Let's say you ready an action, have the triggering effect be your bonus action, and then take that bonus action to trigger the effect.
So, for example, I ready to cast a fireball spell, the triggering effect is when I cast healing word, and then I cast healing word to trigger the fireball spell.
Can this work? I'm not sure if it can so I'm asking
I'd say no. The rues are that if you cast a bonus action spell, You can’t cast another spell during the same turn, except for a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action. As this would allow you to cast a levelled spell plus a bonus action cantrip, which you cannot do on the same turn.
However, you could (theoretically) remember who goes after you, and say "I cast healng word as a bonus action, then ready an action to cast fireball when Bob moves next", which makes Fireball concentration, but otherwise I believe is allowed.
Let's say you ready an action, have the triggering effect be your bonus action, and then take that bonus action to trigger the effect.
So, for example, I ready to cast a fireball spell, the triggering effect is when I cast healing word, and then I cast healing word to trigger the fireball spell.
Can this work? I'm not sure if it can so I'm asking
I don't think the rules for Ready stops you from doing what you want. The rules for bonus action spells does though (because you are going for two levelled spells). If you readied Fire Bolt (or another cantrip) and then did Healing Word it should work though.
However, you could (theoretically) remember who goes after you, and say "I cast healng word as a bonus action, then ready an action to cast fireball when Bob moves next", which makes Fireball concentration, but otherwise I believe is allowed.
No that wouldn't work. It is still attempting two levelled spells, the order it is done doesn't make a difference.
So if you can take the action and bonus action on your turn, with no issues, then you should be able to take your bonus action and ready your action on your turn as well. Correct?
Not sure why you would want to make the BA the trigger for your readied action when you can just take your BA first and follow it with your Action anyway.
However, you could (theoretically) remember who goes after you, and say "I cast healng word as a bonus action, then ready an action to cast fireball when Bob moves next", which makes Fireball concentration, but otherwise I believe is allowed.
No that wouldn't work. It is still attempting two levelled spells, the order it is done doesn't make a difference.
Yeah, you’re casting two leveled spells, but not on the same turn I don’t think, so it technically should work. I think. Maybe.
So if you can take the action and bonus action on your turn, with no issues, then you should be able to take your bonus action and ready your action on your turn as well. Correct?
Not sure why you would want to make the BA the trigger for your readied action when you can just take your BA first and follow it with your Action anyway.
Because fireball and healing word are both leveled spells and you can’t cast two of them on the same turn as per RAW for casting spells as bonus actions. They’re trying to gimmick the system.
So if you can take the action and bonus action on your turn, with no issues, then you should be able to take your bonus action and ready your action on your turn as well. Correct?
Not sure why you would want to make the BA the trigger for your readied action when you can just take your BA first and follow it with your Action anyway.
Because fireball and healing word are both leveled spells and you can’t cast two of them on the same turn as per RAW for casting spells as bonus actions. They’re trying to gimmick the system.
I get that part. I was just trying to say if you can by RAW do what you are planning on doing with your action and BA on your turn you should also be able to do the same as a readied action and BA.
If you use the Ready Action to cast a spell, then you start casting the spell on the same turn that you are performing Ready Action - you are then holding the spell (using your concentration) until it is released later using your Reaction (or your next turn comes around, and you lose the spell slot and the spell fizzles).
So the spell is being cast on the same turn that you are performing your Bonus Action.
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.
I would rule that you could not do that by RAW, but there is nothing preventing you from doing the following.
1) Move, because hey, it is legal.
2) Take a bonus action of Healing Word.
3) Ready an action to cast fireball when anyone makes an attack. Keep in mind you have an ally that makes attacks every round and happens to go right after you.
This would be legal. The advantage is that you cast 2 leveled spells during that round. The disadvantages are:
To cast a spell as a held action it requires concentration so you cannot do this if you are already concentrating.
You use up the spell slot right away even if, say, you lose concentration.
Using up your Reaction, giving up a possible AoO or if you have Warcaster, the ability to cast a spell.
You are delaying your action by some amount of time.
There is the chance that things go strange and no one does the trigger action.
