provoking an aoo is not the same as reading to hit some1. two different action.
if the storm giant see the caster cast his spell, as long as the caster is in range of his lightening spell he can shoot his lightning.
if he is also in reach of melee attack and the storm giant is armed(i guess got a slam so always armed?) he might ALSO get an attack of opportunity for provoking him with the spell casting.
if the caster was out of the lighting reach. then him casting won't set off the ready action but popping in would, but by that time he no longer provoke for casting. (unless somehow the caster is in reach of the giant melee attack BUT out of reach of his lightning ,which seem weird)
you provoke an attack of opportunity (normally out of attacker's turn) you set off a ready action (aka trigger it) and that make it the turn of the guy who readied said action - he readied so now he get to finish his turn and act.
side note, normally one can't use an attack of opportunity to cast a spell. (exceptions can be found though)
1 SG readies to cast (I assume SG can't see opponent)
2 opponent teleports next to SG (I assume SG can now see opponent)
3 SG's readied action triggers and he starts casting his spell (this does provoke an AOO)
4 opponent can take an AOO (if they are able)
"Does the casting provoke or does it resolve the moment the opponent teleports in?"
Yes, the Storm Giant casting his lightning spell does provoke an AOO from the now threatening opponent.
oh i thought he meant the teleportation spell provoking.
yea casting a lightning spell within reach and not defensively will provoke. but notice that any decision about casting the spell is made after the trigger (except stuff related to the trigger, in this case he set the trigger to shoot the one showing up, so he can't switch). so if the target pop right at reach of the giant he cast the spell. but can choose to do so defensively. (even spell like abilities can be cast defensively and they also provoke if not).
also since he can pick the trigger, a smart caster can ready to cast a specific spell when some1 show up. but he doesn't need to add at which target . that can be decided when said some1 show up.
question to the GM though
- how did the one teleporting knew the giant was reading to cast a spell? ('The opponent teleports next to the storm giant thinking that the casting will provoke.')
he doesn't start casting before the trigger so nothing should hint that (need a sense motive to know he's planning to attack and maybe who, how exactly need a really good one, unless his move action was to pull out a scroll or something)
The storm giant readies his action to cast his lightning spell against his opponent when he sees him.
The opponent teleports next to the storm giant thinking that the casting will provoke.
Does the casting provoke or does it resolve the moment the opponent teleports in?
From this example, I can't tell if you are or aren't in combat yet, so if you're not in combat yet, you can't use Readied Actions outside of combat, you must be under initiative to use them. Side note: The SG can use a readied action for casting Chain Lightning, but not Call Lightning. Call Lightning is a 1 round cast time.
You can ready a standard action, a move action, a swift action, or a free action.
If you already were in combat and under initiative, and the SG readies his action to cast a Chain Lightning spell when he sees Opponent A, then Opponent A teleports right next to the SG (within threaten range), if the SG decides to use his readied action to cast the Chain Lightning spell, it will provoke an attack of opportunity (unless he casts it defensively and he will need to make a Conc check DC: 15 + double spell level 6*2=12 = Total DC27). The SG's Readied Action causes his initiative to change to go right before Opponent A for the remainder of combat.
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A spell or spell like ability only provokes when you cast it. Call lightning has a duration of 1 min. per level. If the storm giant had already cast the spell calling down a bolt will not trigger an AoO. The storm giant has an INT of 16 so should probably already activated the call lightning.
You need not call a bolt of lightning immediately; other actions, even spellcasting, can be performed first. Each round after the first you may use a standard action (concentrating on the spell) to call a bolt. You may call a total number of bolts equal to your caster level (maximum 10 bolts)
Concentrating on spell does not trigger an AoO
The SG shouldn't have been able to use a Readied Action with the initial casting of Call Lightning. You can only use Readied Actions with Standard, Move, Swift, or Free Actions, and Call Lightning is a 1 round casttime. Unless, the SG had already casted Call Lightning initially in round 1, and then in Round 2 the SG was Readying a Standard Action to actually call a bolt when he saw Opponent A? If that's the case, then yeah this is fine.
The action occurs just before the action that triggers it. If the triggered action is part of another character’s activities, you interrupt the other character. Assuming he is still capable of doing so, he continues his actions once you complete your readied action.
Yeah, this does get a little hairy, because the triggering action was "as soon as I see Opponent A" (under the assumption of seeing Opp A from a distance), except Opp A teleports to the SG rather than runs at him, so the action triggers once Opp A *poofs* right next to him. Rules-wise, this is still legit tho. Except, the AoO would NOT be triggered though, if the SG decides to go through with his Readied Action, because Concentrating on an Active Spell (such as calling a bolt from the already-active Call Lightning spell) does not provoke AoO.
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But let's say that it DID provoke an AoO because he Readied a Standard Action to Cast a Spell, Reality-wise, this seems backwards, because the AoO would interrupt the Readied Action to Cast a Spell, and the Readied Action was supposed to occur "just before" Opp A moves towards the SG. This situation is certainly messy, for sure, but it would be kosher per the rules.
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Dude - THANK YOU! This cleared up things for me. Despite being a bit muddy, that helps!The SG shouldn't have been able to use a Readied Action with the initial casting of Call Lightning. You can only use Readied Actions with Standard, Move, Swift, or Free Actions, and Call Lightning is a 1 round casttime. Unless, the SG had already casted Call Lightning initially in round 1, and then in Round 2 the SG was Readying a Standard Action to actually call a bolt when he saw Opponent A? If that's the case, then yeah this is fine.
The action occurs just before the action that triggers it. If the triggered action is part of another character’s activities, you interrupt the other character. Assuming he is still capable of doing so, he continues his actions once you complete your readied action.Yeah, this does get a little hairy, because the triggering action was "as soon as I see Opponent A" (under the assumption of seeing Opp A from a distance), except Opp A teleports to the SG rather than runs at him, so the action triggers once Opp A *poofs* right next to him. Rules-wise, this is still legit tho. Except, the AoO would NOT be triggered though, if the SG decides to go through with his Readied Action, because Concentrating on an Active Spell (such as calling a bolt from the already-active Call Lightning spell) does not provoke AoO.
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But let's say that it DID provoke an AoO because he Readied a Standard Action to Cast a Spell, Reality-wise, this seems backwards, because the AoO would interrupt the Readied Action to Cast a Spell, and the Readied Action was supposed to occur "just before" Opp A moves towards the SG. This situation is certainly messy, for sure, but it would be kosher per the rules.
Glad to help ;)
right - so just not understanding how the spell works resulted in bad tactics. Next time!
Casting does provoke. Not a biggie if the attacker doesn't have a weapon in hand or can't take advantage of it.My other question is how'd they sneak up on a stormgiant with prcptn +27. Teleport:C5 std actn then roll Studied Carefully(in view).
Additional note, you can ready an action to cast a spell under some condition (assuming the spell is a standard action or less). If at the time the trigger condition occurs, you are under threat, you can choose to cast defensively at that time to avoid the AoO. eg, the readied action is simply to cast a spell. You don't have to ready an action to specifically cast a spell defensively (or not). Likewise, you don't have to specify what spell you are casting either, and can decide in the moment which spell to use.