Can you choose to stop your movement in mid-air?

[Hypersmurf]

The bolded phrase is incorrect. The italicized phrase does not state "your next action", it states "your next turn".

It is not before your next turn. If you take the Readied Action, it becomes your next turn and hence, is not allowed. And, it is definitely "your next action".

READY
The ready action lets you prepare to take an action later, after your turn is over but before your next one has begun.

It explicitly occurs after your turn is over and before your next turn has begun.

It does not 'become your next turn'; it happens before your next turn.

A turn in DND is no different than a turn in many other games (like chess or monopoly). It is the player's (or DM's) opportunity "to go".

Such as with an AoO or Immediate action?

The Readied Action does not change that, it merely changes when it happens. When you do your Readied Action, you get to take your turn. You can consider it your previous turn, or your next turn, but either way, it is not allowed since only a Move Action is allowed.

I disagree. The language of the Ready action text indicates that the action occurs outside of your turn.

I recall some time back that you opined that a character can decide to take a 5' step and/or free actions when they perform their readied action. It sounds to me like they are taking their turn if a) they are taking an action, b) they can make other decisions concerning their action, and c) that is their new initiative.

5' step certainly; free actions, no.

It sounds to me like they are not taking their turn if they are performing an action after their turn is over, but before their next turn has begun. If anything, the readied action is occurring in the turn of the character who performed the triggering action.

Moving is undeniably your next action, isn't it?

I already addressed this.

If I take a full attack action, and use my first attack to successfully strike someone with a Stunning Fist, take a free action to yell "I got him!", then use my second attack to strike him again, is he still stunned when I make my second attack?

If I take an attack action, applying Combat Expertise for -3 to attack rolls and +3 to AC, and kill an opponent, take a free action to yell "I got him!", then use my move action to move past another opponent - provoking an AoO - does my AC benefit from the bonus against the AoO?

-Hyp.

 

[Jack Simth]

The rules say that if you have enough jump distance, you might end your turn in mid-air. What if you want to end your turn in mid-air? Can you just say you wait to jump until the end of your action?

No, but a Jump is not an action in and of itself; it's part of another action - a move. If you expect to get, say, 20 feet out of your jump, and want to end your turn in the air, then 1) take your standard action somehow, 2) get a 20 foot pre-jump "running start", 3) jump, and use up the last 10 feet of your move in the air; you've thus arranged to end your turn in mid-air. You can't simply choose to stop then, but you can arrange to stop then, if that makes sense.....

 

[KarinsDad]

READY
The ready action lets you prepare to take an action later, after your turn is over but before your next one has begun.

First off, the word "one" here is unclear. It could mean action, or it could mean turn. So, you cannot use this sentence to definitively indicate which it means (semi-important for below).


The crux of your trick is:

If you run out of movement mid-jump, your next action (either on this turn or, if necessary, on your next turn) must be a move action to complete the jump.

is that you are using the "either on this turn or, if necessary, on your next turn" phrase to indicate that "your next Readied action" is not "your next action".

But, what does this do in the game?

Round one: Ready Action, Move/Jump
Round two: Perform Ready Action before turn
Round three: Finish Move/Jump

This can extend the move/jump action for nearly an extra entire round from round two to round three. Obviously, this is not what should happen, nor designer intent.

However, another literally read rule prevents this literal trick:

To do so, specify the action you will take and the conditions under which you will take it. Then, any time before your next action, you may take the readied action in response to that condition.

You can only take the Readied Action before your next action. So, if you:

Round one: Ready Action, Move/Jump,

you can no longer take your Readied action since it is now after your next action.


You cannot have it both ways Hyp. Either you follow the rules as intended (i.e. "If you run out of movement mid-jump, your next action must be a move action to complete the jump.") and this is not allowed, or you literally follow all of the rules (i.e. "any time before your next action, you may take the readied action in response to that condition") and this is again not allowed.

You cannot pick and choose which rules to literally follow and which to not, and still be considered objective.

 

[Hypersmurf]

You can only take the Readied Action before your next action.

And, as noted, the phrase 'your next action' is used in some places to refer to your next turn. Refer, once again, to Stunning Fist and Combat Expertise.

You cannot have it both ways Hyp. Either you follow the rules as intended (i.e. "If you run out of movement mid-jump, your next action must be a move action to complete the jump.")

