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Thanks to all for your answers.
I'll let him read them too and then we will fight until he, as GM, will win :D

Thanks again!

Hello everyone,
i've search for this topic in the forum but, even if i've found a lot of threads on this topic, noone was able to completely clarify my doubt.
I'm looking for a RAW rules answer.

Here it goes:

My paladin is behind a wall outside of a building. A goblin is coming from the other side of the building. It is not clear if he knows about me or not.

My idea was readying an attack like this: "when I ear the goblin is near, I attack him"

In my head this is like "I'm readying an action", but when the goblin is near and I was ready for the attack, my master said "roll initiative", the goblin wins, and he is acting before me.

Questions:
1. if I was concealed, wasn't I allowed to try a surprise attack? Unless the goblin though I was behind that wall. I didn't roll stealth...

2. Can I ready an attack out of combat? my "readying an action" should have triggered the beginning of the combat?

3. can I prepare an "half charge"? I prepare an attack (standard action). When it is triggered, the goblin is 5 meters away. can I half charge him?

Talking about these things with my master some other doubts came out:

4. think about this situation. I see a barbarian coming form very far. I take my crossbow and point at him. I prepare the action "if he attacks me, I fire my crossbow".
he keep walking until 18 meters from me, saying he comes in peace. No combat starts until then.
Suddenly he decide to attack me.
shall we roll initiative? if he win, he can draw his sword, run 18 meters and charge while I was pointing at him with my crossbow waiting for him?

5. can and, if so, in which cases, readying an action substitute a surprise round? I guess that when me and my enemy both know about each other, surprise cannot be an option. If we are one in front of the other, initiative. What about I know he must come to me passing by a door, or something like that: can I ready an action?

6. If I ready a sword to attack a prisoner if he tries to run away, if he wins the initiative, does he run away? (we are out of combat)

One last thing: my english is not bad. It's just I'm talking like a farmer from medieval time (just to roleplay more...)
(Shame on me for my english... shaaameee... shaaameeee...)

Thanks for your answers.

Actually I was wrong: I was the one thinking that paladins have to meditate 1 hour per day, but they can do it whenever they want.

This is because, as player, I read the paladin class without bother reading the "general" divine caster rule. I assumed that what was written in the class was what we should apply.

Talking with my GM he told me about the general rule and so I checked all others divine casters to see how they where described.

Actually, searching the internet, I understand that the "divine Caster" section was before called "clerics".
So probably before these limitations was related to clerics only.
I actually think that correcting the name of the section, the author didn't think about changing the classes descriptions.

My master keep saying:
in paladin description says "1 hour a day". In the general rule says "a specific time". There is no contradiction (as Edward the Kobold says).
For me is ambiguous, even more if we think that in cleric description they specify it, and in the other they don't.

By the other hand, I think that it could be logical to restrict the time of the day for clerics (that depends on a specific god, that could prefere a specific moment of the day) and don't restrict the time for the others (ranger and druids depends on the Nature, so why some druids do it in the morning and other at night? nature is always there, it constantly surrounds everything, so I can get a communion with it whenever I want... Paladins may depend or not by a divinity, and their "spellcasting" si less powerful than a cleric. So maybe it has some sense that they are not so strictly restricted as the cleric).

But I assume my error, and will proceed doing a "Mea Culpa" process in order to seek atonement for my misdeeds against my GM.

Thanks everyone :D

In the core manual, it says about divine caster that

"A divine spellcaster chooses and prepares spells ahead of time, but unlike a wizard, does not require a period of rest to prepare spells. Instead, the character chooses a particular time of day to pray and receive spells. The time is usually associated with some daily event."

In the cleric class description, it confirms it:
"Each cleric MUST CHOOSE A TIME at which she must spend 1 hour each day in quiet contemplation or supplication to regain her daily allotment of spells."

But in the other divine spellcaster classes it doesn't confirm that they have to choose a particular moment of the day:

"A paladin must spend 1 hour each day in quiet prayer and meditation to regain her daily allotment of spells"

"A ranger must spend 1 hour per day in quiet meditation to regain his daily allotment of spells"

the same for druids.

So my question is:
Paladins, Rangers and Druids must choose a specific time of the day in which meditate (like all divine spellcaster) or the specific rule written in their class overwrite the general rule so they can meditate one hour whenever they like during the day?

Thanks to all for answering
G.