D&D 5E Useful things that could be allowed as a Reaction

[Consona]

My houserule is that you can react to anything that makes sense as your action and even when it happens before you can play in initiative order.

Reason behind this decision is I don't like freeze frame combat. Initiave just means you can be the one who makes action and others have to decide whether they want to make their own actions or react to your action in active way. It's much more fluid and it makes much more sense than just everyone is frozen and wait until someone makes his whole movement and actions. Maybe it breaks some mechanics but this way the combat is much more fun and much less WTF.

So when somebody is running at your mage you, as a fighter, can say "I intercept that guy and try to block his way to the mage". When you succeed in your attack roll, you've managed to block the way and attacker cannot attack the mage and you are in close combat with attacker. When you fail, the attacker was able to bypass/outmanoeuvre you and he can attack mage as he wanted.

But this reaction is your one main action so you cannot do anything else this round, unless you have some bonus actions from your class, etc.

But I can see why a lot of people could have problem with this, it's vague and some people love strict rules. Look at debates about Hiding. In the case you like it just use your common sense as a guide and share your opinions to improve this rule!

 

[Consona]

Btw, 13th Age has nice rule, Intercept. You can intercept someone and when your attack is successful, he is engaged with you in close combat and is subject to Opportunity Attack when he wants to move to the his former target.

And this is nice rule too: Combat Reactions (3.5e Variant Rule)

 

[MechaPilot]

So as standard, everyone has one thing they can do with a Reaction - they can use an opportunity attack if there is a trigger. They could also create a trigger of their own with the Ready action.
I have been allowing a couple of extra things that my players can spend their reaction on:

• Talking outside their own turn. Specifically, I allow anyone to spend a reaction to speak a short message of 12 words or so once. If they realise they should have warned people about something else? Tough. They already used their reaction.
• Dropping an item they are holding. Not placing it anywhere, just dropping it. Obviously this doesn't negate the damage effects of things like Heat Metal, since the damage for that is dealt on-turn with a bonus action.

Both of those feel somewhat punitive to me as far as requiring reactions goes. I will allow both of those as non-actions once I start DM'ing 5e.

 

[MechaPilot]

Maybe I'm alone in this but I don't think that responding to things necessarily constitutes an action. If a player decided that she wanted her character to block a hallway by stopping anyone who attempts to pass her with the shaft of her spear, I would allow her PC to attempt an ability contest against those foes on the foes' turns as non-actions (though I would require that her action be spent in the declaration to obstruct the hallway).

 

[Consona]

I don't even know how the standard 5e rules deal with situation like trying to intercept someone before he can reach your friend?

The freeze frame combat is weird. You should be able to interact with what's going on. Initiative should mean you can act sooner but everyone is doing their actions during the round. It's 6 seconds round, not 6 seconds turn for everybody. That would be round lenght = number of people in fight x 6 seconds.

If a player decided that she wanted her character to block a hallway by stopping anyone who attempts to pass her with the shaft of her spear, I would allow her PC to attempt an ability contest against those foes on the foes' turns as non-actions (though I would require that her action be spent in the declaration to obstruct the hallway).

If she is successful does that mean enemy's action is negated completely?

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I allow stepping aside (within your 5ft square) or ducking to allow an ally behind you shoot at an enemy on the other side of you with reduced cover sd resction to a warning shout/codeword

 

[MechaPilot]

If a player decided that she wanted her character to block a hallway by stopping anyone who attempts to pass her with the shaft of her spear, I would allow her PC to attempt an ability contest against those foes on the foes' turns as non-actions (though I would require that her action be spent in the declaration to obstruct the hallway).

If she is successful does that mean enemy's action is negated completely?

If she is successful at the contest, that means the enemy cannot move through the area she is blocking. I'd probably also say that they use up 10 feet of movement making the attempt. They can still use their action to attack her, or to attempt to make ranged attacks past her, or use their movement to move away if they have enough movement left.

 

[Consona]

I don't even know how the standard 5e rules deal with situation like trying to intercept someone before he can reach your friend?

Anyone?

If she is successful at the contest, that means the enemy cannot move through the area she is blocking. I'd probably also say that they use up 10 feet of movement making the attempt. They can still use their action to attack her, or to attempt to make ranged attacks past her, or use their movement to move away if they have enough movement left.

Makes sense. This is a good solution, just ability (+proficiency if any) contest that corresponds with what is happening in the fiction.

 

[MechaPilot]

If she is successful at the contest, that means the enemy cannot move through the area she is blocking. I'd probably also say that they use up 10 feet of movement making the attempt. They can still use their action to attack her, or to attempt to make ranged attacks past her, or use their movement to move away if they have enough movement left.

Makes sense. This is a good solution, just ability (+proficiency if any) contest that corresponds with what is happening in the fiction.

Thanks. Once I noticed that the rules didn't specify that a contest had to be an action, reaction, bonus action, or take up your one free interact with object for that round, I realized that the contests could occur as part of any action or non-action that the DM needs them to. I think it would have been nice if the book had said as much, because it's very easy to get the mistaken impression from the example contests of grabbing and shoving that a contest must take up an attack.