Most reaction triggers are in the form of "When X happens". Which has the problems of "What if the PC doesn't know that X is happening?" or "What if the PC thinks X is happening but is wrong?" So, how is this supposed to work?
To the first one, I voted no. The whole point of a reaction is that it is a trigger. If you aren't aware of the trigger, you don't know it triggers unless the reaction specifies you being hit is the trigger or something to that effect.
For the 2nd one, I voted yes. I think theres a caveat that sometimes the reaction wouldn't work but you'd still do it.
1. A character can't react to something it isn't aware of since a reaction is an instant response to a trigger, which you won't know happen if unaware of it.
2. If something isn't what it seem like but can assess the trigger, it should be able to react. For me the question would be if a character can recognize the trigger. If not i'd fall back to #1
Question without context are sometimes harder to answer or may offer different perspective, did you have a precise feature and situation you were thinking about?
"Can a character react to something they aren't aware of?"
Absolutely not!
You can't see or hear it so how can you react to it before it's in your face? There is no editing of this unless you disregard logic. Yes a player can call for a vibe check of some kind potentially (Perception or Insight for the senses and Spidey Sense) but if they fail to meet your DC then they can't react.
"What about something that isn't what they think it is?"
What is the context for this question?
Is it they hear a noise thinking it's a bad guy sneaking up on them but really it's a mouse making noises? Or is it they think the NPC is going to attack them but really they're just coming to beg for help? Either way I would yes they can react because they perceive a target but the item they wanted to use is lost so if they shoot at the noise or NPC then that ammo and spell are gone; no taking it back by saying "I was only going to fire if it was a bad guy" because you said previously you were going to do your action (usually attack). So now both the NPC and maybe mouse are dead and that's the consequence.
Do they think the evil NPC is a certain kind of monster and they throw out their elemental spell which they know will do big damage on it and then you reveal that's not the type of creature it is?
In this case, you still get to react and lose your attack because it's not the DMs fault you assumed something that wasn't true - unless inconsistent lore is involved then that is on the DM and maybe you just cancel it out so that nothing happens.
So yeah I lean in the absence of more clarity on this question towards the "yes but ammo/spell is wasted" side. Maybe you get the arrow back later if you decide to pick it up but that spell slot is gone until you rest back up to get them again! If your action choice is Dodge then you move away from the trigger however many feet you were going to go upon visually seeing it.
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Most reaction triggers are in the form of "When X happens". Which has the problems of "What if the PC doesn't know that X is happening?" or "What if the PC thinks X is happening but is wrong?" So, how is this supposed to work?
To the first one, I voted no. The whole point of a reaction is that it is a trigger. If you aren't aware of the trigger, you don't know it triggers unless the reaction specifies you being hit is the trigger or something to that effect.
For the 2nd one, I voted yes. I think theres a caveat that sometimes the reaction wouldn't work but you'd still do it.
1. A character can't react to something it isn't aware of since a reaction is an instant response to a trigger, which you won't know happen if unaware of it.
2. If something isn't what it seem like but can assess the trigger, it should be able to react. For me the question would be if a character can recognize the trigger. If not i'd fall back to #1
Question without context are sometimes harder to answer or may offer different perspective, did you have a precise feature and situation you were thinking about?
"Can a character react to something they aren't aware of?"
Absolutely not!
You can't see or hear it so how can you react to it before it's in your face? There is no editing of this unless you disregard logic. Yes a player can call for a vibe check of some kind potentially (Perception or Insight for the senses and Spidey Sense) but if they fail to meet your DC then they can't react.
"What about something that isn't what they think it is?"
What is the context for this question?
Is it they hear a noise thinking it's a bad guy sneaking up on them but really it's a mouse making noises? Or is it they think the NPC is going to attack them but really they're just coming to beg for help? Either way I would yes they can react because they perceive a target but the item they wanted to use is lost so if they shoot at the noise or NPC then that ammo and spell are gone; no taking it back by saying "I was only going to fire if it was a bad guy" because you said previously you were going to do your action (usually attack). So now both the NPC and maybe mouse are dead and that's the consequence.
Do they think the evil NPC is a certain kind of monster and they throw out their elemental spell which they know will do big damage on it and then you reveal that's not the type of creature it is?
In this case, you still get to react and lose your attack because it's not the DMs fault you assumed something that wasn't true - unless inconsistent lore is involved then that is on the DM and maybe you just cancel it out so that nothing happens.
So yeah I lean in the absence of more clarity on this question towards the "yes but ammo/spell is wasted" side. Maybe you get the arrow back later if you decide to pick it up but that spell slot is gone until you rest back up to get them again! If your action choice is Dodge then you move away from the trigger however many feet you were going to go upon visually seeing it.