Readying an Action Outside of Combat?

[BDRook]

Hello wonderful players. So I've got a buddy of mine that whenever the party is exploring a dungeon claims that he "readies dodge in case something attacks". Now I for one don't think its legal rule-wise to do that, otherwise everyone would do it and all monsters would have disadvantage for the first round. But I was wondering if there's a definite rule saying so. Does readying an action apply only to combat?

[MBControl]

There are two ways that you can argue this.

1) Dodge is an action (or bonus action for some PC's) which you can technically only use during combat, in fact it is specifically listed under "Actions in Combat" in the PHB. DM's will often allow actions as a free action out of combat, but these are usually non-combat related, like casting Commune with Nature for example.

2) You can "dodge" all you want, but if you don't pass a perception check, passive or otherwise, you can't dodge what you can't see.

[georgie_leech]

The most straightforward reading suggests readying an action applies to combat only... but it's vague enough that it's arguable. Personally, in a non-surprise situation, I'd give advantage on Initiative checks for readying an action. Just wandering around though, always being alert and ready for danger? That's what Initiative is for.

Also the Alert feat. If he wants to be permanently ready to react to danger, suggest he take the feat that lets him be permanently ready to react to danger.

[BiPolar]

The most straightforward reading suggests readying an action applies to combat only... but it's vague enough that it's arguable. Personally, in a non-surprise situation, I'd give advantage on Initiative checks for readying an action. Just wandering around though, always being alert and ready for danger? That's what Initiative is for.

Also the Alert feat. If he wants to be permanently ready to react to danger, suggest he take the feat that lets him be permanently ready to react to danger.

In addition, if they really want to expend their action with granting disadvantage to one attack and basically give the enemy a free round, I say go for it. They won't do it again.

[Biggstick]

In addition, if they really want to expend their action with granting disadvantage to one attack and basically give the enemy a free round, I say go for it. They won't do it again.

First of all, the Dodge action doesn't grant disadvantage to only one attack, it grants disadvantage to all attacks enemies make against the target. Secondly, it also grants advantage on Dex saves.

The OP is asking whether or not other DM's allow their players to take the Dodge action outside of combat. Even though I don't DM myself, I'd say that whatever the PC's are fine doing to the NPC's, they should be willing to have it done to them, and vice versa. If the PC's are able to start combat with a readied action of Dodge because they're actively dodging throughout the dungeon, have your NPC's, monsters, etc. be doing the same thing (as long as it makes sense for them to be doing so).

Another route the OP could go is to give the PC who's taking the Dodge action disadvantage on ability checks other Dex and Str checks. This would represent their "readiness" for combat and their inability to focus on things around them that don't represent a direct combat threat.

Another option might be to reduce the PC's move speed while dodging out of combat. This doesn't do anything bad to them while they're not being chased or pressured for time, but if the situation arises where they're on a clock, they might think differently about taking the extra time to dodge and move.

[BiPolar]

First of all, the Dodge action doesn't grant disadvantage to only one attack, it grants disadvantage to all attacks enemies make against the target. Secondly, it also grants advantage on Dex saves.

The OP is asking whether or not other DM's allow their players to take the Dodge action outside of combat. Even though I don't DM myself, I'd say that whatever the PC's are fine doing to the NPC's, they should be willing to have it done to them, and vice versa. If the PC's are able to start combat with a readied action of Dodge because they're actively dodging throughout the dungeon, have your NPC's, monsters, etc. be doing the same thing (as long as it makes sense for them to be doing so).

Another route the OP could go is to give the PC who's taking the Dodge action disadvantage on ability checks other Dex and Str checks. This would represent their "readiness" for combat and their inability to focus on things around them that don't represent a direct combat threat.

Another option might be to reduce the PC's move speed while dodging out of combat. This doesn't do anything bad to them while they're not being chased or pressured for time, but if the situation arises where they're on a clock, they might think differently about taking the extra time to dodge and move.

Fair enough...goes to show how often I take the Dodge action :) ALthough you're still opting to give up any other action (since a readied action can be just that one action) to force disadvantage on those attacks and get advantage on dex saves. Anything else is fair game. And if the monsters are anywhere intelligent they can see that the PCs are walking around prepared to defend themselves.

The disadvantage is more of a homerule, but I don't see it as necessary. They've already given up any other action, including movement with their readied Dodge. And they've used their reaction to engage the Dodge.

So basically they're trading combat actions for the entire first round for granting disadvantage on attacks against them, advantage on Dex saves and the loss of their Reaction.

All in all, that's a pretty fair trade-off.

[georgie_leech]

Quibble, you can ready an action and still move just fine. Not Dashing, mind you, but ready is fair game.

[Tanarii]

Nope. Combat actions are for use in combat. By definition. (edit: or possibly 'it's a tautology'. Not sure which.) If you are using them, you are in combat. (Note: some actions are also separately defined outside of combat, see help).

Combat starts with a surprise check, and then an initiative roll, then after all that you get to declare your first combat action on your first turn. (Some variations on this may occur due to specific features, feats, spells and magic items.)

[BRC]

I would say that trying to keep up in-combat levels of vigilant hyper-awareness when not in combat would require Wisdom checks every few minutes (To keep yourself amped up and checking shadows), and even if you succeeded, you'd suffer a level of Exhaustion after about half an hour.

[IShouldntBehere]

The mechanics for noticing something is about to attack reacting appropriately is initiative. If you aren't initiative and up to at least your first go you are by definition yet responding to threat enough to attack, dodge or otherwise interact with them. A declaration of "I ready a dodge" is functionally a declaration of "Once initiative is rolled, I'll use my first action to dodge".

It's important to remember that the despite the turn abstraction initiative is instantaneous and rounds are simultaneous. There is no time that exists between Ogres kicking down the door, and when initiative is rolled. The start of initiative is simply the game engine recognizing "OK. Stuff just got serious so we're going to start directly tracking time in 6 second slices instead of broad narrative strokes because timing just got important" you don't get to pop extra "Readied Time" into existence just by borrowing bits of the second-by-second abstraction in the narrative time space.

[Tanarii]

It's important to remember that the despite the turn abstraction initiative is instantaneous and rounds are simultaneous. There is no time that exists between Ogres kicking down the door, and when initiative is rolled. The start of initiative is simply the game engine recognizing "OK. Stuff just got serious so we're going to start directly tracking time in 6 second slices instead of broad narrative strokes because timing just got important" you don't get to pop extra "Readied Time" into existence just by borrowing bits of the second-by-second abstraction in the narrative time space.Very well put.

