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<blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 8433925" data-attributes="member: 58197">A readied action happens &quot;right after the trigger finishes.&quot; That's a direct quote from the Ready Action rules. Other reactions (the shield spell, Deflect Missiles, etc.) can interrupt the triggering event. But they specifically say so, while Ready Action specifically says the opposite.Obviously, that leaves open the question of exactly what constitutes a trigger. If you name &quot;the monster attacks me&quot; as your trigger, then the reaction happens right after the attack finishes, but can you name &quot;the monster starts swinging its claws at me?&quot;My ruling would be that Ready Action does not allow you to pull gotchas on your enemies. You can't wait for them to start doing X and then yank the rug out before X completes; nor can you use a readied action to suss out the enemy's intentions. When a creature commits to doing X, that is a single discrete &quot;trigger,&quot; and any readied actions based on that commitment will take place after X is done.Thus, for instance, you could ready an action to teleport away as soon as the monster moves next to you. This will forestall any melee attacks from that monster; but it also means the monster won't have used its action, and it can do something else. Furthermore, if the monster has an aura that zaps you whenever it gets within 5 feet, you will get zapped before you teleport. On the other hand, if you ready your teleport for when the monster attacks you, you must eat the first attack before teleporting.However: When it comes to falling, we are talking about a form of movement. (This comes up in passing in the rules for opportunity attacks: Falling past an enemy is called out as a form of movement that doesn't trigger OAs.) And I do think movement is an allowable trigger. So you should be able to ready for when you fall past a certain point.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dausuul, post: 8433925, member: 58197"] A readied action happens "right after the trigger finishes." That's a direct quote from the Ready Action rules. Other reactions (the [I]shield[/I] spell, Deflect Missiles, etc.) can interrupt the triggering event. But they specifically say so, while Ready Action specifically says the opposite. Obviously, that leaves open the question of exactly what constitutes a trigger. If you name "the monster attacks me" as your trigger, then the reaction happens right after the attack finishes, but can you name "the monster starts swinging its claws at me?" My ruling would be that Ready Action does not allow you to pull gotchas on your enemies. You can't wait for them to [I]start[/I] doing X and then yank the rug out before X completes; nor can you use a readied action to suss out the enemy's intentions. When a creature commits to doing X, that is a single discrete "trigger," and any readied actions based on that commitment will take place [I]after[/I] X is done. Thus, for instance, you could ready an action to teleport away as soon as the monster moves next to you. This will forestall any melee attacks from that monster; but it also means the monster won't have used its action, and it can do something else. Furthermore, if the monster has an aura that zaps you whenever it gets within 5 feet, you will get zapped before you teleport. On the other hand, if you ready your teleport for when the monster [I]attacks [/I]you, you must eat the first attack before teleporting. [I]However: [/I]When it comes to falling, we are talking about a form of movement. (This comes up in passing in the rules for opportunity attacks: Falling past an enemy is called out as a form of movement that doesn't trigger OAs.) And I do think movement is an allowable trigger. So you should be able to ready for when you fall past a certain point. [/QUOTE]

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