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<blockquote data-quote="Mort" data-source="post: 8354669" data-attributes="member: 762"><p>Sure, dynamic combat over static is highly preferable. </p><p></p><p>But for me, the delay action is just too pat. It's basically pick any initiative under yours and act then - no cost to doing so, other then acting later. Ready action, on the other hand, imposes a cost - your reaction AND it sticks a concentration requirement onto any spells you want to cast as a reaction.</p><p></p><p>So you can still jockey around with the ready action, but since there's a cost - more math to weigh.</p><p></p><p>An example, that's niche but certainly comes up often enough:</p><p></p><p>My caster PC goes right before the baddie and wants to cast hold monster on it (let's assume no legendary resistance etc. for the moment), I want the rest of the party to get some serious shots in on this thing! If I cast Hold Monster on my initiative, the baddie gets a save, if it fails great BUT it then goes and while it can't act it gets another save before anyone else can act. </p><p></p><p>I decide to gamble, I'll let it act once AND THEN cast hold person.</p><p></p><p>With DELAY (as done in 3e but for 5e) this is trivial, I position myself right after it and go. I get my full set of bonus, action, movement and I get to keep my reaction for stuff like counterspell etc.</p><p></p><p>With READY it's easy but riskier. I state my trigger (something like "I cast once the baddie has finished all of it's actions) I ONLY get my action so if the baddie moved out of range of my spell - too bad (unlike Delay where I may be able to compensate). Also I had to start casting on my actual initiative so if the baddie (or something I wasn't anticipating) hits me before the trigger - I may well lose my spell. Also if something happens before my next turn (on it's standard initiative) no shield, absorb elements etc. This is a significantly bigger gamble than just simply delaying!</p><p></p><p>I suppose I prefer option 2 because it provides options, but at a cost PLUS it doesn't mess with the actual initiative order (I was never a fan of how much the 3e initiative order jumped around YMMV).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mort, post: 8354669, member: 762"] Sure, dynamic combat over static is highly preferable. But for me, the delay action is just too pat. It's basically pick any initiative under yours and act then - no cost to doing so, other then acting later. Ready action, on the other hand, imposes a cost - your reaction AND it sticks a concentration requirement onto any spells you want to cast as a reaction. So you can still jockey around with the ready action, but since there's a cost - more math to weigh. An example, that's niche but certainly comes up often enough: My caster PC goes right before the baddie and wants to cast hold monster on it (let's assume no legendary resistance etc. for the moment), I want the rest of the party to get some serious shots in on this thing! If I cast Hold Monster on my initiative, the baddie gets a save, if it fails great BUT it then goes and while it can't act it gets another save before anyone else can act. I decide to gamble, I'll let it act once AND THEN cast hold person. With DELAY (as done in 3e but for 5e) this is trivial, I position myself right after it and go. I get my full set of bonus, action, movement and I get to keep my reaction for stuff like counterspell etc. With READY it's easy but riskier. I state my trigger (something like "I cast once the baddie has finished all of it's actions) I ONLY get my action so if the baddie moved out of range of my spell - too bad (unlike Delay where I may be able to compensate). Also I had to start casting on my actual initiative so if the baddie (or something I wasn't anticipating) hits me before the trigger - I may well lose my spell. Also if something happens before my next turn (on it's standard initiative) no shield, absorb elements etc. This is a significantly bigger gamble than just simply delaying! I suppose I prefer option 2 because it provides options, but at a cost PLUS it doesn't mess with the actual initiative order (I was never a fan of how much the 3e initiative order jumped around YMMV). [/QUOTE]
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