Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 latinneo13 Aug 28, 2014 15:18:10	Can you use the ready action when you are not in combat? I have a player who wishes to walk around with an action on the ready. Example The player Readies see invisibility upon entering a dungeon. The trigger is if an invisible being is encountered the spell goes off. Can the player then concentrate for however long it takes until his circumstance is met?
#2 Plaguescarred1 Aug 28, 2014 15:52:54	Sure you can Ready outside combat, not because you are not in combat that you cannot takes actions.   As for your exemple, Readying See Invisibility upon encountering an invisible creature will force him to maintain his concentration until then, and use up his reaction once trigerred, as opposed to just exploring normally and cast See Invisibility as an action upon encountering an invisible creature. I see it as a tradeoff; 1 reaction + concentration vs 1 action.   Also not Readying the spell doesn't' use the slot if not needed compared to doing so.
#3 Chimerasame Aug 28, 2014 15:46:09	You don't have to be in combat to take actions, including "Ready," but allowing a player to do what you describe would require a bit of houseruling.   First, for your specific instance: by the rules as written, if you ready a non-cantrip spell, and the trigger does not occur, the spell fizzles and the spell slot is expended anyway. I think this is overly harsh on spellcasters, and I think it's entirely reasonable to allow them to ready actions without risking losing spell slots -- but it is a houserule if you do it.   Second, you might want to think about the implications of someone doing any readied action for an extended period, spell or no. Think about what happens in combat, and you can sort of extrapolate to what happens out of combat.   - Without "Ready," you're able to move double your speed per turn (by taking the 'Dash' action). With it, you can only move one. - Without "Ready," you can use your reaction as well as your action for two separate things. With it, you expend both on the one thing you're readying (and lose both, if the triggered thing doesn't happen.)   I would impose this effect, then: - Penalty of -5 on passive perception (equivalent to disadvantage) to detect anything other than the trigger which you're readying for. (No special advantage/disadvantage to notice the trigger itself.) - Out-of-combat speed is halved.   This is just purely off the cuff and these penalties are not supported by RAW. Just my feeling for what a player ought to sacrifice in order to have the unusual advantage that they'd basically get an extra action at the start of any potential combat that might break out.
#4 Moribund Aug 28, 2014 15:58:22	latinneo13 wrote:
#5 shivafang Aug 28, 2014 16:13:19	It's important to note that you can't take a reaction until after your first turn of combat if you are surprised.  Since you cannot act on the first turn of combat when surprised, this prevents you from readying an action until your second turn of combat (the non-surprise round.)   I would extend this to include the round before combat begins.  The 'surprise round' happened but everyone in the combat was surprised, then the regular round begins.  If the players are the ones doing the surprising and has time to prepare.. then I can see no reason to disallow it other than "I don't like it"
#6 obsid Aug 28, 2014 17:02:10	He also needs to keep taking his turn every turn to ready a spell.  If he does anything else he loses the spell slot.  He would probably move at half speed.  Cant cast anything else that requires concentration.  Would't work in the suprise round, nor against any creature he doesnt notice (If that invis creature is sneaking and beat his passive perception then he doesnt know they are there and the readied action wouldnt trigger).  If you take all those downsides into account then sure he can do it if thats what he wants to do.
#7 Plaguescarred1 Aug 28, 2014 17:32:32	Moribund wrote:
#8 WibbleNZ Aug 28, 2014 17:57:24	The rules for "Ready" appear in the section "Actions in Combat", and I think that is quite deliberate. Allowing them to happen outside of combat opens up a potential can of worms and isn't needed. If you want to cast see invisible at the first suitable oportunity, just use the surprise and initiative rules to determine when that is.
(Reply to #8) Moribund	WibbleNZ wrote:
#10 shivafang Aug 28, 2014 18:18:09	I have always ruled (in every edition that had the option) that readying can't happen outside of initiative.  You always roll initiative to see who reacts first.   The rules don't directly say that, but that's the only thing that makes sense.  Readying outside of combat feels (to me) like a gamey subversion of the initiative rules.
#11 WibbleNZ Aug 28, 2014 18:43:30	Moribund wrote:
(Reply to #11) Bloodscythe	WibbleNZ wrote: