Wolffenjugend said:
Can a character ready an attack against a monster's reach attack?
I submit the following from the 3E Main FAQ:
I know a spellcaster can’t deliver a touch spell with a
weapon, but can a spellcaster deliver a touch spell by
touching an opponent’s weapon? For example, suppose an
enemy fighter has a weapon with a 10-foot reach. Can a
spellcaster step into the area that fighter threatens and
touch the weapon to affect the wielder? Is there a limit on
how far a touch spell can travel through equipment?
For the purposes of most magical effects, touching a
creature’s equipment is exactly the same as touching the
creature. That’s why touch attacks ignore armor, natural armor,
and shields. The point of contact does have to be fairly close to
the target’s body, though.
There is no set limit to how far away a spellcaster can be
when delivering a touch spell, but the basic requirement is
being able to reach into the space the creature occupies. For
example, a human occupies a 5-foot space. Thus, a foe must be
able to reach into that space to deliver a touch attack, even if a
piece of the human’s equipment (such as 50 feet of dangling
rope or a manufactured reach weapon) sticks out of the space.
A creature with natural reach is an exception to this rule—
you can use a touch spell against such a creature by touching
one of its natural reach weapons, even if its body is out of your
reach. Such a tactic might require some preparation, however.
If a creature can reach you with a natural weapon (such as a
bite, claw, or tentacle), you can ready an action to use a touch
spell against that natural weapon when it is used to make a
melee attack against you. Though casting a spell usually
requires a standard action, you can cast the spell and try to
touch the target as your readied action, so long as the spell’s
casting time is 1 action or less. (This is just like casting a spell
and making a touch attack as part of your regular action.) If the
spell has a longer casting time, you must first cast it and then
hold the charge until it can be delivered to pull off this
maneuver.
Now, according to this, you
can threaten a natural weapon that attacks you
if you Ready an action, even though the "creature" itself is outside your normal reach.
What is not covered by the FAQ quote is whether this
only applies to delivering a touch spell, or if you can Ready an action to take a swipe with your longsword.
However, from the 3.5 Monster Manual, under "Hydra":
An opponent can strike at a hydra’s heads from any position in which he could strike at the hydra itself, because the hydra’s head writhe and whip about in combat. An opponent can ready an action to attempt to sunder a hydra’s head when the creature bites at him.
The implication is that the second sentence is an
alternative to the first sentence - you can strike a head from any position in which you threaten the body,
or you can Ready an attack against a head, even if you
don't threaten the body.
So, by my reading, both the FAQ and the 3.5 Core Rules support the idea that a Readied attack against a natural weapon with Reach is possible.
-Hyp.
