Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Vegepygmy" data-source="post: 5807368" data-attributes="member: 40109">Okay, you made a couple of mistakes (or a single one that had repercussions), but at least you learned something from it.&nbsp;And that's where you made your mistake; the hidden PC should not have been allowed to Ready an action outside of combat (that is, until initiative had been rolled). You should simply have given the hidden PC a surprise round when the BBEG started to cast a spell.&nbsp;Correct ruling on your part, but now we see how allowing the hidden PC to Ready outside of combat leads to confusion...&nbsp;This is where the hidden PC should have been allowed to use a Ready action. Initiative has been called because the enemy is trying to cast a spell (so Ready actions are now allowed) =&gt; Surprise round, but the enemy isn't actually casting yet, so the hidden PC declares a Ready action to disrupt as soon as the enemy does begin casting.&nbsp;Yeah, that's unfortunate. You knew the hidden PC wanted to disrupt the enemy's spellcasting, so you should have suggested he Ready to cast lightning bolt once the enemy started casting, rather than just cast lightning bolt immediately. Everyone makes mistakes, though; don't beat yourself up over it.&nbsp;Almost. You shouldn't have allowed a Ready action outside of combat at all. But yeah, the basic mechanic was available to him, and due to confusion over exactly how the rules work, he missed the opportunity. That's frustrating.&nbsp;I don't think it was the surprise round that was to blame; it was misusing the Ready action. But regardless, now you know how to handle things if the situation comes up again, so that's a good thing.&nbsp;If I were you, since your error resulted in a TPK, I'd retcon the whole encounter and let the hidden PC try to disrupt the enemy's black tentacles with his lightning bolt. It seems only fair.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Vegepygmy, post: 5807368, member: 40109"] Okay, you made a couple of mistakes (or a single one that had repercussions), but at least you learned something from it. And that's where you made your mistake; the hidden PC should not have been allowed to Ready an action outside of combat (that is, until initiative had been rolled). You should simply have given the hidden PC a surprise round when the BBEG started to cast a spell. Correct ruling on your part, but now we see how allowing the hidden PC to Ready outside of combat leads to confusion... [I]This[/I] is where the hidden PC should have been allowed to use a Ready action. Initiative has been called because the enemy is trying to cast a spell (so Ready actions are now allowed) => Surprise round, but the enemy isn't actually casting yet, so the hidden PC declares a Ready action to disrupt as soon as the enemy [I]does[/I] begin casting. Yeah, that's unfortunate. You [I]knew[/I] the hidden PC wanted to disrupt the enemy's spellcasting, so you [I]should[/I] have suggested he Ready to cast [I]lightning bolt[/I] once the enemy started casting, rather than just cast [I]lightning bolt[/I] immediately. Everyone makes mistakes, though; don't beat yourself up over it. Almost. You shouldn't have allowed a Ready action outside of combat at all. But yeah, the basic mechanic was available to him, and due to confusion over exactly how the rules work, he missed the opportunity. That's frustrating. I don't think it was the surprise round that was to blame; it was misusing the Ready action. But regardless, now you know how to handle things if the situation comes up again, so that's a good thing. If I were you, since your error resulted in a TPK, I'd retcon the whole encounter and let the hidden PC try to disrupt the enemy's [I]black tentacles[/I] with his [I]lightning bolt[/I]. It seems only fair. [/QUOTE]

Verification