Explain this line for me please..

[Kerilstrasz]

" Casting Time: 1 reaction, which you take when another creature attacks you. "

So.. do i interecpt his attack with it? i mean.. that reaction take place BEFORE he hits me or AFTER he hits me?

[Malifice]

" Casting Time: 1 reaction, which you take when another creature attacks you. "

So.. do i interecpt his attack with it? i mean.. that reaction take place BEFORE he hits me or AFTER he hits me?

When he declares you as his target is my rule.

[JoeJ]

" Casting Time: 1 reaction, which you take when another creature attacks you. "

So.. do i interecpt his attack with it? i mean.. that reaction take place BEFORE he hits me or AFTER he hits me?

After, unless there's some additional context you haven't quoted that says otherwise.

[JAL_1138]

Obligatory: "Ask your DM."

[DivisibleByZero]

So.. do i interecpt his attack with it? i mean.. that reaction take place BEFORE he hits me or AFTER he hits me?

After.
No need to ask your DM.
It's really simple.
Let me ask you a question: Can you REACT to something BEFORE that thing happens?
Answer: No, you cannot.
Reactions always happen After the trigger, unless it specifically states otherwise, or unless it is impossible for it to happen afterwards. After. Always.

If you're asking about the Shield spell, then it happens before, because it would be an useless spell for you to raise your AC after you had already been hit. So your AC is raised for the triggering attack as well.
Always read the spell description. If it makes it clear (and I mean perfectly, 100% crystal clear) then it can interrupt.
If it does not make it perfectly, 100% crystal clear that it interrupts, with absolutely zero room for error, then it happens after.
If there is any question about it whatsoever, any AT ALL, then it happens after.

[Kryx]

Oh man.. This "debate" again


Reactions always happen After the trigger, unless it specifically states otherwise. Always.
This is 100% correct. There is no other option.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Reaction after trigger.

"When another creature attacks you" happens when they declare the attack, before they've rolled any dice, so this reaction could prevent the attack from hitting.

[DivisibleByZero]

"When another creature attacks you" happens when they declare the attack, before they've rolled any dice, so this reaction could prevent the attack from hitting.

This is incorrect.
You cannot read the casting time to see if it interrupts.
You need to read the description to see if it interrupts.
To make this more clear, "when a creature attacks you" is not indication a specific timing. Read the "Making an Attack" section in the PHB, and you'll see that there are multiple things that need to happen, in a certain order, all of which combine to constitute "Making an Attack."
There is no space between declaring an attack and rolling the attack and rolling damage.
It's all one singular thing, and that thing is Making an Attack.

Only the description of the spell/ability/item in question can tell you if it happens before. And if that description does not make it 100% perfectly crystal clear, with zero room for error, then it happens after.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Hmm... the Making an Attack section makes it sound like the attack happens when the attack roll is made. I guess that would mean you'd need the description to clarify.

[Drackolus]

Let me ask you a question: Can you REACT to something BEFORE that thing happens?
Answer: No, you cannot.


This is combat. The vast majority of your reactions are to what your opponent is about to do. You don't deflect a blow after it has already struck.

An attack is also not a hit. An attack is when something is attempting to hit you. A miss is also an attack. This is what lets shield master knock an opponent down before you attack it. You make the attack action in order to use it, but you're allowed to do the bonus action before your attack rolls, even though you have already made the attack action - it is interrupted by the bonus action.

It absolutely happens before the attack finishes.

[JoeJ]

This is combat. The vast majority of your reactions are to what your opponent is about to do. You don't deflect a blow after it has already struck.

An attack is also not a hit. An attack is when something is attempting to hit you. A miss is also an attack. This is what lets shield master knock an opponent down before you attack it. You make the attack action in order to use it, but you're allowed to do the bonus action before your attack rolls, even though you have already made the attack action - it is interrupted by the bonus action.

It absolutely happens before the attack finishes.

"If a reaction has no timing specified, or the timing is unclear, the reaction occurs after its trigger finishes, as in the Ready action." DMG p. 252.

[DivisibleByZero]

This is combat. The vast majority of your reactions are to what your opponent is about to do. You don't deflect a blow after it has already struck.
You cannot react to something before that thing happens.
If you do, you aren't reacting. You aren't being reactive. You're being proactive.
Proactive and reactive are different.


An attack is also not a hit. An attack is when something is attempting to hit you. A miss is also an attack.
Yes. And a miss requires an attack roll. This means that the swing (*or rather, the ATTACK) has already happened.


It absolutely happens before the attack finishes.
No, it doesn't.
Every single Reaction in the entire game happens *after* the trigger completes, unless the description (not the casting time, not anything else, the description alone) states otherwise.
It really is that simple.

[Vogonjeltz]

So.. do i interecpt his attack with it? i mean.. that reaction take place BEFORE he hits me or AFTER he hits me?

Can you provide the context, the rule on how reactions work specifically says timing is listed normally, and if not it occurs after the trigger finishes as it does in the Ready action (DMG 252).

Page numbers would be helpful as I can not find the phrasing you used anywhere in the PHB.


