Ready Action

[thepriz]

No a 5' adjustment is a Miscellanous action or a Non-action depending on where in the SRD you're looking. You can take a 5' adjustment as part of a readied action as long as you've taken no other movement that round.

So in this case the player could ready to shout and then move back five foot back and it would be legal.

In the SRD 5' Step is listed under the No Action in the Table: Actions in Combat. So he can not ready a 5' Step action but he can ready another action to do and still take his 5' step. So he could ready a standard attack on the condition the monster attacks me. Then he could take his 5' step (since this is a no action he can always do this if he has not moved any distance in the round).

 

[Hypersmurf]

Note that this only works as described when fighting a monster with only one attack.

Otherwise, the monster attacks with his bite, the readied action triggers, the PC 5' steps back, the monster 5' steps forward...

... and the monster finishes his full attack action with claw/claw/rend.

-Hyp.

 

[thepriz]

Yes, this is true, The monster can also take a 5' step after his first attack also. So if the monster/NPC has more than one attack he can take a 5' step after his first attack just as long as he has not moved any distance yet.