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Can you take free actions during attacks of opportunity?
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I have read some claim that free actions cannot be taken during attacks of opportunity. However,
Free Action
Free actions consume a very small amount of time and effort. You can perform one or more free actions while taking another action normally. However, there are reasonable limits on what you can really do for free.
Emphasis mine. Why would this exclude an Attack of Opportunity?
Speak
In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn’t your turn. Speaking more than few sentences is generally beyond the limit of a free action.
I've seen references to speaking, particularly, "when it isn't your turn". I've always understood that to mean you can speak out of turn, like an immediate action, not that all other free actions must be on your turn.
For example, you can yell out a warning, even when it isn't your turn, but you can't drop prone unless you were otherwise taking another action.
Is there another rule this comes from? Is it in the Rules Compendium?
dnd-3.5e opportunity-attack free-action
edited 1 hour ago
KRyan
207k23514901
asked 1 hour ago
Wyrmwood
4,9671434
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
I have read some claim that free actions cannot be taken during attacks of opportunity. However,
Free Action
Free actions consume a very small amount of time and effort. You can perform one or more free actions while taking another action normally. However, there are reasonable limits on what you can really do for free.
Emphasis mine. Why would this exclude an Attack of Opportunity?
Speak
In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn’t your turn. Speaking more than few sentences is generally beyond the limit of a free action.
I've seen references to speaking, particularly, "when it isn't your turn". I've always understood that to mean you can speak out of turn, like an immediate action, not that all other free actions must be on your turn.
For example, you can yell out a warning, even when it isn't your turn, but you can't drop prone unless you were otherwise taking another action.
Is there another rule this comes from? Is it in the Rules Compendium?
dnd-3.5e opportunity-attack free-action
edited 1 hour ago
KRyan
207k23514901
asked 1 hour ago
Wyrmwood
4,9671434
1
If you want to ask about specific claims made by particular people, you need to link to those claims. At the most extreme, however, only those people could answer the question of why they said what they did. That isn’t a useful or on-topic question here. I have changed your question to focus more on the fundamental question of what you can or cannot do, rather than on “why someone said†you cannot.
– KRyan
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
I have read some claim that free actions cannot be taken during attacks of opportunity. However,
Free Action
Free actions consume a very small amount of time and effort. You can perform one or more free actions while taking another action normally. However, there are reasonable limits on what you can really do for free.
Emphasis mine. Why would this exclude an Attack of Opportunity?
Speak
In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn’t your turn. Speaking more than few sentences is generally beyond the limit of a free action.
I've seen references to speaking, particularly, "when it isn't your turn". I've always understood that to mean you can speak out of turn, like an immediate action, not that all other free actions must be on your turn.
For example, you can yell out a warning, even when it isn't your turn, but you can't drop prone unless you were otherwise taking another action.
Is there another rule this comes from? Is it in the Rules Compendium?
dnd-3.5e opportunity-attack free-action
edited 1 hour ago
KRyan
207k23514901
asked 1 hour ago
Wyrmwood
4,9671434
I have read some claim that free actions cannot be taken during attacks of opportunity. However,
Free Action
Free actions consume a very small amount of time and effort. You can perform one or more free actions while taking another action normally. However, there are reasonable limits on what you can really do for free.
Emphasis mine. Why would this exclude an Attack of Opportunity?
Speak
In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn’t your turn. Speaking more than few sentences is generally beyond the limit of a free action.
I've seen references to speaking, particularly, "when it isn't your turn". I've always understood that to mean you can speak out of turn, like an immediate action, not that all other free actions must be on your turn.
For example, you can yell out a warning, even when it isn't your turn, but you can't drop prone unless you were otherwise taking another action.
Is there another rule this comes from? Is it in the Rules Compendium?
dnd-3.5e opportunity-attack free-action
dnd-3.5e opportunity-attack free-action
edited 1 hour ago
KRyan
207k23514901
asked 1 hour ago
Wyrmwood
4,9671434
edited 1 hour ago
KRyan
207k23514901
asked 1 hour ago
Wyrmwood
4,9671434
edited 1 hour ago
KRyan
207k23514901
edited 1 hour ago
KRyan
207k23514901
edited 1 hour ago
KRyan
207k23514901
207k23514901
asked 1 hour ago
Wyrmwood
4,9671434
asked 1 hour ago
Wyrmwood
4,9671434
asked 1 hour ago
Wyrmwood
4,9671434
4,9671434
1
If you want to ask about specific claims made by particular people, you need to link to those claims. At the most extreme, however, only those people could answer the question of why they said what they did. That isn’t a useful or on-topic question here. I have changed your question to focus more on the fundamental question of what you can or cannot do, rather than on “why someone said†you cannot.
