As a matter of course a warlock in our game always readies eldritch blast. Doesn't this pretty much guarantee him a first strike before initiative is rolled?
Two thoughts occur to me. First, have a conversation with the player about why it's not ok to munchkin. And second, there are plenty of situations for which eldritch blast is the wrong tool...
RAW, you could ready something in movement. As per the chapter:
READY
Sometimes you want to get the jump on a foe or wait for a particular circumstance before you act. To do so, you can take the Ready action on your turn, which lets you act using your reaction before the start of your next turn.
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.
When you ready a spell, you cast it as normal but hold its energy, which you release with your reaction when the trigger occurs. To be readied, a spell must have a casting time of 1 action, and holding onto the spell’s magic requires concentration.
CONCENTRATION
If a spell must be maintained with concentration, that fact appears in its Duration entry, and the spell specifies how long you can concentrate on it. You can end concentration at any time (no action required).
Normal activity, such as moving and attacking, doesn’t interfere with concentration. The following factors can break concentration:
Casting another spell that requires concentration. You lose concentration on a spell if you cast another spell that requires concentration. You can’t concentrate on two spells at once.
Taking damage. Whenever you take damage while you are concentrating on a spell, you must make a Constitution saving throw to maintain your concentration. The DC equals 10 or half the damage you take, whichever number is higher. If you take damage from multiple sources, such as an arrow and a dragon’s breath, you make a separate saving throw for each source of damage.
Being incapacitated or killed. You lose concentration on a spell if you are incapacitated or if you die.
DMing for someone that wants to always be readying Eldritch Blast, I would, first, establish that he needs to specify triggers for that spell, that he will need to keep concentration and that he needs to use his reaction to cast the spell. Bonus Actions spells cannot be readied and he can only ready one action at a time.
Secondly, if the player wants to play the full mechanics game, I would play it as well. You can have enemies hidden that would not trigger their readied action before surprise; I would have enemies, also, having readied actions when it would make sense; I would have traps to break concentration; I would have other things that are not enemies trigger his readied action, thus activating traps, alerting enemies... etc...
Of course, the player is entitled to do whatever he wants and I would not punish a player for doing something they think is clever, but it is not fail proof, so, sometimes it will work and he will get the first strike, sometimes something else might happen and the plan will not succeed.
Something I would not do is house rule anything outside of RAW to make the strategy not work. If its a heavily mechanic player, if you want to keep him playing the game and having fun, you need to play by the rules.
As a matter of course a warlock in our game always readies eldritch blast. Doesn't this pretty much guarantee him a first strike before initiative is rolled?
If the party was outside of initiative order and getting ready to throw open a door to a room they suspected to contain enemies, I might let players have their characters ready an action for when the door opens. Using the ready action in an ongoing attempt to circumvent initiative is not something I would allow at my table.
I think you would be well within your rights as DM to say that (in general) characters cannot ready actions outside of initiative that are intended to take place during initiative, and you're allowed to make individual exceptions to this as you see fit. It's your prerogative as DM. This is similar to the idea of casting guidance immediately before rolling initiative to apply the benefit to your initiative roll. It works in theory, but the window is so small that the practicalities don't really work out.
A few things to keep in mind about this tactic as well:
Readying a spell requires concentration. This means the warlock cannot have any other concentration spell going at the same time.
Eldritch blast has verbal and somatic components. The warlock would need to keep one hand free at all times for the constant casting of the spell, and would always be vocalizing the verbal components to the spell. Not exactly quiet or subtle while exploring a dungeon.
Any time the warlock is surprised at the beginning of combat, they would not be able to use their reaction on that turn.
Also, if they are spending their action every 6 seconds to ready eldritch blast, then they are walking a lot slower than the rest of the party - so put them only halfway from the dungeon entrance to where the rest of the party are ;-)
A good question might be "readied for what?" When you ready an action you're supposed to indicate what circumstances will trigger it, and I would rule that something like "if I see an enemy" is way too vague for readied action rules. In 5e, "ready to fight if I see an enemy" is already the default state of every character; that's what initiative is for. I'd at least make them pick a location that they're watching, such as "if anything comes out of that cave, I'm blasting it."
You might also discourage it by reminding the player that while they've readied an action, their character is not doing anything else, like searching for traps or being stealthy. They've already used up their action by readying the attack.
Ok, so this is just a player that is playing by the rules. Realistically if you are going through a dungeon with monsters in it that are trying to kill you, and you can keep a spell locked and loaded, you are going to do it.
-Have a talk with them and let them know that the readied action can work both ways. If the players want hold actions as the move through and area, then it's going to be fair game for enemies to be holding actions as you move into an area they are in. You can also explain that if your entire party did this is would get old very fast, and maybe consider readied attacks to be something that you have to be more specific about, like before opening a door or entering a new room, and not just something you say you have up at all times.
-It takes concentration and a reaction to hold and use the held action. This means that any hex they have up is going to be lost. This is kind of a big deal for warlocks.