"When another creature attacks you" happens when they declare the attack, before they've rolled any dice, so this reaction could prevent the attack from hitting.

Quite possible, most every reaction I can find that is a spell explains when the reaction occurs because the timing is part of the application of the effect. For example, shield providing extra AC to get missed, Illusionist class feature creating a duplicate who gets hit by the attack instead, Hellish Rebuke dealing damage to someone after you've been damaged, Riposte and Parry specifying that the Battlemaster has been hit or missed, etc....

So, if hxolhpths can provide the context with page numbers and what the effect of the spell is, we could probably determine the answer better.

[Capac Amaru]

Wizards threw the baby out with the bathwater. In trying to simplify everything, they wrote reactions to be covered by a catchall clause that doesn't make sense in all use cases, because whilst the action economy treats events in terms of discrete chunks (the casting of a spell and its initial effects = 1 action), abilities like Subtle Spell only affect certain parts of an action (ie subtle casting fireball doesn't make a 'subtle' fiery explosion, it only obfuscates the casting process), and some actions can take multiple turns to complete (ritual casting).

The reaction rules as written do not work well with an action made of a sequence of events, or with an action that lasts multiple rounds.

ask your dm, discuss what you expected and why, make a ruling and stick to it

[bid]

" Casting Time: 1 reaction, which you take when another creature attacks you. "

So.. do i interecpt his attack with it? i mean.. that reaction take place BEFORE he hits me or AFTER he hits me?
If it was after begin hit, it would say: " Casting Time: 1 reaction, which you take when another creature hits you. " Just like shield does.

[ProphetSword]

This debate has raged more than once here. Wizards of the Coast answered this question. If you're going by RAW, all reactions happen AFTER the action that triggers them completes, unless the description says otherwise. Adding anything else to the argument is wishful thinking.

[Shining Wrath]

At least in the case of Sentinel, Crawford says "After".

http://www.sageadvice.eu/2014/09/29/sentinel-react-after/ (Sage Advice)

[ProphetSword]

Also in the case of Shocking Grasp versus the Mage Slayer (an endless debate that played out right here on these boards):

http://www.sageadvice.eu/2015/06/02/shocking-grasp-on-a-mage-slayer/

[Theodoxus]

I agree with bid.

The reaction triggers after the attack is made. An attack can be lots of things, but an attack isn't the resolution of the attack, it's the initiation. Thus, your reaction comes before the attack is known to take affect (hit, save, move, whatever).

I'm assuming this specific inquiry is on a EE or homebrew spell? There's only 4 spells in the PHB that have Reaction as their casting time.

Shield, mentioned above, which specifies when an attack HITs, not just made.
Hellish Rebuke - which resolves after you take damage, so after an attack, after a hit and after damage is rolled (that's super reactionary ;) )
Feather Fall - which has no attack preface, unless you call falling off a cliff an attack on the ground... ;)
Counterspell - which you take when you see someone casting a spell (and the long ad-nauseum debate over how do you know what spell it is, should it be Counterspelled or not, etc.) which may or may not be an attack, but the Counterspell counters the spell before any rolls are made.

So, just wondering where you're getting that casting time from...

[Kryx]

RAW has been clearly settled. Opinions at this point constitute houserules.

RAW is that the attack resolves fully. See tweets from Crawford.

[ProphetSword]

I agree with bid.

The reaction triggers after the attack is made. An attack can be lots of things, but an attack isn't the resolution of the attack, it's the initiation. Thus, your reaction comes before the attack is known to take affect (hit, save, move, whatever).


You can house rule it however you like.

Kryx is absolutely right. RAW says it happens after, it is very clear.

If it does not fit your game style as a DM, then change it. If you are a player, discuss it with your DM about changing it. Won't change the RAW, but ultimately the amount of fun you all have is more important anyway.

Remember the golden rule is "Rulings not Rules."

[McNinja]

After.
No need to ask your DM.
It's really simple.
Let me ask you a question: Can you REACT to something BEFORE that thing happens?
Answer: No, you cannot.
Reactions always happen After the trigger, unless it specifically states otherwise, or unless it is impossible for it to happen afterwards. After. Always.

If you're asking about the Shield spell, then it happens before, because it would be an useless spell for you to raise your AC after you had already been hit. So your AC is raised for the triggering attack as well.
Always read the spell description. If it makes it clear (and I mean perfectly, 100% crystal clear) then it can interrupt.
If it does not make it perfectly, 100% crystal clear that it interrupts, with absolutely zero room for error, then it happens after.
If there is any question about it whatsoever, any AT ALL, then it happens after.It happens after the attack is declared but before any dice are rolled to hit. If people couldn't react until after attacks landed, there would be a lot more dead soldiers in wars.

Furthermore, martial artists go to great lengths to learn how to properly react to incoming attacks and deflect them. It is plausible, and quite easy, for this to be used when the creature sees its enemy lunging at it with a sword/dagger.

[CNagy]

It happens after the attack is declared but before any dice are rolled to hit. If people couldn't react until after attacks landed, there would be a lot more dead soldiers in wars.

Furthermore, martial artists go to great lengths to learn how to properly react to incoming attacks and deflect them. It is plausible, and quite easy, for this to be used when the creature sees its enemy lunging at it with a sword/dagger.

