D&D 5E - Uncanny Dodge (Rogue) | Page 7

After reading the whole thread instead of just the first couple posts...

On the subject of "attack," there are two ways to view it. One is that an attack is anything involving an attack roll. This is clear and well-defined. The other way to view it is that an attack is something which involves an attempt to cause harm. That's the colloquial meaning of the term, but it's pretty fuzzy. Suppose a monster is surrounded by a damaging aura, does that constitute an attack? What if the monster moves close to you in an effort to put you inside the aura? What if the monster has to make an effort to "switch on" the aura, is it an attack when it does that? If so, does the aura stop constituting an attack in subsequent rounds?

For Uncanny Dodge, I favor the first definition: An attack roll is required. I'm fairly sure that was the design intent. UD is not an all-purpose defense--you can't Uncanny Dodge a cloudkill spell--but rather a survival technique for rogues going after big targets. It gives you a bit of an edge when your Sneak Attack fails to put down the ogre and the ogre spins around to whack you.

For invisibility, I'd go with the second definition, and adjudicate on the fly. A breath weapon should break invisibility, even though it isn't a spell and doesn't require an attack roll.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7prrWqKmlnF6kv6h7z6iqratfa4F1fJZramg%3D