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<blockquote data-quote="Pielorinho" data-source="post: 536233" data-attributes="member: 259">Readied actions can get really wonky.&nbsp; I can't think of the Big Evil example I came up with in the rules forum a few months ago, but I remember that it was Big and Evil, and basically demonstrated that sometimes a readied action must go off slightly after the triggering event, instead of before it.&nbsp; This is a matter of DM common sense and should be used when necessary.In the case of the &quot;shoot the first person through the door,&quot; you're correc tthat his can't be a readied action if y'all are not in initiative order.&nbsp; However, if Bob knows that you're in the room, but he doesn't know that you've got an arrow pointed at the door (or a spell aimed at the door, or that you're standing by the door with your sword raised), I'd give you a surprise round against him.&nbsp; This is in spite of the fact that he knows he'll encounter you on entering the room:&nbsp; he just doesn't realize how quickly he'll encounter you.If, on the other hand, he's prepared for an immediate attack, you won't get a surprise round.&nbsp; This represents his throwing the door open and stepping to the side to avoid your arrow, or his dashing sideways through the door, or something like that.Daniel</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Pielorinho, post: 536233, member: 259"] Readied actions can get really wonky. I can't think of the Big Evil example I came up with in the rules forum a few months ago, but I remember that it was Big and Evil, and basically demonstrated that sometimes a readied action must go off slightly [i]after[/i] the triggering event, instead of [i]before[/i] it. This is a matter of DM common sense and should be used when necessary. In the case of the "shoot the first person through the door," you're correc tthat his can't be a readied action if y'all are not in initiative order. However, if Bob knows that you're in the room, [i]but he doesn't know that you've got an arrow pointed at the door[/i] (or a spell aimed at the door, or that you're standing by the door with your sword raised), I'd give you a surprise round against him. This is in spite of the fact that he knows he'll encounter you on entering the room: he just doesn't realize how quickly he'll encounter you. If, on the other hand, he's prepared for an immediate attack, you won't get a surprise round. This represents his throwing the door open and stepping to the side to avoid your arrow, or his dashing sideways through the door, or something like that. Daniel [/QUOTE]

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