readied actions?

[Origomar]

Never really understood how these work.

when i reveiwed it on the srd it seemed almost like "if you guess what the enemy does, you get to go first in the initiative line"

i assume that i am wrong or am misinterpretting the intent of a readied action.

[Waker]

Basically it is used to counter or prepare for a scenario that you see about to happen.
-Readying an action to attack when a spellcaster tries to cast defensively. Thereby bypassing the prevention of Attack of Opportunity and potentially interrupting their spell.
-Readying an action to attack a charging opponent. In a situation where it would be disadvantageous to approach an opponent or where you cannot attack an enemy (such as a flying enemy) you could opt to attack the enemy when they came into range. Certain weapons, most prominently pole arms gain bonus damage when set against a charge.

There are any number of uses, it just depends on the situation. The description is on pg 160 of the Players Handbook.

[SiuiS]

It's an interrupt, which serves two purposes.
First, you don't hide that you ready. So "I ready an action to junk-stab the first person to try and go through this door" would stop non-tactical combat folks from trying to go through the door. No one wants to take a junk-stab for the team.
Second, it allows you to pre-empt obvious actions by countering them. Readying to trip the guy who charges you will stop their charge, should you succeed. Readying to grapple the enemy when he tries to stand up from prone would prevent that guy from standing, should you succeed. It is functionally similar to an additional AoO. It is a mental deterrent, and allows you to maintain your AoO for unforeseen situations.

As an example- you are trapped in an arena with a barbarian charger. If he moves adjacent to you, he will hit you; if he hits you, he will kill you. However, once his rage ends he's easy meat.

Ready an action to move 30' away when the barbarian charges to within 10'. Keep readying that specific course of action, and he will be unable to actually close with you, period. When he gets close, your turn triggers, you move, and next turn you go beforethe barbarian. Stay shifty, outlast, and outlive.

[Cerlis]

My issue is that you are effectively wasting a turn, for something that may happen.

Readying for a charge against a melee opponent seems like the only scenario i thought of before that hada more than 50% chance of working. ( a smart opponent will do something to avoid or disrupt you, and you have effectively forfeighted your standard action). Even disrupting a spell only works when the caster doesnt have the opportunity to move 5 feet in melee, or duck behind cover for ranged.

If its possible to ready a move action the "ready a move" seems like the only sensible use of a readied action other than ones meant to try to capture a prisoner.

[Zeofar]

when i reveiwed it on the srd it seemed almost like "if you guess what the enemy does, you get to go first in the initiative line"

As stated, it is an interrupt (You can do a non-interrupt readied action, but you might as well delay your action if that's your intent), not a guess and win a bonus thing. You don't "get to go first in the initiative line"; you actually decrease your initiative unless you lose almost a whole turn rotation.

[Andraste]

As an example- you are trapped in an arena with a barbarian charger. If he moves adjacent to you, he will hit you; if he hits you, he will kill you. However, once his rage ends he's easy meat.

Ready an action to move 30' away when the barbarian charges to within 10'. Keep readying that specific course of action, and he will be unable to actually close with you, period. When he gets close, your turn triggers, you move, and next turn you go beforethe barbarian. Stay shifty, outlast, and outlive.

This won't work. Lets say he's 30 feet away from you. He tries to charge you, your action occurs first so you get to 60 feet away, but then you're still close enough for him to get to you. You only get one action, so you won't be able to ready it again before he gets to you.

[Toliudar]

This won't work. Lets say he's 30 feet away from you. He tries to charge you, your action occurs first so you get to 60 feet away, but then you're still close enough for him to get to you. You only get one action, so you won't be able to ready it again before he gets to you.

But if your readied action isn't 30' straight back, relative to him, and if he doesn't have some feat that allows him to turn as part of a charge, then it's quite likely that he is in fact out of luck. He can't continue to charge you, and he may not have enough movement left to even reach you and get in a regular attack.

Remember that a readied action doesn't need to happen at the beginning of someone's action (for example, if someone passes through a doorway as a part of their move action, they may trigger a readied action in the middle of that move). So I don't see any problem with readying an action, triggered by "somebody gets within 10' of me.

[Kuma Kode]

Readying an action to move away is similar to the spiked chain reach/AoO/jump back tactic parodied in an earlier OOTS strip. Under ideal conditions, it can be almost impossible to do anything about, but rarely will a character find himself on a flat plane with no obstructions the charger could try to shepherd him with.

Or cliffs.

EDIT: Also, you could just... not try to charge him. Shoot him with a bow repeatedly. Every round he readies to move, you can shoot him without him doing anything about it. If he retaliates or otherwise neglects to ready an action, charge him.

[Andraste]

Remember that a readied action doesn't need to happen at the beginning of someone's action

The action occurs just before the action that triggers it.

I think that the readied move would happen first, but the triggering action would still have to happen the same way it would have.

So I guess that would work.

[Gamer Girl]

The ready action is in response to a common problem in games.


DM:The lich lord stands next to the pool of lava holding the orb of life just inches from the lava and watches you carefully.
Player 1:Tobin will shoot the lich lord with a holy arrow! Roll
DM:As soon as the lich lord sees your going to shoot he drop the orb of life in the lava...
Players:"That's not fair! It's not the lich lords turn!"


And even if you try to do initiative for such actions...the PC's will often win. After all any high dex PC can beat anything and go first. So if you do it 'old west draw style' the PC always wins.

The problem can also come back an haunt the players, of course:

DM:The Orc Wiccan starts to cast a spell...
Player 1:Kog the slow will throw an axe at him!
DM: Roll initiative The orc rolls a nice 11, but poor Kog with his -1 initiative penalty rolls a 2.
DM:The Orc casts his fireball first
Player 1:But..but...Kog is only five feet away, has his axe in hand ready to throw and was watching to see if the orc moved at all!

[term1nally s1ck]

Readied actions are awesome for 2 very good reasons.

"I ready an action to blast the enemy caster when he casts a spell."

"I ready an action to attack then 5' step back when the enemy attacks me in melee."

[Elric VIII]

"I ready an action to attack then 5' step back when the enemy attacks me in melee."

Does this actually work vs opponents of the same size/reach as you?

I was under the impression that you could only ready standard or move actions, not a full round's worth.

[Kuma Kode]

Does this actually work vs opponents of the same size/reach as you?

I was under the impression that you could only ready standard or move actions, not a full round's worth.

You are allowed a 5' step during your readied action if your action did not actually involve movement.

[term1nally s1ck]

I had an arena fight on these very boards where the guy I was fighting ended up tying his sword to himself and throwing it at me to try and do any damage at all.

I cut the rope, took the sword, and threw it into a lake.

Readied actions, when used well, result in one of two things happening: You get caught in a deadlock for a looong time, or you end up in a battle of wits, trying to outsmart your opponent with a trigger that lets you hit them but doesn't let them hit you. Can be quite the interesting fight.

[Elric VIII]

You are allowed a 5' step during your readied action if your action did not actually involve movement.

That's awesome. I'm usually the only one to use readied actions at all in my group, with that rule I can be even more powerful.

[Fitz10019]

Readied actions are also good ways to conserve consumables. As a caster, you might think the rest of the party can finish the encounter without you using up more spells, but you ready an action so you can help if needed. Or if you hit a monster with a tanglefoot bag, and the rest of the party can finish it off with ranged attacks given enough time, ready another tanglefoot bag, triggered if it breaks out. You might not need to use that 2nd bag.

[Origomar]

so if someone were to make a readied action and that action doesnt happen, what haopens then?

[term1nally s1ck]

They take their next turn as normal. action is effectively lost.

[Greenish]

Readying for a charge against a melee opponent seems like the only scenario i thought of before that hada more than 50% chance of working.

Of course, Steadfast Boots (1400gp, MIC) allow you to treat any two-handed weapon you're holding as readied vs. charge, with double damage even if the weapon wouldn't normally have it. No actions required.

so if someone were to make a readied action and that action doesnt happen, what haopens then?

Then you stand there like a fool, and Mr. T will pity you.