When you cast healing word it is your turn. If you ready your Fireball to be cast triggered on YOU casting healing word then the spell would be cast when healing word is cast - which IS on your own turn. On your turn, if you cast a spell as a bonus action you can't cast any other spell except a cantrip with a casting time of one action. Using the Ready action to avoid the Cast a spell action does not bypass the restriction of casting only one leveled spell on your turn.
I also found why the idea doesn't work at all - when you Ready a spell you cast it as normal on your turn. As a result if you cast a spell as a bonus action on your turn you can't ready a spell except a cantrip requiring an action to cast.
"When you ready a spell, you cast it as normal but hold its energy, which you release with your reaction when the trigger occurs."
I would rule that you could not do that by RAW, but there is nothing preventing you from doing the following.
1) Move, because hey, it is legal.
2) Take a bonus action of Healing Word.
3) Ready an action to cast fireball when anyone makes an attack. Keep in mind you have an ally that makes attacks every round and happens to go right after you.
This is not legal, because to ready a spell you start casting it on YOUR own turn, so the bonus action spell/normal action spell rule applies. (see the part of the rule I quoted in message #12.
Also, readying a spell doesn't use up your Reaction. You can use your reaction for something else instead of finishing the spell, in which case you lose the spell slot without the spell occurring.
Just going to echo what some others have already pointed out:
To ready a spell says: "When you ready a spell, you cast it as normal..." So you used your action to cast the spell.
Bonus action spellcasting rules say you can't cast a bonus action spell and a leveled action spell (or any spells as a reaction) on the same turn, so readying doesn't work to get around this.
Note that releasing the readied spell is not casting it (that was already done as an action), so it can't be countered at this time. Something to consider: Ready a spell behind cover and come out and blasting.
I can read this section over and over again; for some reason the way some players explain the combat system makes the order of operation all the more confusing.
I understand the combat system... kind of... :)
Wish there was a much more clear, more precise method to describe how this works.
Let's say you ready an action, have the triggering effect be your bonus action
That's the bit that won't work. Generally you can't Ready a Bonus Action. "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." (PHB)
Additionally, Bonus Actions can't be made on someone else's turn. "Various class features, spells, and other abilities let you take an additional action on your turn called a bonus action." (PHB).
Also, you can't Ready a Bonus Action spell (or indeed any spell with a casting time of anything except 1 action). "To be readied, a spell must have a casting time of 1 action…" (PHB).
I also found why the idea doesn't work at all - when you Ready a spell you cast it as normal on your turn. As a result if you cast a spell as a bonus action on your turn you can't ready a spell except a cantrip requiring an action to cast.
"When you ready a spell, you cast it as normal but hold its energy, which you release with your reaction when the trigger occurs."
So, no, cool idea but RAW it doesn't work.
I agree with this. I found this post while searching the Internet for a similar topic.
In case you're interested, here are a couple of related questions on Role-playing Games Stack Exchange:
Are there limitations on what spells a creature can cast while holding a readied spell?, where the conclusion is "The spell is treated as being cast at that point when you declare you are readying the spell with whatever trigger is appropriate. [...] If a cantrip is readied, a bonus action spell can be cast as long as it does not require concentration (as you are already concentrating on the readied spell). If a spell cast using a slot (i.e. a non-cantrip) is readied, you cannot cast a bonus action spell as per the bonus-action spellcasting rules (Player's Handbook, p. 202)"
Before or after casting Healing Word or any other bonus action spell, the only spell you can cast on the same turn is a cantrips with a casting time of 1 action, wether you take the ready action or not to do so.
Note that releasing the readied spell is not casting it (that was already done as an action), so it can't be countered at this time. Something to consider: Ready a spell behind cover and come out and blasting.
In my opinion this idea doesn't quite work as intended according to the RAW.
While it is true that an adversary would be unable to counterspell your spellcasting if he cannot see you, it also follows that you would be unable to target that adversary with your spell since you cannot see him (or, more precisely, since you do not have a clear path to the target). The target for a spell is chosen when the spell is cast, not when the spell's energy is released. (See Below) When you Ready the spell, it is fully cast at that moment that you are taking your action, not later on when you are taking your reaction.
