Adjudicating Readied Actions

[Gizzard]

And the PH says that if you come to your next action and have not taken your readied action, you lose it.

OK, I saw that part in the PHB and understand it (I think!), but to me that's different than being able to cancel an action. To me, the above says, "If the pet doesnt charge you before your next initiative, your readied action didnt get used and thus was wasted." But, in the example I gave, I never came to my "next action", because the pets charge took place while my "readied action" was still valid.

You either take your still readied partial action, or wait till your normal initiative and give him a flurry.

I dont think that I have the option of flurrying the pet on my normal initiative. Dont get me wrong; I'd like to find support for the option of cancelling a readied action that turns out to be suboptimal/suicidal.

If its true that I can cancel, then I dont feel like I've totally lost out on Round 2 - I can make a decision during Round 2 and try and adjust to the changing situation. If I cannot cancel, I dont get to make a decision and events overtake my poor vulnerable Monk. (It wouldnt be so bad if it was just me vs. the pet, its the idea that a combat with multiple friends and foes swirls around me and I am kinda frozen in time by my readied action.)

 

[Dr. Zoom]

DMG page 63 and 64. The standard way is that you may not take your partial action when the condition is met and still stay readied. Your DM may require a check to be able to do this, or he may require that you lose your partial action if you do not take it. Ask your DM if he uses one of those options, but the standard rules is clear. And then, when you come to your initiative again, you lose your readied partial action and it is your turn to go normally.

How's that?

 

[IceBear]

Just because my players rarely used readied actions for fear of losing their action for the round, I have this house rule.

If it becomes apparent that the trigger will not happen (ie, "I attack the wizard if he casts a spell", and the wizard double moves away instead) I allow a Wisdom check (DC 15) for the character to realize this with still enough time left to do something that round. In effect, the character can change to a delayed action instead of a readied action.

That said, my players still rarely use readied actions so I don't know if there is much in the way of negative impact on this house rule. I know that the possible loss of an action that round is the balancing factor for allowing readied actions to interupt an action, but my players felt that the risk, in general, wasn't worth it so they never used it. That's why I introduced that house rule.

IceBear

 

[bret]

Here is one I'm curious how people would adjudicate.

When the Evil High Spellcaster does anything other than move, I try to kill him.


How many people would allow this?

I've described my action based more on intent than the game mechanics. I don't think it would allow a grapple (not damaging), but should allow a partial charge or a 5' step (assuming I hadn't used it yet) and attack.

This seems reasonable to me.

 

[Dr. Zoom]

Just because my players rarely used readied actions for fear of losing their action for the round, I have this house rule.

If it becomes apparent that the trigger will not happen (ie, "I attack the wizard if he casts a spell", and the wizard double moves away instead) I allow a Wisdom check (DC 15) for the character to realize this with still enough time left to do something that round. In effect, the character can change to a delayed action instead of a readied action.

What if it is the next round and he is still ready?

By changing to a delay, he would still only get a partial action, right? Just a different one than what he readied?

I might allow the readied character an opportunity to drop his readied partial action for another partial action at the end of the round before starting at the top of the order. If the character wanted to continue to ready, then he would "lose" his action normally.

My players rarely use the ready action, also. But it's fun to think about all the different scenarios you could possibly face during a game.

 

[Dr. Zoom]

Here is one I'm curious how people would adjudicate.

When the Evil High Spellcaster does anything other than move, I try to kill him.


How many people would allow this?

I've described my action based more on intent than the game mechanics. I don't think it would allow a grapple (not damaging), but should allow a partial charge or a 5' step (assuming I hadn't used it yet) and attack.

This seems reasonable to me.

This will not suffice for the ready action. You must specify the condition and the partial action. Intent is not an action. You cannot wait until the condition and then choose your action in this situation. You don't have to specify a 5 foot step, though. As long as you have not moved yet, you may take a 5 foot step with any partial action you specified if it allows for one.

So, in your example above, I would ask you to be more specific. Which action will you ready in order to kill the wizard? Melee attack, ranged attack, unarmed attack, or partial charge? I would also want more specificity for the condition. "If the wizard casts, I shoot him," for example.

 

[Ristamar]

This will not suffice for the ready action. You must specify the condition and the partial action. Intent is not an action. You cannot wait until the condition and then choose your action in this situation. You don't have to specify a 5 foot step, though. As long as you have not moved yet, you may take a 5 foot step with any partial action you specified if it allows for one.

So, in your example above, I would ask you to be more specific. Which action will you ready in order to kill the wizard? Melee attack, ranged attack, unarmed attack, or partial charge? I would also want more specificity for the condition. "If the wizard casts, I shoot him," for example.

I somewhat disagree. While you do have to reasonably specific with your intent, you don't have to shackle yourself to merely one option. Doing so makes the Ready option very unattractive.

From the D&D FAQ:

Is it possible to ready an action as follows: If the wizard casts a spell, I attack him if he leaves, I follow. Or is that condition not specific enough?

It's actually over specific, because you're really specifying two different conditions and two different actions here. The ready action allows you to specify one partial action and the condition under which you will perform the action. You could simply ready an attack on the wizard whenever he casts a spell, and this would allow you to do any number of things, including attack, take a 5-foot step and attack, or even make a partial charge and attack. In such a case, you would not get an attack of opportunity on the wizard when he cast the spell, but you would force a Concentration check if you damage the wizard.

I'd probably allow a PC to make an unarmed, melee, grapple, sunder, trip, or ranged attack (or even a partial charge) if he or she simply states that 'attack' is the intent.

 

[IceBear]

What if it is the next round and he is still ready?

By changing to a delay, he would still only get a partial action, right? Just a different one than what he readied?

I might allow the readied character an opportunity to drop his readied partial action for another partial action at the end of the round before starting at the top of the order. If the character wanted to continue to ready, then he would "lose" his action normally.

My players rarely use the ready action, also. But it's fun to think about all the different scenarios you could possibly face during a game.

If the readied action carried over into the next round, I'd let him drop it as normal.

The house rule was intended for the character to take some action this round. So, it would pretty much work like you said - stop waiting for the trigger and take any partial action you want.

IceBear

 

[Dr. Zoom]

Ristamar: Thanks for the FAQ quote. That seems to be saying that while you must be specific, you can ready an "attack" and still have a couple of options depending on whether the wizard (or whomever) moves first before casting.

So I guess I am being a little too strict.

 

[IceBear]

Whew! And I'm not being too lenient like I thought

IceBear