One of the more difficult things that new players have trouble remembering is that moving away from an opponent will draw an opportunity attack. As soon as players hear that moving their character more than one square away from an adjacent creature will result in that creature getting a free attack, all tactics that involve moving are thrown out the window. It’s almost as if they believe that drawing an attack and possibly taking the hit is the absolute worst thing that they can do on their turn.
As an experienced DM I’m going to tell you that you need to be willing to take an opportunity attack once and a while. From a mechanics point of view all opponents know as well as you do under what circumstances they’ll get to make a free attack on you. If you move away they’ll attack you as soon as your back is turned. If you try to use a ranged attack while standing next to them, they’ll see the hole in your defenses and attack you. And if you try to crawl away while prone you bet that you enemy will kick you as you scurry away.
But so what if they do? In most cases a monster’s basic attack is just that – basic. It usually is a straight up weapon attack, be it a sword or claw. Yes, it has the potential to hurt you but you need to weigh that against the value of taking the action that draws the attack in the first place.
For example, in a recent game the PCs faced off against opponents that could entangle them and then pull them in opposite directions. The party’s Rogue used his move action to easily escape the grab. His initial tactic was to charge a different opponent which would put him in a flanking position and allow him to use his sneak dice with that attack. However, when I reminded the player that moving away from an adjacent monster would provoke an opportunity attack the player decided to stay put and go toe-to-toe with the adjacent foe despite not having combat advantage. By not moving away after freeing himself he severely limited his ability to be an effective striker.
Now in some circumstances I totally understand why you’d not want to provoke the attack. If you’re really low on hit points and the attack could drop you, then stay put. If the monster’s basic attack has some other kind of condition attached, like causing you to become dazed or knocked prone, then again I think you’re better off staying where you are. But if it’s early in the fight then tactically speaking you should seriously consider provoking that attack. In this specific example the monster did not inflict any additional condition on a hit and the Rogue was the Artful Dodger build so his defenses against the attack were incredibly high. Had it been me, I’d have risked it. But this action doesn’t seem to be commonplace.
As the DM running the monsters, I see opportunity attacks as a nuisance, and not a deterrent. Assuming the monsters are intelligent or have a competent leader that can shout commands, I’m happy to provoke opportunity attacks if there is a tactical advantage to doing so. This is especially true if the monster is only going to provoke one opportunity attack and if the PC is a class that does not typically have an exceptional Strength (like a Wizard for example).
Again it comes down to tactics (assuming that the monsters are intelligent enough to understand tactics – and this is the real determining factor). If the gains to “team monster” outweigh one possible hit then I’m provoking that opportunity attack as often as necessary. In a recent encounter all of the monsters gained additional damage dice if they had combat advantage (in this case +2d6 each for a heroic tier adventure). By moving one monster and provoking an opportunity attack in the process, three members of “team monster” were able to combine for an additional +6d6 damage to the party. This was a no brainier. I happily took the opportunity attack (which did hit and inflicted 5 damage) in order to pound the PCs and inflict over 20 extra points of damage that wouldn’t have been possible without that one monster moving to flank with his buddies.
Another tactic that I often employ when my monsters are marked by Fighters is to begin the turn by provoking an opportunity attack and trying to move away (not shift away, an important distinction). The Fighter takes his free attack and gets all the additional bonuses that come with Combat Superiority. Needless to say, my monsters get hit more often than not for taking this action. A hit inflicts damage and stops their movement. Then, as my standard action I charge away from the Fighter and attack someone else. Since the Fighter has already taken an opportunity attack against me I can now get away Scott free. Of course, the attack I make on the other end of my charge still has -2 from the Fighter’s mark, but I do get a +1 for charging so I’m netting out at -1. It frustrates the players running Fighters to no end, but I remind them that they do get a free attack on my monster in the process so it’s not all bad for them.
Of course all arguments for moving in order to gain positioning are completely moot if it will provoke more than one opportunity attack. I’m a lot less likely to take any kind of action that will provoke opportunity attacks if I’m adjacent to more than one opponent. In the end it’s a numbers game. If two opportunity attacks will likely inflict 15-25 damage and all I’m gaining for moving is +1d6 sneak dice then I’m staying put. My statement that players should be willing to provoke opportunity attacks should really be qualified with as long is you’re only provoking from one creature.
Players forget that they’re working together on the battlefield. They forget that the party is a team and not just a bunch of guys travelling the countryside in search of a party. Most players are so concerned with their own well-being that that often forget to look at the entire battle. Every PC fulfils a role. Sometimes it’s necessary to take one for the team so that someone else can fulfill their role.
Provoking an opportunity attack to give the Rogue a flanking bonus lets him do his job better. If your standard action was just going to be a basic attack anyway, why not look at the bigger picture and help the party emerge victorious. By working together in this way the combat ends sooner which helps everyone. You may take an extra hit or two (or at least risk it by provoke an opportunity attack) but if the monsters are defeated more quickly, the party’s leader can focus on healing you first for making such a heroic sacrifice.
As I said at the outset more players need to be willing to provoke an opportunity attack. This fear that every monster will hit when they make the opportunity attack and the fear of taking damage if they actually connect is removing tactical options from the minds of many players. PC are being left in place for fear of one hit and the monsters are gaining huge advantages over the heroes because of it. You need to look at the bigger picture and see that taking a hit now will have large implication for the entire party as the encounter continues to play out.
What are your feelings about provoking opportunity attacks? Are you willing to take a hit and move to a more advantageous position or do you feel that any action that gives your opponents a free attack against you is a bad idea? How many DMs move the monsters as they see fit and are willing to provoke those opportunity attacks in the process?
