So... don't make "being hit" the trigger, make "being attacked", or even "wielding their weapon towards me in a way that gives me the impression that I'm being attacked".
I'm sorry, you're just inventing your own crisis here. There are examples to be found of reactions that occur both as something is being attempted (see Shield, Counterspell, Opportunity Attack), after something has happened but before its effects are fully realized (see Absorb Elements, Feather Fall), or after something has happened and finished (see Skirmisher, Mage Slayer). There is no rule about reactions in general that they must fit after something has finished, their triggers are whatever they are.
Ready has no restriction about how its custom triggers must be phrased, other than that they be "perceivable." "First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your reaction." Your DM can make a judgment call about how fast of a time slice is really perceptible, yada yada crash test reaction times yada yada... but "I do X when the enemy starts to Y" (take reaction once they've started but before they finish doing Y) is perfectly legal, as is "I do X if enemy does Y" (take a reaction after they do Y) or even "if they succeed atY, I want to do X beforeZ" (take a reaction after they've succeeded at Y, but before consequence Z is manifest).
I'm a bit late to the party here, but rather than open an entirely new thread, I figure it's better to just reopen this one (and hopefully anyone else who researches this later will find it useful)... I was doing some research for my own campaign, and found that the intent, and strictest interpretation of the rules, a monster cannot ready a Multiattack.
Where does it say that the Multiattack action cannot be readied? Multiattack is a proper action and should thus be possible to ready like any other action.
Based on both RAW and RAI (clarified at least twice) - you cannot ready a Multiattack. When you take the Ready an Action action, and you ready an attack, you ready just ONE attack.
I made the monster with the understanding that the players could ready their actions to attack it multiple times once it gets within range.
I've made a lot of mistakes in my 40+ years of rolling dice... A LOT! A ludicrous amount. A straight up embarrassing amount!! And designing _anything_ with the idea that the players will "do what I had in mind" is the single biggest mistake I have made (more than once sadly).
Agreed!
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Shawn D. Robertson
"Deride not the differing views of others, for it is in thoughtful and considerate conversation we find our greatest friends."
I agree you can't Ready and use Multiattack for the same reason as Extra Attack, they are meant to be used on your turn so you won't be able to use the readied Multiattack action unless it's triggerred on your turn somehow and even there it's probably not intended that way.
Based on both RAW and RAI (clarified at least twice) - you cannot ready a Multiattack. When you take the Ready an Action action, and you ready an attack, you ready just ONE attack.
It's clearly RAI. However, "A creature that can make multiple attacks on its turn has the Multiattack ability. A creature can’t use Multiattack when making an opportunity attack, which must be a single melee attack." does not say that multiattack cannot be used out of turn, it just indicates how the ability is expected to be used.
I think the real takeaway here is that you shouldn't make an encounter with a creature with 1000 speed that you have already decided will be solved by the party readying actions. Try to make interesting situations without necessarily determining how they need to be solved and then you don't get thrown off (or have to just straight up say no) when the party tries something you didn't expect.
So... don't make "being hit" the trigger, make "being attacked", or even "wielding their weapon towards me in a way that gives me the impression that I'm being attacked".
I'm sorry, you're just inventing your own crisis here. There are examples to be found of reactions that occur both as something is being attempted (see Shield, Counterspell, Opportunity Attack), after something has happened but before its effects are fully realized (see Absorb Elements, Feather Fall), or after something has happened and finished (see Skirmisher, Mage Slayer). There is no rule about reactions in general that they must fit after something has finished, their triggers are whatever they are.
Ready has no restriction about how its custom triggers must be phrased, other than that they be "perceivable." "First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your reaction." Your DM can make a judgment call about how fast of a time slice is really perceptible, yada yada crash test reaction times yada yada... but "I do X when the enemy starts to Y" (take reaction once they've started but before they finish doing Y) is perfectly legal, as is "I do X if enemy does Y" (take a reaction after they do Y) or even "if they succeed at Y, I want to do X before Z" (take a reaction after they've succeeded at Y, but before consequence Z is manifest).
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Yeah, just change the trigger to "when the enemy comes within my melee reach" or "within short range of my ranged attack."
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Not quite a mic drop, but well said.
RAW: "A creature that can make multiple attacks on its turn has the Multiattack ability." (Emphasis mine) - Multiattack is written to be used on a monsters turn (MM pg11).
RAI: Jeremy Crawford - Multiattack on your own turn, not someone else's
RAI 2: Jeremy Crawford - Multiattack is treated like Extra Attack
Based on both RAW and RAI (clarified at least twice) - you cannot ready a Multiattack. When you take the Ready an Action action, and you ready an attack, you ready just ONE attack.
Agreed!
Shawn D. Robertson
"Deride not the differing views of others, for it is in thoughtful and considerate conversation we find our greatest friends."
~Me~
I agree you can't Ready and use Multiattack for the same reason as Extra Attack, they are meant to be used on your turn so you won't be able to use the readied Multiattack action unless it's triggerred on your turn somehow and even there it's probably not intended that way.
It's clearly RAI. However, "A creature that can make multiple attacks on its turn has the Multiattack ability. A creature can’t use Multiattack when making an opportunity attack, which must be a single melee attack." does not say that multiattack cannot be used out of turn, it just indicates how the ability is expected to be used.
I think the real takeaway here is that you shouldn't make an encounter with a creature with 1000 speed that you have already decided will be solved by the party readying actions. Try to make interesting situations without necessarily determining how they need to be solved and then you don't get thrown off (or have to just straight up say no) when the party tries something you didn't expect.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm