Lucius Foxhound
First Post
According to the rules, I don't think Thag or Thog could ready an action before initative began.
Lucius Foxhound said:According to the rules, I don't think Thag or Thog could ready an action before initative began.
Grog said:
Is there a rule that specifically states this?
Artoomis said:Yep. "Ready an Action" is a comabt action, thus it can only be done in combat.
The situation you described is best handled with the surprise rule - the result, though, is basically the same.
Don't allow players to use the ready action outside of combat. While the above examples are all acceptable in the middle of an encounter, a player cannot use the ready action to cover a door with his crossbow outside of combat. It's okay for a player to state that he's covering the door, but what that means is that if something comes through the door he's unlikely to be caught unaware. If the character coming through the door wasn't aware of him, he gets a free partial action because he surprised the other character, and so he can shoot the weapon. Otherwise, he still needs to roll initiative for his character normally."
However!
I have a custom feat....
OVERWATCH (General, Fighter)
You can ready a missile weapon and cover a specific area outside of initiative.
Prerequisites: Dex 13+, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
Benefits: You can cover an area of up to your dex bonus in adjacent 5’x5’ squares with a ready action with a missile weapon, even outside of initiative. You may then fire a single shot as a partial action before surprise is checked for.
Normal: You cannot ready an action outside of the regular initiative system.
How's that?
the Jester said:Don't allow players to use the ready action outside of combat. While the above examples are all acceptable in the middle of an encounter, a player cannot use the ready action to cover a door with his crossbow outside of combat. It's okay for a player to state that he's covering the door, but what that means is that if something comes through the door he's unlikely to be caught unaware. If the character coming through the door wasn't aware of him, he gets a free partial action because he surprised the other character, and so he can shoot the weapon. Otherwise, he still needs to roll initiative for his character normally."
Grog said:
That seems to settle it. Thanks.
But now my question is, if the party is aware of some monsters, can they still be surprised by other monsters? Going back to my earlier example, the party would be surprised when Thog shot them with his bow, but when the lead fighter charged in, could Thag surprise him too? If so, would Thag roll initative right after he got his surprise action?
Okay, consider this example. Thag and Thog are two orcs defending a room in a dungeon. They know the PCs are coming. There's no door to this room - the hallway just opens into it. Thag stands right by the entrance (where he can't be seen from the hallway) and readies an action to hit the first PC through with his greataxe. Thog stands a ways back from the entrance, in a straight line so he can see down the hallway, and readies an action to fire his longbow at the first target he sees.
The party comes down the hallway. They see Thog and he sees them at about the same time. Thog's readied action goes off and he shoots the lead PC.
Then, the PCs roll initative to determine the order they go on. Thag doesn't roll initative because he still has his readied action. And Thog doesn't roll because his action just went off, so he can't go again until all the PCs have gone. Is this right?
Say the lead fighter wins initative, and he decides to charge Thog. As soon as he enters the room, Thag's readied action goes off and he hits the fighter with his greataxe. The fighter is still charging, so Thag gets an AoO on him as he leaves the threatened square right in front of the entrance, and he hits him with his greataxe again. If he survives, the fighter can then complete his charge against Thog.
Zad said:Again, no. They see Thog, he sees them. Roll for initiative on the surprise round. On Thog's turn, he can shoot at anyone he wants. Thag, who is aware of the party, can act this round. He can, if he likes, ready an action to swing at whoever comes through the door.