I have been thinking about this and of course that means not enough as its come up for questioning and I think I better see what the general verdict on this is.
As you know you can get opportunity attacks but its only listed for melee and it struck me as strange since it should also apply for ranged attacks so that as one of the people who queried suggested as an example;
Bill the fighter is charging Joe the Archer, Joe is far enough away that it will take Bill two rounds to reach him so when and what would provoke an opportunity attack my response would be that each round it took Bill to reach Joe, Joe would get his normal attack and an opportunity attack because there was no way Bill could avoid this happening charging as he is towards Joe.
This of course doesn't include the possibility of cover and other effects, which is where I decided I needed to understand why its not covered by the rules and I'd like to know the general viewpoint on this.
Why are there no ranged opportunity attacks?
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You can not have a ranged AoO unless the archer has an arrow nocked and ready to fire. On her turn, an archer pulls out an arrow, nocks it, pulls the string and fires. This is a full round action (even with multiple shots). She does not have time to ready another arrow until next turn. I do think the archer could have a feat that would allow a AoO against a charging melee attacker sound good, but only if the attacker is coming for her, and only during the charge that would bring the attaker into melee with her.
Also, a charge where the attacker does not come into range with someone is called a double move.
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I'm not sure if what I'm about to say is relevant to this topic so please accept my apologies in advance if it is not.
The Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play contains a faction feat called Hunter's Eye, which allows a bow to be drawn as a free action. Would this allow a character with this feat to make AoO based on the fact that the character would be able to make his attacks normally and then use a free action to redraw and prepare the bow to make the attack?
The key to AoO, as I understand it, is that it takes place in a square the Attacker (or Opportunist?) threatens. So the archer must first threaten the area through which the target is passing, and that isn't defined in the rules.
Start by defining how an archer can threaten a narrow cone (no more than 45°), what can distract or block that threat, and how one provokes the AoO in the cone.
[moved to Pathfinder RPG forum]
Sorry about that didn't realise until I went back to see if there were any replies that i put it in the wrong section!
The key to AoO, as I understand it, is that it takes place in a square the Attacker (or Opportunist?) threatens. So the archer must first threaten the area through which the target is passing, and that isn't defined in the rules.
Start by defining how an archer can threaten a narrow cone (no more than 45°), what can distract or block that threat, and how one provokes the AoO in the cone.
So should the condition be that the archer has to be able to surprise his/her foes before an AOO can apply?
Legolas could probably be viewed as having Rapid Shot and multiple attacks using Rapid Shot on each extra attack (don't know if thats actually possible though!).
Interesting point about Hunter's Eye though, should this be specific to the dm's game but what would be the exception when wouldn't it apply since if a foe can't do anything to intervene what would prevent that archer getting an AOO every round would they lose their move for that round so they can't pull back and keep doing it until their foe manages to catch up and if its not allowed how can you allow melee AOO when a ranged AOO not only makes sense but is more likely to happen than a melee AOO whilst in the open...
Now I need to reread that bit about Hunter's Eye...
The ability to make an AoO with a ranged attack has come up several times in the life of d20. The Silver Marches supplement for Forgotten Realms, for instance, introduced the Peerless Archer prestige class. As an 8th level class ability, the character could make an AoO as if possessing a Reach weapon (so he gets an attack 10' away, but not 5', as with a glaive). I recall a feat that granted this as well, but can't remember the name or source right now. In any case, this ability is generally considered a higher-end combat action, so would likely fall into the 13+ character level range for how hard it is to acquire.
The ability to make an AoO with a ranged attack has come up several times in the life of d20. The Silver Marches supplement for Forgotten Realms, for instance, introduced the Peerless Archer prestige class. As an 8th level class ability, the character could make an AoO as if possessing a Reach weapon (so he gets an attack 10' away, but not 5', as with a glaive). I recall a feat that granted this as well, but can't remember the name or source right now. In any case, this ability is generally considered a higher-end combat action, so would likely fall into the 13+ character level range for how hard it is to acquire.
Hunter's Eye by the way allows the character to ignore the first range modifier penalty but has to still treat it as if it still exists if they go beyond to the 2nd range penalty modifier as well as being able to draw their bow as a free action.
Still a nice feat for Andorans, why would a range AOO be required to be a Feat?
If that was the case wouldn't the melee be also Feat orientated technically is thanks to Combat Reflexes, is there some ruling to explain this other than its not allowed?
Say for instance that its covered by Rapid Shot the idea is that the skill involved means it would involve a penalty to use however that wouldn't explain its unusability except in a dungeons environment where it couldn't be used under normal circumstances as in at all as there's the matter of having precise shot or the fact underground you'll be unlikely to have the space to pull if off (except Moria of course!).
Can't help feeling a heel for creating this thread, but at least it can be discussed and made sense of.
Nothing to feel bad about--AoO rules can be a weird part of the game. An attack of opportunity is a specific game mechanic tied directly to melee by the rules of the game:
You threaten all squares into which you can make a melee attack, even when it is not your action. Generally, that means everything in all squares adjacent to your space (including diagonally). An enemy that takes certain actions while in a threatened square provokes an attack of opportunity from you. If you’re unarmed, you don’t normally threaten any squares and thus can’t make attacks of opportunity.
So, enemies provoke attacks of opportunity when you threaten their square, and in general you only threaten a square when you can make a melee attack into that square. There are various implications for this--you can make attacks of opportunity with a Reach weapon, but generally only 10' away (and there's a feat to change this). Unarmed attacks don't threaten a square, so can't be used for attacks of opportunity (but again there are feats and class features that change this). So, the above is the general rule for the game and if you want to do something outside that mechanic it needs to be balanced in some way. Ranged attacks of opportunity, if not properly handle in the rules, could get very unbalanced. Building a feat into the Point Blank Shot tree could work, perhaps as a progression of Manyshot.
The key to AoO, as I understand it, is that it takes place in a square the Attacker (or Opportunist?) threatens. So the archer must first threaten the area through which the target is passing, and that isn't defined in the rules.
Start by defining how an archer can threaten a narrow cone (no more than 45°), what can distract or block that threat, and how one provokes the AoO in the cone.
So should the condition be that the archer has to be able to surprise his/her foes before an AOO can apply?
No, surprise has nothing to do with it. The target may know the archer is there, but is vulnerable while closing to hand weapon range.
Legolas could probably be viewed as having Rapid Shot and multiple attacks using Rapid Shot on each extra attack (don't know if thats actually possible though!).
Rapid Shot takes place in the shooter's turn. Shot of Opportunity (if we call it that) takes place in the target's turn. The target may have been behind cover during the archer's turn, and moves through the threatened area to another position with cover.
Under normal 3e rules the archer would not get a shot as the target moved. AoO is intended to be a nod to the actual simultaneity of action that is being modeled with turn-based mechanics.