To answer th eoriginal question. Yes, you can ready *an* attack with the trigger of something along the lines of "when a flying enemy gets close enough for me to hit I will attack it". No need for a reach weapon and the character could of course still move. As has been mentioned though, it might a better use of the action economy to use the dodge action and hope that you can get an attack of opportunity as the eagle flies away.
Are you saying that the Readied Action includes movement and an attack? The wording has to be precise with what you are trying to describe.
Of course not. I haven't written anything that can be even remotely interpreted as anything of the sorts. The wording is sufficently precise for anyone familiar with the rules.
A player can Move and Ready an action. A player cannot Ready an Action that includes Movement and an Attack.
No-one said you can.
The point is that many do not understand the rules, hence the need for preciseness.
Of course. Which is why my example was sufficiently detailed not to allow for any misunderstandings. Eg how neither the trigger nor the readied action included anything that could be reasonable considered as movement from a rule set point of view.
I think the OPs question is moot as it applies to Giant Eagles.
Giant Eagles do not have fly by. They have a 5' reach for their attacks. Giant Eagles will either fly to within 5' of their target and stay there attacking or they will continue to move out of the reach of their target. If they stay within 5' the character has the option to attack normally and if they decide to fly away the character has an opportunity attack as normal.
On the first round, before the Giant Eagle has flown into range, it may seem like a Readied attack might make sense. However, taking the dodge action combined with an opportunity attack if the Giant Eagle chooses to fly away likely makes more sense.
On the other hand, against flying creatures with fly-by - a Readied attack might be the only reliable way to damage them.
Real life story of a great horned owl and a bunch of cats. A lady was feeding the cats near the owl’s nest. The owl would swoop in, grab a cat and then smash it into a stone wall. The lady was horrified.
I’m not sure exactly how the eagle could use this tactic with D&D rules. Does Dodge effect grappling? Dropping a grappled creature wouldn’t allow the creature an OA. I wouldn’t want to be near a cliff with a Giant Eagle attacking!
Real life story of a great horned owl and a bunch of cats. A lady was feeding the cats near the owl’s nest. The owl would swoop in, grab a cat and then smash it into a stone wall. The lady was horrified.
I’m not sure exactly how the eagle could use this tactic with D&D rules. Does Dodge effect grappling? Dropping a grappled creature wouldn’t allow the creature an OA. I wouldn’t want to be near a cliff with a Giant Eagle attacking!
Nope. Dodge makes you harder to hit with attacks or effects that inflict dex saves - nothing else. Grapples and shoves automatically hit, then you roll an ability check contest to see what happens, so Dodge doesn't help at all. Mechanically, a flying creature does what you're describing - which is a common way for many birds of prey to hunt, 100% including raptors - by flying to within reach, rolling Grapple, hopefully succeeding, then continuing to move - this time up. They will need enough carrying capacity, but if they have it, they can simply take their prey upwards with them. At the top of the move, they then drop the prey as a non-action.
A giant eagle can hoist up to 480 pounds without issue, which is enough to make off with most PCs. Many races don't even have any weight guidelines, and you will have to guess. The heaviest PC race I know of, the Tortle, will reliably be too heavy to lift if it's carrying gear - an average Tortle is 450 pounds while completely naked.
Note: like most animals, giant eagles are not proficient in athletics or acrobatics, meaning they're shockingly bad at the sort of thing you might expect them to be good at. As a result, giant eagles have +3 to checks to grab prey or, say, remain aloft in challenging wind conditions, not the +5 you might assume. A DM who wants a more challenging fight can hand out both proficiencies without impacting their CR.
Of course. Which is why my example was sufficiently detailed not to allow for any misunderstandings. Eg how neither the trigger nor the readied action included anything that could be reasonable considered as movement from a rule set point of view.
I think the OPs question is moot as it applies to Giant Eagles.
Giant Eagles do not have fly by. They have a 5' reach for their attacks. Giant Eagles will either fly to within 5' of their target and stay there attacking or they will continue to move out of the reach of their target. If they stay within 5' the character has the option to attack normally and if they decide to fly away the character has an opportunity attack as normal.
On the first round, before the Giant Eagle has flown into range, it may seem like a Readied attack might make sense. However, taking the dodge action combined with an opportunity attack if the Giant Eagle chooses to fly away likely makes more sense.
On the other hand, against flying creatures with fly-by - a Readied attack might be the only reliable way to damage them.
Real life story of a great horned owl and a bunch of cats. A lady was feeding the cats near the owl’s nest. The owl would swoop in, grab a cat and then smash it into a stone wall. The lady was horrified.
I’m not sure exactly how the eagle could use this tactic with D&D rules. Does Dodge effect grappling? Dropping a grappled creature wouldn’t allow the creature an OA. I wouldn’t want to be near a cliff with a Giant Eagle attacking!
Nope. Dodge makes you harder to hit with attacks or effects that inflict dex saves - nothing else. Grapples and shoves automatically hit, then you roll an ability check contest to see what happens, so Dodge doesn't help at all. Mechanically, a flying creature does what you're describing - which is a common way for many birds of prey to hunt, 100% including raptors - by flying to within reach, rolling Grapple, hopefully succeeding, then continuing to move - this time up. They will need enough carrying capacity, but if they have it, they can simply take their prey upwards with them. At the top of the move, they then drop the prey as a non-action.
A giant eagle can hoist up to 480 pounds without issue, which is enough to make off with most PCs. Many races don't even have any weight guidelines, and you will have to guess. The heaviest PC race I know of, the Tortle, will reliably be too heavy to lift if it's carrying gear - an average Tortle is 450 pounds while completely naked.
Note: like most animals, giant eagles are not proficient in athletics or acrobatics, meaning they're shockingly bad at the sort of thing you might expect them to be good at. As a result, giant eagles have +3 to checks to grab prey or, say, remain aloft in challenging wind conditions, not the +5 you might assume. A DM who wants a more challenging fight can hand out both proficiencies without impacting their CR.