My DM requested that I post here to try and get some clarification on how specific the trigger needs to be when Readying an action. Because the examples in the PHB are super specific, my DM currently rules that triggers need to be specific. For example, my character readied the Attack action with the trigger being if the monster enters my reach. My DM said I had to focus on 1 out of the 8 squares in my melee reach and could only use the readied action if the monster appeared in that square. Another example our cleric readied an action with the trigger, "If anything comes through that doorway I cast Guiding Bolt." As the doorway was 10 feet (2 squares) wide and the DM required the cleric to pick one square of the doorway or the other."
My interpretation of triggers is far looser, especially as the PHB language is, "First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your reaction." It seems pretty reasonable that a creature entering my reach is "a perceivable circumstance." Or a creature entering through a doorway, regardless of how wide it is.
It kinda depends on what you want really, as a DM I often call that when a PC says "Whenever ANYTHING comes through that door, I shoot it" and then an ally comes through first, the trigger is... well... triggered thus they must choose then and there to either use their reaction to make the readied action. I find it ok if they say, "whenever something hostile comes within reach, I blast it" or as specific as "as soon as THAT giant wasp comes close enough to attack, I attack it".
Do remember that a readied action activates AFTER the trigger, so you need to be particular. If you want to attack when the target is within range, don't make it whenever they attack.
I think it all comes down to what is most fun for your playstyle as well as how badly it slows down the pace of combat; if you need to describe very particular PC "when that an enemy enters a square adjacent to me I attack it" GM "which enemy?" PC "ok, an orc" GM "which orc?" PC "that particular one" GM "ok, and which square?" PC "Ugh, fine the one in front of me" GM "cool, and which attack?" PC "OH COME ON!"
I also feel that being too particular sets up the dm for "cheating". Oh, your ready action is triggered by THAT square? The monster just so happens to use the square next to it. You'll need to trust your DM to make the decision beforehand, but I think it may lead to frustration that way.
as you've discovered, the rules in the Player's Handbook don't go into a lot of detail about this - that's how 5th edition works, it leaves a lot of the decision making to your DM and you on how to run something.
The examples are fairly good though for gauging the general level needed in terms of specifics.
Making people choose a specific square seems a little detailed compared to how I run the game, or have seen others interpret this rule, but I'm not going to go as far as saying your DM is wrong to choose to use the rules in this way.
I will say that the more usual interpretation of the rules for readying an action require the players to be less specific. Generally speaking the player needs to declare:
What action they are readying: attack, cast a spell, move etc.
What they are going to use to do that: attacking with my bow, the spell is sleep
What is the trigger: Usually when a certain creature performs a certain action, or when an environmental condition occurs.
Note that as soon as the trigger occurs, the player has the choice whether they actually want to follow through, or cancel.
In the case of "As soon as something comes through that door, I attack it with my bow" and then the first creature through the door is a friendly target - the character isn't forced to attack the friendly target, they can cancel their readied action. What they are not allowed to do is revise their readied action, "Oh, I meant the first hostile target" though as a DM this is where some common sense comes into play - it was fairly obvious that they character would only want to attack hostile targets, so you could say, "the friendly npc you weren't expecting to see runs through the door, looking surprised to see you - do you attack him with your readied action? No? Ok, as they run through, hot on their heels is the ogre that's chasing them. Ah, you want to attack that? Fair enough, make your roll!"
For me, the key thing to remember is that D&D is a fun, narrative game. We're telling a story of these characters and it's not a competition between the DM and the players. As a DM, I want the characters to succeed at pulling off heroic acts that make the players happy, I just make it challenging for them to do so, so that the achievement means something! The point here is that this is a game mechanic to help adjudicate what is and isn't possible with regards conditional actions. It's fairly normal for a player to say, "If <thing happens> then my character <does action>" because they don't know the future, but are indicating that they are ready for a situation they predict will happen.
Some other examples
A rogue with a bow has rolled well on initiative and is acting first. They want to use their sneak attack, but none of the monsters are engaged in combat with the other characters yet, so the player elects to move the rogue to a good vantage point and then chooses the ready action, declaring, "As soon as one of those orcs is in melee range of our paladin, I will attack that orc" - this means the orc could move up to the paladin, or the paladin could move up to the orc, either fulfills this trigger. Personally I rule that saying, "as soon as any of those orcs are in melee range of any party member, I will attack that orc" is a little too vague, but I know DM's who allow that.
A fighter is part of a group that are hunting a thief in a town and is standing on a ledge above an alley and declares, "I am waiting until I see the target we're hunting run down this alley, then I plan to jump off and land on him, tackling him to the ground" - the rules for doing this are a bit arbitrary, as they allow for grappling and push attacks, but not really a maneuver such as this. That's something else for the DM to rule on, however the ready action here is pretty clear.
Something in the same vein: Say a character is hiding behind a desk and wants to attack an enemy as it enters the room. So the ready action he takes is "as soon as I hear the door close, I attack the nearest enemy". The door bangs shut and the character pops up to see that the enemy is still at the door, at 15 ft while the range with his melee weapon is 5 ft.
Would you allow the character to move as part of a ready action? RAW it says either move or perform an action, not both, but if the character still has movement left (or hasn't moved last turn) I don't really know if it is broken to allow it. Your thoughts?
My DM requested that I post here to try and get some clarification on how specific the trigger needs to be when Readying an action. Because the examples in the PHB are super specific, my DM currently rules that triggers need to be specific. For example, my character readied the Attack action with the trigger being if the monster enters my reach. My DM said I had to focus on 1 out of the 8 squares in my melee reach and could only use the readied action if the monster appeared in that square. Another example our cleric readied an action with the trigger, "If anything comes through that doorway I cast Guiding Bolt." As the doorway was 10 feet (2 squares) wide and the DM required the cleric to pick one square of the doorway or the other."
My interpretation of triggers is far looser, especially as the PHB language is, "First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your reaction." It seems pretty reasonable that a creature entering my reach is "a perceivable circumstance." Or a creature entering through a doorway, regardless of how wide it is.
Might someone provide some insight on this?
First off, welcome to the forum :)
It kinda depends on what you want really, as a DM I often call that when a PC says "Whenever ANYTHING comes through that door, I shoot it" and then an ally comes through first, the trigger is... well... triggered thus they must choose then and there to either use their reaction to make the readied action. I find it ok if they say, "whenever something hostile comes within reach, I blast it" or as specific as "as soon as THAT giant wasp comes close enough to attack, I attack it".
Do remember that a readied action activates AFTER the trigger, so you need to be particular. If you want to attack when the target is within range, don't make it whenever they attack.
I think it all comes down to what is most fun for your playstyle as well as how badly it slows down the pace of combat; if you need to describe very particular
PC "when that an enemy enters a square adjacent to me I attack it"
GM "which enemy?"
PC "ok, an orc"
GM "which orc?"
PC "that particular one"
GM "ok, and which square?"
PC "Ugh, fine the one in front of me"
GM "cool, and which attack?"
PC "OH COME ON!"
I also feel that being too particular sets up the dm for "cheating". Oh, your ready action is triggered by THAT square? The monster just so happens to use the square next to it. You'll need to trust your DM to make the decision beforehand, but I think it may lead to frustration that way.
Subclass: Dwarven Defender - Dragonborn Paragon
Feats: Artificer Apprentice
Monsters: Sheep - Spellbreaker Warforged Titan
Magic Items: Whipier - Ring of Secret Storage - Collar of the Guardian
Monster template: Skeletal Creature
Hey there ManyFacesManyNames,
as you've discovered, the rules in the Player's Handbook don't go into a lot of detail about this - that's how 5th edition works, it leaves a lot of the decision making to your DM and you on how to run something.
The examples are fairly good though for gauging the general level needed in terms of specifics.
Making people choose a specific square seems a little detailed compared to how I run the game, or have seen others interpret this rule, but I'm not going to go as far as saying your DM is wrong to choose to use the rules in this way.
I will say that the more usual interpretation of the rules for readying an action require the players to be less specific. Generally speaking the player needs to declare:
Note that as soon as the trigger occurs, the player has the choice whether they actually want to follow through, or cancel.
In the case of "As soon as something comes through that door, I attack it with my bow" and then the first creature through the door is a friendly target - the character isn't forced to attack the friendly target, they can cancel their readied action. What they are not allowed to do is revise their readied action, "Oh, I meant the first hostile target" though as a DM this is where some common sense comes into play - it was fairly obvious that they character would only want to attack hostile targets, so you could say, "the friendly npc you weren't expecting to see runs through the door, looking surprised to see you - do you attack him with your readied action? No? Ok, as they run through, hot on their heels is the ogre that's chasing them. Ah, you want to attack that? Fair enough, make your roll!"
For me, the key thing to remember is that D&D is a fun, narrative game. We're telling a story of these characters and it's not a competition between the DM and the players. As a DM, I want the characters to succeed at pulling off heroic acts that make the players happy, I just make it challenging for them to do so, so that the achievement means something! The point here is that this is a game mechanic to help adjudicate what is and isn't possible with regards conditional actions. It's fairly normal for a player to say, "If <thing happens> then my character <does action>" because they don't know the future, but are indicating that they are ready for a situation they predict will happen.
Some other examples
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Sorry for not doing this right away, but thanks for the excellent responses! And for the welcome :)
Something in the same vein: Say a character is hiding behind a desk and wants to attack an enemy as it enters the room. So the ready action he takes is "as soon as I hear the door close, I attack the nearest enemy". The door bangs shut and the character pops up to see that the enemy is still at the door, at 15 ft while the range with his melee weapon is 5 ft.
Would you allow the character to move as part of a ready action? RAW it says either move or perform an action, not both, but if the character still has movement left (or hasn't moved last turn) I don't really know if it is broken to allow it. Your thoughts?
Subclass: Dwarven Defender - Dragonborn Paragon
Feats: Artificer Apprentice
Monsters: Sheep - Spellbreaker Warforged Titan
Magic Items: Whipier - Ring of Secret Storage - Collar of the Guardian
Monster template: Skeletal Creature