[Specter]

In 3.5 there was a ranger prestige class (Bloodhound) that could ready a specific action against something specific happening (like spotting his target or being attacked). I don't think 5e changed the combat system so much that they made it possible to ready an action outside of combat in any situation.

And dodging is not just being ready for an attack, it involves zig-zagging, mobility, shielding yourself and other stuff like that. So if your players are always dodging (if you allow them), they should take 20 times longer to go anywhere.

And as was stated, if the players are doing it, NPCs and monsters could also do it. So everybody would take a turn before rolling initiative, which would make initiative itself moot. Don't break the game.

[MBControl]

I suppose I would allow it but that character could only use dodge as their action after initiatives are rolled.

[Vogonjeltz]

Hello wonderful players. So I've got a buddy of mine that whenever the party is exploring a dungeon claims that he "readies dodge in case something attacks". Now I for one don't think its legal rule-wise to do that, otherwise everyone would do it and all monsters would have disadvantage for the first round. But I was wondering if there's a definite rule saying so. Does readying an action apply only to combat?

If I recall correctly, it's listed specifically as an action in combat in the combat chapter of the PHB.

[Laserlight]

If it's "any time we're in a dungeon, I always have Dodge readied", then I would say No.

If the character can reasonably define a specific threat and trigger, then I might allow it.
DM: "You open the doors and see a line of hobgoblin guards with longbows, eighty feet away."
PC: "I stop where I am. I ready Dodge, in case any of them shoot at me."
DM: "Roll perception. Roll initiative. The black pudding drops down on you from the ceiling. No Dodge for you!"
PC: "Well, drat."

[RedMage125]

Keep in mind that readying an Action is still an Action.

So if your players wants to be "Dodging" all the time, he is incapable of doing anything else that requires an action, like...searching the room, opening a lock, and so on. You can't "ready" one Action while you perform another.

More importantly, one does not ever "ready" the Dodge action, you TAKE the Dodge action, and it affects the next attack you are subjected to.

[bid]

Whenever a combat starts, all enemies will have readied dodge.

So no, it's counterproductive to argue for readying an action out of combat.

[MaxWilson]

Hello wonderful players. So I've got a buddy of mine that whenever the party is exploring a dungeon claims that he "readies dodge in case something attacks". Now I for one don't think its legal rule-wise to do that, otherwise everyone would do it and all monsters would have disadvantage for the first round. But I was wondering if there's a definite rule saying so. Does readying an action apply only to combat?

The only unreasonable thing about that is that I kind of worry that staying on hair trigger for hours on end will drive you psychotic. But it's a basically rational thing to want to do.

My response is to use an initiative system where this isn't an issue. Cyclic initiative is the worst thing about 5E and leads to exactly this situation.

[georgie_leech]

More importantly, one does not ever "ready" the Dodge action, you TAKE the Dodge action, and it affects the next attack you are subjected to.

Correct on the other bits, but not here. Dodge affects all attacks you can see until your next turn. Works just fine on 6th attack from a Marilith, but doesn't apply at all to the invisible Thief that shot a Crossbow bolt at your back before the Marilith started attacking.

[Zman]

Absolutely not. You can not ready an action until Initiave has been rolled and combat officially starts, and then once your initiative is up you can take the dodge action. If you can't take a Reaction until your Initiave, you certainly can't take your readied dodge action. What is to stop a Wizard from walking around with a readied invisibility spell? Or the Archer a readied attack? Or the Rogue Assassin a readied Surprise Advantage Sneak attack critical? Because the rules do not ally you to ready an action outside of initiative combat.

[RedMage125]

Correct on the other bits, but not here. Dodge affects all attacks you can see until your next turn. Works just fine on 6th attack from a Marilith, but doesn't apply at all to the invisible Thief that shot a Crossbow bolt at your back before the Marilith started attacking.
Sorry, yes, that is correct.

But I AM right about how one does not "ready" the Dodge action, one TAKES the dodge action.

Absolutely not. You can not ready an action until Initiave has been rolled and combat officially starts, and then once your initiative is up you can take the dodge action. If you can't take a Reaction until your Initiave, you certainly can't take your readied dodge action. What is to stop a Wizard from walking around with a readied invisibility spell? Or the Archer a readied attack? Or the Rogue Assassin a readied Surprise Advantage Sneak attack critical? Because the rules do not ally you to ready an action outside of initiative combat.

That's not entirely accurate. You can take any number of actions outside of combat that you can also take in combat. You can attack a locked door or chest with your weapon out of combat, you can pick a lock or use some other skill in combat.

Readying an action is an Action in and of itself. What's relevant here is that if one is constantly "readying" an Action, then there are no other actions that person can take. The character can still move, and engage in some object interaction, but no more than what would be allowed in combat without taking up an Action.

Readying the Dodge Action, specifically, is impossible, because it isn't like an Attack, or Spellcast. To get the benefit of the Dodge Action, one must TAKE the Dodge Action, and it's benefits last until the character's next turn. He could, in fact, out of combat, declare that he is constantly TAKING the Dodge action, but as has been pointed out, that only helps against attacks the character can see coming. His Dodge action would already be in effect when initiative was rolled, but be useless against enemies he was not aware of until his first round in combat initiative.

[Kane0]

I'd throw a die at him and tell him to knock it off with the shenanigans, I don't need him bopping around the room waiting for the bogeyman to jump out at him while I'm trying to describe the intricate runes on the pedestal and their dire meaning for the realm.

[HeyBJ]

My main issue with this, outside of the cheese factor, is it doesn't make much sense to me to get ready to dodge when you don't even know what kind of threat is going to present itself, if any. Readying an action only makes sense to me if there are specific things you can see or sense; otherwise, you can't really be "ready" for it. For example, dodging an arrow would take a different physical action than dodging a charging orc. It would take a split second to assess how to react and dodge appropriately, which, as others have pointed out, is basically rolling initiative. Besides, could you even hold an action to dodge in combat? Wouldn't you just take the dodge action?

[lperkins2]

I'd say let him. Of course, as others have pointed out, readying dodge prevents taking any other action, and if it goes on for an extended period I'd probably require some sort of check to avoid losing focus, or possibly make him dodge when there's any false alarm.

To those who argue that it is a combat action and cannot be readied outside of combat, two things. First, that's somewhat absurd, since hitting a paper on a desk with a sword or shooting it with an arrow requires an attack, which would also be impossible outside of combat. The alternative is that the action is allowed, but makes you count as 'in combat', with suitable penalties for being battle ready for hours on end.

