Do you provoke opportunity attacks when flying?

Question

Moving away from a square which is within threatening reach of an enemy, provokes OA if one does not shift, is pushed/pulled/slid or teleports.

Further, so far I know, squares are 3d, as indicated here as well (jump over an enemy): http://community.wizards.com/content/forum-topic/2623551

Let's say I have an enemy directly in front of me. When I fly one square upwards, I leave the square adjacent to the enemy I stand on and therefore provoke OA. When flying one square higher, I actually provoke OA again (they can't hit me twice during the same turn, I know) because I leave that adjacent square which is diagonally top/front of the enemy.

I now look at the monk power "Whirlwind Kick" which says as a movement action: "You fly your speed. The first square of this movement doesn't provoke Opportunity Attacks." When I consider the above stated situation, the enemy could attack me with an OA when leaving the diagonal adjacent square (if I don't fly backwards first, but this won't work if there is an enemy behind me). Assuming that the idea behind this movement action is to get away after gathering enemys around yourself and assuming there is an enemy behind you as well, this won't work because you leave adjacent squares twice but only the first square doesn't provoke OA.

Can you please tell me if my understanding of 3d squares and OA is correct and if so, if there is a possibility to fly away from several adjacent enemies using the mentioned monk movement action?

Answer 1

The Mechanics of Whirlwind Kick's Movement Technique

Effect: You fly your speed. The first square of this movement doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks.

Powers in 4e do what they say, nothing more nothing less. Thus you are free from provoking only for the first square of movement.

How to use whirlwind kick and avoid provoking

As you say, against one enemy you can use that first square to move diagonally up and back to leave their range and then fly where you want to go from there.If you have more enemies near you such as 2 flanking, the 1 square still help to limit it to only one opp attack vs multiple. Similarly, if you have 3 enemies adjacent and they are spaced out evenly there should still be 1 square that only exposes you to one opp attack.

Fluff has no bearing on mechanics

Fluff vs. crunch. Crunch are the rules, the parts of the power card that refer to the rules and the mechanics of the game. Fluff is any part of the powercard that is not crunch: the name of the power and the description of the power.

The descriptions of powers & items in 4e are simply that; no more, no less. The descriptions/flavor text/fluff printed on power cards has zero bearing on rules. Its there to make the power sound more fun, spice up the game, and/or help you visualize what the power is doing better.

Answer 2

You are absolutely right about how it works.
You leave the first square without a problem, and than get the Opportunity Attacks.

Based on the fluff and the fact that giving you fly does not help your escape in any way, I also agree that it is not the intended way. Talk to your DM about this, I would allow not to take opportunity attacks for the first 2 squares. Large creatures would still be able to attack you.

Fluff alone would not convince me, as there are quite a lot of powers out there where the actual rule text directly contradicts the fluff. The movement technic makes me think however that the creator of this power just did not think in 3D like you do.