Ready Actions and targeted attacks/spells

[Greymane]

I've recently been playing in a game as an Artificer/Xelor (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=11550318) and the Temporal Glitch ability brought up something that's not quite been addressed in the years I've played this game.

I'd been using it to dodge attacks with ready actions and the ability's mentioned Immediate actions, but when spells were brought up, we, including the DM were torn on if that should be possible.

So the broader question I have is: Can you use ready actions to move out of the way of attacks? Of spells? Especially with spells. I wanted to argue that I could, but when spells like Blindness/Deafness came up, I wasn't sure if merely 'moving' would be enough to not be affected. Would you need to move out of line of sight/effect?

[Diarmuid]

The best comparison I can think of is the spell Wings of Cover. That spell is an Immediate Action and it breaks LoS which makes you untargettable.

If your Immediate Action doesnt move you out of range or otherwise make you untargettable by a spell then you wont be able to stop them from casting spells at you. The same would be true for ranged attacks. If you can move out of the AoE of a point-in-space targetted spell then you would avoid the effects. But...you wouldnt really know where that Fireball is being centered even if you identify it being cast.

I'm not sure what the special ability you're referring to does, but if it allows you to move then you would likely be able to interrupt melee attacks.

[Deophaun]

You can move, but you need to move out of range/los/loe. Your movement takes place before the action occurs, and spell parameters aren't determined until the spell manifests. So you could ready an action to move behind a tree when someone casts a spell at you, the enemy sorcerer casts lightning bolt, triggering your readied action to move behind a tree, and he gets to redirect the bolt to your ally who didn't have an action readied.

Similarly, if you just move from one spot to the other, with no cover between you and the caster at the end of the movement, well, you still get targeted.

[Waker]

That is a tricky question. First off I would require that the character identifies the spell that is being cast. Secondly they can move or whatever other action they have readied, like hiding behind a tower shield. If they break LoS or move out of the area to be affected, they are good.
However one issue to remember is that the enemy could still adjust the location of the spell. It's not like swinging in melee where if you move, the enemy has no target. If you see the enemy is casting a Fireball and move away, the enemy could just say "All right, I'll shoot there."

[Greymane]

Okay, consensus seems to say I'd need to break LoS. Makes sense, as sad as that makes me. I was dang near Nightcrawler for awhile there.

If a spell requires a ranged touch attack, can I at least dodge those? Seems like if they aim a ray or something at me I should be able to teleport out of the way.

[Waker]

If a spell requires a ranged touch attack, can I at least dodge those? Seems like if they aim a ray or something at me I should be able to teleport out of the way.

If you break LoS or LoE, sure. If not, then you wouldn't be gaining any more benefit than you would were an enemy to swing an axe at you.

[Deophaun]

Rays tend to have a range of Close, so you might be capable of getting out of range. I just hope that your allies aren't still in range, or they're liable to get angry when you keep redirecting fire onto them.

[Greymane]

Well dang. Like everything else in this game, magic wins. Thanks for the clarification.

[BowStreetRunner]

If a spell requires a ranged touch attack, can I at least dodge those? Seems like if they aim a ray or something at me I should be able to teleport out of the way.

Even attempting to dodge someone using a ranged or thrown weapon wouldn't work unless you moved somewhere they couldn't see or target you. After you complete your readied action, the attacker can resume his action and "Assuming he is still capable of doing so, he continues his actions once you complete your readied action." If he was targeting you, then as long as he can still target you his action will resolve based on your new location. On the other hand, if he were targeting the square you just vacated (such as with a grenade-like weapon) that square would remain the target.