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Are reactions like attack of opportunity meant to work like 1st edition?
Core Rulebook page 474 diagram ((emphasis mine))
"2. If Valeros approaches this way to position 2, he triggers reactions from both the hobgoblin and the troll. The troll has a reach of 10 feet,
so Valeros triggers reactions from both enemies when he moves out of the second square and into the third.
"3. ...Because of its 10-foot reach, the troll could use its reaction when Seoni left either square.
This diagram is almost identical to the diagram in the 1E CRB on page 181 but with different text. It was my understanding that in 1E when you left a threatened square and provoked an AoO, you would effectively move back to the threatened square and resolve the attack, then carry on with your movement.
The text from the 2E CRB strongly suggests that you have already left the threatened square and are taking a hit as a result afterward. Is this how it is intended to be run?
Page 474 of the 2E CRB goes on to say... ((emphasis mine))
"Each time you exit a square (or move 5 feet if not using a grid) within a creature’s reach, your movement triggers those reactions and free actions (although no more than once per move action for a given reacting creature).If you use a move action but don’t move out of a square, the trigger instead happens at the end of that action or ability."
The second bolded bit is already a difference from first edition in regards to standing from prone. In 1E the AoO from standing would trigger while you were still lying on the ground and thus taking the -4 to AC. In 2E now it seems that you are now standing and are NOT flat-footed for the triggered reaction.
If this is a change from 1E and the way it is meant to be run then some other oddities come up, namely if the reaction knocks the creature unconscious. Do they fall unconscious in a square now out of reach of the creature who took the reaction? Seems odd at first but maybe the momentum of their movement carried them forward and they fell after losing consciousness?
Am I misunderstanding something here? Are reactions like Attack of opportunity meant to function like 1E or is this something new?
Reactions follow more common sense now than strict guidelines.
Most Reactions are concurrent.
Some might occur before/retroactively like many of the defensive ones which can turn a hit (the trigger) into a miss.
So yes, there's no hit anymore to trigger, but that's not an issue because it's obvious to adults how the game wants it.
Some Reactions are after, like some Elementals which disperse or hide after taking damage. They aren't evading the damage, or they'd be nearly invulnerable, moving away from all damage.
In the case of an AoO, the mover obviously has to be within reach when the attack occurs. There are several monsters that can even disrupt the movement, ending it even before it actually happens.
So moving provokes and you may not succeed, but the wording says that a different type of move action does succeed and then there's the triggered action. This means if Standing provokes, they've already stood up (which aids the stander unless some creature has a Trip AoO.)
I find that last exception to the normal move provocation awkward, so I'm glad you pointed it out.
Cheers