– KRyan
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
1
If you want to ask about specific claims made by particular people, you need to link to those claims. At the most extreme, however, only those people could answer the question of why they said what they did. That isn’t a useful or on-topic question here. I have changed your question to focus more on the fundamental question of what you can or cannot do, rather than on “why someone said†you cannot.
– KRyan
1 hour ago
1
1
If you want to ask about specific claims made by particular people, you need to link to those claims. At the most extreme, however, only those people could answer the question of why they said what they did. That isn’t a useful or on-topic question here. I have changed your question to focus more on the fundamental question of what you can or cannot do, rather than on “why someone said†you cannot.
– KRyan
1 hour ago
If you want to ask about specific claims made by particular people, you need to link to those claims. At the most extreme, however, only those people could answer the question of why they said what they did. That isn’t a useful or on-topic question here. I have changed your question to focus more on the fundamental question of what you can or cannot do, rather than on “why someone said†you cannot.
– KRyan
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
up vote
1
down vote
accepted
The argument, basically, is that your actions are defined as things you can do during your turn:
When a character’s turn comes up in the initiative sequence, that character performs his entire round’s worth of actions. (For exceptions, see Attacks of Opportunity and Special Initiative Actions.)
(emphasis mine)
Since free actions are defined as one of the sorts of actions you can take during the round, and the default rule says you take all your actions for the round during your turn in the initiative process, that means free actions can only be performed during your turn.
Speaking gets a special exception:
In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn’t your turn.
which is taken as an exception-that-proves-the-rule: this wouldn’t be here if free actions could normally be performed outside your turn, as it would be redundant. Speaking gets a special exception, and other types of free action don’t, and so they are limited only to your turn.
Rules Compendium does not repeat the first quote, leaving out a default definition of an action as something you do on your turn. Rather, it merely says that you can perform these actions “during a normal round,†(pg. 7). However, the definition of free actions includes
You can perform one or more free actions during your turn.
(Rules Compendium, pg.7)
Nowhere in the rules are free actions addressed specifically with respect to attacks of opportunity, however. Given that attacks of opportunity are, themselves, an exception to the rules, allowing you to act outside your turn, that may also extend to free actions—after all, as you say, “You can perform one or more free actions while taking another action normally.†But that isn’t spelled out anywhere.
Personally, I have always played with free actions allowed during attacks of opportunity, it has never caused problems, while I do see problems with disallowing it. I recommend allowing them.
answered 1 hour ago
KRyan
207k23514901
1
RE: "Personally, I have always played with free actions allowed during attacks of opportunity, it has never caused problems, while I do see problems with disallowing it." I, on the other hand, have had the exact opposite experience. Being able to go prone, quick draw items, and drop items off-turn because some nearby fool drank a potion has created problems in my campaigns. To each his own.
– Hey I Can Chan
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
Rules Compendium requires free actions to take place on your own turn
As per the Rules Compendium, p.7:
Free actions consume a very small amount of time and effort. Their impact is so minor that they're considered free. You can perform one or more free actions during your turn. However, the DM can put reasonable limits on what you can really do for free.
An attack of opportunity generally takes place on an opponent's turn, it doesn't take place on your turn.
An edge-case might be if you really did make an attack of opportunity on your own turn, such as if you provoke an attack of opportunity from an opponent who in turn provokes an attack of opportunity.
answered 1 hour ago
Quadratic Wizard
21k370116
add a comment |Â
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
1
down vote
accepted
The argument, basically, is that your actions are defined as things you can do during your turn:
When a character’s turn comes up in the initiative sequence, that character performs his entire round’s worth of actions. (For exceptions, see Attacks of Opportunity and Special Initiative Actions.)
(emphasis mine)
Since free actions are defined as one of the sorts of actions you can take during the round, and the default rule says you take all your actions for the round during your turn in the initiative process, that means free actions can only be performed during your turn.
Speaking gets a special exception:
In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn’t your turn.
which is taken as an exception-that-proves-the-rule: this wouldn’t be here if free actions could normally be performed outside your turn, as it would be redundant. Speaking gets a special exception, and other types of free action don’t, and so they are limited only to your turn.
Rules Compendium does not repeat the first quote, leaving out a default definition of an action as something you do on your turn. Rather, it merely says that you can perform these actions “during a normal round,†(pg. 7). However, the definition of free actions includes
You can perform one or more free actions during your turn.
(Rules Compendium, pg.7)
Nowhere in the rules are free actions addressed specifically with respect to attacks of opportunity, however. Given that attacks of opportunity are, themselves, an exception to the rules, allowing you to act outside your turn, that may also extend to free actions—after all, as you say, “You can perform one or more free actions while taking another action normally.†But that isn’t spelled out anywhere.
