Should you be able to dodge a fireball by readying an action?

[Telsar]

I'd give a +4 bonus to your Reflex save, same as the bonus to AC for Total Defense.

The readying and moving could be useful to move behind cover, or move where he can't hit both you and an ally with the same fireball, but I agree with most here... the area is decided when the spell finishes.

 

[coyote6]

Here's how I'd adjudicate it:

You ready a move action to move away from your position as far as you can get, as soon as the wizard activates the wand. When the wizard activates the wand, you move out of the fireball area of effect.

Of course, this trick will only work once with that wizard.

What can the wizard do to make sure it doesn't work again? If a person can move out of the area in the time between the wizard releasing the fireball and it arriving, what can the wizard do to counter that (besides learning a KoDT-esque "homing bouncing Betty fireball")? Once the wand is activated & the fireball is released, the wizard can't change the target. Seems like if it works once, it should work every time.

 

[RangerWickett]

Wizard shows some ingenuity and uses different tactics. Y'know, make the combat dynamic. I dodge your fireball, you try to hold person me, or something.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Hell no. You already get the benefit of a Reflex save -- that reflects your moving to avoid or minimize the effects of being caught in the blast radius. He doesn't have to hit you, he just has to hit within 20'. And you can already ready a move action to try to get behind cover.

Yes. If you see someone shooting an arrow at you, there is a distinct amount of time it takes the arrow to reach you, so if all you do for the round is wait and prepare to dodge, I would let you move out of the flight path of the arrow after it was shot.

At the limit of the second range increment (200') an arrow from a longbow would still be on target in a second or less. If you can move 30' in your action, you'd be able to move at most 5' in that second assuming you had perfect reflexes and started to move as soon as the archer released. The +4 AC from Total Defense seems fair to me.

A fireball from a 5th level mage travels 600'/round, or 100'/second. He'd have to be 400' away for you to even have a chance to get outside the blast radius.

 

[Vurt]

Wizard shows some ingenuity and uses different tactics. Y'know, make the combat dynamic. I dodge your fireball, you try to hold person me, or something.

Using the same reasoning as for fireball, why wouldn't you be able to dodge the hold person as well? (Say you're at the extreme limit of range of his hold person, you know it, and you ready an action to move farther away.)

If it works for one spell, why not another?

 

[Nifft]

IMHO, it would be possible to get out of the way of a fireball, because as an area effect it must target an intersection.

You could not move 40 ft. and be out of the range of an arrow (though you could change the range increment); you could move behind cover, but otherwise the arrow is going to keep its target (you). Same thing for targeted spells: unless you move out of range or behind cover, you're just as screwed.

Here's how I'd run it: Wizard chooses his intersection, your readied action goes off (you get to move), then the fireball goes off at the chosen intersection. I'd expect him to start leading his shots after you pull this trick once. Then the combat becomes him trying to hamper your movement so he can get a clean shot, or him throwing a lot of fireballs hoping to catch you. Eventually, your luck probably will run out and he'll guess your movement correctly, but you could buy yourself a little time with this good thinking.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Darklone]

I had a similar situation once. Two archers just climbed out from a small chasm. On the plane there is a wizard with a wand of fireballs on horseback.

Long range duel at 400ft.

Wizard nearly dead but one of the archers drops below zero and the other one rather alive (yours truly multiclass crime with evasion).

My turn. Grabbing comrade and hopping into the chasm (and letting him drop on me). Wizard aims his next fireball at the edge of the chasm, hoping to catch the climbers... luckily we dropped 40ft deep.

The question whether one of us could ready to avoid the fireball aimed at him while the other one kept shooting was denied by the DM... and we agreed due to the same reasoning that the spellcasting "takes place" after the readied action.

 

[blargney the second]

Interesting question. Here's how I'd handle it: if you ready a standard action to avoid the fireball, you gain the benefit of Evasion once against anybody who sees you use that tactic.
-blarg

 

[Quartz]

Interesting question. Here's how I'd handle it: if you ready a standard action to avoid the fireball, you gain the benefit of Evasion once against anybody who sees you use that tactic.

I disagree: suppose he's trying to fake you? As long as it's a readied action, Spot opposed by Bluff seems appropriate to me. The move of the horse is sufficient to evacuate the area.

Of course, the GM could obviate the issue by having the fireballs be Seeking...

 

[mvincent]

It occurs to me that (in the movies) people jump in front of bullets and arrows all the time. In my games, if someone wants to do this I tell them to ready an action to move (into the way of a flight path). Since a readied action can interrupt another action at pretty much any point, this is not unreasonable, nor does it seem to actually break the rules.

Similarly, (in the movies) people run/jump away from explosions all the time. Again, since a readied action can technically interrupt another action at any point, this seems reasonable and within the rules (even if 'unrealistic').

Is this what the writer's intended? Dunno, but it seems to make games more fun. Besides, opponents can use this the same as the PCs.