Sneak Attacks on Rays

[LokiDR]

PHB exerpt p.134 Readying an Action: "..specify the partial action you will take and the conditions under which you will take it. Then, any time before your next action, you may take the readied partial action in response to those conditions."

You only have to specify a condition, not specifically an action, that triggers the readied action. Either way, I think that this thread has become hopelessly lost in flames and should reticently be squelched by our holy moderator type peeps.

Your quote is different than the SRD, so maybe that is the problem. As for flame war, I think this is still a dissagreement. I don't think any person has taking it personally so the disscussion should continue.

 

[Mr.Binx]

Really? I thought it was remarkably flame-free. I respect the folks I'm arguing with here -- until this example, I don't think I've disagreed with anything I've seen Artoomis post. I hope, Artoomis, you don't feel flamed; if so, I sincerely apologize.

Daniel

Hehe... sorry, I shouldn't have used the word flame on the boards. I meant that thread was doomed as in "burning in flames". The whole "Battle of the CAPS LOCK" gets to me for some reason. I liked the whole bunny/tin soldier reference though. That was rather amusing. Sorry, I'll go back to eating my popcorn and enjoying the ever-digressing arguments now.

 

[Artoomis]

What if the wizard who cast Imp.Invis. is still hanging around? The spell will end on her initiative, just before she acts. If I'm delaying, I'll definitely go after her. And she can cast the spell again. Result: her rogue friend blinks into visibility and out again, with no chance for me to intervene.

If I ready an action, however, I can attack the rogue once before the spell is renewed.

I may be wrong about how delaying works: we've always played it that, after each person's ENTIRE action occurs, you can choose to stop delaying. However, if you could stop delaying on someone's initiative count after a spell expires and before they act, then you'd be right about this case.

Daniel

This may be a technicality, but you cannot READY and action for when the Rogue appears. you may, however, ready an action to attack the rogue if he attacks (or, perhaps, to attack him no matter what action, even if none, that he takes). The net effect is very nearly the same - you get one attack after he appears.

The difference is that in the latter case, you can legally attack him without re-defining the Ready action.

DELAY does, I think, require that you act after anyone's actions are completed.

 

[LokiDR]

This may be a technicality, but you cannot READY and action for when the Rogue appears. you may, however, ready an action to attack the rogue if he attacks (or, perhaps, to attack him no matter what action, even if none, that he takes). The net effect is very nearly the same - you get one attack after he appears.

The difference is that in the latter case, you can legally attack him without re-defining the Ready action.

DELAY does, I think, require that you act after anyone's actions are completed.

But you can't attack the rogue sinces he's improved invis. If you can't shoot him when he appears, ready action just lost most of it's effectiveness.

 

[Artoomis]

PHB exerpt p.134 Readying an Action: "..specify the partial action you will take and the conditions under which you will take it. Then, any time before your next action, you may take the readied partial action in response to those conditions."

You only have to specify a condition, not specifically an action, that triggers the readied action. Either way, I think that this thread has become hopelessly lost in ridiculous flames and should reticently be squelched by our holy moderator type peeps unless you guys can calm down.

How about the rest of the quote?

Specify the partial action a combatant will take and the conditions under which it will be taken. When those conditions are met, the combatant may take the readied partial action. The partial action comes before the action that triggers it. For the rest of the fight, the combatant's initiative result is the count on which the combatant took the readied action, and the combatant acts immediately ahead of the combatant whose action triggered the readied action.

Since your action is "immediately ahead of the combatant whose action triggered the readied action," the implication is that the "conditions" that were met relied upon a combatant's actions.

P.S. What flames?

 

[LokiDR]

Hehe... sorry, I shouldn't have used the word flame on the boards. I meant that thread was doomed as in "burning in flames". The whole "Battle of the CAPS LOCK" gets to me for some reason. I liked the whole bunny/tin soldier reference though. That was rather amusing. Sorry, I'll go back to eating my popcorn and enjoying the ever-digressing arguments now.

This line has not digressed since it happened onto ready actions from sneak attack with rays. We all seem to have stayed on the new line quite well.

 

[Mr.Binx]

This line has not digressed since it happened onto ready actions from sneak attack with rays. We all seem to have stayed on the new line quite well.

Well, now it appears we're talking about the thread itself. But I digress.

 

[Artoomis]

But you can't attack the rogue sinces he's improved invis. If you can't shoot him when he appears, ready action just lost most of it's effectiveness.

Oh, I think I got you. Okay, perhpas I had the wrong trigger. You'd have to know to attack teh rogure if teh wizard cast a spell on him.

Actually, in this case Id allow a fairly vague "if the rogue appears I want to attack hm before anything else happens."

The trigger here is really the "anything else happens," which is rather broad, but the intent is clear enough so I'd allow it - it just seesm like something you certianly should be able to do. I admit this is more of a technicality than anything else, though. The point is that no matter how you phrase it, the effect must be to change your intiative to just before whoever triggered you to act - in this case, it would be the wizard casting teh spell that actually triggered you to atack the rogue, so your intiative is just before teh wizards.

It is important to have a "legal" trigger, if for no other reason that to know when your new initiative happens.

 

[Pielorinho]

This may be a technicality, but you cannot READY and action for when the Rogue appears. you may, however, ready an action to attack the rogue if he attacks (or, perhaps, to attack him no matter what action, even if none, that he takes). The net effect is very nearly the same - you get one attack after he appears.

The difference is that in the latter case, you can legally attack him without re-defining the Ready action.

DELAY does, I think, require that you act after anyone's actions are completed.

Do you really mean that I could say, "I ready an action to attack Bob as soon as he takes any action, even no action," but I couldn't say, "I ready an action to attack Bob as soon as he appears"?

And do you mean to tell me that if Bob's spell expires on Liza the Mage's initiative, BOb would be taking "any action, even no action" on Liza's initiative?

That seems much less in keeping with the ready rules than does my suggestion.

Daniel

 

[Artoomis]

Really? I thought it was remarkably flame-free. I respect the folks I'm arguing with here -- until this example, I don't think I've disagreed with anything I've seen Artoomis post. I hope, Artoomis, you don't feel flamed; if so, I sincerely apologize.

Daniel

Not at all. We are just having a discussion.

It's not like you called me stupid, or pig-headed, or $%#*$^%# or something.