D&D 5E Legal Ready action triggers and order of resolution

[Ovinomancer]

If a PC wizard wants to burn a 5th-level spell slot bouncing a 3rd-level spell, and is willing to take the very substantial risk involved in readying that 5th-level spell, I'd totally allow it. Moments like that are what D&D is made for.

Sure, but it being a bad exchange in this case doesn't mean that I particularly wish to encourage it. My D&D is made of plenty of awesome moments without those. YMMV, and all that.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

If I was Dming at a convention would I get tarred and feathered if a player cast Lightning Bolt at an enemy mage, only to find the mage had Readied Wall of Force to be cast near the player, thus reflecting the Lightning Bolt back at himself and his nearby party members?

Lightning bolt doesn't reflect in 5E, but readying wall of force just to block it seems like a perfectly valid tactic to me. Note that the rules for the Ready action state specifically that when you ready a spell, you actually cast it immediately and then hold the energy to release at the right moment. That takes care of any timing questions that may arise ("How can he cast his 1-action spell faster than I can cast my 1-action spell?"). But it also likely entitles the player to an Arcana check to identify what the enemy mage is doing.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

The rogue will see an archer with a bow in hand. The rules don't require a readied attack to be pulled, aimed, corcked etc... specifically. You just make yourself ready to do something when something else happens.

Generally, to me, "readiness" would imply something like an attack pulled/aimed/cocked. At my table, at least, players who ready attack actions invariably describe their characters as doing this of their own volition. It's never been an issue.

 

[morikahn]

Lightning bolt doesn't reflect in 5E.

Hah, didn't notice that change. Wonder why that decision was made.

 

[Maxperson]

I'm afraid you are factually incorrect here.

I think the word you mean to use was partially. I had forgotten the nonsensical spell exception.

The 5E 'Ready' action is an Action In Combat. You do everything needed to execute the action except 'pull the trigger' as it were.

This is just plain false, except for spells which are explicitly called out as different. If you want to play a game where when a fighter declares that he is ready to attack anything that opens the door the following happens, fine.

Fighter: I ready an action to attack anything that opens the door.

DM: Okay. You move 30 feet and start your swing, then freeze in time waiting to see if something opens the door. The round ends and nothing opens the door, so you move backwards in time and space and are now 30 feet back to where you started.

That's what it means for non-spell actions to have done everything needed to execute the action except pull the trigger. It's absurd.

No. If you declare a non-spell action you just say your intent and the action plays out in its entirety if the trigger happens. The read action language and examples support that with the exception of spells which arbitrarily work differently.

If that were not the case, then Readied spells would work differently than how the Ready action describes.

There's no good reason I can see for spells to work differently than other readied actions. I really don't know why they decided to differentiate them.

 

[Maxperson]

Lightning bolt doesn't reflect in 5E, but readying wall of force just to block it seems like a perfectly valid tactic to me. Note that the rules for the Ready action state specifically that when you ready a spell, you actually cast it immediately and then hold the energy to release at the right moment. That takes care of any timing questions that may arise ("How can he cast his 1-action spell faster than I can cast my 1-action spell?"). But it also likely entitles the player to an Arcana check to identify what the enemy mage is doing.

Yep. As written spells work like that, but since I see no good reason for spells to work differently than other readied actions I think I will just house rule that exception away.

 

[morikahn]

[...]

This is just plain false, except for spells which are explicitly called out as different. If you want to play a game where when a fighter declares that he is ready to attack anything that opens the door the following happens, fine.

Fighter: I ready an action to attack anything that opens the door.

DM: Okay. You move 30 feet and start your swing, then freeze in time waiting to see if something opens the door. The round ends and nothing opens the door, so you move backwards in time and space and are now 30 feet back to where you started.

[...]

I'm sorry but this is not how Ready works. A ready action can be a single action or move, not both, and it must be declared during combat. In your example the Fighter can Ready an action to move 30' to the door or he can be at the door with sword raised ready to swing when it opens.. but he can't do both.

• If you are readying a spell, you cast the spell and hold the magic (which arguably is visible to those observing you).
• If you ready a ranged weapon, you have the spear raised, the arrow knocked, the sling spinning
• If you ready a melee weapon the weapon is in your hand and ready to strike.
• If you ready a move, you are in a stance that will make it easy to sprint in a particular direction.

 

[Maxperson]

I'm sorry but this is not how Ready works. A ready action can be a single action or move, not both, and it must be declared during combat. In your example the Fighter can Ready an action to move 30' to the door or he can be at the door with sword raised ready to swing when it opens.. but he can't do both.

• If you are readying a spell, you cast the spell and hold the magic (which arguably is visible to those observing you).
• If you ready a ranged weapon, you have the spear raised, the arrow knocked, the sling spinning
• If you ready a melee weapon the weapon is in your hand and ready to strike.
• If you ready a move, you are in a stance that will make it easy to sprint in a particular direction.

Bah. I misread that when I looked it up. Even so, the action doesn't happen until after the trigger. It says so right here.

"Then, you choose the action you will take in response to that trigger, or you choose
to move up to your speed in response to it."

The action happens in response to the trigger, not the remainder of the action. The full action happens unless it is a spell. For me there is just not enough time to do a full action between starting to cast a spell and the completion of the spell, which takes almost no time at all.

Also, actions can be interrupted, but without a specific rule creating an exception, like the spell ready rules, it can't be broken up by RAW into partial actions.

 

[morikahn]

The action happens in response to the trigger, not the remainder of the action. The full action happens unless it is a spell. For me there is just not enough time to do a full action between starting to cast a spell and the completion of the spell, which takes almost no time at all...

If you look at my original post that started this thread, I gave examples of what happens if you don't believe an action can be interrupted and the Ready action occurs after the trigger has taken place.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

Yep. As written spells work like that, but since I see no good reason for spells to work differently than other readied actions I think I will just house rule that exception away.

It's not an exception. It's an explanation for how spells can work the same way as other readied actions. If you tried to cast a whole spell in response to a trigger, the triggering event would be long over by the time the spell went off. "Holding the energy" is just equivalent to holding an arrow drawn.

Hah, didn't notice that change. Wonder why that decision was made.

Simplicity of adjudication. Also, real lightning doesn't bounce. It's been that way since 3E.