Second, from a flow perspective, it's far better to let it do some good out of combat than to encourage the players to insist on moving in initiative order the entire time. If you're thinking 'but I won't let them move in initiative order, that's too much work!', that's what PVP is for. If I get into a 'fight' with another party member, involving lots of repositioning and readying the Dodge action, only launching weak attacks when the DM looks to be about to call an end to combat, I could probably get through most of a dungeon in 'combat mode'. Obviously that's bad, and reasonable players would probably not powergame to quite that level, but that kind of thing is encouraged by creating the artificial barrier.


From a mechanics perspective, it basically turns into an abridged first round of combat. Say your friend does his 'ready dodge action' routine, and then another party member opens a door and finds a group of skeleton archers. Of course, they've been told to guard the door and kill anything that opens it, so they spend all day every day readying action to shoot whatever happens by. Hence, they shoot at your friend, and his party member. Now, on the one hand attacks against the dodger are at disadvantage, but it's an extra set of free attacks. After those are resolved, you roll initiative. If the dodger goes before the skeletons, he loses his defence bonus, after getting attacked an extra time. The only time this helps him is if he goes after the skeletons, at which point they still got an extra volley against his friend who opened the door. All in all I'd say it's a wash, except that it does focus more of the damage on round 0 onto his friend.


If it comes up in my campaign, I'll probably be fine with it whenever the PCs have reason to expect something is about to happen. When they get ready to throw a lever, open a door, or similar. Or when they hear something coming their way. If they want to do it more than that, I'd probably require a con save (DC=1 per 10 rounds of constant evasion) or gain a level of exhaustion. Note that I use that for anytime the PCs are doing 'standard action' stuff continuously, especially in large fights.

[JellyPooga]

I'd allow it.

Just be sure to tell your player how much of a fool he looks, twitching and twerking, ducking and diving, rocking and rolling his way down every corridor.

When they do, on those rare occasions, encounter a friendly NPC, make sure the comments you throw at Twitch are suitably scathing. "Ummm...what's that guy doing? Can you, er, keep him away from me; I don't trust him with that crossbow. Look, just put him on guard or patrol or something, or at least make him point that thing somewhere safe". In addition, if that NPC is of suitable gender, Twitch is definitely not "getting the girl", no matter how high his Charisma. Last time I checked, hyper-tense and twitchy were not attractive traits.

On the flipside, if the BBEG is of the Xykon variety and likes to scry on the party for kicks, be sure to have him spare Twitch's life because he got so much entertainment out of watching him. Offer him a job as a(n un)willing subject of Ottos Endless Jig. Or have an ambush the monsters have set up fail because one of them burst into laughter seeing Twitch "commando rolling" everywhere like a Weekend Warrior on a blend of speed, coke and crystal meth.

If reason fails to dissuade him, humiliation should do the trick.

[Tanarii]

Second, from a flow perspective, it's far better to let it do some good out of combat than to encourage the players to insist on moving in initiative order the entire time. If you're thinking 'but I won't let them move in initiative order, that's too much work!', that's what PVP is for. If I get into a 'fight' with another party member, involving lots of repositioning and readying the Dodge action, only launching weak attacks when the DM looks to be about to call an end to combat, I could probably get through most of a dungeon in 'combat mode'. Obviously that's bad, and reasonable players would probably not powergame to quite that level, but that kind of thing is encouraged by creating the artificial barrier.


From a mechanics perspective, it basically turns into an abridged first round of combat. Say your friend does his 'ready dodge action' routine, and then another party member opens a door and finds a group of skeleton archers. Of course, they've been told to guard the door and kill anything that opens it, so they spend all day every day readying action to shoot whatever happens by. Hence, they shoot at your friend, and his party member. Now, on the one hand attacks against the dodger are at disadvantage, but it's an extra set of free attacks. After those are resolved, you roll initiative. If the dodger goes before the skeletons, he loses his defence bonus, after getting attacked an extra time. The only time this helps him is if he goes after the skeletons, at which point they still got an extra volley against his friend who opened the door. All in all I'd say it's a wash, except that it does focus more of the damage on round 0 onto his friend. the entire point of the combat system is to provide a mechanical resolution system that avoids the need for such things. That's what the initiative system, and surprise determination on the first round if necessary, represents in the first place. It is the system for transitioning from a non-turn based resolution of 'non-combat' to a necessary turn-based resolution of 'combat'.

Later editions of D&D focus more of just giving each character a 'turn' to resolve, but the original concept was you only needed to compare initiative if the order of resolution was relevant. There's nothing special about turns, they don't represent some in-game slice of time. They represent a point for determining mechanical resolution of a game element relative to other game element resolutions.

So yes, it's absurd to allow combat actions outside of combat. There's no need. When something requiring mechanical resolution in initiative order occurs, transition to 'combat'. When the need ends, transition out. It's simple and easily done, as it's just a mechanical construct, not some in-game event.

[Cybren]

Wait, it's absurd _to_ allow combat actions outside of conbat? So you can't attack things without rolling initiative? I'd assume if I was breaking down a door I wouldn't have to waste time rolling initiative first. Initiative being solely a method of resolving events should lend more, not less, credence to the idea of combat actions being permissible outside of combat, because the actions have a diagetic meaning within the game world.

Edit: casting a spell is also an action in combat. Are we then assuming you can't cast spells outside initiative?

[Tanarii]

Wait, it's absurd _to_ allow combat actions outside of conbat? So you can't attack things without rolling initiative? I'd assume if I was breaking down a door I wouldn't have to waste time rolling initiative first. Initiative being solely a method of resolving events should lend more, not less, credence to the idea of combat actions being permissible outside of combat, because the actions have a diagetic meaning within the game world.Yes it's absurd. If you don't need initiative for determining resolution order, you can skip it. But when you do, you use it. Because that is what it is for.

Edit: you're making the same mistake, drawing an artificial distinction between 'out of combat' and 'in combat'. It's absurd to take combat actions out of combat because that's not mechanically possible. By definition, if an action is only a combat action, taking it is part of combat.

[Cybren]

There's no such thing as "a combat action" what we have is a section titled "actions in combat", and which describes everything from attacking and casting spells, to dashing or readying an action. I don't see how I'm the one drawing a distinction between combat/non-combat when your argument hinges on certain things only being possible in combat

[Coffee_Dragon]

I'd throw a die at him and tell him to knock it off with the shenanigans, I don't need him bopping around the room waiting for the bogeyman to jump out at him while I'm trying to describe the intricate runes on the pedestal and their dire meaning for the realm.

