Dimensional Dervish and Provoking AOO's


Rules Questions


4 people marked this as FAQ candidate.

It doesn't say, but would using this feat provoke attacks of opportunity from everyone you attack since you are leaving a square threatened by them?

Sczarni

I'd say no. I can't find the RAW for that, but that's how we play it.


No idea how it works RAW here either, but it's a fairly long (and high level) feat chain that is limited by the number of times you can either cast dimension door or abundant steps. I would say RAI is to NOT give opportunity attacks. The exception here being the initial casting of dimension door, if you're using that that way, then that first action provokes.


6 people marked this as FAQ candidate.

basically, it comes down to dimension door and other teleportation effects not being 'movement' per se,
you are not moving in a line from point A to point B, you are instantaneously 'disappearing' from point A and 'reappearing' in point B.
AoO's for 'leaving a square' are for MOVING out of a square, not 'dis/appearing' in/from a square.
The rules don't explicitly discuss this 'meta-theory' of the rules, and it's easy to 'view' teleportation as 'movement' since the abilities tend to use language like 'enter' and 'leave', even though it doesn't have other features of movement like inertia, being subject to difficult terrain, etc. The only concrete 'evidence' (besides the semantic logic, above) I know of in the actual rules themselves is in the Teleport Tactician Feat in APG:

Quote:

Teleport Tactician (Combat)

You are highly alert for enemies using teleportation to approach you or flee from you.
Prerequisites: Combat Reflexes, Disruptive, Spellbreaker.

Benefit: Any creature using a teleportation effect to enter or leave a square threatened by you provokes an attack of opportunity, even if casting defensively or using a supernatural ability.

If Dimension Door/ Teleportation DIDN'T work like I previously laid out (above), then Teleport Tactician wouldn't need to specifically grant you the ability to take an AoO when a teleporting creature 'leaves' a square threatened by you, right? (the 'enter' a square function is obviously novel for MOST characters)

Also note: Dimension Door / Teleport not being 'actual' movement means that you can 5' step on the same turn as doing it.

But please hit FAQ on this post or the top one, I think this is a subtle distinction that not every player understands. Certainly, Teleport Tactician is calling out for a 'Normal:' line that distinguishes what it is doing from the normal case re: Movement AoOs and Teleportation. Ideally, the Teleportation Sub-School could just directly and concisely state that Teleportation does not count as 'movement' for AoOs or difficult terrain modifying the distance, etc.


1 person marked this as FAQ candidate.

Hmm, you're right. Normally feats with the Benefit: line have a Normal: line as well. It would be nice if this were clarified in the MOVEMENT section of Chapter 8 (Combat).

Given the prerequisites and the difference between teleportation and standard movement, I would rule that it does not provoke an AoO.


hitting FAQ is the only way you can help get that clarified in the book.

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