GMing the Ready Action

[Greenfield]

WB, the key to being able to give out Exp is that you have to give out a lot of Exp. The limit isn't how much you've given recently, it's how many people you've given it to.

So be more generous with it all around, and you'll find that you can be more generous with it, all around.

 

[Sekhmet]

[MENTION=92305]Water Bob[/MENTION] - When the Hobgoblin doesn't win initiative, I can assume he did not win his listen or spot check against the Ranger. When he manages to surprise the Ranger, then I can assume he wins one of those checks and prepares appropriately.

I typically use initiative as a method of determining multiple observation rolls in one toss. You react first because you could observe your opponent first and could react to that information first.

 

[Water Bob]

Surprise is supposed to be merely awareness of the presence of opposition. The OP description suggests that the hobgoblin and ranger ARE aware of each other at the same time. Then it becomes necessary for the dm to either GRANT initiative to the ranger or give him a bonus to his roll and accept that the normal, random consequences of combat then still apply.

This seems the best call, imo, on this situation, as it falls within RAW.

Excellent comment, Man. Thanks for posting this.

The DMG states that awarness can often be determined with Listen or Spot checks. There's also the "advantaged/disadvantaged" rule from the skills section of the PHB. And, the DMG speaks of quality of results on some throws.

I think the way to handle the situation in the OP is this:

First, give the Ranger a +2 Initiative bonus (the advantaged rule). Having a weapon at the ready like that will normally gain the character a +2 Nish bonus.

Second, per the DMG, give the Hobby a Listen check to see if he hears the Ranger coming around the corner. I think a DC 16 sounds about right. That's a DC 10 (Average) +1 per 10 feet.

For every point that the Hobby throws above 16 (17 = +1, 18 = +2, etc.), the Hobby nets that bonus to his Initiative throw. Thus, if the Hobby throws 19 on his Listen check, then he's +3 on his upcoming Nish throw.

If the Hobby fails the Listen throw, then the Ranger is given an additional bonus for every point of failure. For example, if the Hobby throws a 14 on this Listen check, then the Ranger gets a +2 bonus on his upcoming Nish check (in addition to the +2 bonus he got for having his weapon nocked).

If the Hobby failes by 5 points or more (rolling an 11 or less), this means that the Hobby was Surprised. Give the Ranger his Surprise Action (at which time he can fire his bow, if he wants), and then do initiative normally provided the Hobby is still standing. (This is a use of the degree of success rule from the DMG.)



Everything I've stated there is 100% RAW, from the book, and I think it handles the situation nicely--with various outcomes.

Thanks again, Man!

 

[the Jester]

This seems to come up over and over again, n'est-ce pas?

My answer remains the same every time: As soon as the ready action is allowed out of combat, every monster I ever run will always have a readied action before the pcs appear.

That strikes me as terrible for the game.

So, no way, not in my campaign.

(If I am not mistaken, you've asked this same question before.)

 

[underfoot007ct]

We also treat it as a surprise round, in which only characters with readied actions may act.

But what If the Hobby was at home, on guard duty with a readied action himself ? Now what ?

 

[Lwaxy]

(I mean, why not? it doesn't cost you anything when you're outside of combat rounds)

Because it is illogical to run around with a drawn weapon, readied bow etc all the time. That would be totally stupid.

Of course if you have players totally focused on combat and not on the role play, then maybe you get this issue. You can still point out the idiocy of it though and make NPCs react accordingly.

It's never come up as a problem in any game I played in.

 

[Li Shenron]

This is how I'd do it...

Everyone is assumed "ready" as much as possible all the time while exploring a dangerous area, a player explicitly declaring it doesn't get any advantage. In fact, better not declare anything at all so that you're still able to choose your action, limited only by what you have in hand.

If you surprise the hobgoblin, you get your surprise round. Anyway, you could have only "readied" a partial action, which is exactly what you get in a surprise round.

If the hobgoblin is not more surprised than you, such as in the OP example, both get to act in the surprise round. I would still have a surprise round, not a regular round, so the hobgoblin could do a partial charge but not a full charge, and this lessens the problem.

I won't allow the ranger to pretend letting the arrow go becomes more like a free action on the ground that it would be more realistic. I would just say that he cannot go around with the bow strung for long so that he still need a fraction of time to really pull it back, and that taking aim carefully enough to be able to shoot at your BAB takes some time as well. Want more realism? Then have this attack penalty for aiming on the fly and this damage penalty for not being able to really keep the bow strung to maximum all the time.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Remember that the purpose of initiative is to regulate the order in which actions are resolved - not even which necessarily OCCURS first, but the order in which the results are determined. Readying outside of combat thus "allows" the readied action to be resolved before anything else even though the circumstances of what is going to be encountered, how, and when has yet to be determined. That creates frustration and confusion when the way the rule is intended to work is being circumvented. Readying in combat enables the PC to resolve his action before others - but requires conditions under which the action will actually be performed and the PC has to sacrifice doing something NOW in order to gain that advantage.

 

[Arrowhawk]

Interesting topic. The WotC rules often confront us with these trade-offs between playability and plausibility. There are a lot of quality responses in this thread.

One thing I will add is it was my impression that when adventurers enter a dungeon or attempt breach a camp, they are always on alert. I believe it was stated in the AD&D DMG book that one reason the movement was so slow was because the characters were always on high alert in a dungeon...so one could argue a higher state of a alert isn't possible. If you know that at any moment a monster could pop out and eat you, you really can't be any more alert.

Second, per the DMG, give the Hobby a Listen check to see if he hears the Ranger coming around the corner. I think a DC 16 sounds about right. That's a DC 10 (Average) +1 per 10 feet.

Out of curiosity, why wouldn't this be an opposed Move Silently check?

 

[Water Bob]

Interesting topic. The WotC rules often confront us with these trade-offs between playability and plausibility.

Agreed. The flanking rule, and maybe the flat-footed rule come to mind.

There are a lot of quality responses in this thread.

Also agreed.

Out of curiosity, why wouldn't this be an opposed Move Silently check?

Because the Ranger wasn't moving silently. He moved at base speed--as quietly as he could, but not considered "moving silently".

I chose a DC 10 to hear him because, in the rulebook, DC 10 is the example given to "hear a guard coming down the hall."