Personally, I have always played with free actions allowed during attacks of opportunity, it has never caused problems, while I do see problems with disallowing it. I recommend allowing them.
answered 1 hour ago
KRyan
207k23514901
1
RE: "Personally, I have always played with free actions allowed during attacks of opportunity, it has never caused problems, while I do see problems with disallowing it." I, on the other hand, have had the exact opposite experience. Being able to go prone, quick draw items, and drop items off-turn because some nearby fool drank a potion has created problems in my campaigns. To each his own.
– Hey I Can Chan
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
accepted
The argument, basically, is that your actions are defined as things you can do during your turn:
When a character’s turn comes up in the initiative sequence, that character performs his entire round’s worth of actions. (For exceptions, see Attacks of Opportunity and Special Initiative Actions.)
(emphasis mine)
Since free actions are defined as one of the sorts of actions you can take during the round, and the default rule says you take all your actions for the round during your turn in the initiative process, that means free actions can only be performed during your turn.
Speaking gets a special exception:
In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn’t your turn.
which is taken as an exception-that-proves-the-rule: this wouldn’t be here if free actions could normally be performed outside your turn, as it would be redundant. Speaking gets a special exception, and other types of free action don’t, and so they are limited only to your turn.
Rules Compendium does not repeat the first quote, leaving out a default definition of an action as something you do on your turn. Rather, it merely says that you can perform these actions “during a normal round,†(pg. 7). However, the definition of free actions includes
You can perform one or more free actions during your turn.
(Rules Compendium, pg.7)
Nowhere in the rules are free actions addressed specifically with respect to attacks of opportunity, however. Given that attacks of opportunity are, themselves, an exception to the rules, allowing you to act outside your turn, that may also extend to free actions—after all, as you say, “You can perform one or more free actions while taking another action normally.†But that isn’t spelled out anywhere.
Personally, I have always played with free actions allowed during attacks of opportunity, it has never caused problems, while I do see problems with disallowing it. I recommend allowing them.
answered 1 hour ago
KRyan
207k23514901
1
RE: "Personally, I have always played with free actions allowed during attacks of opportunity, it has never caused problems, while I do see problems with disallowing it." I, on the other hand, have had the exact opposite experience. Being able to go prone, quick draw items, and drop items off-turn because some nearby fool drank a potion has created problems in my campaigns. To each his own.
– Hey I Can Chan
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
accepted
up vote
1
down vote
accepted
The argument, basically, is that your actions are defined as things you can do during your turn:
When a character’s turn comes up in the initiative sequence, that character performs his entire round’s worth of actions. (For exceptions, see Attacks of Opportunity and Special Initiative Actions.)
(emphasis mine)
Since free actions are defined as one of the sorts of actions you can take during the round, and the default rule says you take all your actions for the round during your turn in the initiative process, that means free actions can only be performed during your turn.
Speaking gets a special exception:
In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn’t your turn.
which is taken as an exception-that-proves-the-rule: this wouldn’t be here if free actions could normally be performed outside your turn, as it would be redundant. Speaking gets a special exception, and other types of free action don’t, and so they are limited only to your turn.
Rules Compendium does not repeat the first quote, leaving out a default definition of an action as something you do on your turn. Rather, it merely says that you can perform these actions “during a normal round,†(pg. 7). However, the definition of free actions includes
You can perform one or more free actions during your turn.
(Rules Compendium, pg.7)
Nowhere in the rules are free actions addressed specifically with respect to attacks of opportunity, however. Given that attacks of opportunity are, themselves, an exception to the rules, allowing you to act outside your turn, that may also extend to free actions—after all, as you say, “You can perform one or more free actions while taking another action normally.†But that isn’t spelled out anywhere.
Personally, I have always played with free actions allowed during attacks of opportunity, it has never caused problems, while I do see problems with disallowing it. I recommend allowing them.
answered 1 hour ago
KRyan
207k23514901
The argument, basically, is that your actions are defined as things you can do during your turn:
When a character’s turn comes up in the initiative sequence, that character performs his entire round’s worth of actions. (For exceptions, see Attacks of Opportunity and Special Initiative Actions.)
(emphasis mine)
Since free actions are defined as one of the sorts of actions you can take during the round, and the default rule says you take all your actions for the round during your turn in the initiative process, that means free actions can only be performed during your turn.
Speaking gets a special exception:
In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn’t your turn.
which is taken as an exception-that-proves-the-rule: this wouldn’t be here if free actions could normally be performed outside your turn, as it would be redundant. Speaking gets a special exception, and other types of free action don’t, and so they are limited only to your turn.
Rules Compendium does not repeat the first quote, leaving out a default definition of an action as something you do on your turn. Rather, it merely says that you can perform these actions “during a normal round,†(pg. 7). However, the definition of free actions includes
You can perform one or more free actions during your turn.
