Random221B's page

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Casting Defensively

If you want to cast a spell without provoking any attacks of opportunity, you must make a concentration check (DC 15 + double the level of the spell you're casting) to succeed...

Abraham spalding wrote:

to succeed -- at casting the spell -- you automatically succeed at not provoking.

Read it again, this time without the second sentence and see if you still make that same leap.

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And checking the combat section reinforces this: /snip...

Read that section in under Cast A Spell for Attack of Opportunity.

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Attacks of Opportunity

Generally, if you cast a spell, you provoke attacks of opportunity from threatening enemies. If you take damage from an attack of opportunity, you must make a concentration check (DC 10 + points of damage taken + the spell's level) or lose the spell. Spells that require only a free action to cast don't provoke attacks of opportunity.

Clearly, there are contradictory concepts here that imply one thing at one point then say another thing in another area. Something just isn't adding up.

Ok, here's a simple point that may make it clearer. If the sentence were worded...

"If you want to avoid an attack of opportunity while casting a spell, you must make a concentration check (DC 15 + double the level of the spell you're casting) to succeed..."

...that would strongly imply that the "to succeed" portion of the sentence referred to succeeding at avoiding the AoO, whereas the actual wording...

"If you want to cast a spell without provoking any attacks of opportunity, you must make a concentration check (DC 15 + double the level of the spell you're casting) to succeed..."

...implies that the "to succeed" portion refers to succeeding at casting the spell.

Now, admittedly, both phrasings are a little imprecise, and technically, in either case "to succeed" could be referring to casting the spell, avoiding the AoO, or both. However, I think the wording does imply which interpretation is correct; i.e. "If you want to do X while doing (or without causing) Y, you must do Z to succeed," the most likely (if not only possible) interpretation is that Z causes you to succeed at X, not Y.

Just my $0.02

Best,

~~~~Random