Readied Action - Setting A Spear Against a Charge

[gnfnrf]

So, in another thread, readied actions are being discussed. Given what was said there...

EDIT: Thread here http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=211229

How do you ready a spear against a charge?

You take the readied action.

A foe charges you.

Your readied action occurs immediately before the triggering action (the charge), and you attack, but the foe hasn't moved yet, and is still 30' away.

OR, your readied action occurs immediately after the triggering action, and you attack, but the foe is inside the reach of your longspear.

The only case in which your readied action seems to actually work is if you act in the middle of the foe's single full round action. But Hypersmurf just got done proving that you can't do that. So what gives?

--
gnfnrf

 

[Kat']

What if the triggering action isn't the charge, but the charging opponent entering your threatened area?

 

[Elethiomel]

What if the triggering action isn't the charge, but the charging opponent entering your threatened area?

That may be an action, but it's not an Action in the rules sense of the word, and Hypersmurf has argued that it is Actions, not actions, that trigger readies.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

That may be an action, but it's not an Action in the rules sense of the word, and Hypersmurf has argued that it is Actions, not actions, that trigger readies.

Luckily, Hypersmurf is wrong. Readied actions often happen 'during' their triggering event, though for simplicity, your initiative changes to right before the person who triggered the next round.

I find it's a lot easier if you read the rules with the underlying assumption that you want them to actually work.

 

[Twowolves]

I find it's a lot easier if you read the rules with the underlying assumption that you want them to actually work.

This is such a good quote, it belongs in a sig, if not stickied at the top of the page.

The same thing happens when an archer readies an action to "shoot at the first thing to come through the doorway". Does he not interrupt his foe's movement to shoot? Or does the foe get to finish his movement and standard action before the archer shoots? Or a readied action to counterspell, if the target of the counterspell moves and then starts casting, are you not also then interrupting the caster's action?

Of course you are.

 

[mvincent]

Readied actions often happen 'during' their triggering event, though for simplicity, your initiative changes to right before the person who triggered the next round.

I find it's a lot easier if you read the rules with the underlying assumption that you want them to actually work.

Agree completely. Well stated.

 

[Mistwell]

Rules Compendium clarifies the issue, and it's not about "actions"..

You can ready a standard action, a move action, a swift action, or a free action. To do so, you must specify what you want to do and the conditions under which you will do so. Then, any time before your next turn, you can take the readied action in response to those conditions. The action occurs just before whatever triggered it. If the triggering condition is part of another creature's activities, you interrupt that creature's turn. Assuming the interrupted creature is still capable of doing so, it continues its turn once you complete your readied action...you act immediately before any creature whose activities triggered your readied action...

 

[Hypersmurf]

That may be an action, but it's not an Action in the rules sense of the word, and Hypersmurf has argued that it is Actions, not actions, that trigger readies.

Note that with the publication of the Rules Compendium, readied actions are no longer triggered by actions, but by activities.

... ah, as Mistwell just mentioned.

So two months ago, there was indeed an issue with certain readied actions ("I shoot the first zombie to open the door" was another, since the triggering action was "Open Door", and since the readied action occurs before it, the door was still closed and the zombie had full cover). But now, it's been changed to address those issues to an extent.

-Hyp.

 

[Nifft]

I find it's a lot easier if you read the rules with the underlying assumption that you want them to actually work.

QFT.

Cheers, -- N