This is more a couple of specific instances. The rules are seemingly broad in coverage, so I'm curious. I've always ruled the following instances as no opportunity attack, but I may be house-ruling.
1: Melee touch spells. Casting a spell provokes an opportunity attack, so casting say, Bull's Strength on a target yes. But spells like Shocking Grasp, Touch of Fatigue, etc. Offensive Melee spells. I feel they're kind of intended for use in melee agaist an enemy, I don't think they provoke, but I may be wrong.
2: Ranged attacks against targets in melee. Ranged attacks provoke. Opportunity attacks claim they're for when you remove your attention from a target. If you're in melee and want to shoot someone 30 ft away, yes, you're removing your focus. If your target is up in your face, why can't you just shoot him? Your focus is still on that person. Of course if there are 2 people next to you, yes, the other would hit you, but just 1v1. Reloading a crossbow or firearm yes, still provokes, but I fail to see how pointing my gun or bow to fire literal point blank lets them hit me. Of course solution to this one: five foot step away is an option, and it stops you getting pinned down. But having my gun to the back of a man's head. If I want to shoot him, he gets to turn around and slug me first cause he's holding a weapon?
I dunno. Could be wrong about these on the RAW. Honestly, only reason the second comes up is cause I can't see a use for the Sword and Pistol feat more than anything. The first though is the big one.
1. All typical spellcasting provokes attacks of opportunity. Spells involving touch attacks are no different. There is even a FAQ that says provoking from spellcasting is different from resolving a spell effect (such as a ranged touch spell), and you would provoke in both instances if possible.
2. This is something that might not make sense in the rules from what I can tell, but it is a key balancing point between melee and ranged martial characters. Unfortunately, there are so many ways around it that there really isn't much of a point to melee characters other than to take up space and hit points.
Melee touch spells: as stated, they provoke. You can cast the spell then move up to the enemy and use the spell in the same round.
Ranged weapons: if bows can do all the things melee weapons can do, why would anyone ever use a melee weapon?
It seems as realistic that they provoke AoO as any other action that does it. If I'm pointing a sword at you, and you reach into a quiver, pull out an arrow, notch the arrow, draw back your bowstring, keeping your other hand on the bow at all times and aiming at me, don't be surprised if I stab you in the gut before you're done.
Melee touch spells: as stated, they provoke. You can cast the spell then move up to the enemy and use the spell in the same round.
Ranged weapons: if bows can do all the things melee weapons can do, why would anyone ever use a melee weapon?
It seems as realistic that they provoke AoO as any other action that does it. If I'm pointing a sword at you, and you reach into a quiver, pull out an arrow, notch the arrow, draw back your bowstring, keeping your other hand on the bow at all times and aiming at me, don't be surprised if I stab you in the gut before you're done.
I was actually curious about the first point you raise. That has been an idea of mine but some would argue making a touch attack is a standard action which is part of casting the spell. Thus to split it would be prepping the spell, then next turn standard to attack. But if it is something which can be done then it negates my point, and is an acceptable answer. "Play strategically".
The latter though, about ranged attacks, the action you're describing is reloading the bow. Free action of not, it woukd provoke to reload the bow. If the bow were already drawn however, the only action is to release the arrow. Or a weapon that uses a longer action to reload, the pistol. The bullet is in, all I need do is turn the gun at you and fire. Then say I've a feat to prevent your AoO for reloading or that magic item that reloads as a command word swift action that doesn't provoke. I say the word, and there is no distractions or alternate attentions, I'm just shooting you. However "all the things melee weapons can do" is still not accurate. This is a one on one scenario. The minute there are two people near the ranged fighter, they cannot focus on both. He is making a ranged attack agaist a different target after all. And additionally, having a ranged weapon in hand, without Snap Shot, one still cannot make opportunity attacks of their own. There is still plenty benefit to melee, even if a within 5 ranged attack does not provoke.
I was actually curious about the first point you raise. That has been an idea of mine but some would argue making a touch attack is a standard action which is part of casting the spell. Thus to split it would be prepping the spell, then next turn standard to attack. But if it is something which can be done then it negates my point, and is an acceptable answer. "Play strategically".
Touch Spells in Combat: Many spells have a range of touch. To use these spells, you cast the spell and then touch the subject. In the same round that you cast the spell, you may also touch (or attempt to touch) as a free action. You may take your move before casting the spell, after touching the target, or between casting the spell and touching the target. You can automatically touch one friend or use the spell on yourself, but to touch an opponent, you must succeed on an attack roll.
Touch Attacks: Touching an opponent with a touch spell is considered to be an armed attack and therefore does not provoke attacks of opportunity. The act of casting a spell, however, does provoke an attack of opportunity. Touch attacks come in two types: melee touch attacks and ranged touch attacks. You can score critical hits with either type of attack as long as the spell deals damage. Your opponent's AC against a touch attack does not include any armor bonus, shield bonus, or natural armor bonus. His size modifier, Dexterity modifier, and deflection bonus (if any) all apply normally.
(Emphasis mine.)
