I noticed something recently. The Extra Attack feature gives you an additional attack when you “take the Attack action on your turn.” I’d previously overlooked that “on your turn” clause because your turn is when you normally take the Attack action. But that’s not the case if you’re using the Ready action to take the Attack action during another combatant’s turn. Have other DMs been relying on this clause to limit Readied Attack actions to a single attack and I’m just late to the party?
The same “on your turn” clause exists in the rules text for a Dragonborn’s Breath Weapon trait, but it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me why a Dragonborn PC wouldn’t be able to Ready their Breath Weapon. The “Attack action on your turn” phrase appears again in the Great Weapon Master feat without an obvious reason why which turn the action takes place in is relevant. So I could see it being argued that the intent of the phrase isn’t to apply a limitation, but is to clarify it’s referring to the ‘Attack action’ rather than ‘an attack’ more generally. In that scenario, taking the Attack action when it wasn’t your turn would not have even been considered as a possibility.
It’s also worth considering that there is a lack of parity between PCs and monsters if this limitation is enforced, because nothing I’ve found in the rules prevents a monster from using Ready with a Multiattack action. So should neither monsters nor PCs be able to attack more than once when they use Ready? Should both be able to? Or is the disparity right and proper?
Have other DMs been relying on this clause to limit Readied Attack actions to a single attack and I’m just late to the party?
RAW a readied attack is only a single attack, though it's not a rule I'm super fond of. And yes, multiattack lacks explicit wording preventing readying it, though the discussion of multiattack in the monster manual indicates that its intended purpose is for creatures that get multiple attacks on their turn. I'm pretty sure this is a case of "most of the time we forget that ready even existed, we were trying to prevent multiple attacks with opportunity attacks".
As you're guessing, some traits, features, or feats only work on your turn when that wording appears in the rules. The classic example is indeed the Extra Attack feature.
It's also true you could define the Ready Action trigger to happen on your own turn, though that's not common.
Sorry, I forgot about Multiattack. I'd say it's not possible to Ready it, since using it requires the creature to take the Attack action.
Multiattack
Some creatures can make more than one attack when they take the Attack action. Such creatures have the Multiattack entry in the “Actions” section of their stat block. This entry details the attacks a creature can make, as well as any additional abilities it can use, as part of the Attack action.
I've never bothered enforcing this for Ready attacks on other people's turns, but also I've found that (in my personal experience at least) players actually taking the Ready action in combat is so rare that it almost never matters.
Sorry, I forgot about Multiattack. I'd say it's not possible to Ready it, since using it requires the creature to take the Attack action.
The way monsters are written up does not actually enforce such a restriction.
Maybe. But the next answer in the SAC also suggests Multiattack is not intended to be used off turn. For example, for Opportunity Attacks/Reactions:
What actions can monsters use to make Opportunity Attack? Are Multiattack and breath weapon actions allowed?
When making an Opportunity Attack, a monster can make any single melee attack listed in its stat block. A monster also has the option to make an Unarmed Strike as an Opportunity Attack, following the normal rules of an Unarmed Strike.
An action, such as a breath weapon effect, that doesn’t include a melee attack roll isn’t eligible to be chosen for an Opportunity Attack. Additionally, a monster can’t use its Multiattack when making an Opportunity Attack, because the use of Multiattack specifically predicates on taking the Attack action, and an Opportunity Attack takes a Reaction.
It’s all a bit of a hodgepodge of different criteria for attack and Attack action modifiers with “on your turn” being one of the least consistent in where it appears among Feats, Features, and Traits. It often feels arbitrary and I don’t know that it’s worth the cognitive overhead of tracking when it does or doesn’t apply. For instance, there are at least four core feats with on-hit push effects; Tavern Brawler, Charger, Crusher, and Shield Master; is there any logic to which ones only work on your turn? I understand where “during an Attack action” and “once a turn” are used much more implicitly.
At least I’m not the only one who doesn’t like what it does with Ready.
Yeah, wordings such as "on your turn" (e.g. Grappler's Punch and Grab), "once per turn" (e.g. Cleave), or no restrictions (e.g. Push) are found across the book. So a game element may or may not have restrictions.
The Sneak Attack description specifies that you can use the feature once per turn, but it’s not limited to your turn. The feature also doesn’t limit the number of times you can use it in a round.
You sometimes get a chance to use Sneak Attack on someone else’s turn. The most common way for this to happen is when an enemy provokes an Opportunity Attack from you. If the requirements for Sneak Attack are met, your Opportunity Attack can benefit from that feature.
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I noticed something recently. The Extra Attack feature gives you an additional attack when you “take the Attack action on your turn.” I’d previously overlooked that “on your turn” clause because your turn is when you normally take the Attack action. But that’s not the case if you’re using the Ready action to take the Attack action during another combatant’s turn. Have other DMs been relying on this clause to limit Readied Attack actions to a single attack and I’m just late to the party?
The same “on your turn” clause exists in the rules text for a Dragonborn’s Breath Weapon trait, but it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me why a Dragonborn PC wouldn’t be able to Ready their Breath Weapon. The “Attack action on your turn” phrase appears again in the Great Weapon Master feat without an obvious reason why which turn the action takes place in is relevant. So I could see it being argued that the intent of the phrase isn’t to apply a limitation, but is to clarify it’s referring to the ‘Attack action’ rather than ‘an attack’ more generally. In that scenario, taking the Attack action when it wasn’t your turn would not have even been considered as a possibility.
It’s also worth considering that there is a lack of parity between PCs and monsters if this limitation is enforced, because nothing I’ve found in the rules prevents a monster from using Ready with a Multiattack action. So should neither monsters nor PCs be able to attack more than once when they use Ready? Should both be able to? Or is the disparity right and proper?
RAW a readied attack is only a single attack, though it's not a rule I'm super fond of. And yes, multiattack lacks explicit wording preventing readying it, though the discussion of multiattack in the monster manual indicates that its intended purpose is for creatures that get multiple attacks on their turn. I'm pretty sure this is a case of "most of the time we forget that ready even existed, we were trying to prevent multiple attacks with opportunity attacks".
As you're guessing, some traits, features, or feats only work on your turn when that wording appears in the rules. The classic example is indeed the Extra Attack feature.
It's also true you could define the Ready Action trigger to happen on your own turn, though that's not common.
EDIT: ninja'd by Pantagruel666!
Sorry, I forgot about Multiattack. I'd say it's not possible to Ready it, since using it requires the creature to take the Attack action.
The way monsters are written up does not actually enforce such a restriction.
I've never bothered enforcing this for Ready attacks on other people's turns, but also I've found that (in my personal experience at least) players actually taking the Ready action in combat is so rare that it almost never matters.
pronouns: he/she/they
Maybe. But the next answer in the SAC also suggests Multiattack is not intended to be used off turn. For example, for Opportunity Attacks/Reactions:
It’s all a bit of a hodgepodge of different criteria for attack and Attack action modifiers with “on your turn” being one of the least consistent in where it appears among Feats, Features, and Traits. It often feels arbitrary and I don’t know that it’s worth the cognitive overhead of tracking when it does or doesn’t apply. For instance, there are at least four core feats with on-hit push effects; Tavern Brawler, Charger, Crusher, and Shield Master; is there any logic to which ones only work on your turn? I understand where “during an Attack action” and “once a turn” are used much more implicitly.
At least I’m not the only one who doesn’t like what it does with Ready.
Yeah, wordings such as "on your turn" (e.g. Grappler's Punch and Grab), "once per turn" (e.g. Cleave), or no restrictions (e.g. Push) are found across the book. So a game element may or may not have restrictions.
A good example of all this is Sneak Attack: