Simple RAW Thread for 3.5 #36: The Triple Dozen

[sleepy]

prelude/legalese

when taking a readied action:

"You can take a 5-foot step as part of your readied action, but only if you don’t otherwise move any distance during the round."

when charging:

"[...] you must move to the closest space from which you can attack the opponent. (If this space is occupied or otherwise blocked, you can’t charge.) Second, if any line from your starting space to the ending space passes through a square that blocks movement (such as a wall), slows movement (such as difficult terrain), or contains a creature (even an ally), you can’t charge."

when Good Moves Go Bad:

"Accidentally Ending Movement in an Illegal Space: Sometimes a character ends its movement while moving through a space where it’s not allowed to stop [...] When that happens, put your miniature in the last legal position you occupied, or the closest legal position, if there’s a legal position that’s closer."

...but also:

" [...] any time before your next action, you may take the readied action in response to that condition. The action occurs just before the action that triggers it. If the triggered action is part of another character’s activities, you interrupt the other character. Assuming he is still capable of doing so, he continues his actions once you complete your readied action."

emphasis mine


Ok so. The question(s) regard movement during readied actions during partially resolved charges, and completing previous actions which are no longer valid.

For instance. Suppose an action-readier is charged, and the charge triggers the readied action late in its movement (ie "enemy within 5'"). The readied action (which could include a 5 foot step) could then be used both to attack the charger, and to... well, make it pretty unclear how to proceed exactly. Say the 5-foot step caused the charger's new "closest square" to be blocked/difficult terrain.

Q140.0 In such a case, is there, in fact, a new closest square? If so, closest from where?

Note that all this would have to have "occur[s] just before the action that triggered it". I'm not sure if "the action that triggered it" means the declared action in the strict sense (charge), or the ready trigger (halfway through), also.

Q140.1 You do attempt to complete the charge, right? Just stepping at all doesn't prevent the charge from completing, if the original path/destination is no longer a valid charge?

Q140.2 In the case that you don't or can't, then where does the charger end up? Is the "last legal position you occupied, or the closest legal position, if there’s a legal position that’s closer" a new different legal charge destination (based from where)? A position from the legal part of the partial charge path? Any space legal to occupy? What's "closer" here, exactly?


And a related thought:

Q141.0 Can you deliberately stack an AoO and a readied action trigger? For instance, if I ready an action for "enemy leaves a threatened square", then someone obliges (perhaps due to reach), do the two triggers interfere? What order would they happen in?

Q141.1 What about if the first of the two triggers is successfully used to trip?


this may not be framed the most clearly, sorry