5E movement and Readied actions

[Yagyujubei]

OK so I was thinking about this. when readying an action, you state the action you're readying, and the circumstances under which you will do it.

one of the things you can do is move your full movement as a reaction, but in 5E you can break up your movement between attacks etc. so you don't HAVE to move all at once.

as a readied action, do you think it would be out of line to say something like, Ok I ready myself to support any of my allies who are currently engaged in battle, so whenever an ally moves to attack an enemy, I will move to flank that enemy until I have no movement left.

would that count as more than one action? because I'm not sure it would with how movement works in this addition.

likewise, say I'm a monk. (It's my understanding that by readying your action you can do anything you would normally be able to do on your turn, but on a time delay)

would I be able to ready my action and do what i mentioned above but also add attacks to that? like, I ready my attacks, and whenever one of my allies goes to attack, I will move to them and also attack provided I still have movement/attacks left.

It would be pretty cool imagery to be weaving around striking at foe's weak points while they're being attacked by your allies, and it doesn't really add any mechanical benefit that I can tell.

[Slipperychicken]

would I be able to ready my action and do what i mentioned above but also add attacks to that? like, I ready my attacks, and whenever one of my allies goes to attack, I will move to them and also attack provided I still have movement/attacks left.

I think that what you're really looking for is delaying your initiative. I'm not sure if it's a thing in 5e RAW, but it basically means taking your turn at an initiative count lower than the one you rolled. Like if you rolled the highest initiative, but you think your turn would be better spent immediately before/after a specific ally's turn, you can have your character simply wait for that time to come, then take his turn as normal.

[Yagyujubei]

so is that a separate thing? my buddies and I have always played you could ready your action or your turn like is was the same thing.

but the main thing im talking about is that your action would be happening on your allies successive turns rather than one. so say I'm a fighter with 3 attacks, and I have 3 allies in melee combat, and I wanna be like, ok I'm gonna throw one attack out at the monsters each of them are fighting when they attack them.

[ProphetSword]

as a readied action, do you think it would be out of line to say something like, Ok I ready myself to support any of my allies who are currently engaged in battle, so whenever an ally moves to attack an enemy, I will move to flank that enemy until I have no movement left.


You could do that once, for the first ally. After that, you wouldn't have a reaction left, as you only get one per round (PHB, page 193).



would that count as more than one action? because I'm not sure it would with how movement works in this addition.


You can move on your turn (PHB, page 189). Everything else is a special case (like when you save it to move as part of a Ready action). (PHB, pages 189 and 190).



likewise, say I'm a monk. (It's my understanding that by readying your action you can do anything you would normally be able to do on your turn, but on a time delay)


This is incorrect. You can take one action or move up to your speed, if you have any movement left. It requires you to use your reaction to do it. (PHB, page 193).



would I be able to ready my action and do what i mentioned above but also add attacks to that? like, I ready my attacks, and whenever one of my allies goes to attack, I will move to them and also attack provided I still have movement/attacks left.


Nope. Not according to the rules. If you were already next to your target, that would be a different story, as you wouldn't be trying to mix movement into the Ready action with your attack. The relevant text in the book is this:

...you choose the action you will take in response to that trigger, or you choose to move up to your speed in response to it.



It would be pretty cool imagery to be weaving around striking at foe's weak points while they're being attacked by your allies, and it doesn't really add any mechanical benefit that I can tell.

The DM might allow it at the table, as it's very much like the "Delay" action that appeared in 3rd Edition. However, it was eliminated in 5e to simplify combat. So, it will really depend on your table, since what you're asking to do is not possible by RAW.

[ProphetSword]

but the main thing im talking about is that your action would be happening on your allies successive turns rather than one. so say I'm a fighter with 3 attacks, and I have 3 allies in melee combat, and I wanna be like, ok I'm gonna throw one attack out at the monsters each of them are fighting when they attack them.

See my message above. This doesn't work. You get one reaction per turn. If you have used the Ready action, you get one action or you get to move up to your speed, depending on how much movement you have left for the round.

[Galen]

Certainly, you can ready a movement. It's even one of the examples given in the free PDF.

"If the goblin steps next to me, I move away."



as a readied action, do you think it would be out of line to say something like, Ok I ready myself to support any of my allies who are currently engaged in battle, so whenever an ally moves to attack an enemy, I will move to flank that enemy until I have no movement left.
However, you may have missed the fact that Ready, by itself, is an action. And you normally get only one action per round. So, the problem with your plan is not running out of movement, it's running out of actions - you normally only get to do this once per round.