(Rules Compendium, pg.7)
Nowhere in the rules are free actions addressed specifically with respect to attacks of opportunity, however. Given that attacks of opportunity are, themselves, an exception to the rules, allowing you to act outside your turn, that may also extend to free actions—after all, as you say, “You can perform one or more free actions while taking another action normally.†But that isn’t spelled out anywhere.
Personally, I have always played with free actions allowed during attacks of opportunity, it has never caused problems, while I do see problems with disallowing it. I recommend allowing them.
answered 1 hour ago
KRyan
207k23514901
answered 1 hour ago
KRyan
207k23514901
answered 1 hour ago
KRyan
207k23514901
answered 1 hour ago
KRyan
207k23514901
207k23514901
1
RE: "Personally, I have always played with free actions allowed during attacks of opportunity, it has never caused problems, while I do see problems with disallowing it." I, on the other hand, have had the exact opposite experience. Being able to go prone, quick draw items, and drop items off-turn because some nearby fool drank a potion has created problems in my campaigns. To each his own.
– Hey I Can Chan
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
1
RE: "Personally, I have always played with free actions allowed during attacks of opportunity, it has never caused problems, while I do see problems with disallowing it." I, on the other hand, have had the exact opposite experience. Being able to go prone, quick draw items, and drop items off-turn because some nearby fool drank a potion has created problems in my campaigns. To each his own.
– Hey I Can Chan
1 hour ago
1
1
RE: "Personally, I have always played with free actions allowed during attacks of opportunity, it has never caused problems, while I do see problems with disallowing it." I, on the other hand, have had the exact opposite experience. Being able to go prone, quick draw items, and drop items off-turn because some nearby fool drank a potion has created problems in my campaigns. To each his own.
– Hey I Can Chan
1 hour ago
RE: "Personally, I have always played with free actions allowed during attacks of opportunity, it has never caused problems, while I do see problems with disallowing it." I, on the other hand, have had the exact opposite experience. Being able to go prone, quick draw items, and drop items off-turn because some nearby fool drank a potion has created problems in my campaigns. To each his own.
– Hey I Can Chan
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
Rules Compendium requires free actions to take place on your own turn
As per the Rules Compendium, p.7:
Free actions consume a very small amount of time and effort. Their impact is so minor that they're considered free. You can perform one or more free actions during your turn. However, the DM can put reasonable limits on what you can really do for free.
An attack of opportunity generally takes place on an opponent's turn, it doesn't take place on your turn.
An edge-case might be if you really did make an attack of opportunity on your own turn, such as if you provoke an attack of opportunity from an opponent who in turn provokes an attack of opportunity.
answered 1 hour ago
Quadratic Wizard
21k370116
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
Rules Compendium requires free actions to take place on your own turn
As per the Rules Compendium, p.7:
Free actions consume a very small amount of time and effort. Their impact is so minor that they're considered free. You can perform one or more free actions during your turn. However, the DM can put reasonable limits on what you can really do for free.
An attack of opportunity generally takes place on an opponent's turn, it doesn't take place on your turn.
An edge-case might be if you really did make an attack of opportunity on your own turn, such as if you provoke an attack of opportunity from an opponent who in turn provokes an attack of opportunity.
answered 1 hour ago
Quadratic Wizard
21k370116
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
up vote
5
down vote
Rules Compendium requires free actions to take place on your own turn
As per the Rules Compendium, p.7:
Free actions consume a very small amount of time and effort. Their impact is so minor that they're considered free. You can perform one or more free actions during your turn. However, the DM can put reasonable limits on what you can really do for free.
An attack of opportunity generally takes place on an opponent's turn, it doesn't take place on your turn.
An edge-case might be if you really did make an attack of opportunity on your own turn, such as if you provoke an attack of opportunity from an opponent who in turn provokes an attack of opportunity.
answered 1 hour ago
Quadratic Wizard
21k370116
Rules Compendium requires free actions to take place on your own turn
As per the Rules Compendium, p.7:
Free actions consume a very small amount of time and effort. Their impact is so minor that they're considered free. You can perform one or more free actions during your turn. However, the DM can put reasonable limits on what you can really do for free.
An attack of opportunity generally takes place on an opponent's turn, it doesn't take place on your turn.
An edge-case might be if you really did make an attack of opportunity on your own turn, such as if you provoke an attack of opportunity from an opponent who in turn provokes an attack of opportunity.
answered 1 hour ago
Quadratic Wizard
21k370116
answered 1 hour ago
Quadratic Wizard
21k370116
answered 1 hour ago
Quadratic Wizard
21k370116
answered 1 hour ago
Quadratic Wizard
21k370116
21k370116
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
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1
If you want to ask about specific claims made by particular people, you need to link to those claims. At the most extreme, however, only those people could answer the question of why they said what they did. That isn’t a useful or on-topic question here. I have changed your question to focus more on the fundamental question of what you can or cannot do, rather than on “why someone said†you cannot.
– KRyan
1 hour ago