Touch and AoO

[The Baim]

Just wanted to ask a quick question.

Let's say that on Round 1, the wizard casts shocking grasp as a standard action, moves thirty feet towards the opponent but then cannot reach him so he holds the charge.

Let's say that another opponent moves through his threatened space while he is still holding the charge and provokes an Attack of Opportunity.

Can the wizard use the Held charge as the AoO?

Probably answered elsewhere…but new to the forums...

[NobodysHome]

My impression is that you can't use touch attacks for AoO's unless you're a monk:

If you're unarmed, you don't normally threaten any squares and thus can't make attacks of opportunity.

So my answer would be, "No," unless you had some kind of feat to make unarmed touch attacks as AoO's.

[Archaeik]

Combat:Attacks

“Armed” Unarmed Attacks wrote:

Sometimes a character's or creature's unarmed attack counts as an armed attack. A monk, a character with the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, a spellcaster delivering a touch attack spell, and a creature with natural physical weapons all count as being armed (see natural attacks).

Spells that grant touch attacks also make you armed.

You threaten, you get the AoO.

Edit: *as a touch attack
The section on delivering touch attacks goes on to say that if your unarmed strike does not threaten normally, delivering a touch through that attack still provokes.

[NobodysHome]

I stand corrected.

In that case I don't see any reason you couldn't deliver the spell.

[Claxon]

Archaeik has the right of it. While holding a touch attack spell you threaten and do not provoke an AoO for attacking with a touch attack spell. So yes, if you're holding a charge and someone does something that would normally provoke an AoO in your threatened range you can hit them with the touch attack (or at least attempt to).

[Kazumetsa Raijin]

What Claxon and Archaeik said.