You could still take some advantage of this concept with AOE spells though. If you position yourself behind cover so that you cannot quite see the adversary, but you can see the ground right next to him then you could land something like a Fireball spell in that spot that you can see and the ensuing blast would damage the foe. This has nothing to do with trying to use the Ready action to move your position on the battlefield however.
From Chapter 10: Spellcasting, we have rules and procedures for casting a spell under the major heading "Casting a Spell", which states:
When a character casts any spell, the same basic rules are followed . . .
Each spell description begins with a block of information, including the spell's name, level, school of magic, casting time, range, components, and duration. The rest of a spell entry describes the spell's effect.
Within this section describing "Casting a Spell", there is a subsection called "Targets" which explain the various rules for targeting when casting a spell. This subsection explains the following:
A typical spell requires you to pick one or more targets to be affected by the spell's magic. A spell's description tells you whether the spell targets creatures, objects, or a point of origin for an area of effect.
and
A Clear Path to the Target
To target something, you must have a clear path to it, so it can't be behind total cover.
So, in summary, there are 4 scenarios:
-- Clear path when cast and clear path when released: Might be counterspelled but target is successfully targeted.
-- Clear path when cast and no clear path when released: Might be counterspelled and target is not successfully targeted.
-- No clear path when cast and no clear path when released: Cannot be counterspelled but target is not successfully targeted.
-- No clear path when cast and clear path when released: Cannot be counterspelled but target is not successfully targeted.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Let's say you ready an action, have the triggering effect be your bonus action, and then take that bonus action to trigger the effect.
So, for example, I ready to cast a fireball spell, the triggering effect is when I cast healing word, and then I cast healing word to trigger the fireball spell.
Can this work? I'm not sure if it can so I'm asking
I'd say no. The rues are that if you cast a bonus action spell, You can’t cast another spell during the same turn, except for a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action. As this would allow you to cast a levelled spell plus a bonus action cantrip, which you cannot do on the same turn.
However, you could (theoretically) remember who goes after you, and say "I cast healng word as a bonus action, then ready an action to cast fireball when Bob moves next", which makes Fireball concentration, but otherwise I believe is allowed.
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
Yeah that's true this is also technically allowed.
Just wanna say that I'm more concerned for this as this is too easy to repeat.
I don't think the rules for Ready stops you from doing what you want. The rules for bonus action spells does though (because you are going for two levelled spells). If you readied Fire Bolt (or another cantrip) and then did Healing Word it should work though.
No that wouldn't work. It is still attempting two levelled spells, the order it is done doesn't make a difference.
Question: Can you ready an action and then take a bonus action?
The player can Ready the Action option in anticipation for something about to happen.
Bonus Action is an option in reserve in case something entitles you to use it; the player cannot use this option at will.
So if you can take the action and bonus action on your turn, with no issues, then you should be able to take your bonus action and ready your action on your turn as well. Correct?
Not sure why you would want to make the BA the trigger for your readied action when you can just take your BA first and follow it with your Action anyway.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Yeah, you’re casting two leveled spells, but not on the same turn I don’t think, so it technically should work. I think. Maybe.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Because fireball and healing word are both leveled spells and you can’t cast two of them on the same turn as per RAW for casting spells as bonus actions. They’re trying to gimmick the system.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
I get that part. I was just trying to say if you can by RAW do what you are planning on doing with your action and BA on your turn you should also be able to do the same as a readied action and BA.
Unless I was missing some kind of rule.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
If you use the Ready Action to cast a spell, then you start casting the spell on the same turn that you are performing Ready Action - you are then holding the spell (using your concentration) until it is released later using your Reaction (or your next turn comes around, and you lose the spell slot and the spell fizzles).
So the spell is being cast on the same turn that you are performing your Bonus Action.
I would rule that you could not do that by RAW, but there is nothing preventing you from doing the following.
1) Move, because hey, it is legal.
2) Take a bonus action of Healing Word.
3) Ready an action to cast fireball when anyone makes an attack. Keep in mind you have an ally that makes attacks every round and happens to go right after you.