-Unless they are the one in the front and opening doors or at very least, in line of sight of enemies holding eldritch blast isn't that great.
is everyone else huddled up behind this warlock as they make finger-guns and shuffle across rough terrain? that's my image, regardless. well, with tunnel vision and an itchy trigger finger they're likely prone to fire at shapes hidden by half and 3-quarters cover before they're fully visualized. what a great chance to add to the ambiance between encounters by having a fawn dart out from behind a tree or a hornets nest catch their attention. whoops, they've just scorched the headpiece of the grumpy druid you've come to talk to! yikes! not to mention how in their paranoia for things 30 yards away they've become to vulnerable to pickpocketing by the guide NPC. gods help this person if there's an oldschool kender observing this.
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If he's always readying an action, I'd have him roll a perception or insight check every time they encountered a person. The warlock is constantly right on the edge of casting a dangerous spell, which seems like a very trigger happy way to be. Maybe he accidentally pulls the trigger when a friendly merchant reaches into their coat to pull out their coin purse.
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I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
The RAW mechanics of the process itself don't bother me as much as what appears to be the attempt to always circumvent the downside of a less favorable initiative roll. The idea that you can always beat initiative with ONE SIMPLE TRICK™️ (DMs hate him!) runs counter to a primary process of gameplay, and I think that should be relegated to a rare exception, if at all.
The RAW mechanics of the process itself don't bother me as much as what appears to be the attempt to always circumvent the downside of a less favorable initiative roll. The idea that you can always beat initiative with ONE SIMPLE TRICK™️ (DMs hate him!) runs counter to a primary process of gameplay, and I think that should be relegated to a rare exception, if at all.
Also, this is largely what things like surprise are for. In an ambush situation, it's obvious that all the ambushers are just waiting for someone to walk through that door or something, but that's not how the rules work.
I generally do not permit use of combat actions outside of combat. If you really want to do it, assume that PCs outside of combat are normally using search, and if you're trying to do something else you automatically fail all perception checks.
The way I think about it is that Initiative and the combat rules are not just for combat, but for any situation when timing matters.
If a player wants to ready something then we must be in a situation when timing matters, so we roll initiative and start using the combat rules.
If timing doesn't matter then we are not in the combat rules and there is no reason to ready anything.
If a player wants their character to get the drop on foes during combat then they need to up their initiative roll (high DEX, feat, class choice, whatever) and/or set up an ambush.
To me, this doesn't, or at least shouldn't, work. Initiative is how you determine how quickly a PC recognizes and reacts to a potentially hostile situation. They don't suddenly get better reaction time just because they were "ready to fire off a spell", like someone else said, adventurers are by default already "ready for a fight" at all times. Now, it could be that you as a DM should consider if you're calling for initiative soon enough.
The way I see this going is that the player saying that they are going to fire off Eldritch Blast would kick off initiative. And yes, the enemies may get a chance to do something first. They hear the words start to leave the warlock's lips and if they move faster (i.e.win initiative) then they move faster. The warlock doesn't just get a free shot unless they have a way to actually Surprise the enemies.
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As a matter of course a warlock in our game always readies eldritch blast. Doesn't this pretty much guarantee him a first strike before initiative is rolled?
I think this varies per DM.
To me, when you ready an action - you're pretty much standing still, ready to leap into action when XYZ happens.
And to ready an action, I always make it you have to call out what you're waiting for.
"If the orc comes closer, I am going to cast XYZ."
But the player can't be moving during that time. Their entire focus is preparing to take action.
Again, that will probably vary from DM to DM.
EDIT: That said, they could move after the spell is cast, in my game.
So for example, "I wait for monster_xyz to come within 20 feet and I will blast it."
During that time, they're standing still - summoning up the spell.
If the monster triggers (comes within 20 feet), they can cast. Then they can move after casting.
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Two thoughts occur to me. First, have a conversation with the player about why it's not ok to munchkin. And second, there are plenty of situations for which eldritch blast is the wrong tool...
RAW, you could ready something in movement. As per the chapter:
DMing for someone that wants to always be readying Eldritch Blast, I would, first, establish that he needs to specify triggers for that spell, that he will need to keep concentration and that he needs to use his reaction to cast the spell. Bonus Actions spells cannot be readied and he can only ready one action at a time.
Secondly, if the player wants to play the full mechanics game, I would play it as well. You can have enemies hidden that would not trigger their readied action before surprise; I would have enemies, also, having readied actions when it would make sense; I would have traps to break concentration; I would have other things that are not enemies trigger his readied action, thus activating traps, alerting enemies... etc...
Of course, the player is entitled to do whatever he wants and I would not punish a player for doing something they think is clever, but it is not fail proof, so, sometimes it will work and he will get the first strike, sometimes something else might happen and the plan will not succeed.
Something I would not do is house rule anything outside of RAW to make the strategy not work. If its a heavily mechanic player, if you want to keep him playing the game and having fun, you need to play by the rules.
That's my take on it.
If the party was outside of initiative order and getting ready to throw open a door to a room they suspected to contain enemies, I might let players have their characters ready an action for when the door opens. Using the ready action in an ongoing attempt to circumvent initiative is not something I would allow at my table.
I think you would be well within your rights as DM to say that (in general) characters cannot ready actions outside of initiative that are intended to take place during initiative, and you're allowed to make individual exceptions to this as you see fit. It's your prerogative as DM. This is similar to the idea of casting guidance immediately before rolling initiative to apply the benefit to your initiative roll. It works in theory, but the window is so small that the practicalities don't really work out.
A few things to keep in mind about this tactic as well:
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Also, if they are spending their action every 6 seconds to ready eldritch blast, then they are walking a lot slower than the rest of the party - so put them only halfway from the dungeon entrance to where the rest of the party are ;-)
A good question might be "readied for what?" When you ready an action you're supposed to indicate what circumstances will trigger it, and I would rule that something like "if I see an enemy" is way too vague for readied action rules. In 5e, "ready to fight if I see an enemy" is already the default state of every character; that's what initiative is for. I'd at least make them pick a location that they're watching, such as "if anything comes out of that cave, I'm blasting it."
You might also discourage it by reminding the player that while they've readied an action, their character is not doing anything else, like searching for traps or being stealthy. They've already used up their action by readying the attack.
Ok, so this is just a player that is playing by the rules. Realistically if you are going through a dungeon with monsters in it that are trying to kill you, and you can keep a spell locked and loaded, you are going to do it.
-Have a talk with them and let them know that the readied action can work both ways. If the players want hold actions as the move through and area, then it's going to be fair game for enemies to be holding actions as you move into an area they are in. You can also explain that if your entire party did this is would get old very fast, and maybe consider readied attacks to be something that you have to be more specific about, like before opening a door or entering a new room, and not just something you say you have up at all times.
-It takes concentration and a reaction to hold and use the held action. This means that any hex they have up is going to be lost. This is kind of a big deal for warlocks.
-Unless they are the one in the front and opening doors or at very least, in line of sight of enemies holding eldritch blast isn't that great.
is everyone else huddled up behind this warlock as they make finger-guns and shuffle across rough terrain? that's my image, regardless. well, with tunnel vision and an itchy trigger finger they're likely prone to fire at shapes hidden by half and 3-quarters cover before they're fully visualized. what a great chance to add to the ambiance between encounters by having a fawn dart out from behind a tree or a hornets nest catch their attention. whoops, they've just scorched the headpiece of the grumpy druid you've come to talk to! yikes! not to mention how in their paranoia for things 30 yards away they've become to vulnerable to pickpocketing by the guide NPC. gods help this person if there's an oldschool kender observing this.
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
If he's always readying an action, I'd have him roll a perception or insight check every time they encountered a person. The warlock is constantly right on the edge of casting a dangerous spell, which seems like a very trigger happy way to be. Maybe he accidentally pulls the trigger when a friendly merchant reaches into their coat to pull out their coin purse.
I know what you're thinking: "In that flurry of blows, did he use all his ki points, or save one?" Well, are ya feeling lucky, punk?
The RAW mechanics of the process itself don't bother me as much as what appears to be the attempt to always circumvent the downside of a less favorable initiative roll. The idea that you can always beat initiative with ONE SIMPLE TRICK™️ (DMs hate him!) runs counter to a primary process of gameplay, and I think that should be relegated to a rare exception, if at all.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Also, this is largely what things like surprise are for. In an ambush situation, it's obvious that all the ambushers are just waiting for someone to walk through that door or something, but that's not how the rules work.
I generally do not permit use of combat actions outside of combat. If you really want to do it, assume that PCs outside of combat are normally using search, and if you're trying to do something else you automatically fail all perception checks.
The way I think about it is that Initiative and the combat rules are not just for combat, but for any situation when timing matters.
If a player wants to ready something then we must be in a situation when timing matters, so we roll initiative and start using the combat rules.
If timing doesn't matter then we are not in the combat rules and there is no reason to ready anything.
If a player wants their character to get the drop on foes during combat then they need to up their initiative roll (high DEX, feat, class choice, whatever) and/or set up an ambush.
To me, this doesn't, or at least shouldn't, work. Initiative is how you determine how quickly a PC recognizes and reacts to a potentially hostile situation. They don't suddenly get better reaction time just because they were "ready to fire off a spell", like someone else said, adventurers are by default already "ready for a fight" at all times. Now, it could be that you as a DM should consider if you're calling for initiative soon enough.
The way I see this going is that the player saying that they are going to fire off Eldritch Blast would kick off initiative. And yes, the enemies may get a chance to do something first. They hear the words start to leave the warlock's lips and if they move faster (i.e.win initiative) then they move faster. The warlock doesn't just get a free shot unless they have a way to actually Surprise the enemies.