Need some opinions as to what the RAW says about this.
Say your wizard casts a spell or whatever. Takes a standard action.
He then readies his move action to move out of the way if any bad guy's attacks or spells come at him, or include him.
Does it work? If an arrow or a scorching ray comes his way, can he simply move behind total cover to escape the attack? Does the attack hit the cover? Can the attacker re-target it? What if the attack is a fireball or some other AoE? Would you need a Spellcraft check in the case of the ray or fireball, to determine that a threat is coming your way before it's too late, or can Joe Fighter use the same tactic?
What do you think, from a RAW/RAI perspective?
Need some opinions as to what the RAW says about this.
Say your wizard casts a spell or whatever. Takes a standard action.
He then readies his move action to move out of the way if any bad guy's attacks or spells come at him, or include him.
Does it work? If an arrow or a scorching ray comes his way, can he simply move behind total cover to escape the attack? Does the attack hit the cover? Can the attacker re-target it? What if the attack is a fireball or some other AoE? Would you need a Spellcraft check in the case of the ray or fireball, to determine that a threat is coming your way before it's too late, or can Joe Fighter use the same tactic?
What do you think, from a RAW/RAI perspective?
Pretty cut and dried. Ready is a standard action, so you can't ready a move action if you cast a spell or use another standard action first.
For the sake of discussion, let's say the wiz used his standard action to ready. He must state what he intends to do (move away) and the conditions under will do it (if attacked). The rules state that the readied action will occur before the action that triggers it. The rules also state that if the trigger is part of another character's activities, the wiz can interrupt the other character, who can continue his activities if possible once the readied action is complete. (see page 203)
This can get a little tricky. There are generally three sticking points.
One is if the wiz with the readied action can perceive the trigger. Suppose the attacker is stealthed and using the sniping rules. Is his readied "move away" action triggered by the sniper's shot ? Suppose the enemy caster has that v3.5 "deceptive spell" ability (that causes anyone attempting to identify a spell being cast to mis-identify it as something else). Is the wiz's readied action triggered by what he perceives as the enemy casting some other (non-attack) spell that turns out really IS magic missile ? RAW does not address this.
Another is the exact wording of the trigger. The DM and the player need compatible expectations of how precisely the trigger needs to be worded. In the OPs example, by a strict interpretation of his stated trigger, if the meatshield (er, wiz's fighter buddy) is attacked instead the wiz, the readied action won't trigger. At what point during an attack is the intended target known to observers ? RAW does not address this.
The third is usually determining if the triggerer is stuck with an action he can no longer finish, or if (because the readied action took place entirely before the action that would trigger it) he can do something else with that same action.
Some thought experiments.
Enemy fighter approaches (with a move action) our wiz. He can get right up in wiz's face without expending all of his move. Now he wishes to attack our wiz (declares an attack as a standard action). This triggers the readied "move away". Mr. Wiz gets a AoO for leaving a threatened square (unless he uses a five foot step instead of a move). If Mr. Wiz has used as a trigger "moves to put me in his threated area" instead, he could have moved away without taking the AoO, since his move would begin just before enemy fighter moved that final square. Let's say Mr. Wiz five-foot steps away. Enemy fighter's standard (attack) action has not begun yet as wiz's action took place just before it. Can enemy fighter continue his move action since he still has movement remaining and has not yet started his standard (attack) action ?
Enemy ranger in sight of Mr. Wiz. The ranger draws an arrow as a free action and nocks it. He draws the bow and points it at Mr. Wiz (declares a ranged attack with the wiz as the target). Unless Mr. Wiz can't see this, it triggers his readied "move away" action. This "move way" happens just (and entirely) before the attack action wich triggers it. Assume Mr. Wiz can get out of sight around a corner in a single move. Enemy ranger's attack action has not started. What can the Enemy ranger do ? Certainly he could attack a different target if there is one in sight. But if there is not ? Could he instead decide (since his attack action never started) to move instead ? Perhaps to a new position where he AGAIN has LOS to our wiz ?
An enemy caster begins casting. From the spellcraft skill rules, Mr. Wiz can attempt to identify the spell being cast without an action, but he must be able to clearly see the spell as it is being cast with the same penalties as a Perception skill check. If he fails his roll (dc 15 + spell level) he might simply ASSUME that the spell is an attack and trigger his move action. Our Mr. Wiz also stated as his trigger was "if attacked". But how does the wiz know the intended target until the enemy caster gets to the "point finger" part of the spell ? In this case, is the enemy caster stuck with a almost completed spell casting and no target ? Can the enemy caster "abort" his spell without completing the casting (and using up the spell slot) even if the standard action is still committed ?
One is if the wiz with the readied action can perceive the trigger. Suppose the attacker is stealthed and using the sniping rules. Is his readied "move away" action triggered by the sniper's shot ? Suppose the enemy caster has that v3.5 "deceptive spell" ability (that causes anyone attempting to identify a spell being cast to mis-identify it as something else). Is the wiz's readied action triggered by what he perceives as the enemy casting some other (non-attack) spell that turns out really IS magic missile ? RAW does not address this.
Yes, that sounds reasonable to me. If you goof up (mis-ID the spell), then it's perfectly reasonable there's a consequence.
Another is the exact wording of the trigger. The DM and the player need compatible expectations of how precisely the trigger needs to be worded. In the OPs example, by a strict interpretation of his stated trigger, if the meatshield (er, wiz's fighter buddy) is attacked instead the wiz, the readied action won't trigger. At what point during an attack is the intended target known to observers ? RAW does not address this.
That is a tough one, but the wizard has paid a price in readying by giving up his standard action. Maybe the player gets the benefit of the doubt here and doesn't have to trigger his ready action as long as the attack is hitting the fighter.
In this case, is the enemy caster stuck with a almost completed spell casting and no target ? Can the enemy caster "abort" his spell without completing the casting (and using up the spell slot) even if the standard action is still committed ?
I lean towards 'Yes' on the first question and 'No' on the 2nd. Again, the player has saved his standard action for later and let his opponents go first. It seems reasonable to me that, if you've paid that cost, you get a chance to foul up an opposing caster's offensive spell.
I think it's assumed that a spellcaster is proficient enough in battle to track the wherabouts of his targets as he's casting his spells. Getting out of the way is what the Reflex Save aspect of the system is for. What you're suggesting is in my opinion an unnecessary tweak that would end up making your games more complicated. If you can ready an action to do this, what's to stop all characters from using magic items and spells to up their speed to fully exploit it? I personally think it's a headache I'd want to avoid as a DM.
+1 He can't cast then ready a move.
Granted, but is this tactic meant to work when used as a standard action?
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Oh this just makes me chuckle... back in the day when my friends and I were just getting into 2nd ed and trying new games out, namely champions we had an action we like to call, "I abort my next action and DODGE!" Oh the days when we didn't really pay any attention to the rules were good times...
--Vrocking around the Christmas Tree!
I may well houserule in a 'dive for cover' move action. It makes you prone of course.
A solution for a wizard might be to research a swift action "dodge" spell that lets you do exactly what the OP wants to do - use your move action to get out of the way. I could even see that as a 0 level spell. Hm. Except for the unlimited cantrips. Make it 1st level.
Well, there *WAS* and "Abort to Dive for Cover" (or something like that) action in certain versions of Champions. If there was cover available and you made the roll, it was great. If you failed however, you lost whatever cover you might have had and were considered IN THE AIR when the attack hit and took extra knockback as a result.
P.S. In my earlier post, it turns out the "deceptive spell" is the skill trick "False Theurgy".
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When you Ready an action, you specify a single Standard Action and the event that triggers is. You can move as a Standard Action. So far, so good. Only you can't cast a spell (unless it's Quickened) AND Ready an Action in the same round. Otherwise, there is nothing wrong with saying "I Ready an action to run like hell (standard move) if I see someone casting an area of effect spell that includes my space" (pending a successful Spellcraft check to actually know what's coming).
Granted, but is this tactic meant to work when used as a standard action?
Depends on how you phrase it. I'd think this would be okay:
"I get ready to move if a foe comes within 5' of his natural or weapon reach, or an enemy spellcaster starts to cast a spell."
I don't think you want to ready an action if you get attacked. You might avoid the attack, but may draw an AoO instead.
You *may* be able to ready an action if you are the target of an enemy spell. That would depend much more on your DM. I don't think I'd allow that level of precision though.
I definitely would not allow someone to ready an action if they would be affected by an area spell. I would let them take a move action if an opponent started to cast a spell that affected an area, if they made the Spellcraft 15 + level check, just like counterspell. But I don't think you could tell exactly where that spell would land before the spell resolves.
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You are probably right about not being able to anticipate where an area spell is headed. Hope you can run out of range or around a corner!
The effectiveness of Ready actions are extremely dependant on what any given DM will let you set as a trigger. By its very nature it is open to a lot of interpretation and thus, DM fiat.