps we can dissect it to see what it means.

Not really 'misleading, no. I was just wondering if the interrupt mechanic of AoOs meant the process flowed more as a First-In/First-Out, in which case you couldn't AoO another such action, or First-In/Last-Out, where the kind of stacking interrupts Orfmay Quest mentioned would be possible.

So, do I have it right that everyone's take on this matter so far is that you CAN AoO another AoO, but you have to be able to reach the initiator of the first AoO normally to do so?

Right, most definitely. You don't automatically get longer arms to smack someone just because they do something that would trigger an AoO. If someone casts a spell and no one is within reach of them, would someone from some distance away be able to whack them? It's the same case, but just replace "someone casting a spell" with "someone taking an AoO".


Cerberus Seven wrote:


So, do I have it right that everyone's take on this matter so far is that you CAN AoO another AoO, but you have to be able to reach the initiator of the first AoO normally to do so?

This. If you don't threaten the target, the action they do still provokes...you just can't do anything about it. You must threaten the target in order to make an AoO.

Silver Crusade

Resolve stacked AoOs by starting from the end of the chain.

Orfamay Quest wrote:

So while it's possible to have something like this:

Trip!
Counter-trip!
Counter-counter-trip!
Counter-counter-counter-trip!
Counter-counter-counter-counter-trip!
Counter-counter-counter-counter-counter-trip!
Counter-counter-counter-counter-counter-counter-trip!
Counter-counter-counter-counter-counter-counter-counter-trip!

If this was the end of the chain (perhaps because someone ran out of AoOs) the first action to resolve is

Counter-counter-counter-counter-counter-counter-counter-trip!

If, after that, the 2nd to last in the chain is still valid, then resolve

Counter-counter-counter-counter-counter-counter-trip!

Keep going until the chain is broken (e.g. someone dies) or you get to

Trip!


I kind of want to pay a bunch of commoners to stand in a circle and try to trip eachother. Last man standing gets 2gp.


I had never thought of this before!
It gets crazier with perry repost shenanagans


Imagine a 2v2 fight were all four combatants had high dex, Combat Reflexes, and Paired Opportunists.

Grand Lodge

Heh. There is a thread or two out there already about Greater Trip trip chains.

Greater Trip lets the tripper take an AoO on the trippee.
The thread is predicated on using that AoO to trip the target again, basically to let your allies, who also get AoOs from Greater Trip, to spam regular attacks on the trip target.

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