I’m playing and took the Ready Action to attack a ghoul that would trigger when it got within my threat range. 2 questions came up.
1-If the ghoul attempts to move around my threat range, can I then move and attack anyway or am I unable to use my action if the trigger isn’t met?
2-If the trigger does occur, does my initiative change on the following rounds to the initiative count when I attacked? Example, I rolled an 18 init but my trigger was on init count 6. Do I go on 18 the following round or so I go on 6?
1) Readying is your action. You’re still free to move, but you can’t attack because you’ve already used your action. What readying does is give you a reaction that can you can take on someone else’s turn in response to the trigger you’ve established.
2) As alluded to above, all you’re doing is taking a reaction, just like making an attack of opportunity. So no, your initiative doesn’t change.
For #1: You could either ready an action to move, or to attack, not both. So the answer to your question is: The trigger was not met, therefore you do not perform your readied action.
I’m playing and took the Ready Action to attack a ghoul that would trigger when it got within my threat range. 2 questions came up.
1-If the ghoul attempts to move around my threat range, can I then move and attack anyway or am I unable to use my action if the trigger isn’t met?
2-If the trigger does occur, does my initiative change on the following rounds to the initiative count when I attacked? Example, I rolled an 18 init but my trigger was on init count 6. Do I go on 18 the following round or so I go on 6?
1. You can Ready a move(essentially Readying the Dash action), you can ready an attack, but you can't use Ready to trigger both a move AND an attack.
2. Your spot in the turn order doesn't change. The action you are Readying takes place by using your Reaction, just like if a monster left your reach and you made an opportunity attack against it, or if you're a Wizard who uses Counterspell on an enemy mage's turn to try and foil their casting. Reactions often do not during your actual turn, they can happen whenever the triggering condition is met. It doesn't change when your actual turn occurs.
I’m playing and took the Ready Action to attack a ghoul that would trigger when it got within my threat range. 2 questions came up.
1-If the ghoul attempts to move around my threat range, can I then move and attack anyway or am I unable to use my action if the trigger isn’t met?
2-If the trigger does occur, does my initiative change on the following rounds to the initiative count when I attacked? Example, I rolled an 18 init but my trigger was on init count 6. Do I go on 18 the following round or so I go on 6?
1) Readying is your action. You’re still free to move, but you can’t attack because you’ve already used your action. What readying does is give you a reaction that can you can take on someone else’s turn in response to the trigger you’ve established.
2) As alluded to above, all you’re doing is taking a reaction, just like making an attack of opportunity. So no, your initiative doesn’t change.
For #1: You could either ready an action to move, or to attack, not both. So the answer to your question is: The trigger was not met, therefore you do not perform your readied action.
Think Ready action as "using an Action to set-up a custom reaction."
If you look at Reactions such as the Attack of Opportunity, Uncanny Dodge or Shield spell, they all have pre-set conditions for the reaction.
1. You can Ready a move(essentially Readying the Dash action), you can ready an attack, but you can't use Ready to trigger both a move AND an attack.
2. Your spot in the turn order doesn't change. The action you are Readying takes place by using your Reaction, just like if a monster left your reach and you made an opportunity attack against it, or if you're a Wizard who uses Counterspell on an enemy mage's turn to try and foil their casting. Reactions often do not during your actual turn, they can happen whenever the triggering condition is met. It doesn't change when your actual turn occurs.
Thank you everyone.