Readying an Action and Using a Reaction

[Thrasher92]

Hey,

Can you ready an action like "I'm casting Burning Hands, whenever they get within melee range" on your turn, then also have a reaction prepared for after they hit you, like Hellish Rebuke?

Would that be casting two spells on one turn, or does it count as your turn and then the enemies turn?

In my head it goes like this:
1. On my turn I use my action to ready Burning Hands when the enemy gets within melee range of me
2. On HIS turn he approaches me, sword out and ready to swing
3. Now that he is within melee range, my trigger activates and I cast Burning Hands, I damage him, but not enough to kill him.
4. He hits me with his sword, deals damage to me, ow
5. I use my reaction to cast Hellish Rebuke to (hopefully) do enough damage to finish him off.

I think this is correct, I just wanted to make sure.

[PhantomSoul]

When you Ready an Action, you spend your Reaction to react to the trigger (and do what you'd Readied), so you can't do this because you only have one reaction. You can do either your Readied Action or your other Reaction option (here Hellish Rebuke), but that means you can't do both.

[opaopajr]

Combat Ch. > Reaction Sec.
paragraph 2 & 3

"First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your reaction. Then, 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. Examples include “If the cultist steps on the trapdoor, I’ll pull the lever that opens it,” and “If the goblin steps next to me, I move away.”

When the trigger occurs, you can either take your reaction right after the trigger finishes or ignore the trigger. Remember that you can take only one reaction per round."
(D&D 5e Basic. August 2014. p. 72.)

1. You designate your trigger. (Basically aim your Ready Action.)
2. Choose your action or move up to speed ahead of time. (Basically load your Ready Action.)
3. When trigger occurs either take your reaction right after trigger or ignore trigger. (Fire or ignore your aimed and loaded Ready Action.)

Reminder text is there to say that your taken Ready Action also consumes your Reaction if you fire it.
:smallcool:

[Ninja_Prawn]

You're conveniently ignoring paragraph 4, which uses the words "when you ready a spell, you cast it as normal but hold its energy" which kind of implies you expend the spell slot on your turn. I've never seen a DM (myself included) who ruled it that way, but... the wording is ambiguous. I suspect that is what gave the OP the idea that casting a reaction spell when you've already readied an action spell might be a problem.

However, readying burning hands but then casting hellish rebuke (that is to say, if the trigger is not fired or you choose to ignore it) does not run afoul of the 'two spells in one turn' clause, for two reasons. One, the reaction probably takes place on a different turn to when you readied the action, and two, that rule only applies to bonus action spells in the first place. If you had two actions (such as via Action Surge), you could happily cast two spells in one turn.

[Malifice]

You're conveniently ignoring paragraph 4, which uses the words "when you ready a spell, you cast it as normal but hold its energy" which kind of implies you expend the spell slot on your turn. I've never seen a DM (myself included) who ruled it that way, but... the wording is ambiguous. I suspect that is what gave the OP the idea that casting a reaction spell when you've already readied an action spell might be a problem.

However, readying burning hands but then casting hellish rebuke does not run afoul of the 'two spells in one turn' clause, for two reasons. One, the reaction probably takes place on a different turn to when you readied the action, and two, that rule only applies to bonus action spells in the first place. If you had two actions (such as via Action Surge), you could happily cast two spells in one turn.

The problem is the that he loses his reaction when he casts the spell.

He readies burning hands as his action with [trigger]. Later that round the trigger happens and he casts burning hands [using his reaction].

He now cant hellish rebuke afterwards as he's used his reaction for the round. He needs to wait till his next turn starts before his reaction refreshes.

[Coffee_Dragon]

PHB 193 states that the spell is cast (and suspended) when the ready action is taken.

[Ninja_Prawn]

The problem is the that he loses his reaction when he casts the spell.

Apologies, I had thought the OP already knew that and was asking about the situation where they didn't cast burning hands for whatever reason.

Re-reading the post, I can see that that isn't the case. Yes, of course you only get one reaction per round.

[DKing9114]

Hey,

Can you ready an action like "I'm casting Burning Hands, whenever they get within melee range" on your turn, then also have a reaction prepared for after they hit you, like Hellish Rebuke?

Would that be casting two spells on one turn, or does it count as your turn and then the enemies turn?

In my head it goes like this:
1. On my turn I use my action to ready Burning Hands when the enemy gets within melee range of me
2. On HIS turn he approaches me, sword out and ready to swing
3. Now that he is within melee range, my trigger activates and I cast Burning Hands, I damage him, but not enough to kill him.
4. He hits me with his sword, deals damage to me, ow
5. I use my reaction to cast Hellish Rebuke to (hopefully) do enough damage to finish him off.

I think this is correct, I just wanted to make sure.

When you Ready an Action, you declare an action and a triggering condition. If that trigger condition comes true, you may use your reaction (or not) to take that action. The trigger doesn't go off automatically.