No, you can not do that. The only actions you can take when it is not your turn are immediate actions and specific free actions.
He can ready an action to avoid a charge, but that has to be declared in advance. However readying an action takes up your standard action.
There is no "hold". There is "Ready" and there is "Delay".
You can take a 5 foot step with a readied action. So you could say if someone charges at me I foot step behind this door and close it. I have done that excat thing before and the dm just had the monster destroy the door on it's charge. That was fun.
It sounds like the player misremembered the readied action rules, or at least had the terminology wrong.
It's also possible the player is thinking of the
Dodging Panache Deed from the Swashbuckler class, or a similar ability.
You can take a 5 foot step with a readied action. So you could say if someone charges at me I foot step behind this door and close it. I have done that excat thing before and the dm just had the monster destroy the door on it's charge. That was fun.
Wouldnt moving 5 feet and closing a door be 2 actions? A readied action allows for just one?
Not that I don't appreciate the hilarity of it. I do.
You can 5 ft step as part of a readied action, so you can ready the action to close the door if someone charges you. You just have to take the 5 ft step to get on the other side of it first.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you readied a move action to move out of the way of a charging character, it wouldn't do you any good unless you could move further away from them than they could charge or move into a place where they'd have to cross difficult terrain, right? Like, on a charge you move toward a designated opponent, not a space, so if you tried to move out of the way, they'd just end up charging towards you in your new space (assuming you're still within double their basespeed, not across difficult terrain or behind something, etc).
Can you hold a move action then choose to use it later to 5ft step out of the way of a charge. In a recent game one of the other players said you could but it didn't seem right to me. If you could post reference material to prove yes or no that would be great.
Here are the relevant rules:
You can ready a standard action, a move action, a swift action, or a free action. To do so, specify the action you will take and the conditions under which you will take it. Then, anytime before your next action, you may take the readied action in response to that condition. The action occurs just before the action that triggers it. If the triggered action is part of another character's activities, you interrupt the other character. Assuming he is still capable of doing so, he continues his actions once you complete your readied action. Your initiative result changes. For the rest of the encounter, your initiative result is the count on which you took the readied action, and you act immediately ahead of the character whose action triggered your readied action.
You can take a 5-foot step as part of your readied action, but only if you don't otherwise move any distance during the round.
So, yeah, you could ready a move action to move out of the way when you're charged. You could also ready a standard action plus a 5' step to attack and then sidestep. At that point, you're starting to get into cheese and conflict territory - there are lots of threads about the "dancing kobold" and the way charges work that deal with some grey areas in the rules.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you readied a move action to move out of the way of a charging character, it wouldn't do you any good unless you could move further away from them than they could charge or move into a place where they'd have to cross difficult terrain, right? Like, on a charge you move toward a designated opponent, not a space, so if you tried to move out of the way, they'd just end up charging towards you in your new space (assuming you're still within double their basespeed, not across difficult terrain or behind something, etc).
That gets into a gray area of the rules that is the subject of much debate. Talk that over with your GM.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you readied a move action to move out of the way of a charging character, it wouldn't do you any good unless you could move further away from them than they could charge or move into a place where they'd have to cross difficult terrain, right? Like, on a charge you move toward a designated opponent, not a space, so if you tried to move out of the way, they'd just end up charging towards you in your new space (assuming you're still within double their basespeed, not across difficult terrain or behind something, etc).
Yes, because your readied action takes place before their charge. So unless you can position yourself in some way to make the charge invalid it doesn't do you any good. They simply start their charge with a new course.
Now, the question of what happens to their charge action if you do position yourself someplace where the charge is invalid is a question fraught with debate, and this isn't the place for it.
That gets into a gray area of the rules that is the subject of much debate. Talk that over with your GM.
As mentioned above, it's really only a problem when the action that triggers the readied action becomes an invalid action for the character to take. Many people argue that they simply lose the action. I however feel that it is too powerful to invalidate a character's action that way and that's where the debate arises. However, we shouldn't discuss this topic in this thread as there are plenty already dedicated to it.
Can you hold a move action then choose to use it later to 5ft step out of the way of a charge. In a recent game one of the other players said you could but it didn't seem right to me. If you could post reference material to prove yes or no that would be great.
It depends on the placement of other creatures and terrain features:
"If any line from your starting space to the ending space passes through a square that blocks movement, slows movement, or contains a creature (even an ally), you can't charge."
Also, the readied action takes place before the charge, not before the attack:
"You can ready a standard action, a move action, a swift action, or a free action. To do so, specify the action you will take and the conditions under which you will take it. Then, anytime before your next action, you may take the readied action in response to that condition. The action occurs just before the action that triggers it."
"Charging is a special full-round action that allows you to move up to twice your speed and attack during the action."
The attack is part of the charge action and (technically) not a separate action that can trigger a readied response (other than attack from a weapon with the brace feature).
To answer the specific question: No, you cannot ready a 5 ft step to move out of the reach of a charging character's attack after they already move.