First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your Reaction. 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. Examples include “If the cultist steps on the trapdoor, I’ll pull the lever that opens it,” and “If the zombie steps next to me, I move away.”
When you do something other than moving or communicating, you typically take an action. The Action table lists the game’s main actions, which are defined in more detail in the Rules Glossary. [...] Player characters and monsters can also do things not covered by these actions. Many class features and other abilities provide additional action options, and you can improvise other actions. When you describe an action not detailed elsewhere in the rules, the Dungeon Master tells you whether that action is possible and what kind of D20 Test you need to make, if any.
So, the basic idea is to choose one of the actions described in Chapter 1, but in my opinion it's true you could also improvise another action if your DM allows it, or choose an action provided by your features (e.g. Level 2: Channel Divinity (Divine Spark or Turn Undead), Level 3: Hand of Healing, Level 2: Wild Companion, Level 9: Abjure Foes, Level 13: Psychic Veil...), some common items in Adventuring Gear that require an action to use, or even Ready an action to activate a Magic Item.
On your turn is the only time you can take a Magic action
When you use the Ready action, you're readying a small-a action, not a capital-a named Action.
The Magic Action is an action like the rest on the list;
Actions: When you do something other than moving or communicating, you typically take an action. The Action table lists the game’s main actions, which are defined in more detail in the Rules Glossary... Player characters and monsters can also do things not covered by these actions.
Actions: On your turn, you can take one action. Choose which action to take from those below or from the special actions provided by your features. See also “Playing the Game” (“Actions”). These actions are defined elsewhere in this glossary:
Now, the way it describes say: "When you take the Ready action, you can either move up to your Speed or take a defined action as your Reaction."
"Defined action" in this case means "the thing you defined when you set the trigger for the Ready action", not "an action from the list we provided". The second usage wouldn't even make sense, since you can do things that are not covered by any of the listed PHB actions
This is the glossary entry on the Ready action
You take the Ready action to wait for a particular circumstance before you act. To do so, you take this action on your turn, which lets you act by taking a Reaction before the start of your next turn.
First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your Reaction. 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. Examples include “If the cultist steps on the trapdoor, I’ll pull the lever that opens it,” and “If the zombie steps next to me, I move away.”
Color coded added to show how the word 'action' is being used in two different senses in that section of the rules
Again, the examples provided are not actions from the list in the PHB. They are general descriptions of how your character will act in response to the trigger
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Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue) Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Now, the way it describes say: "When you take the Ready action, you can either move up to your Speed or take a defined action as your Reaction."
"Defined action" in this case means "the thing you defined when you set the trigger for the Ready action", not "an action from the list we provided". The second usage wouldn't even make sense, since you can do things that are not covered by any of the listed PHB actions
This is the glossary entry on the Ready action
You take the Ready action to wait for a particular circumstance before you act. To do so, you take this action on your turn, which lets you act by taking a Reaction before the start of your next turn.
First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your Reaction. 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. Examples include “If the cultist steps on the trapdoor, I’ll pull the lever that opens it,” and “If the zombie steps next to me, I move away.”
Color coded added to show how the word 'action' is being used in two different senses in that section of the rules
Again, the examples provided are not actions from the list in the PHB. They are general descriptions of how your character will act in response to the trigger
Yes i agree, defined action is the action defined when the ready action is made, and magic action is an action acording to PHB, and yes, the samples providade are movement and utilize action. Movement is not an action but the ready action says you can choose an action or move up to your movement speed.
This is one of the few cases where I think that there would be some value in seeing an updated Sage Advice entry for this topic. It is true that the examples that were used in both the 2014 rules and now again in the 2024 rules refer to activities in such a way that they do not explicitly call out any of the listed predefined actions such as the Utilize action. And yet, based on the words that are used in the text for the rule you should be able to ready any single action, including the predefined ones.
The intent behind this rule has always felt to me like a nerf to the old-school "Delay" action that was available in older versions of the game where you could essentially change your initiative to take your entire turn later on in the combat round and then you would still have your full action economy available to you during that delayed turn to be used with full flexibility. Now, there are a bunch of potential negative consequences and restrictions associated with attempting to act later by readying your action through the use of taking the Ready action. But, in my opinion, you are intended to be able to take any action if and when your defined trigger actually triggers. You are essentially giving up the chance to use your action now for a possibility (not guaranteed) of using it later and at the cost of your Reaction.
