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<blockquote data-quote="KarinsDad" data-source="post: 1261810" data-attributes="member: 2011">I disagree that it is super-weasly. In fact, I think that not allowing readying out of combat is a terrible rule in DND.I agree that orcs behind doors should be able to do it (if they have foreknowledge that PCs are approaching).In my game last week, the PCs let an NPC out of a magical statis prison.They were not in combat ahead of time, but the Dwarven Fighter and the Halfling Wizard/Rogue declared that they were readying an action to shoot with their bows if the creature that got let out of the prison attacks or casts a spell (I allow a little latitude with readied actions because it does not make sense that you couldn't fire a bow if someone makes any suspicious move).The NPC was not even there yet. Should I roll an initiative for the NPC when he comes out of the prison? Why? He is not in combat. Why should I bother to have all of the players roll initiative when a fight might not even break out? Even rolling initiative affects roleplaying and I'd prefer to not do it unless it is obvious that combat has started. I think this is an important point with regard to readied actions. Players will react and roleplay differently if the DM asks them to roll initiatives.As it turned out, after a few minutes of conversation, the NPC attempted to Teleport away and the two PCs shot him. I have absolutely no problem with rolling initiative at that point in time as if we had rolled it previously. From my point of view, the NPC is aware of the PCs and vice versa and nobody is flatfooted. It's as if the two PCs had readied actions in the surprise round and since then, everyone else was doing conversation miscellaneous actions. The &quot;order&quot; of that is basically irrelevant until we actually get into real combat.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="KarinsDad, post: 1261810, member: 2011"] I disagree that it is super-weasly. In fact, I think that not allowing readying out of combat is a terrible rule in DND. I agree that orcs behind doors should be able to do it (if they have foreknowledge that PCs are approaching). In my game last week, the PCs let an NPC out of a magical statis prison. They were not in combat ahead of time, but the Dwarven Fighter and the Halfling Wizard/Rogue declared that they were readying an action to shoot with their bows if the creature that got let out of the prison attacks or casts a spell (I allow a little latitude with readied actions because it does not make sense that you couldn't fire a bow if someone makes any suspicious move). The NPC was not even there yet. Should I roll an initiative for the NPC when he comes out of the prison? Why? He is not in combat. Why should I bother to have all of the players roll initiative when a fight might not even break out? Even rolling initiative affects roleplaying and I'd prefer to not do it unless it is obvious that combat has started. I think this is an important point with regard to readied actions. Players will react and roleplay differently if the DM asks them to roll initiatives. As it turned out, after a few minutes of conversation, the NPC attempted to Teleport away and the two PCs shot him. I have absolutely no problem with rolling initiative at that point in time as if we had rolled it previously. From my point of view, the NPC is aware of the PCs and vice versa and nobody is flatfooted. It's as if the two PCs had readied actions in the surprise round and since then, everyone else was doing conversation miscellaneous actions. The "order" of that is basically irrelevant until we actually get into real combat. [/QUOTE]

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