This would be legal. The advantage is that you cast 2 leveled spells during that round. The disadvantages are:
I'd say no.
When you cast healing word it is your turn. If you ready your Fireball to be cast triggered on YOU casting healing word then the spell would be cast when healing word is cast - which IS on your own turn. On your turn, if you cast a spell as a bonus action you can't cast any other spell except a cantrip with a casting time of one action. Using the Ready action to avoid the Cast a spell action does not bypass the restriction of casting only one leveled spell on your turn.
I also found why the idea doesn't work at all - when you Ready a spell you cast it as normal on your turn. As a result if you cast a spell as a bonus action on your turn you can't ready a spell except a cantrip requiring an action to cast.
"When you ready a spell, you cast it as normal but hold its energy, which you release with your reaction when the trigger occurs."
So, no, cool idea but RAW it doesn't work.
This is not legal, because to ready a spell you start casting it on YOUR own turn, so the bonus action spell/normal action spell rule applies. (see the part of the rule I quoted in message #12.
Also, readying a spell doesn't use up your Reaction. You can use your reaction for something else instead of finishing the spell, in which case you lose the spell slot without the spell occurring.
Just going to echo what some others have already pointed out:
To ready a spell says: "When you ready a spell, you cast it as normal..." So you used your action to cast the spell.
Bonus action spellcasting rules say you can't cast a bonus action spell and a leveled action spell (or any spells as a reaction) on the same turn, so readying doesn't work to get around this.
Note that releasing the readied spell is not casting it (that was already done as an action), so it can't be countered at this time. Something to consider: Ready a spell behind cover and come out and blasting.
Y'know...
D&D player's Handbook, Chapter 9: Combat, pages 189 -195...
I can read this section over and over again; for some reason the way some players explain the combat system makes the order of operation all the more confusing.
I understand the combat system... kind of... :)
Wish there was a much more clear, more precise method to describe how this works.
That's the bit that won't work. Generally you can't Ready a Bonus Action. "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." (PHB)
Additionally, Bonus Actions can't be made on someone else's turn. "Various class features, spells, and other abilities let you take an additional action on your turn called a bonus action." (PHB).
Also, you can't Ready a Bonus Action spell (or indeed any spell with a casting time of anything except 1 action). "To be readied, a spell must have a casting time of 1 action…" (PHB).
Also see https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/152204/can-you-ready-a-bonus-action, and Bonus Action Used With Ready Action?.
I agree with this. I found this post while searching the Internet for a similar topic.
In case you're interested, here are a couple of related questions on Role-playing Games Stack Exchange:
Before or after casting Healing Word or any other bonus action spell, the only spell you can cast on the same turn is a cantrips with a casting time of 1 action, wether you take the ready action or not to do so.
In my opinion this idea doesn't quite work as intended according to the RAW.
While it is true that an adversary would be unable to counterspell your spellcasting if he cannot see you, it also follows that you would be unable to target that adversary with your spell since you cannot see him (or, more precisely, since you do not have a clear path to the target). The target for a spell is chosen when the spell is cast, not when the spell's energy is released. (See Below) When you Ready the spell, it is fully cast at that moment that you are taking your action, not later on when you are taking your reaction.
You could still take some advantage of this concept with AOE spells though. If you position yourself behind cover so that you cannot quite see the adversary, but you can see the ground right next to him then you could land something like a Fireball spell in that spot that you can see and the ensuing blast would damage the foe. This has nothing to do with trying to use the Ready action to move your position on the battlefield however.
From Chapter 10: Spellcasting, we have rules and procedures for casting a spell under the major heading "Casting a Spell", which states:
Within this section describing "Casting a Spell", there is a subsection called "Targets" which explain the various rules for targeting when casting a spell. This subsection explains the following:
and
So, in summary, there are 4 scenarios:
-- Clear path when cast and clear path when released: Might be counterspelled but target is successfully targeted.
-- Clear path when cast and no clear path when released: Might be counterspelled and target is not successfully targeted.
-- No clear path when cast and no clear path when released: Cannot be counterspelled but target is not successfully targeted.
-- No clear path when cast and clear path when released: Cannot be counterspelled but target is not successfully targeted.