I don't think so. While readying a spell "holding onto the spell's magic requires concentration". As soon as you reach 0 HP and fall unconscious, you lose said concentration.
For another proof, when you are unconscious you are also incapacitated. While incapacitated, you cannot take actions or reactions, thus you still couldn't cast the spell.
Unless otherwise specified a Reaction occurs after the trigger.
For example an Opportunity Attack specifically states: "The attack occurs right before the creature leaves your reach."
Where as the Ready action states: "When the trigger occurs, you can either take your reaction right after the trigger finishes or ignore the trigger."
So no, you cannot Ready the Spare the Dying spell to cast it on yourself, but you can use your reaction to cast it on another creature that drops to 0 hp.
You can ready such an action. You would need to remain conscious and maintain your concentration on the spell when you drop to 0 hitpoints. So long as you remain conscious and maintain your concentration, you can cast the spell.
A samurai fighter with strength before death is living and has a reaction they can use when they take damage that reduces them to 0 hp. Which implies other characters can also use a reaction with the same trigger to cast spare the dying or even cure wounds. Not sure I would allow iit but it seems to be RAW.
You can ReadySpare the Dying or any other spell eligible, but will not be able to release it with your reaction because you lose concentration (which make the spell ends) and can't take reaction when unconscious.
You can ReadySpare the Dying or any other spell eligible, but will not be able to release it with your reaction because you lose concentration (which make the spell ends) and can't take reaction when unconscious.
The question becomes what order do you apply thing which take place instantaneously.
Strength before death makes is a reaction has a condition of when you are reduced to 0 hp and you can use that reaction before you lose consciousness I would take that to mean the same applies to any other reaction with the same trigger. An alternative explanation is you somehow know if a hit is severe enough to knock you to zero hit points so you can use you reaction as response to such a hit before the damage takes effect.In the first explanation you can cast spare the dying 8n the second you can not (because you don't have 0 hp you just know you are about to). To be honest I am not comfortable with either explanations, it makes more sense that you can not react to a hit that will reduce you to 0 hp but SBD says you can.
If you go with the former definition you would also have to decide whether you need to make the con save for concentration before you can use your reaction.
Of course if the samurai fighter has access to spare the dying they can cast it on themselves as part of their extra turn.
A samurai fighter with strength before death is living and has a reaction they can use when they take damage that reduces them to 0 hp. Which implies other characters can also use a reaction with the same trigger to cast spare the dying or even cure wounds. Not sure I would allow iit but it seems to be RAW.
A Samurai's with Strenght Before Death could do it because it isn't unconscious while at 0 hit point, so it wouldn't be incapacitated and loose concentration and thus be able to release the effect of Spare the Dying as a reaction.
You can ReadySpare the Dying or any other spell eligible, but will not be able to release it with your reaction because you lose concentration (which make the spell ends) and can't take reaction when unconscious.
The question becomes what order do you apply thing which take place instantaneously.
Strength before death makes is a reaction has a condition of when you are reduced to 0 hp and you can use that reaction before you lose consciousness I would take that to mean the same applies to any other reaction with the same trigger. An alternative explanation is you somehow know if a hit is severe enough to knock you to zero hit points so you can use you reaction as response to such a hit before the damage takes effect.In the first explanation you can cast spare the dying 8n the second you can not (because you don't have 0 hp you just know you are about to). To be honest I am not comfortable with either explanations, it makes more sense that you can not react to a hit that will reduce you to 0 hp but SBD says you can.
If you go with the former definition you would also have to decide whether you need to make the con save for concentration before you can use your reaction.
Of course if the samurai fighter has access to spare the dying they can cast it on themselves as part of their extra turn.
In the case of Strenght Before Death, it's a specific feature that explicitly need it happen before the trigger to work, as explained Xanathar's Guide to Everything. The Ready action in itself doesn't necessarily do, but wether the construction of your trigger when you take the Ready action does would depend on the DM. Personally i wouldn't allow it as it can open the door to all kind of other scenarios.
Reaction: If you’re unsure when a reaction occurs in relation to its trigger, here’s the rule: the reaction happens after its trigger completes, unless the description of the reaction explicitly says otherwise.
The feature Strenght Before Death delay falling unconscious so you never do and thus can take reaction. The reaction effect of Spare the Dying doesn't explicitly say otherwise so for anyone else
A) If you're unconscious you can't take a reaction to touch a living creature that has 0 hit points.
B) If you not unconscious you are not an valid target to touch since it target a living creature that has 0 hit points.
A samurai fighter with strength before death is living and has a reaction they can use when they take damage that reduces them to 0 hp. Which implies other characters can also use a reaction with the same trigger to cast spare the dying or even cure wounds. Not sure I would allow iit but it seems to be RAW.
I think Fangeye's reply explains why it doesn't work in general but does work in this specific case for a Samurai fighter.
Unless otherwise specified a Reaction occurs after the trigger.
For example an Opportunity Attack specifically states: "The attack occurs right before the creature leaves your reach."
Where as the Ready action states: "When the trigger occurs, you can either take your reaction right after the trigger finishes or ignore the trigger."
So no, you cannot Ready the Spare the Dying spell to cast it on yourself, but you can use your reaction to cast it on another creature that drops to 0 hp.
For the ready action, the Reaction occurs after the trigger. While for the samurai ability the reaction occurs before the trigger takes effect and is described in the specific rule.
In the case of casting a spell at zero hit points, ready specifically says the action occurs after the trigger, however, if you are at zero hit points, the character has been incapacitated, loses concentration on any spells (including the readied one) and can't take actions or reactions. So, in the case of the Ready action to cast a spell at zero hit points, it doesn't work.
A samurai fighter with strength before death is living and has a reaction they can use when they take damage that reduces them to 0 hp. Which implies other characters can also use a reaction with the same trigger to cast spare the dying or even cure wounds. Not sure I would allow iit but it seems to be RAW.
A Samurai's with Strenght Before Death could do it because it isn't unconscious while at 0 hit point, so it wouldn't be incapacitated and loose concentration and thus be able to release the effect of Spare the Dying as a reaction.
But strength before death requires a reaction so the Samurai does not have a reaction available to release a readied action. They would only be able to cast is as the action of their extra turn.
Thanks for the clarification that readied actions only take place after the trigger is completed.
Can you?
Like, the trigger would be when you reach 0 HP, and then the readied action would be to cast spare the dying.
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I don't think so. While readying a spell "holding onto the spell's magic requires concentration". As soon as you reach 0 HP and fall unconscious, you lose said concentration.
For another proof, when you are unconscious you are also incapacitated. While incapacitated, you cannot take actions or reactions, thus you still couldn't cast the spell.
Unless otherwise specified a Reaction occurs after the trigger.
For example an Opportunity Attack specifically states: "The attack occurs right before the creature leaves your reach."
Where as the Ready action states: "When the trigger occurs, you can either take your reaction right after the trigger finishes or ignore the trigger."
So no, you cannot Ready the Spare the Dying spell to cast it on yourself, but you can use your reaction to cast it on another creature that drops to 0 hp.
You can ready such an action. You would need to remain conscious and maintain your concentration on the spell when you drop to 0 hitpoints. So long as you remain conscious and maintain your concentration, you can cast the spell.
You can Ready Spare the Dying or any other spell eligible, but will not be able to release it with your reaction because you lose concentration (which make the spell ends) and can't take reaction when unconscious.
The question becomes what order do you apply thing which take place instantaneously.
Strength before death makes is a reaction has a condition of when you are reduced to 0 hp and you can use that reaction before you lose consciousness I would take that to mean the same applies to any other reaction with the same trigger. An alternative explanation is you somehow know if a hit is severe enough to knock you to zero hit points so you can use you reaction as response to such a hit before the damage takes effect.In the first explanation you can cast spare the dying 8n the second you can not (because you don't have 0 hp you just know you are about to). To be honest I am not comfortable with either explanations, it makes more sense that you can not react to a hit that will reduce you to 0 hp but SBD says you can.
If you go with the former definition you would also have to decide whether you need to make the con save for concentration before you can use your reaction.
Of course if the samurai fighter has access to spare the dying they can cast it on themselves as part of their extra turn.
A Samurai's with Strenght Before Death could do it because it isn't unconscious while at 0 hit point, so it wouldn't be incapacitated and loose concentration and thus be able to release the effect of Spare the Dying as a reaction.
In the case of Strenght Before Death, it's a specific feature that explicitly need it happen before the trigger to work, as explained Xanathar's Guide to Everything. The Ready action in itself doesn't necessarily do, but wether the construction of your trigger when you take the Ready action does would depend on the DM. Personally i wouldn't allow it as it can open the door to all kind of other scenarios.
Even if it's technically possible within the game mechanic, I wouldn't allow it at my table.
The feature Strenght Before Death delay falling unconscious so you never do and thus can take reaction. The reaction effect of Spare the Dying doesn't explicitly say otherwise so for anyone else
A) If you're unconscious you can't take a reaction to touch a living creature that has 0 hit points.
B) If you not unconscious you are not an valid target to touch since it target a living creature that has 0 hit points.
Well, technically I suppose you could. But it would be useless. When the trigger goes off you will be unconscious and unable to cast the spell.
I think Fangeye's reply explains why it doesn't work in general but does work in this specific case for a Samurai fighter.
For the ready action, the Reaction occurs after the trigger. While for the samurai ability the reaction occurs before the trigger takes effect and is described in the specific rule.
In the case of casting a spell at zero hit points, ready specifically says the action occurs after the trigger, however, if you are at zero hit points, the character has been incapacitated, loses concentration on any spells (including the readied one) and can't take actions or reactions. So, in the case of the Ready action to cast a spell at zero hit points, it doesn't work.
But strength before death requires a reaction so the Samurai does not have a reaction available to release a readied action. They would only be able to cast is as the action of their extra turn.
Thanks for the clarification that readied actions only take place after the trigger is completed.
Thanks for the info guys, I agree with the main points that you all stated.
And yeah, I probably wouldn't allow it even if there was a way.
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