If your player is bopping around the room waiting for the bogeyman you may have a different issue, or if your characters are expected to stare reverently at runes while a booming voice declare their import. ;)


To those who argue that it is a combat action and cannot be readied outside of combat, two things. First, that's somewhat absurd, since hitting a paper on a desk with a sword or shooting it with an arrow requires an attack, which would also be impossible outside of combat.

I would hope not! The combat system is something we invoke for our convenience, not something the world needs for combaty events to take place. The case here is of a player wanting one particular aspect of the combat model to be "always on" so he can undermine another part of it (initiative). That should be thrown out of RPG court in no time.


Just be sure to tell your player how much of a fool he looks, twitching and twerking, ducking and diving, rocking and rolling his way down every corridor.

I think what was requested was not constant dodging, but constant readiness to dodge. Someone readying an action to pull a switch (an example from the rules) should not have to stand there feverishly tugging at the switch until it's time.

[Zman]

Sorry, yes, that is correct.

But I AM right about how one does not "ready" the Dodge action, one TAKES the dodge action.


That's not entirely accurate. You can take any number of actions outside of combat that you can also take in combat. You can attack a locked door or chest with your weapon out of combat, you can pick a lock or use some other skill in combat.

Readying an action is an Action in and of itself. What's relevant here is that if one is constantly "readying" an Action, then there are no other actions that person can take. The character can still move, and engage in some object interaction, but no more than what would be allowed in combat without taking up an Action.

Readying the Dodge Action, specifically, is impossible, because it isn't like an Attack, or Spellcast. To get the benefit of the Dodge Action, one must TAKE the Dodge Action, and it's benefits last until the character's next turn. He could, in fact, out of combat, declare that he is constantly TAKING the Dodge action, but as has been pointed out, that only helps against attacks the character can see coming. His Dodge action would already be in effect when initiative was rolled, but be useless against enemies he was not aware of until his first round in combat initiative.

And if you take want hose actions outside of combat you can, but they are not done so in a readied fashion,mothers is no initiative,mtherefore you cannot ready an attack outside of combat either as to ready an action you require initiate tracking.

[Tanarii]

There's no such thing as "a combat action" what we have is a section titled "actions in combat", and which describes everything from attacking and casting spells, to dashing or readying an action. I don't see how I'm the one drawing a distinction between combat/non-combat when your argument hinges on certain things only being possible in combat
You're still drawing the same distinction. I can tell because you're trying to frame my argument as 'hinges on certain things only being possible in combat'. You've got it back to front. Combat is a set of rules designed for resolution of certain things.

[Cybren]

Right, and "waiting to interrupt something as it happens" isn't something that only makes sense within combat. "I ready an action to dodge ANY THREAT" is an overly broad use of the action. But "I ready an action to mage hand the goblet of poison wine over if the prince reaches for it" makes sense.

[Coffee_Dragon]

But "I ready an action to mage hand the goblet of poison wine over if the prince reaches for it" makes sense.

No, it really doesn't, if by "ready an action" you're referring to the specific function in the combat framework that isn't in play outside of combat.

What you'd normally say would be something like, "I keep a close watch on the goblet of poison wine, knocking it down if the prince reaches for it", and the DM would say, "OK", and unless the DM is a jerk or decides you need to do some kind of reaction save, that's what would happen. But you're not "readying an action" to do this. It's just something that happens.

[Tanarii]

Right, and "waiting to interrupt something as it happens" isn't something that only makes sense within combat. "I ready an action to dodge ANY THREAT" is an overly broad use of the action. But "I ready an action to mage hand the goblet of poison wine over if the prince reaches for it" makes sense.sure it make sense. Either:

by "ready" and "an action" you don't mean use the resolution mechanics "ready" and "an action", within the turn-based resolution mechanic of initiative, ie you don't mean combat and you're using the terms colloquially or imprecisely, alluding to their combat meanings but not actually planning to have them resolved by anything resembling their combat meanings, but rather by DM fiat

Or

If you do mean those things, what you're actually saying is "if the prince reaches for the goblet of poison wine, we need to roll initiative and use the combat rules. Because I'm going to attempt to do something using D&D's resolution mechanic based around turn-based initiative."

[MaxWilson]

No, it really doesn't, if by "ready an action" you're referring to the specific function in the combat framework that isn't in play outside of combat.

What you'd normally say would be something like, "I keep a close watch on the goblet of poison wine, knocking it down if the prince reaches for it", and the DM would say, "OK", and unless the DM is a jerk or decides you need to do some kind of reaction save, that's what would happen. But you're not "readying an action" to do this. It's just something that happens.

Unless two knights are sparring for the prince's amusement when the prince happens to reach for the goblet, because then we're in combat and the PC will have a readied action to knock over the goblet.

IMNSHO, the obvious thing to do is to use initiative contests solely to resolve things that both parties attempt at the same time. If the prince declares "I'm taking a drink" at the same time that the detective realizes "the goblet is poisoned--I'm going to knock it over and yell stop!" then that's initiative. But if the detective keys himself up in advance to knock over the goblet if the prince puts down his book, then he's guaranteed to knock it over first, because his action was readied.

Of course, the prince may very well notice the tense detective staring fixedly at the prince with a clenched fist the whole time. And that could create its own legal/political problems--so it's better for the detective if he's invisible! Plus, then we can have a whole new argument in this thread about how hard it is to detect readied actions by invisible creatures who are Readying An Action instead of Hiding. :)

[Arial Black]

Wait, it's absurd _to_ allow combat actions outside of conbat? So you can't attack things without rolling initiative? I'd assume if I was breaking down a door I wouldn't have to waste time rolling initiative first. Initiative being solely a method of resolving events should lend more, not less, credence to the idea of combat actions being permissible outside of combat, because the actions have a diagetic meaning within the game world.

Edit: casting a spell is also an action in combat. Are we then assuming you can't cast spells outside initiative?

Yes, you can break doors down and cast spells and so on outside of combat, but when you do you do not need an Action In Combat to do so, you just do it.

[Pex]

The most straightforward reading suggests readying an action applies to combat only... but it's vague enough that it's arguable. Personally, in a non-surprise situation, I'd give advantage on Initiative checks for readying an action. Just wandering around though, always being alert and ready for danger? That's what Initiative is for.

Also the Alert feat. If he wants to be permanently ready to react to danger, suggest he take the feat that lets him be permanently ready to react to danger.

This. If the player cares that much about it Alert feat is for him. It's what he really wants even if he doesn't consciously realize it and is just thinking about the Disadvantage mechanic.

