Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Finarin Panjoro 10-15-04, 10:18 AM	Hey all, A sorceror PC in my campaign just took sleep as a spell and I now need to know if casting a 1 round spell provokes an AoO only when casting begins or does anyone who can reach him during that round get an AoO? My concern is that if you're visibly casting and you provoke, then any enemy in range can move up to you on his action and gain an AoO. The magic overview says that 1 round spells are a full round action and the spell takes effect just before your next turn. That implies to me that you would only provoke during your action (the full round action). Also the rules for AoOs state that you provoke "as you withdraw your attention from combat" which would imply you only provoke at the beginning of the action. But you can be disrupted at any time between the two actions, so I could be wrong. I couldn't find anything in the FAQ or a search so any thoughts would be appreciated.
kSquared 10-15-04, 10:23 AM	The information you want is smack in the middle of the Combat section, under (surprise ;)) Full-Round Actions: You only provoke attacks of opportunity when you begin casting a spell, even though you might continue casting for at least one full round. While casting a spell, you don’t threaten any squares around you.This is true of most extended actions, too; you only provoke AOOs when you start doing them, not for the duration of the action.
Finarin Panjoro 10-15-04, 10:31 AM	Thanks, Wouldn't you know I only checked the magic overview section and the attack of opportunity section. Thanks very much.
tarkin 10-15-04, 11:31 AM	it should also be noted that there is a difference between casting a full round spell and casting a spell that takes a full round action. When you cast a Summon monster spell, you are casting from the moment you start till the begining of your next initiative. Any damage you take during that time can disrupt your spell. When a Sorceror uses metamagic on a spell, this does NOT occure. His casting takes place only on his initiative, although it does take a full round action so he can not take an MEA. When a sorceror casts an empowered fireball, it completes and occures before anyone else goes, so no one can attack him and disrupt his spell unless they readied an action to do so or are using an AoO.
Finarin Panjoro 10-15-04, 12:02 PM	Thanks for the clarification Tarkin. I was aware of that. What threw me off was the wording in the magic overview describing casting a 1 round spell as a full round action that takes effect just before your next turn. It left me unsure where the provoking of an AoO would occur. As long as you brought this up, (and since I'm sure this will occur eventually) if the sorceror applies metamagic to the sleep spell it takes an extra full round action. So I assume the spell completes at the end of his second full round action, he can be disrupted during or between both full round actions, but only provokes an AoO on the first full round action. Is all of that correct?
tarkin 10-15-04, 12:48 PM	I would say yes. The quote from the SRD seems clear about that.