Destroying Incoming Ranged Attacks

[Quidam]

Would it be possible for a warlock to ready an action to shatter an incoming dagger or arrow once it was in the air and therefore no longer attended?

 

[Zaruthustran]

Sure. Ready action.

But it gets tricky if you go by the letter of the rules, since D&D doesn't explicitly have travel time for projectiles. Someone could argue that the arrow is either:

1. In a quiver
2. Drawn from the quiver and nocked (free action assumed to take place when using bows)
3. In the target

The Ready action interupts the triggering action, which in your example seems to be "my opponent firing his arrow" but that means that the Ready action would pre-empt the firing, meaning the arrow wouldn't be in flight, meaning that it's still attended--which is not your intent.

The trigger could instead be "when the arrow comes within 10' of me", but that's kind of a null time in D&D terms. If the Ready action inserts you right before the triggering creature, then again--the arrow has not fired.

Kind of messy. I think you could get away with the Ready action taking place DURING the triggering creature's turn, kind of like Readying to do something on a creature's 2nd iterative attack. In future rounds I'd treat you as acting on the same initiative count, and use total Init bonus to determine who goes first.

Whatever the rules: cool trick!

 

[frankthedm]

A warlock's abilities take a standard action, the better part of a 6 second round. A bit too long in comparison to an arrow's flight in most circumstances, even for a ready IMO.

I Say if the warlock invokes the power mid flight, the arrow will be in him when it Shatters, provided it hits. Sounds like something Chaotic and or Evil Powers might do to thier wielder to me.

I'd say Readying a Quickened shatter would work.

 

[Hypersmurf]

A warlock's abilities take a standard action, the better part of a 6 second round.

A readied Counterspell action (a standard action) or Attack action (a standard action) can disrupt a Quickened spell (a free action).

-Hyp.

 

[Stalker0]

I would completely allow this.

 

[Infiniti2000]

I would completely allow this.

Then you also allow readying to move, right? Thereby guaranteeing a miss.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Then you also allow readying to move, right? Thereby guaranteeing a miss.

It works well against melee attacks and charges as well - particularly if they've already moved prior to the attack.

You have to be careful with a readied move against a charge, though - if you time it wrong, the game crashes to desktop.

-Hyp.

 

[GwydapLlew]

You have to be careful with a readied move against a charge, though - if you time it wrong, the game crashes to desktop.

-Hyp.

If only there was a rep function on ENW. If only.

 

[Quidam]

So some folks seem to think it's within the rules, others cast doubt.

It seems the question hinges on the duration of the action you intend to interrupt. I've always thought readying an action was about being very specific about the triggering conditions, but this is another twist.

Interesting to note that one could both shatter the incoming projectile and move out of its way, since 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."

For those of you who wouldn't allow this in your game, could you articulate the borderline between things that you would allow to be interrupted and things you would not allow?

For reference...

READY

The ready action lets you prepare to take an action later, after your turn is over but before your next one has begun. Readying is a standard action. It does not provoke an attack of opportunity (though the action that you ready might do so).

Readying an Action: You can ready a standard action, a move action, or a free action. 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. The action occurs just before the action that triggers it. If the triggered action is part of another character’s activities, you interrupt the other character. Assuming he is still capable of doing so, he continues his actions once you complete your readied action. Your initiative result changes. For the rest of the encounter, your initiative result is the count on which you took the readied action, and you act immediately ahead of the character whose action triggered your readied action.

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.

Initiative Consequences of Readying: Your initiative result becomes the count on which you took the readied action. If you come to your next action and have not yet performed your readied action, you don’t get to take the readied action (though you can ready the same action again). If you take your readied action in the next round, before your regular turn comes up, your initiative count rises to that new point in the order of battle, and you do not get your regular action that round.

Distracting Spellcasters: You can ready an attack against a spellcaster with the trigger “if she starts casting a spell.” If you damage the spellcaster, she may lose the spell she was trying to cast (as determined by her Concentration check result).

Readying to Counterspell: You may ready a counterspell against a spellcaster (often with the trigger “if she starts casting a spell”). In this case, when the spellcaster starts a spell, you get a chance to identify it with a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell level). If you do, and if you can cast that same spell (are able to cast it and have it prepared, if you prepare spells), you can cast the spell as a counterspell and automatically ruin the other spellcaster’s spell. Counterspelling works even if one spell is divine and the other arcane.

A spellcaster can use dispel magic to counterspell another spellcaster, but it doesn’t always work.

Readying a Weapon against a Charge: You can ready certain piercing weapons, setting them to receive charges. A readied weapon of this type deals double damage if you score a hit with it against a charging character.

 

[Artoomis]

These are the sort of issues that come uop in a turn-based simultaneous action system.

You could think of ti this way:

The archer targets the spell caster, take sa bead on him, and release an arrow.

Upon seeing what the archer is up to, the spell caster starts part of his spell, holding on to the final committment to actually cast it. He gets ready to say the last word as the arrow is released. He shatters the arrow in mid-air (impressive, no?).

Of course this is all flavor text to justify how the rules work.