[Coffee_Dragon]

Unless two knights are sparring for the prince's amusement when the prince happens to reach for the goblet, because then we're in combat and the PC will have a readied action to knock over the goblet.

But then the wizard's plan is doomed to fail, since reactions normally happen after the triggering event, and the prince's object interaction to grab the goblet and quaff its contents is atomic! Somebody stop those knight jerks from bringing the world into combat mode!

[Cybren]

Unless two knights are sparring for the prince's amusement when the prince happens to reach for the goblet, because then we're in combat and the PC will have a readied action to knock over the goblet.

IMNSHO, the obvious thing to do is to use initiative contests solely to resolve things that both parties attempt at the same time. If the prince declares "I'm taking a drink" at the same time that the detective realizes "the goblet is poisoned--I'm going to knock it over and yell stop!" then that's initiative. But if the detective keys himself up in advance to knock over the goblet if the prince puts down his book, then he's guaranteed to knock it over first, because his action was readied.

Of course, the prince may very well notice the tense detective staring fixedly at the prince with a clenched fist the whole time. And that could create its own legal/political problems--so it's better for the detective if he's invisible! Plus, then we can have a whole new argument in this thread about how hard it is to detect readied actions by invisible creatures who are Readying An Action instead of Hiding. :)

That's exactly my take: initiative is reacting, readying is proacting. If everyone is reacting to the same event, roll initiative. If someone is waiting for it, they win. You can say "that's just surprise!", and I'm agreeing with you, im just saying "I'm ready for x" is functionally the vector that would give you surprise in this context (since the default rules on surprise is only about combat)

[ClintACK]

Of course, the prince may very well notice the tense detective staring fixedly at the prince with a clenched fist the whole time. And that could create its own legal/political problems--so it's better for the detective if he's invisible! Plus, then we can have a whole new argument in this thread about how hard it is to detect readied actions by invisible creatures who are Readying An Action instead of Hiding. :)

Ooh. I want to play.

You *can* hide and ready an action at the same time. Once you've taken the Hide action, you don't lose the Hidden condition until you actually do something, so you can Ready an Action while Hidden Invisibly, and you don't lose Hidden or Invisible until the moment when your readied action triggers.

:)


That's exactly my take: initiative is reacting, readying is proacting. If everyone is reacting to the same event, roll initiative. If someone is waiting for it, they win. You can say "that's just surprise!", and I'm agreeing with you, im just saying "I'm ready for x" is functionally the vector that would give you surprise in this context (since the default rules on surprise is only about combat)

Interesting. I vaguely remember reading somewhere that in some context a Deception-Insight contest would be needed to determine surprise at the start of combat rather than a Stealth-Perception contest. I think the example was something like a social situation that turned into a fight where one side was planning the attack.

Is that RAW somewhere, or did I read it somewhere on here?

[Tanarii]

Interesting. I vaguely remember reading somewhere that in some context a Deception-Insight contest would be needed to determine surprise at the start of combat rather than a Stealth-Perception contest. I think the example was something like a social situation that turned into a fight where one side was planning the attack.

Is that RAW somewhere, or did I read it somewhere on here?
It's not RAW. But I've said in several different posts that in some situations I'll use it as a house-rule. Things like a ball or social event in which someone is attempting to move in and attack someone they're not directly interacting with. I don't use it for 'Mexican Standoff' situations where everyone is mentally prepared for the outbreak of violence though. That's what initiative rolls are for. But rather something like a group of assassins attempting to deceive the target that they are waiters as they approach some negotiating dignitaries for a kill. In that case, it's Deception vs passive insight replacing Stealth vs passive perception to achieve surprise at the outbreak of combat.

[Squeeq]

I mean, I guess he technically CAN do so, but it precludes him making perception checks, stealth checks, investigation, etc. etc. etc. The mental fatigue would also be an issue, and he'd probably be moving slower than everybody else, but there's no reason he can't be spending all his time on constant Trap Alert

[Mellack]

Lets look at what Ready says.
"you can take the Ready action on your turn so that you can act later in the round using your reaction."
I see a couple of problems there if you want to do it out of combat time. There are no turns for you to Ready on. There are no rounds either, so how do you act later in that round?
Then later it points out how you can use your reaction to use your Ready, reminding how you only get one reaction a round. Again, no rounds, no reactions to use.
By a strict RAW reading, it seems it cannot work. It seems to me the whole point of the Ready action is to allow you to do something on another persons turn. But individual turns only exist during combat. Out of that, people are free to act when they wish, so I would disallow Ready out of initiative turns.

[Vogonjeltz]

You're still drawing the same distinction. I can tell because you're trying to frame my argument as 'hinges on certain things only being possible in combat'. You've got it back to front. Combat is a set of rules designed for resolution of certain things.

The entire argument seems to function off of the following conceit:

Ready requires: "To do so, you can take the Ready action on your turn so that you can act later in the round using your reaction."

So the only circumstance delineated where a character can take the Ready action is on their turn during a round. There are no turns except in combat per the Combat Step by Step sidebar on 189: Repeat step 4, take turns, until the fighting stops.

Further mentioned on that page: "The game organizes the chaos of combat into a cycle of rounds and turns". So, although you can take actions or bonus actions or reactions outside of combat, Ready isn't one of those actions as it functions off.

When someone asks if they can ready an action out of combat, their intent is to be able to act first. Well, the games rules for determining who actually acts first is resolved by: Surprise and Initiative.

If the character isn't surprised and wins initiative they can act to ready their action on their first round, before the opponent would act.

Failing that, the opposition had better reaction time.

If it's not combat, then no action would even need to be "readied", the entire purpose of the Ready action is just to be able to interrupt another action, or time an action for later in the round.

[Cybren]

Outside of combat:
I'm ready for bob to do a thing
Bob does thing
I try to interrupt bob and have to roll initiative and beat him for my effect to go off first


Inside combat:

I'm ready for bob to do a thing
Bon does thing
I interrupt him and my effect goes off first


????????????????????

[Laserlight]

If everyone is reacting to the same event, roll initiative. If someone is waiting for it, they win.

Well, no. "I'm expecting it" isn't the same as "I'm faster than anyone else."

[ClintACK]

Inside combat:

I'm ready for bob to do a thing
Bon does thing
I interrupt him and my effect goes off first
Yep.



Outside of combat:
I'm ready for bob to do a thing
Bob does thing
I try to interrupt bob and have to roll initiative and beat him for my effect to go off first

Depends.

Scenario: I'm worried that Bob is going to betray us. So I announce (Out of Character to the DM) that I'm bracing myself to tackle Bob when he moves to draw a weapon.

Result 1: Six seconds later, Bob pulls out his knife and screams, "Die fiends!". Being ready, I tackle him before he can attack my allies. Yay!

Result 2: Three hours later, Bob pulls out his knife and screams, "Die fiends!". I was trying to be ready -- but it's been three hours. Everyone else in the party is surprised, but not me. I knew -- I told them! So Bob and I roll initiative. I can tackle him if I win, otherwise he gets to go first.

It's easy to hold yourself at hair-trigger readiness to leap into action for six seconds. Not so much for hours at a time.

[Cybren]

Well, no. "I'm expecting it" isn't the same as "I'm faster than anyone else."
Your speed doesn't matter in combat. That's the point of the comparison.


Yep.



Depends.

Scenario: I'm worried that Bob is going to betray us. So I announce (Out of Character to the DM) that I'm bracing myself to tackle Bob when he moves to draw a weapon.

Result 1: Six seconds later, Bob pulls out his knife and screams, "Die fiends!". Being ready, I tackle him before he can attack my allies. Yay!

Sure, this is the scenario I'm describing.


Result 2: Three hours later, Bob pulls out his knife and screams, "Die fiends!". I was trying to be ready -- but it's been three hours. Everyone else in the party is surprised, but not me. I knew -- I told them! So Bob and I roll initiative. I can tackle him if I win, otherwise he gets to go first.

It's easy to hold yourself at hair-trigger readiness to leap into action for six seconds. Not so much for hours at a time.

This is not. The premise of "I'm always taking the ready action in case ___" happens is silly, because 1) ready needs a more specific triggers than "any danger" as originally postulated in the OP, and 2) over a long period of time you will have to do something else.


Let me formally state it. My conjecture is this:
Out of combat, players "readying" for a particular event are posturing that if it happens, they were expecting it. For most non-combat scenarios, it will be a single sequence. You could resolve it as initiative, but what you're doing is saying "the person who is ready for it to happen has surprise, so they get to act first. Like max Wilson said he'd rule, if two people are both reacting to the same event, I'd have them roll initiative.

[MaxWilson]

Ooh. I want to play.

You *can* hide and ready an action at the same time. Once you've taken the Hide action, you don't lose the Hidden condition until you actually do something, so you can Ready an Action while Hidden Invisibly, and you don't lose Hidden or Invisible until the moment when your readied action triggers.

Yes, I agree, but I've seen some people argue in all seriousness to the contrary. Hence, it is argument-fodder.

(In actuality I hate arguing about obvious things, or things that ought to be obvious--but I like joking about them.)

==================================


Outside of combat:
I'm ready for bob to do a thing
Bob does thing
I try to interrupt bob and have to roll initiative and beat him for my effect to go off first


Inside combat:

I'm ready for bob to do a thing
Bon does thing
I interrupt him and my effect goes off first

????????????????????

This is an artifact of cyclic initiative. Because 5e's default rules give you an utterly predictable initiative order, you can go "before" Bob on round #2 simply by going after him on round #1 and holding your action; or you can simply go before him on round #2; either way, you can be guaranteed to be ready when Bob actually does his thing.

If you roll initiative every round (even lazily), that can't happen--there's just as much chance that Bob will get his action off on round #2 before you manage to ready your action as there would be a chance for him outside of combat to go first. That is, you automatically beat him if you are six or more seconds earlier (Ready on round #1), but if you declare on round #2 then it's an initiative contest. Voila, unification of in-combat and out-of-combat physics--they both work the same way.

Cyclic initiative is awful.

[ClintACK]

Yes, I agree, but I've seen some people argue in all seriousness to the contrary. Hence, it is argument-fodder.

What's the counter argument? That taking the Ready Action is an Action? But the spell description specifies an attack or a spell. Actions, Movements, Hide, Dodge... none of that should break Invisibility.

[Cybren]

What's the counter argument? That taking the Ready Action is an Action? But the spell description specifies an attack or a spell. Actions, Movements, Hide, Dodge... none of that should break Invisibility.

I think the counter arguments are by people taking a convoluted approach to stealth assuming that once you stop taking the hide action you are no longer hidden no matter what

[Tanarii]

Outside of combat:
I'm ready for bob to do a thing
Bob does thing
I try to interrupt bob and have to roll initiative and beat him for my effect to go off first Thats not outside of combat. That is 'combat', because you are attempting to do something that involves resolution order in a specific order. In D&D, those rules are the so-called combat rules, specifically initiative and the other rules that interact with it.



Inside combat:

I'm ready for bob to do a thing
Bon does thing
I interrupt him and my effect goes off first


????????????????????You seem to have skipped the step of rolling initiative in this case.

Also Ready doesn't interrupt. It is a reaction, so resolves after the trigger has already happened. The only interrupting in 5e that I know off the top of my head is Counterspell and Opportunity Attacks, and they are explicit in how they interrupt. (There are probably others that are similarly explicit, but Ready reactions resolve after the trigger finishes per PHB p. 193)

So if initiative has already been rolled, you can react before Bob, by taking your turn without a Ready Action. You can also react to Bob's full turn of actions by taking your turn after Bob normally. Or, you can Ready an Action to react to Bob by taking an action right after Bob does something, but before he continues on to do something else.

If timing is important and the group doesn't want to use DM-Fiat, that's what initiative and accompanying actions that interact with it are for. If you want to declare that you 'Ready an Action' when it hasn't already been rolled, you are asking the DM to roll initiative right now, then when it gets to your turn to declare an action Ready, then resolve it if something happens.

Edit: to be clear, it may sound like I'm being disparaging when I say resolve by DM-Fiat, but I'm not. I actually think it's better in this situation. If you're trying to interrupt Bob in doing something, just tell the DM that's what you want to do, and let him rule how it plays out. Don't try and bring the initiative resolution rules into play by using terms from them when they aren't already in play, that just confuses the matter.

[Coffee_Dragon]

Thats not outside of combat. That is 'combat', because you are attempting to do something that involves resolution order in a specific order. In D&D, those rules are the so-called combat rules, specifically initiative and the other rules that interact with it.

Or at least if the things that people are attempting are combat-oriented. If I were resolving a game based on grabbing something the fastest off a table, for instance, I would do opposed DEX checks, not initiative specifically. (It makes sense for instance that the bonus from Alert applies only in situations where you're not actively anticipating something; something that makes your reflexes better in all situations would be represented by a DEX bonus.)


Also Ready doesn't interrupt. It is a reaction, so resolves after the trigger has already happened.

Yup. Which is why the knight jerks have doomed the prince with the poisoned drink. (Oooorrr everyone who is not actually fighting could just be treated as not being in combat if there's no real reason to do otherwise. Yay the prince lives)

[Cybren]

Thats not outside of combat. That is 'combat', because you are attempting to do something that involves resolution order in a specific order. In D&D, those rules are the so-called combat rules, specifically initiative and the other rules that interact with it.

In your scenario, somehow there is a point in time where the character was unable to say "i am waiting for this to happen" an then suddenly there is. It also changes the important matter that: your initiative order doesn't matter, you are premeditating the event, not reacting to it. Initiative measures reaction timing, but you are not reacting to anything, you are waiting for it. The "ready an action" action does not carry a failure chance. "is the prince drinking?" "no" "well i ready an action to knock over his cup before he can" is a different scene than "you see the prince start to take a drink" "I knock it out of his hand!" In the former case, the prior declaration of intent should override anything the prince can do, wheras in the latter case it comes down to a matter of reaction speed.


This is the reason I say you are drawing a distinction between in/out of combat. This creates an artifact where you have to determine when initiative 'starts', but a particular characters ability to act and react doesn't somehow shift when initiative is rolled.



Also Ready doesn't interrupt. It is a reaction, so resolves after the trigger has already happened. The only interrupting in 5e that I know off the top of my head is Counterspell and Opportunity Attacks, and they are explicit in how they interrupt. (There are probably others that are similarly explicit, but Ready reactions resolve after the trigger finishes per PHB p. 193)


You'll notice I worded the knocking over the cup with "when the prince reaches for it". So you are interrupting the princes full action of "grab ant take a drink" by specifying when it is you stop him. This isn't really a relevant criticism.



So if initiative has already been rolled, you can react before Bob, by taking your turn without a Ready Action. You can also react to Bob's full turn of actions by taking your turn after Bob normally. Or, you can Ready an Action to react to Bob by taking an action right after Bob does something, but before he continues on to do something else.
Except these are very very often single events where rolling and tracking initiative is cumbersome. What we're doing is just assuming that there was a continuous span of invisible time where characters have had virtual turns all along. Across an infinitely long stretch of time between two parties, initiative 'order' becomes invisible, because it's just rotating between two people. We're abstracting away the rolling of initiative and assuming everything functions as if it was. The only place where timing matters is if multiple people have plans to do the same thing or if multiple people react to the same thing.



If timing is important and the group doesn't want to use DM-Fiat, that's what initiative and accompanying actions that interact with it are for. If you want to declare that you 'Ready an Action' when it hasn't already been rolled, you are asking the DM to roll initiative right now, then when it gets to your turn to declare an action Ready, then resolve it if something happens.

see above. if throughout a social event where you are waiting for something to happen "say, someone to stand up from their table", the DM shouldn't decide to roll initiative when they stand up. You've been waiting for it this whole time.



Edit: to be clear, it may sound like I'm being disparaging when I say resolve by DM-Fiat, but I'm not. I actually think it's better in this situation. If you're trying to interrupt Bob in doing something, just tell the DM that's what you want to do, and let him rule how it plays out. Don't try and bring the initiative resolution rules into play by using terms from them when they aren't already in play, that just confuses the matter.

I am a strong proponent of DM fiat. I'm virtually stating that I prefer it here: in place of always having initiative rolled, you abstract it via fiat.

[MaxWilson]

What's the counter argument? That taking the Ready Action is an Action? But the spell description specifies an attack or a spell. Actions, Movements, Hide, Dodge... none of that should break Invisibility.

The counter-argument has never been clear to me. It's not typically presented as an argument, just as a statement by a DM (i.e. poster on this forum) that if you didn't Hide that round, you can be seen at their table. There might be some RAW-quoting involved but if so it's not quoting that ever made sense to me.

In short, I'm the wrong guy to ask.

[Malifice]

You cant ready an action outside of the (contrived) turn based combat sequence.

So no, by both RAW and RAI he cant do it.

[Giant2005]

What the character wants to do is exactly what the surprise mechanic is for. Surprise is just the effect of you being ready for combat and your opponents not being ready for combat. So just point your player to the surprise rules on page 189 of the PHB. If he qualifies for surprise at the start of any given combat, then he can go ahead and use that first action to dodge.

[RickAllison]

Some thoughts on why I would allow it:

1) They cannot do anything. They are so focused on Dodging that they aren't able to pay attention to anything else, not even Perception. Remember also that readied actions require reactions to activate, so...

2) It doesn't help against surprise! Being surprised doesn't let you have reactions until your turn passes (and you don't get an action on that turn so you can't Ready another Dodge!). But due to being so occupied with other activities that you don't get to use Perception, you are going to be surprised by any hiding encounter that you can't be warned of. Now if you have the Alert feat or the Weapon of Warning, that might be a different case. But a super-paranoid person with those seems like real RP to me, while they still find themselves behind in other encounters.

3) He might love that ability when he succeeds on a Dex save against a spear trap, but he might find himself in quite the predicament when he is dodging while others are using their reactions to grab the sides of a pit trap...

[MaxWilson]

You cant ready an action outside of the (contrived) turn based combat sequence.

So no, by both RAW and RAI he cant do it.

In your game, can you Hide outside of the turn based combat sequence? Hide and Ready are both actions...

If not--@ClintACK, Malifice might be the right guy to ask your question.

[bid]

So no, by both RAW and RAI he cant do it.
It's also RAF.

Who'd like to start every combat with them orcs having a readied action?

[Malifice]

In your game, can you Hide outside of the turn based combat sequence? Hide and Ready are both actions...

Hiding yep. Searching too.

'Readying' is a special intiative action to smooth over a mechanical contrivance in the turn based (stop start) mechanic of combat rounds. It has no place outside of the contrivance of a combat round (unlike the Search, Hide, Cast a Spell etc actions).

The default position is everyone is 'ready' all the time. Youre all walking around with bows drawn, swords out, listenting and ready for action. An opposed dexterity check (initiative) determines who gets that readied action off first.

For those times when only one side is ready, and the other side are caught unaware, there are the Surprise rules.

My response to a Player that asked this would be 'No you cant (for reasons explained above) but I'll let you declare to me now that on round One of every combat you're in from this point onwards, you take the Dodge action as your first action - no takings back'.

When he mumbles 'No thanks, I'll be right' under his breath, we can get on with playing the game.

[Reynaert]

My response to a Player that asked this would be 'No you cant (for reasons explained above) but I'll let you declare to me now that on round One of every combat you're in from this point onwards, you take the Dodge action as your first action - no takings back'.

When he mumbles 'No thanks, I'll be right' under his breath, we can get on with playing the game.

You know, that 'I'll let you declare' bit is strictly worse than not doing that, so that's kind of a non-argument (and the 'no takings back' bit is just being a jerk).

To make it interesting, I would have taken the opportunity to introduce a houserule that if you do declare the first action of combat beforehand, you get some kind of bonus (advantage on initiative or something like that).

[Malifice]

You know, that 'I'll let you declare' bit is strictly worse than not doing that, so that's kind of a non-argument (and the 'no takings back' bit is just being a jerk).

To make it interesting, I would have taken the opportunity to introduce a houserule that if you do declare the first action of combat beforehand, you get some kind of bonus (advantage on initiative or something like that).

I was intentionally being facetious in response to a gamist question from a hypothetical player who is trying to game the contrived initiative and turn system to get a benefit.

Kind of like if in 3.5 if a player tried to heal a PC at -9 HP by drowning him (which, via a quirk in the rules, sets your HP at zero). My response would be:

'He dies'.

In the above situation, im doing it to let the player know I'm onto him. He'll no doubt politely refuse my offer/ smack down, listen to my reasonable explanation why I wont allow it, and the game goes on (likely with much less efforts from said player or any other player to ask silly questions like that again).

I like to set the tone early. Angry DM is my homeboy.

[Reynaert]

I was intentionally being facetious in response to a gamist question from a hypothetical player who is trying to game the contrived initiative and turn system to get a benefit.

Kind of like if in 3.5 if a player tried to heal a PC at -9 HP by drowning him (which, via a quirk in the rules, sets your HP at zero). My response would be:

'He dies'.

In the above situation, im doing it to let the player know I'm onto him. He'll no doubt politely refuse my offer/ smack down, listen to my reasonable explanation why I wont allow it, and the game goes on (likely with much less efforts from said player or any other player to ask silly questions like that again).

I like to set the tone early. Angry DM is my homeboy.

I'm not sure I would compare 'ready dodge outside combat' with 'heal a dying PC by drowning them', the second seems a whole lot more gamist to me, whereas the first does require a modicum of thought to reach the conclusion that you can't do that. As a matter of fact, what the 'can you ready dodge outside of combat' reminds me of is the old 'are PCs always checking for traps' argument. The latter has been fixed with passive checks, obviously, but in the old days it was a big discussion (brilliantly lampshaded in 'the gamers').

[Malifice]

I'm not sure I would compare 'ready dodge outside combat' with 'heal a dying PC by drowning them', the second seems a whole lot more gamist to me, whereas the first does require a modicum of thought to reach the conclusion that you can't do that. As a matter of fact, what the 'can you ready dodge outside of combat' reminds me of is the old 'are PCs always checking for traps' argument. The latter has been fixed with passive checks, obviously, but in the old days it was a big discussion (brilliantly lampshaded in 'the gamers').

It might be an innocent mistake: (Hey DM, can I do this?) in which case a simple: (No, the ready action is purely to smooth over issues with the turn based nature of modelling combat rounds; its assumed you're always walking around with a ready action, and when you're not the surprise rules handle that. In fact you dont even have to tell me what your readied action is yet. At the start of combat, everyone gets a Dexterity check to determine who gets that 'readied action' off first - you can wait and tell me what your readied action is when your first turn comes up) should suffice.

[Zalabim]

Sorry, yes, that is correct.

But I AM right about how one does not "ready" the Dodge action, one TAKES the dodge action.

You can ready most any kind of action, even improvised activities if they don't take too long. So you can ready the dodge action. The only possible benefit to actually doing this that I could imagine would be that your turn might be described differently, so you might have a narrative benefit from not looking like you're actually dodging until the last moment. Even that depends on how descriptive a DM is with combat actions. It definitely carries considerable downsides compared to just dodging on your turn in the first place.


You'll notice I worded the knocking over the cup with "when the prince reaches for it". So you are interrupting the princes full action of "grab ant take a drink" by specifying when it is you stop him. This isn't really a relevant criticism.

Except these are very very often single events where rolling and tracking initiative is cumbersome. What we're doing is just assuming that there was a continuous span of invisible time where characters have had virtual turns all along. Across an infinitely long stretch of time between two parties, initiative 'order' becomes invisible, because it's just rotating between two people. We're abstracting away the rolling of initiative and assuming everything functions as if it was. The only place where timing matters is if multiple people have plans to do the same thing or if multiple people react to the same thing.

see above. if throughout a social event where you are waiting for something to happen "say, someone to stand up from their table", the DM shouldn't decide to roll initiative when they stand up. You've been waiting for it this whole time.

I am a strong proponent of DM fiat. I'm virtually stating that I prefer it here: in place of always having initiative rolled, you abstract it via fiat.

If your wizard knows the drink is poisoned and wants to use mage hand to get it away from the prince before he can take a drink, but wants to specifically wait until the prince is about to grab it, I'd say:

1) Your wizard is being overly dramatic. (probably in character.) But it works.
2) Your wizard is trying to be subtle, and wants it to look like an accident and that's probably worth some consideration whether it should automatically work.
3) Your wizard isn't sure if the prince already knows the drink is poisoned and doesn't want to tip off anyone else that the wizard knows unless it's necessary, but then the wizard could spend a lot of time staring at a cup and nearly casting mage hand. That would get tiring and could itself tip off that the wizard believes the drink is suspicious.

In general terms, if you want to do something after something else happens and you aren't currently taking turns in some kind of order like initiative you say so and you can just do that thing after the other thing happens. Since you only get a single attack off a readied action, allowing a readied attack would simulate one of the old ranged weapon specialization rules. You could make a single attack at the start of combat if you already had an arrow knocked.


Some thoughts on why I would allow it:

1) They cannot do anything. They are so focused on Dodging that they aren't able to pay attention to anything else, not even Perception. Remember also that readied actions require reactions to activate, so...

2) It doesn't help against surprise! Being surprised doesn't let you have reactions until your turn passes (and you don't get an action on that turn so you can't Ready another Dodge!). But due to being so occupied with other activities that you don't get to use Perception, you are going to be surprised by any hiding encounter that you can't be warned of.

Evil. I approve.

[RickAllison]

Evil. I approve.

Indeed. They get a bonus if the enemies aren't trying to hide, but a heavy penalty if they are. Also, I love the image of an NPC appearing in front of the party and the PC starting to fidget around and dodge the non-existent arrows not-fired at him.