Common Terms/Abbreviations

Stands for "attack of opportunity." It represents a character punishing another creature for performing actions that are considered unsafe in combat.

Stands for "denied dodge." It represents when a character is unable to effectively respond to an attack such as when attacked from stealth.

Stands for "crowd control." It refers to abilities that restrict the actions of other creatures. This can include movement, their ability to use spells or entire actions.

Minion refers to a creature who is significantly weaker than those around them. It is a relative term that changes from creature to creature. You consider a creature a minion when its level is 1/3 of yours or lower.

The area a creature threatens represents where they can make attacks. This usually only applies to melee attacks. This area also marks where it is typically not safe to perform certain actions, or risk getting hit with an AoO.

Some forms of attack, such as whips, only increase your reach during your turn and do not allow you to make AoOs with this increased reach.

Stands for "area of effect." It is used as shorthand to describe an attack that affects a wide area, such as an explosion, or a line of fire from a dragon's breath.