Attacks of Opportunity after casting Dimension Door?

[Sapricot]

As the title suggests, me and my group are having some trouble with the wording of Dimension Door. It states that you (the caster, as has been clarified elsewhere) cannot do any other actions until your next turn, but it also doesn't put you in any kind of named condition that prevents you from using non-action abilities or gives any penalties to your AC or abilities. You are not Stunned or Dazed or anything of the kind, yet the exact wording would suggest that after teleporting with DD, you can't do any of the following:

* Speak
* Use Attacks of Opportunity
* Drop something you're holding

So basically, the rule as written suggests that you are free to defend yourself actively (no penalty to dex or AC), you are free to avoid damage from area effects (rolling reflex saves) and you are free to resist Combat Maneuvers, but you can't so much as mutter a curse at your enemies or actively drop your sword.

That is, of course, unless "you can’t take any other actions until your next turn" means only Actions with a capital A (something that is stated to be an Immediate, Swift, Free, Move, Standard or Full Round action).

What all this boils down to is a need for a bit more clarity, and I would of course prefer to get the RAI straight from the horse's mouth if possible (I've googles extensively but haven't found anything clear).

What, exactly, can a caster who has used Dimension Door, do during the other players' and NPC's turns?

* Can he take AoOs?
* Can he speak the "few sentences" allowed during other player's turns?
* Can he drop a held item?
* Can he use his one Immediate action during another player's turn (which sacrifices his Swift action for the next turn)?
* Can he do other voluntary things that are not actions in themselves and can be done during other players' turns (such as standing aside from an Overrun attempt)?

In my own opinion, it seems rather weird if none of these things could be done and yet the character is 100% capable of putting up his normal defenses. If the intent was to really stop any kind of activity, it would have made a lot more sense to apply a condition on the caster "until the beginning of your next turn".

[Malachi Silverclaw]

The caster cannot take any Actions. This means (barring any strange feats) that his turn ends when he appears, even if he had unused move, standard or swift actions. The advice is to use all of your other actions before you Dimension Door knowing you'll lose them if you don't!

It also means that you can't take immediate actions (until the end of your next turn, of course).

Obviously, you can't take any move, standard, swift or free actions before the start of your next turn, because these actions can only be taken during your turn. :)

You CAN do things which aren't Actions, such as:-

* Take Attacks of Opportunity
* Make Saving Throws
* Choose to avoid an overrun

You CANNOT:-

* Cease concentration on a spell
* Drop an item
* Drop prone

as these are free actions and free actions can only be taken during your turn, and of course you cannot take actions until your next turn as you've just cast Dimension Door!

The only ambiguous thing is whether or not you can speak. It is described as 'a free action that you can perform even when it isn't your turn.' I get the feeling that the designers didn't know how to define it in terms of action type, because depending on how much you say it could be:-

* Not an action at all! ('OUCH!')
* An immediate action. ('Mind the pit!')
* A move action. ('On the command ''Go!'', we will, go! Ready....start!')
* A standard, full round or even several full round actions ('Let me tell you about my latest character....!')

Hope that helps. :)

[Sapricot]

Thank you! I do hope that is what the game designers would agree to as well. As I thought, "reactive" rather than "active" things you do (don't want to say "actions") can still be done but active ones cannot.

As for speaking, I think we will allow 1-2 word curses and cries (more or less instinctive speech) but not things that require some thinking first (like warnings).

The one thing I'm still not sure about is whether to allow immediate actions. Because an immediate action performed before your turn counts as your swift action for that turn (not the previous one), it actually makes sense to me to allow immediate actions after DD since the character will lose his swift action for the next turn (and DD doesn't say anything about actions of the next turn.) Basically, I think immediate actions done outside of your turn are actually part of your next turn, not the previous one.

I'm not sure how often the situation would arise, but one thing I can think of off the top of my head is a wizard casting DD up into the air and then, wanting to avoid a squishy end, casting Feather Fall as he plummets to the ground.

[Malachi Silverclaw]

Alas, no.

While an immediate action 'uses up' the swift action from your next turn, you cannot take any actions until your next turn; until your initiative count.

Your mage better have a Ring of Feather Fall (which activates automatically without using your actions at all) or all he'll have time to do is say 'ouch' as his head breaks his fall.

[blackbloodtroll]

What about readied actions?

[LazarX]

blackbloodtroll wrote:

What about readied actions?

Unless you take the feats neccessary you have NO, NONE, BUPKISS, actions remaining after you step through a dimension door. YOU ARE DONE FOR THE TURN PERIOD.

That's why the dimensional aglity chain is significant.

[blackbloodtroll]

When you write in all caps, it implies yelling, which is rude.

[Snorter]

Does anyone know why the FAQ states the disorientation affects only the caster, and not the passengers?

PFSRD wrote:

Dimension door says, "After using this spell, you can't take any other actions until your next turn." If the caster brings other creatures with them when they cast the spell, are the passengers unable to take any other actions until their next turn, or is that just for the caster?

That restriction only applies to the caster.

I would have thought the caster would be more acclimatised to the travel than the others.

[deuxhero]

Because RAW is RAW and it both says "you" and "your next turn" (which short of immediate actions, is required for taking actions).

Also of note is the same RAW means Magus can use spell combat to combine DD and a full attack into a single full round action, and because it's the same action, he doesn't need to take "other actions".

[Ty-Ri]

What about the Ultimate Combat - Dimensional Agility Feat? It allows you to take your additional actions remaining on your turn. I took this feat while specializing in the Focused Arcane School - Conjuration - Teleportation, ph 147 Advance Player's Guide. Which replaces the acid dart power with Shift (Su), the ability to dimension door as a Swift action, not provoking an Attack of Opportunity. This allows my 1st level character to get out of or position myself in favorable positions. The range is Line-of-sight and and increases with levels.

[wraithstrike]

Snorter wrote:

Does anyone know why the FAQ states the disorientation affects only the caster, and not the passengers?

PFSRD wrote:

Dimension door says, "After using this spell, you can't take any other actions until your next turn." If the caster brings other creatures with them when they cast the spell, are the passengers unable to take any other actions until their next turn, or is that just for the caster?

That restriction only applies to the caster.

I would have thought the caster would be more acclimatised to the travel than the others.

The effect is intended to limit the caster only. The disorientation is mostly fluff to explain why the caster is the only one affect. It could also be refluffed as draining him momentarily.

[wraithstrike]

Ty-Ri that does not work. The Dimensional agility feats calls out the monk's adbandant step, and casting the spell as the only two things that work. While there are other abilities that reference dimension door they are not dimension door, and if any ability that referenced dimension door was intended to work with it. Abundant step also would not have to be called out specifically, and it also could been written to say that any ability that references abundant step would work with it.

[Bobson]

wraithstrike wrote:

Ty-Ri that does not work. The Dimensional agility feats calls out the monk's adbandant step, and casting the spell as the only two things that work. While there are other abilities that reference dimension door they are not dimension door, and if any ability that referenced dimension door was intended to work with it. Abundant step also would not have to be called out specifically, and it also could been written to say that any ability that references abundant step would work with it.

Not to make this a monk thread, but this is one of the few examples where monks got a boost that no one else gets.

More on topic, I'm interested in the attack of opportunity question. Why or why not Gould the mage/monk be able to make AoOs after using DD?

[wraithstrike]

AoO's are not actions. Actions have a game definition.