In short, delivering a touch spell and casting said spell are different actions. They can seem like the same thing if you choose to use the free action to deliver the spell immediately, but in fact they are two different things.
Regarding the bow thing: Barring special training, aiming and executing ranged attacks are assumed to narrow your attention sufficiently to expose a potentially exploitable weakness to your opponent, hence the provocation.
Regarding the bow thing: Barring special training, aiming and executing ranged attacks are assumed to narrow your attention sufficiently to expose a potentially exploitable weakness to your opponent, hence the provocation.
I suppose. But the opposite could be said, that special training should be required to know how to exploit such a weakness. At least when you are the target. I tend to use a gun as an example most often, because to me, it is the simplest to use ranged weapon. Point and pull. If you are the target, your focus should be more on not getting shot, rather than throwing a punch. Batting the weapon away could be viable, though that is a penalty, not an attack. Make sense?
Melee weapons are their own defense against melee weapons. You are ready to block and redirect an attack. Your sword is en garde covering most of your head, torso and arms. A gun covers your hand leaving your head, torso, and arm (which you are holding out to the opponent) vulnerable. Aiming at center mass of a target within 5 feet while they are swinging a sword at you would be difficult. The ranged attacker who is usually just focusing on aiming, now has to dip and move while aiming. The melee attacker who usually just focusses on attacking any openings now has an opponent with all openings.
A gun can be fired from the hip. A crossbow is held two handed covering most of the body, though is difficult to reload, which provokes. A bow has length and size akin to a staff or club and could be used to block, an attacker would still need to work around it. Again though, more akin to a penalty to shoot than leaving an opening.
There is though, not even a shooting defensively option like casting defensively. Only feats with a dozen prerequisites, none of which specify an adjacent target as the ranged attacks target. They are all generalized to every ranged attack, including shooting someone 30+ feet away while someone threatens you (as is the RAW with Point Blank Master).
There is though, not even a shooting defensively option like casting defensively. Only feats with a dozen prerequisites, none of which specify an adjacent target as the ranged attacks target. They are all generalized to every ranged attack, including shooting someone 30+ feet away while someone threatens you (as is the RAW with Point Blank Master).
There is a shooting defensively option available without a feat. It is the 5-foot step away from the enemy who would take the attack of opportunity. It requires good positioning to not step into the reach of another enemy, but other Pathfinder options, such as flanking, also require positioning.
There is no good argument why firing a pistol would provoke. It is a side effect of firearms being invented after the rules for ranged attacks were published in the Core Rulebook. Paizo heavily nerfed early firearms with expensive gunpowder and misfires and feat requirements to permit easy restriction of firearms away from Golarion settings where they break the milieu. If Paizo added does-not-provoke, then they would have crippled firearms even more to compensate.
There is though, not even a shooting defensively option like casting defensively. Only feats with a dozen prerequisites, none of which specify an adjacent target as the ranged attacks target. They are all generalized to every ranged attack, including shooting someone 30+ feet away while someone threatens you (as is the RAW with Point Blank Master).There is a shooting defensively option available without a feat. It is the 5-foot step away from the enemy who would take the attack of opportunity. It requires good positioning to not step into the reach of another enemy, but other Pathfinder options, such as flanking, also require positioning.
There is no good argument why firing a pistol would provoke. It is a side effect of firearms being invented after the rules for ranged attacks were published in the Core Rulebook. Paizo heavily nerfed early firearms with expensive gunpowder and misfires and feat requirements to permit easy restriction of firearms away from Golarion settings where they break the milieu. If Paizo added does-not-provoke, then they would have crippled firearms even more to compensate.
The latter is a good point. My counter was going to be signs of evidence of future products taking previous into consideration, though it could simply be coincidence. Nightmare Weaver requires regular Darkness as a spell, though UC was released post Bestiary 1 where the Drow Noble has at-will Deeper Darkness. Then later, when the Drow were released with the ARG, their feats deliberately remove casting Darkness when you take any feat that increases your number of casts per day. It seems planned, though could simply be coincidence, or trying to create a standard.
Back to your point though, you're right. There are also questions to why a pistol cannot coup de grace. Or why any ranged weapon can't. I understand it would be a ridiculous ability from range, but much like my house ruling over vs melee ranged attacks, I generally support the idea of being able to coup de grace with a ranged weapon at melee range.
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Coup de Grace: As a full-round action, you can use a melee weapon to deliver a coup de grace (pronounced "coo day grahs") to a helpless opponent. You can also use a bow or crossbow, provided you are adjacent to the target.
Direct fire ranged weapons can deliver a coup de grace. Simply the rule is in the CRB, so it don't mention a pistol or other firearms.
I can see a flintlock pistol or long gun provoking. You have to hold the gun steady and on target for the time it takes for the hammer spark to light the powder in the pan and that fire to travel through the touch hole to the main powder charge. It can be even worse with a matchlock. You can sometimes hear the delay between the powder in the pan igniting and the main charge going off.
Your ability to evade an attack is compromised during this time.