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ShortQuests -- Pocket Sized Adventures! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed for 1-2 game sessions.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pielorinho" data-source="post: 1156788" data-attributes="member: 259">First, I think they leave the specificity up to a DM judgement call.  As long as the DM is clear on what will and will not work ahead of time, and as long as the NPCs play by the same rules, it's all good. That said, I'm pretty lenient with readied actions.  They make combat more interesting, and the stricter you try to be with readied actions, the more you get into legalese.  "Regdar the fighter (hereinafter referred to as "Actor") will ready an action until such time as anyone whom Actor has reasonable cause to believe intends harm toward Actor or Actor's companions (defined as those whom Actor believes will work to defend him in battle and fight the same creatures as Actor fights), hereinafter referred to as Enemies, makes motions, noises, or other indications that Actor has reasonable cause to believe entails casting a spell, notwithstanding such Enemies as might be charmed, dominated, or otherwise influenced by Actor's companions.  See rider A for description of readied action to be taken." I'd much rather let someone say, "I ready an action to beat on the next guy I see casting a spell," and then stretch that to include only enemy spellcasters, allow it to apply to creatures using spell-like abilities, allow partial charges, trip attacks, grapples, or anything else that fits remotely in the "beat on" category.  In your example, I'd be very generous:  the wizard is turning round and round watching for the shadow, and is presumed to see the shadow as soon as it appears to attack; her readied action goes off normally.  The shadow bopping in and  out of walls is already an iffy proposition -- incorporeal creatures have no special senses allowing them to see through walls, so they shouldn't know well where their enemies are -- and it's already a very nasty tactic; being generous with readied actions partly ameliorates the tactic's uberness. Daniel</blockquote>

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