Related reading:
- Using Undead Intelligently
- Should I Fight Or Should I Heal Now?
- The Challenges Of War: Large Scale Battles
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1 2 3 4 Next »This is a topic near and dear to my heart. I once played a Barbarian/Warblade whose major tactic in a large melee would be to plow through the enemy lines, drawing all of their opportunity attacks which allowed his allies to position freely. He would especially do this against creatures with a long reach which would otherwise cause the other melee combatants in his party to pause with uncertainty.
I'm definitely keeping your Mark tactic in mind though for when I next run a sufficiently intelligent Defender-type opponent though, that's rather smart.
Remember that altruism and "taking one for Team Monster" is not normal behavior for every kind of creature. There is a particular niche of creatures who are smart enough to employ weapons and understand the threat, but are still cowardly or individual enough that they won't take one for the team.
A mob of poorly trained conscripts or mercenaries might stay close to avoid provoking, and then when bloodied, take the OA in order to double-move-run to maximize their fleeing distance. Goblins, kobolds, and other small intelligent creatures whose lives hang in the balance whenever they go toe-to-toe with a larger enemy, might well close in, take one wallop, and spend the rest of the encounter trying to disentangle themselves from an overpowering foe.
On the other hand, a mob of religious zealots, esp. if they believe in an afterlife, might deliberately ignore everything but their primary objective and lose four or five members of their team just trying to surround their quarry. This is similar to the behavior of a wolf pack or a swarm of rats -- no social commentary intended.
Monsters will risk some OAs/AOOs, based on the tactical situation, their intelligence and their goals in the context of the encounter and adventure.
You're right on about players though. Some players hate taking them - maybe most.
Me, when I'm a player, I take them sometimes, especially if I'm not bloodied and it means a far "cooler" turn than just shifting and making a more ordinary attack.
When DDM was all the rage, including pre 4e, I use to take AOO's constantly! I almost always believed the risk worth the reward - I liked that aggressive style of play back then.
In D&D 4e, I play aggressive, especially as a striker, and will take some OAs - but not as many as DDM, simply because it's a different sort of game and dynamic between the two.
One of our favorite tactics is to Provoke AOO's from mobs who are MARKED by our fighter/paladin. Because if they attack us and don't include them, Not only dothey suffer a -2 to attacking us, but the fighter/paladin get to attack/do damage to them!!!
This can be pretty intersting with bonuses in place. You can also do it so that a rogue gets an attack with combat advantage if you move in the correct spot as well! Fun fun!
While I acknowledge hit points are a precious resource, I've seen some (most?) players treat them like they'll never come back, and tiptoe around the battlefield with an absurd amount of care. They are transforming all enemies (even minions!) into controllers, allowing their movement and tactics to be changed by environmental factors. That's nuts.
And I say this as a player who regularly provokes and usually suffers a critical hit for my effort. Cursed dice!
I think it's more something I've learned from DMing than playing. When I played I was less likely to provoke an AoO. Now that I've spent several years DMing, I'm all for it if there is an advantage in doing so. I think having less attachment to the combatants has led to that acceptance and now bleeds over into regular play as well.
Provoking attacks for combat advantage is likely the most common situation, but I've also done so to concentrate on (or hassle) a specific target (take out the healer first) or to gain some terrain advantage (positioning to push into a pit, or similar).
@Dungeon Maestro: I'll have to look over the rules to marking again, but I didn't think provoked attacks violated the mark. I've always ruled it as, if they have the option to attack the marking character then they must or be vulnerable to an AoO, but if the marking character was not an option, then they were not vulnerable to the AoO (though other penalties apply).
@Svafa, I should have clarified, but specifically in the case of a Fighter Challenge, the fighter should be able to attack him if he makes "any attack which does not include" the fighter as a target. Regular Marking does not let you do this, you are correct. In the Paladins case, Divine challenge sends out Radiant damage. Either way, if they are marked they have a -2 to attack you.
Example: Fighter is next to Mob A. ranger is next to Mob A. Ranger moves around mob A who take an AOO at the ranger. -2 to hit, and since the attack did not include the fighter, the Fighter gets an AOO against mob A.
make sense?
I think that if you want people to be more mobile on the battlefield you need to remove deterrents to that mobility. Opportunity Attacks are one such deterrent. No one likes th get attacked, even if they know that the attack might not drop them (and unless they've faced an opponent before they can't know that until they provoke said OA)
Fantastic post! I'm definitely sharing it with my group.
I will frequently intentionally provoke an AOO specifically to free up the other characters (similar to Chris' character above). When I'm doing this, I'm usually either playing a dextrous rogue-type or a heavily armored tank, and can probably avoid the blow.
One house rule that I've considered for a while is giving the character a choice after the AOO is rolled. If the AOO is a successful hit, the character can either take the damage and complete the action, or abandon the action and avoid the damage. While it waters down AOO's a bit, I think it will free up players to know that they can risk the action, but bail if things look too hot. (Obviously, the choice must be made before damage is rolled.)
I might add that when you're in the DM's seat, having monsters provoking opportunity attacks is also a good way to knock their hit points down faster, which results in faster fights. So if you're using an elite brute or something, have them provoke opportunity attacks whenever it's interesting to do so or appropriate in context - it's fun for the players and ultimately saves you time. Let the players get full use of their characters' range of attacks every combat and they'll have a great time doing it. You've never seen a happier fighter than the one who slays the beast just before it claws the wounded cleric.