Read page 193+194 of the PHB, Making an Attack. Unless the text says "when you are targeted by an attack," it does not happen "after the attack is declared but before any dice." An attack includes the following steps: target acquisition, determining the bonuses, rolling for attack, and resolving/dealing damage. When you say "attack" and nothing else, you are talking about all of that.

And people can react before attacks land, when their reaction abilities say so.

[ProphetSword]

Furthermore, martial artists go to great lengths to learn how to properly react to incoming attacks and deflect them. It is plausible, and quite easy, for this to be used when the creature sees its enemy lunging at it with a sword/dagger.

You're talking about real life. This is a game that simulates fantasy with a lot of abstractions. Trying to interject logic into D&D at any point is just an exercise in frustration. You have to separate the two, as D&D is not a true-life simulator.

The game rules for D&D specify that if no timing is mentioned, it happens after the action that triggers it.

[bid]

RAW has been clearly settled. Opinions at this point constitute houserules.

RAW is that the attack resolves fully. See tweets from Crawford.
Yeah, I'm going to reverse my position. hit vs attack is the trigger, not the when.

Note that shield explicitely uses "including against the triggering attack".

[Shining Wrath]

... SNIP ...

Furthermore, martial artists go to great lengths to learn how to properly react to incoming attacks and deflect them. It is plausible, and quite easy, for this to be used when the creature sees its enemy lunging at it with a sword/dagger.

In this game, that is reflected by a Monk adding his / her Wisdom to their AC. All that training? It's +3 or +5 to AC, nothing more.

And "lunging at it", if the attacker is a 20th level fighter, means "series of feints the eye even of a trained martial artist can barely follow followed by a swing of devastating power precisely aimed so as to be both undodgable and unblockable, all of which is subsumed in the fighter's +6 proficiency bonus and +5 Strength modifier".

[DivisibleByZero]

It happens after the attack is declared but before any dice are rolled to hit.

Nope.
There is no such distinction in 5e.
Making an Attack ivolves all of choosing a target, rolling to hit, and rolling damage. All of it. There is no "declaring an attack" in 5e. Until you roll to hit, no attack has been made.
Read the PHB and DMG. Or just read this thread where everyone is citing the PHB and DMG.
Reactions occur after the trigger is resolved, unless clearly stated otherwise in the description of the particular reaction in question.
That's all there is to it.

[Strill]

Yeah, I'm going to reverse my position. hit vs attack is the trigger, not the when.

Note that shield explicitely uses "including against the triggering attack".

The OP didn't quote Shield. Shield says that it triggers when you are "HIT by an attack".

I'm actually curious what spell the OP is even quoting in the first place.

[coredump]

Nope.
There is no such distinction in 5e.
Making an Attack ivolves all of choosing a target, rolling to hit, and rolling damage. All of it. There is no "declaring an attack" in 5e. Until you roll to hit, no attack has been made.
Read the PHB and DMG. Or just read this thread where everyone is citing the PHB and DMG.
Reactions occur after the trigger is resolved, unless clearly stated otherwise in the description of the particular reaction in question.
That's all there is to it.
You are also creating rules that do not exist. It is quite feasible for a reaction to trigger on an 'attack' before dice are rolled.

[DivisibleByZero]

You are also creating rules that do not exist. It is quite feasible for a reaction to trigger on an 'attack' before dice are rolled.

We are not creating rules that do not exist.
We are citng the rules on pages 193-194 of the PHB and the rules on page 252 of the DMG.
Go read them.
And we never said it's impossible for that to happen,, we said that the description of the ability in question must make it absolutely 100% perfectly crystal clear that it happens at that moment. If it does not make it absolutely 100% perfectly crystal clear that this moment is exactly when it happens, with zero room for error or misinterpretation, then it happens after.
Go ahead and read those pages.
We'll wait.

[ProphetSword]

You are also creating rules that do not exist. It is quite feasible for a reaction to trigger on an 'attack' before dice are rolled.

Can you please point us to the rule in either the PHB or the DMG that supports your statement? I believe we have already supplied rule references in opposition of this.

[CNagy]

You are also creating rules that do not exist. It is quite feasible for a reaction to trigger on an 'attack' before dice are rolled.

Protection fighting style does that. We know it does that because applying disadvantage onto an attack after the dice have been rolled would be useless. Its function makes its timing implicit; there is only one way for the Protection Style to work.

A reaction can occur at any time you can imagine, if its trigger says so. But the trigger has to say so. The argument in this thread, as usual, stems from not understanding the game's definition of an "attack." The pages others and I have cited provide the definition for making an attack. So if something says it is triggered by an attack, and does not further specify either explicitly through its description or implicitly through its function (like Protection, or Opportunity Attack in regards to movement), then it happens after every step of the attack, which includes rolling and damage.

[MarkTriumphant]

It happens after the attack is declared but before any dice are rolled to hit. If people couldn't react until after attacks landed, there would be a lot more dead soldiers in wars.

That is accounted for by the Dexterity addition to AC. No explicit reaction is needed.