Your next action, either on this turn, or, if necessary, on your next turn, must be a move action. The readied action is not on this turn or your next turn, so, again, it is not subject to this requirement.

-Hyp.

 

[Joker]

Sweet. Bullet-time Barbarians.

 

[Bront]

Your next action, either on this turn, or, if necessary, on your next turn, must be a move action. The readied action is not on this turn or your next turn, so, again, it is not subject to this requirement.

Actualy, if I remember right, a readied action becomes your next turn, therefore it would wouldn't work, as it changes where you go in the initiative order.

Otherwise what happens is you do your readied action, then when it gets triggered, you attack and your initiative changes, and you have to wait an entire initiative round to act again (IE, Land), meaning you've actualy stoped in mid air for 6 seconds.

 

[ElectricDragon]

Personally, I see the Ready action as a way of splitting up your turn into two segments. It is again your turn when the Ready action is triggered, just at a different point in the initiative sequence. I also would not allow a Move action after the Ready action unless the Move was the action Readied and it successfully triggered.

Ciao
Dave

 

[TheGogmagog]

I'd have to agree with the poster above, you can't choose to end your movement in mid air, but you can use your movement so that you end your movement in mid air. Say a character with 30' movement moves 20' and make a 15' jump and attacks from mid-jump. Then attack again at the beginning of your next round and finish your movement (probably drawing an Attack of opportunity). I wouldn't count the remaining movement a 5' step, even if it is only 5 foot. Hopefully, the 5' step rules back that up somehow.

IMHO wouldn't grant higher ground bonuses, not simply because you arn't on the ground, but because you arn't stable in the air. You don't have the leverage you would on higher ground, a horse, a table or fly spell. (Using fly spell for +1 to hit is a good idea though).

You would also may suffer some other disadvantages to opponets' actions being resolved while you are mid-air. Possibly denied dex to AC or penalties to opposed rolls to be tripped. I doubt there is anything RAW to back this last part up though.

I missed the ("If you run out of movement mid-jump, your next action must be a move action to complete the jump.") rule. With this, I wouldn't allow you to move and standard action while in the air, you would have to use the standard action to complete the jump. You could standard first and then jump, but then you would complete the jump and then have a standard left.

I don't quite get Hyp's readied action plot, but would rule that you lose your readied action and are forced to resume your movement.

Note, I dislike the idea that you can't attack mid-jump as much as most DM's hate the idea that you can end your movement mid-jump. But that seems to be the way it's written. I wonder if some feats like pounce or leap attack change this. I suspect they all assume you jump-land-attack.

 

[KarinsDad]

And, as noted, the phrase 'your next action' is used in some places to refer to your next turn. Refer, once again, to Stunning Fist and Combat Expertise.

Yes, but you do not know which it is. You are choosing to take a non-literal definition of the phrase in this case.

Your next action, either on this turn, or, if necessary, on your next turn, must be a move action. The readied action is not on this turn or your next turn, so, again, it is not subject to this requirement.

To do so, specify the action you will take and the conditions under which you will take it. Then, any time before your next action, you may take the readied action in response to that condition.

For this to work, you are taking the literal interpretation of the first quote and the non-literal interpretation of the second quote. You are taking the what was not intented by the first quote and what was intended by the second quote.

For this to work, you are allowing the mid-air jump to extend from round one to round three.

Do you truly think that the designers intended this? If given this example (of the round one mis-air jump extending to round three), do you really think the designers would support this interpretation?


It is clear to me that the 'if necessary" phrase implies the range of turns and that sentence actually means "your next action". In other words, the end of movement must be your next action, regardless of when or how you acquire that action, hence, it can only be a ready action to finish the jump. No other ready action would be allowed. Course, even readying an action to finish the jump early does not make sense either, so I would rule that no readied action could be done.

 

[glass]

Do you truly think that the designers intended this? If given this example (of the round one mis-air jump extending to round three), do you really think the designers would support this interpretation?

Why not? It's kinda cool to attack as you jump past someone, but its hardly gamebreaking. Actually, I seriously doubt that they considered the matter at all, so I doubt that they had any intentions one way or the other.

But if they specifically intended to disallow readied-action mid-jump attacks, they don't appear to have succeded in terms of what they actually wrote.


glass.