Opportunity attacks and readied actions

[dervish]

The rules for opportunity and immediate actions inform us that you can't take these types of actions during your own turn. The rules for readying an action states that the resulting action is an immediate reaction to a condition you specify. A number of apparant oddities spring from this.

A fighter can't take his combat challenge attack against a target that readies his attack to occur just after the start of the fighter's turn. This is applicable for all immediate interrupts and reactions.

You can also use a readied action to move or use a ranged attack, and you won't provoke opportunity attacks from the creature who's turn it is.

This might be the intended mechanics. I'm actually ok with readying to move away as it takes a standard action to ready. The ranged attack part will have minor impact on the game as a whole (other than to make it a bit more complicated with all the delaying). What I'm not cool with, however, is the ability to completely avoid the meatiest part of the fighter's mark. That seems like an oversight/bug/exploit to me.

What are the thoughts about this? Has it been discussed previously?

 

[James McMurray]

It looks legal but insanely metagamey, so I'd never do it.

 

[Oompa]

The rules for opportunity and immediate actions inform us that you can't take these types of actions during your own turn. The rules for readying an action states that the resulting action is an immediate reaction to a condition you specify. A number of apparant oddities spring from this.

A fighter can't take his combat challenge attack against a target that readies his attack to occur just after the start of the fighter's turn. This is applicable for all immediate interrupts and reactions.

You can also use a readied action to move or use a ranged attack, and you won't provoke opportunity attacks from the creature who's turn it is.

This might be the intended mechanics. I'm actually ok with readying to move away as it takes a standard action to ready. The ranged attack part will have minor impact on the game as a whole (other than to make it a bit more complicated with all the delaying). What I'm not cool with, however, is the ability to completely avoid the meatiest part of the fighter's mark. That seems like an oversight/bug/exploit to me.

What are the thoughts about this? Has it been discussed previously?

Hmm well if you ready an move action to move away when the fighter wants to strike, he still strikes you as ready'd actions are reactions and not interrupts.. The fighther then still marks you and can again move adjacent to you if you moved away..

 

[Goumindong]

When anyone is taking a standard, minor, or move action, readied or not, it is their "turn". Players can have multiple "turns" in each combat round so long as it does not violate the economy of action.

The purpose of the "no immediates on your turn" rule is to prevent players from violating the economy of actions by triggering powers they would not be able to do otherwise.

 

[Hypersmurf]

When anyone is taking a standard, minor, or move action, readied or not, it is their "turn".

No, it isn't. See p291: a Readied action is an Immediate Reaction. See p269, "Actions On Other Turns": "An event or another combatant's actions might provide an opportunity for you to take an immediate action or an opportunity action on someone else's turn."

An immediate action is always taken on someone else's turn.

-Hyp.

 

[Seeker_of_Truth]

I agree that this is how things work, I also agree that it leads to very strange results and often means that any special powers that involve opportunity attacks or interrupts can often be neutralized with careful use of readied actions.

If you ready a charge against an opponent with threatening reach for example you can close without taking the OA. That's just one of many many examples.

 

[Chris_Nightwing]

Well that's just silly. I guess the original reasoning was to stop chains of OA - but surely it would have made more sense to explicitly forbid OAs from triggering other OAs or immediates.

I thought I had an example where you could counter-ready an action to get your attack back but I'm not sure when your turn starts and ends explicitly - is it when you first take an action for the start or when your initiative comes up? Is it when you're out of actions or when the next person does something that it's the end?

 

[Mort_Q]

Afaik

Your turn starts when you come up in the initiative order and you check for ongoing damage, etc.

Your turn ends when you are out of actions and you've rolled any saves if you needed to.

 

[hamishspence]

reactions

Isn't readying a strike against a move problematic? Because its a reaction, move might disqualify the strike.

It would work for a reach weapon user to strike when an OA wouldn't work. If you haven't already got Polearm Gamble, you could ready an action to hit someone as soon as they move within reach, whereas for Polearm Gamble OA, OA would only go off when enemy tries to move adjacent.

 

[Mort_Q]

It's a risk.

If you ready an action to attack as soon as they're within reach, and they move through your reach, i.e. they don't stop their movement within reach, you don't get to attack.