Can you ready a move action?

[Felnar]

could i attack with a reach weapon, then ready a move-action to move away if the victim attempts to close distance?

ie. ready a backwards "follow" action, so that i'm always 2 squares away

maybe i just cant grasp turn based movement

 

[Len]

could i attack with a reach weapon, then ready a move-action to move away if the victim attempts to close distance?

No, because you can only do one standard action per round. You can attack, or you can ready an action, but not both in one round.

 

[moritheil]

No, because you can only do one standard action per round. You can attack, or you can ready an action, but not both in one round.

What he said. If you don't attack, you can stand there waiting for the guy to move, and move back as soon as he moves, but you can't attack and then ready to move. You can still attack and then move, of course.

 

[ThirdWizard]

I move to a certain square, and ready an action to move away should anyone attack me.

Bob the Opponent Fighter walks up to me, and attacks.

My readied action goes off, and I move 30' away. Because I left a threatened area, Bob gets to hit me with an AoO (assuming I don't Tumble).

Bob loses his normal attack, but gains a bonus attack.

I lose all of my attacks.

Or you could 5' step.

I see nothing preventing you from readying an action to attack anyone who attacked you, then taking a 5' step away from them.

You can take a 5-foot step as part of your readied action, but only if you don't otherwise move any distance during the round.

 

[Thanee]

The action occurs just before the action that triggers it.

So, since the other action has not yet occured, if the attacker still had 5 ft. of movement left, then s/he could just follow you and attack. If not... tough luck.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Hypersmurf]

So, since the other action has not yet occured, if the attacker still had 5 ft. of movement left, then s/he could just follow you and attack.

I don't agree.

His Move action is over before his Attack action starts, even if he only used it to move ten feet.

If I use my standard action to attack you, and your Readied action triggers and you move away, I can't say "Well, then, I'll use my standard action to cast a spell instead".

Likewise, I can't say "Well, in that case, I haven't finished moving... I'll move another five feet before I take my standard action". I couldn't trigger your Readied action until after my Move action was over.

-Hyp.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

My favorite use of Ready to Move is a squad of mooks facing a known fireball-wielding wizard. The mooks ready to scatter on casting ... if done properly, and the terrain allows it, it's possible for the fireball to roast absolutely nobody. If you've got a leader with Spellcraft, you can even wait to identify the spell.

 

[S'mon]

So, since the other action has not yet occured, if the attacker still had 5 ft. of movement left, then s/he could just follow you and attack. If not... tough luck.

Yup. Against an opponent 30' away with spd 30' whose action is move 30' and attack, if you Readied "I hit him and 5' step back" then per RAW you could hit him, move back* before he attacked, and since his move was used up he wouldn't get an attack on you! This can be easily countered by the attacker ensuring they always have at least 5' of move left over. Still I can see it being used vs a Charge - "I hit him and step 5' perpendicular to his line of charge" would take you into a space he couldn't reach, because with charge he can only continue in a straight line...

*Your readied action can only include a 5' step if you didn't move in the round you Readied.

 

[S'mon]

His Move action is over before his Attack action starts, even if he only used it to move ten feet.

However his move action is not necessarily over when your Readied attack goes off, because your Readied action goes off before his attack action. I think Thanee's interpretation accords better with the intent of the RAW, is more common-sensical, and less prone to abuse by munchkins (or smurfs).

 

[S'mon]

If I use my standard action to attack you, and your Readied action triggers and you move away, I can't say "Well, then, I'll use my standard action to cast a spell instead".

The more accurate approach IMO is to treat the move + attack as a single action, with the opponent's Readied action taking place in the middle of the sequence. Just as you can change the target of an iterative attack if your first opponent drops, IMO you can finish a Move action differently if circumstances change during the move.