I like the interpretation that TarodNet provided on Post #21 the best -- I had not even really considered the possibility that you could Ready a class Feature such as Channel Divinity: Divine Spark. There seems to be a lot more opportunity for that sort of thing in the 2024 rules because of how Features like that were rewritten, and that feels intentional.
The same is true with the Magic Action. Casting a spell is an action that (ordinarily) requires you take the Magic Action. However, the Magic Action itself can only be taken on your turn as part of your Action.
This is technically untrue, and the distinction becomes important for this discussion.
There is no such rule in the game that says that predefined actions such as the Magic action can only be taken on your turn.
A rule which says that you CAN take the Magic action on your turn when you use your turn's action is NOT saying that you cannot take the Magic action when it is not your turn. It's just that, by default, you do not have an (action economy) action available to take unless it is your turn -- your turn provides one at the beginning of your turn that must be used during your turn.
The Ready action creates an exception to all of that that. Or to be more precise, it creates an additional rule that is available beyond the rules that are provided by your turn. The Ready action provides an (action economy) action that you can take in response to a trigger, which can happen when it is not your turn.
__________
To circle back for a moment to the OP's proposals. Just in case there is any confusion about the casting of Circle spells -- players should not feel obligated to use this Ready concept due to any notion that all of the spellcasters must be contributing on the same Round of combat. It is ok for the spellcasting process to wrap around to the next Round of combat. The requirement is only that the contributions must be made before the start of the primary caster's next turn. So, the order of initiative does not get in the way of the mechanic in the sense that only the spellcaster at the top of initiative can initiate / cast a Circle spell or anything like that. If the idea behind using this Ready technique is to avoid a perceived problem like that -- it's unnecessary.
While not official ruling per se, here's a tweet from the Devs specifically saying you can;
@JeremyECrawfordThe Ready action lets you ready any action you can take, including Attack, but Extra Attack is on your turn.
This is pretty clear RAI. I'll concede
My other objections to allowing Readied actions to be used on a circle spell specifically remain, but that's a matter for my games
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Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue) Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
If you aren't limited to the (capital A) Actions in the list when Readying an action, then what stopping someone from saying, "I swing my sword at them 10 times if they come within 5ft of me." or "I fire off 5 firebolts if something rounds that corner." How do you state that those are not "single actions" without invoking the actual Actions one can use on a turn?
This one's easy! Specific beats general. Swinging the sword like that is restricted by the Extra Attack feature being limited to only functioning on your turn or else it WOULD work that way if you had ten attacks. And using extreme examples like "fire off 5 firebolts" is only hurting your own argument because obviously you couldn't do that no matter what unless you had a feature saying you could. (Though an upcast Scorching Ray comes close to doing that and you get all the attacks of that one.
Then we agree. Forgive me for adding a bit of absurdity to try and show how the interpretation that the Readied "action" seemed to be anything but the actions listed in the table was, itself, absurd.
[...] I like the interpretation that TarodNet provided on Post #21 the best -- I had not even really considered the possibility that you could Ready a class Feature such as Channel Divinity: Divine Spark. There seems to be a lot more opportunity for that sort of thing in the 2024 rules because of how Features like that were rewritten, and that feels intentional. [...]
Oh, thank you! That's just my open-minded interpretation/opinion. Everyone's welcome to the "Circle Magic is Ready" club.
Still under the umbrella of the 2014 rules, but when many pre-release videos and articles were popping up, I created the next thread. You were the one who replied to me back then: Some possible Actions to Ready.
Well im pretty much convinced with all the arguments presented, but im eager for a sage advice to see what devs have to say. Sadly my DM is not going to allow circle spells so i might start looking for tables that allow it to play with the new mechanic. Thx everyone <3
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I agree with Athanar90 about the Ready Action.
Ready Action:
Actions:
So, the basic idea is to choose one of the actions described in Chapter 1, but in my opinion it's true you could also improvise another action if your DM allows it, or choose an action provided by your features (e.g. Level 2: Channel Divinity (Divine Spark or Turn Undead), Level 3: Hand of Healing, Level 2: Wild Companion, Level 9: Abjure Foes, Level 13: Psychic Veil...), some common items in Adventuring Gear that require an action to use, or even Ready an action to activate a Magic Item.
