Use of Stand Still feat provokes an attack of opportunity on the Attacker of opportunity?

[Wycen]

My DM sent me the proposed stats for my character's cohort and I've been reading up on Stand Still and necessarily Combat Maneuvers.

The relevant portion of the feat's text states: [you can make a combat maneuver check as your attack of opportunity.]

But am I really performing a Combat Maneuver or an attack of opportunity. If it is a combat maneuver, this is a crap feat, at least for this build.

Why? First, performing a combat maneuver provokes an attack of opportunity. But for this build it gets worse.

The relevant portion of text combat maneuver text states: [Performing a Combat Maneuver: When performing a combat maneuver, you must use an action appropriate to the maneuver you are attempting to perform. While many combat maneuvers can be performed as part of an attack action, full-attack action, or attack of opportunity (in place of a melee attack), others require a specific action. Unless otherwise noted, performing a combat maneuver provokes an attack of opportunity from the target of the maneuver. If you are hit by the target, you take the damage normally and apply that amount as a penalty to the attack roll to perform the maneuver.]

My conundrum fully explained as an example:

1. Gordon the gorgon is standing adjacent to Whitney the Spear carrier.

2. Gordon sees a squirrel off to his side and is overcome with the need to chase it, provoking an attack of opportunity.

3. Whitney takes the opportunity and makes a combat maneuver check.

4. Gordon says "hey not so fast, your combat maneuver check provokes an attack of opportunity" which Gordon happily takes and inflicts 6 points of damage.

5. Whitney then proceeds to complete his combat maneuver check with a -6 modifier. With this modifier Whitney's total CMB is now -2.

6. The player asks the DM, "why did you give a 6th level cleric with a STR of 10 this feat"?

Ignoring the low STR/BAB issue, is this how Stand Still works? Your attack of opportunity triggers an attack of opportunity?

My google-fu is failing me.

[KainPen]

Stand Still (Combat)
You can stop foes that try to move past you.
Prerequisites: Combat Ref lexes.
Benefit: When a foe provokes an attack of opportunity
due to moving through your adjacent squares, you can make
a combat maneuver check as your attack of opportunity. If
successful, the enemy cannot move for the rest of his turn.
An enemy can still take the rest of his action, but cannot
move. This feat also applies to any creature that attempts to
move from a square that is adjacent to you if such movement
provokes an attack of opportunity.

It says you make a combat maneuver check, IT does not say you are preforming any of combat maneuver. Such as Trip, Disarm, Bull Rush ect. You are just making a check CMB VS CMD. Visual it a simple as when some one tries to move past you on your right and swing your sword in that direction and it make them think twice about doing it again. Stand Still is not in the list of Combat Maneuvers it is a feat.

If it was a combat Maneuver anyone can do it with out a feat. Which sounds like a a good idea, and the feat can be improved Stand still that does not provoke and apply to threaten squares.(I may house rule that in thanks for the idea.)

The feat still kind of sucks any way because it only applies to adjacent squares so you can't do it with a reach weapon anyway. Unless you in a 10ft hall way, most creatures will just go around you.

[Devilkiller]

I don't think that using Stand Still draws an AoO. There's no "Stand Still" manuever. It is just a check you make to use the feat. Regarding the cohort's low CMB:
A) If Whitney has a good Dex she could take Agile Maneuvers to boost her CMB
B) Clerics have various spells and feats which can boost their CMB
C) Getting a Cleric cohort is usually kind of like getting a personal healbot, so you should probably be happy even if she's not an effective combatant.

The only problem might be if the DM has the Cleric start controlling your PC's actions like some kind of holy soup nazi ("No healing for you! Two fights!") I've seen controlling behavior from NPC Clerics in the past when the DM wanted to be sure the party behaved a certain way.

[Darksol the Painbringer]

The others are correct. The whole "AOO provocation" only works for specific combat maneuvers. Stand Still is a feat that allows a standard Combat Maneuver Check (something you make as upkeep when you initiated and succeeded in Grappling, which also doesn't provoke) to stop the foes from moving. (A nice Tank feat, I must say.)

Since it's not a specific maneuver (which the RAW only lists as Combat Maneuvers, not Combat Maneuver Checks), it doesn't follow the rule of specific Combat Maneuvers, in which unless stated otherwise, it does not provoke AOOs.

[Wycen]

The idea of Combat Maneuver check being different from a Combat Maneuver never struck me, and may have unintended consequences for a completely different game. I should reread the whole text now carefully to re-parse the text.

I'm pretty sure the DM thinks it is a good build because he thinks Stand Still works with reach. The original idea was a party heal-bot and tool kit, not a personal version. Since this is my thread I'll happily hijack it for a moment or three.

We started the game with a ranger, summoner, wizard and druid. But the druid was the 'burn everything' type of guy and rarely used his spell slots for healing.

Around 4th or 5th level we had 2 new guys join the group and one was a cleric. For whatever reason, they played twice and haven't shown up since (but they still both post in our Facebook group, so there you go).

We had an NPC cleric, but a failed Will save from a satyr ended that NPC career. Another NPC cleric show up a few times, but I can't remember why we stopped bringing him along, possibly because we had a guest player show up to play a pixie, maybe because we had two new players join.

Ah, no, it was summer and the ranger player was on vacation for 7 weeks so we did some side adventures with different character and to level up the two new guys.

One of the new guys is playing a stealthy, tricky cleric.

Last session we had 2 character deaths and 2 newer guys are planning to join the group. So if everyone shows up we could have a summoner and wizard, the two surviving original characters. A cleric and cleric cohort. A new barbarian, new fighter, new wizard and then another character who I've not heard anything about.