[Yagyujubei]

See my message above. This doesn't work. You get one reaction per turn. If you have used the Ready action, you get one action or you get to move up to your speed, depending on how much movement you have left for the round.

yeah I wasn't sure if you had to choose one or the other when you ready an action, but if were talking delayed initiative it might work..

thinking about it now there are a couple ways that this could break the game, as a Rogue you could sneak attack multiple enemies by getting your DM to agree to this....or a barb or ranger (i think?) could abuse pack tactics to hand out advantage like..alot

[Hayaku]

I have been having this almost exact conversation and would like to share some thoughts. It is my opinion that the definition and distinction between Round and Turn are vital. And I have not yet found it specifically in RAW, however, my thoughts presume that like Actions, Bonus Actions (if allowed), and Reactions, movement is based on the Round and not specifically the Turn. This is in part to Movement being allowed as a Reaction, up to the Movement rate for the Round. If this is the case, it allows for Movement as a Reaction, not specifically a Ready Action, as Movement is distinguished separately from an Action. Ready allows you to Ready an Action. A Reaction allows you to react to a specific trigger once per Round and may be a Ready Action, but does not seem to have to be a Readied Action. Movement per round is allowed up to your rate of speed.

In a Round, at a players Turn for that Round, a character has movement up to his rate of movement, an action, and a potential bonus action. During the Round, he also has the potential for a Reaction. This Reaction could be a delay of his one Action in the form of a Readied Action. (Could it also be the delay of a bonus action? I haven't come to a conclusion on this one. The distinction between Action and Bonus Action would have to be looked at closer). OR it could be Movement, which is not an Action. As it is not an Action, Movement does not have to be Readied, unless an Action is required for the movement, which would only be if the character was exceeding his Movement rate for the Round. Only Actions are Readied. However, it can still be used as a Reaction. As during the Round, the character gets Movement and an Action, and can use either, but not both as a Reaction, I do not see a limitation of using Movement as a Reaction, provided that the character has Movement left for the Round. Anything beyond the characters Movement rate would necessitate an Action, such as Dash, to perform, and that would have to then be Readied and take up the one Action for the Round/Turn.

I think another way of kind of wording this is that during a Turn, it is the players Turn to explain how he using the Actions, Movement, and Reactions for the Round.

In play, I see the following scenario. A Rogue's companion goes down. On his Turn for the Round, he wants to become the closest target to the melee monster that just put his companion unconscious, to draw the monster away from his other companions in a hope they can get to him to stabilize the companion that went down. He moves 15 of his 30 feet of Movement, is now within 25 feet of a melee monster with a Movement rate of 30, raises his crossbow, and fires, an Action. On the monsters Turn for the Round, the monster looks up from the fallen companion and sees the rogue and moves to melee attack the rogue. The rogue has 15 feet of Movement left for the round, so he takes his one Reaction for the Round (he has already used his Action, but Movement is not an Action) and uses the remaining Movement for the round, 15 feet, putting him out of melee attack range of the monster. One of the remaining characters in the group then uses their Movement for the Round on his Turn to swoop up the fallen companion, and remove him from danger. I see this scenario as very possible, potentially even within RAW, hopefully within RAI, and very much within interpretation allowances, encouraging imagination and creativity in the story of the campaign.

Remember, it would be allowed for the rogue to in his Turn, advance 15 feet, fire, and then retreat 15 feet as his Movement and Action for the Round. So the only addition in concept here is to use his one Reaction allowed in the Round to retreat the 15 feet of his Movement instead of doing it only as part of his Turn for the Round.

I know this does not directly answer the original questions posted, however, I think it is relative in the discussing of Movement versus Ready versus Action as relates to Reaction. I do believe that much of the concept the original poster wants to accomplish can simply be accomplished as part of his Turn for the Round and does not necessitate Reaction to accomplish it. Otherwise, it would be almost like taking a Turn after each and every other member in the party for the Round, or multiple Turns per Round.

I am still working on a more concise way to word my thoughts on this. Feed back is welcome.

Hayaku

[bid]

I am still working on a more concise way to word my thoughts on this.
Don't necro thread for random mind streams.