The Magic Action is an action like the rest on the list;
"Defined action" in this case means "the thing you defined when you set the trigger for the Ready action", not "an action from the list we provided". The second usage wouldn't even make sense, since you can do things that are not covered by any of the listed PHB actions
This is the glossary entry on the Ready action
Color coded added to show how the word 'action' is being used in two different senses in that section of the rules
Again, the examples provided are not actions from the list in the PHB. They are general descriptions of how your character will act in response to the trigger
Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue)
Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Yes i agree, defined action is the action defined when the ready action is made, and magic action is an action acording to PHB, and yes, the samples providade are movement and utilize action. Movement is not an action but the ready action says you can choose an action or move up to your movement speed.
The "action" doesn't exclude the ones you can ""Choose which action to take from those below:...Magic
While not official ruling per se, here's a tweet from the Devs specifically saying you can;
This is one of the few cases where I think that there would be some value in seeing an updated Sage Advice entry for this topic. It is true that the examples that were used in both the 2014 rules and now again in the 2024 rules refer to activities in such a way that they do not explicitly call out any of the listed predefined actions such as the Utilize action. And yet, based on the words that are used in the text for the rule you should be able to ready any single action, including the predefined ones.
The intent behind this rule has always felt to me like a nerf to the old-school "Delay" action that was available in older versions of the game where you could essentially change your initiative to take your entire turn later on in the combat round and then you would still have your full action economy available to you during that delayed turn to be used with full flexibility. Now, there are a bunch of potential negative consequences and restrictions associated with attempting to act later by readying your action through the use of taking the Ready action. But, in my opinion, you are intended to be able to take any action if and when your defined trigger actually triggers. You are essentially giving up the chance to use your action now for a possibility (not guaranteed) of using it later and at the cost of your Reaction.
I like the interpretation that TarodNet provided on Post #21 the best -- I had not even really considered the possibility that you could Ready a class Feature such as Channel Divinity: Divine Spark. There seems to be a lot more opportunity for that sort of thing in the 2024 rules because of how Features like that were rewritten, and that feels intentional.
This is technically untrue, and the distinction becomes important for this discussion.
There is no such rule in the game that says that predefined actions such as the Magic action can only be taken on your turn.
A rule which says that you CAN take the Magic action on your turn when you use your turn's action is NOT saying that you cannot take the Magic action when it is not your turn. It's just that, by default, you do not have an (action economy) action available to take unless it is your turn -- your turn provides one at the beginning of your turn that must be used during your turn.
The Ready action creates an exception to all of that that. Or to be more precise, it creates an additional rule that is available beyond the rules that are provided by your turn. The Ready action provides an (action economy) action that you can take in response to a trigger, which can happen when it is not your turn.
__________
To circle back for a moment to the OP's proposals. Just in case there is any confusion about the casting of Circle spells -- players should not feel obligated to use this Ready concept due to any notion that all of the spellcasters must be contributing on the same Round of combat. It is ok for the spellcasting process to wrap around to the next Round of combat. The requirement is only that the contributions must be made before the start of the primary caster's next turn. So, the order of initiative does not get in the way of the mechanic in the sense that only the spellcaster at the top of initiative can initiate / cast a Circle spell or anything like that. If the idea behind using this Ready technique is to avoid a perceived problem like that -- it's unnecessary.
This is pretty clear RAI. I'll concede
My other objections to allowing Readied actions to be used on a circle spell specifically remain, but that's a matter for my games
Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator (Assassin rogue)
Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Then we agree. Forgive me for adding a bit of absurdity to try and show how the interpretation that the Readied "action" seemed to be anything but the actions listed in the table was, itself, absurd.
Oh, thank you! That's just my open-minded interpretation/opinion. Everyone's welcome to the "Circle Magic is Ready" club.
Still under the umbrella of the 2014 rules, but when many pre-release videos and articles were popping up, I created the next thread. You were the one who replied to me back then: Some possible Actions to Ready.
Well im pretty much convinced with all the arguments presented, but im eager for a sage advice to see what devs have to say. Sadly my DM is not going to allow circle spells so i might start looking for tables that allow it to play with the new mechanic. Thx everyone <3