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ok, here is the situation. Your opponent readies to cast invis if you cast magic missile. You begin to cast. He makes his Spell Check. He casts invis. It goes before the action it interrupts, so it goes before your casting. Can you then cast another spell or choose a different target?
My thinking. Yes, you can change any part of your action you have not performed yet. (EX if you moved, and cast the spell, the action interrupts your spell, so you can not go back and change the move.)
As written, no. Your concept that "you can change any part of your action you have not performed yet" is correct, but doesn't apply.
A player does not need to declare his entire round worth of actions all at once. They can declare individual components. The DM then adjudicates the results of the player's decision.
In your case, "you" declares they are using a standard action to cast magic missile. That standard action is committed and in progress. The fingers of "you" are in motion, the words are being spoken, and the spell slot is being drained. Then "your opponent" becomes invisible. "You" cannot undo their choice. The magic missile is being cast, no question.
I as a DM would allow "you" to shift targets, but never to stop casting the spell as if it never happened. The slot is lost, the standard action is lost. "You" may then decide what move action and/or swift/immediate action they wish to undertake. Those portions of "you"'s turn haven't yet been declared.
That's why you can start a full attack, drop your target on the first swing, and instead of taking all your iteratives you can make a move action. Technically you're not "locked" into a full attack until you actually make the second swing. Otherwise you've actually only burned a standard action to make your first swing.
In general, anything that is happening sort of has happened. Attacks of opportunity and readied actions are just slightly faster in the has happened category, and for purposes of deciding various conditions are said to happen "before". They aren't literally before the actions that trigger them, they are just treated that way for purposes of resolving game mechanics like trip-locking.
Make sense?
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Target or Targets: Some spells have a target or targets. You cast these spells on creatures or objects, as defined by the spell itself. You must be able to see or touch the target, and you must specifically choose that target.
You do not have to select your target until you finish casting the spell.
He has to cast magic missile but he can change his target. If the invoker has finished casting the magic missile then the illusionists invisibility spell is too late. If the invoker has not finished casting yet then the invoker is not required to choose a target.
Interrupting with readied actions can make for some serious cheese if you force the other person to stop their action and don't let them modify it.
The return of the immortal Kobold!
Conan the 20th level barbarian charges a first level kobold. The kobold is going to hold an action until conan is 5 feet away, stab him, and then 5 feet back.
Conan moves 60 feet, gets stabbed... and by the idea that his action can't be changed, has to stop.
The real kicker though is that because the kobold's action resets to just before conans, he can KEEP doing this until conan gets fed up and throws his ax.
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Except you can only ready a standard or move action, you can't 5 foot step as well. It's a free action yes, but free actions unless otherwise specified can only be taken on your turn (talking specifically calls out that it can be done not on your turn for example) otherwise everyone could say...drop prone if someone shoots at them, as a free action.
So your kobold can 5 foot step back, or stab Conan. not both.
Except you can only ready a standard or move action, you can't 5 foot step as well. It's a free action yes, but free actions unless otherwise specified can only be taken on your turn (talking specifically calls out that it can be done not on your turn for example) otherwise everyone could say...drop prone if someone shoots at them, as a free action.
So your kobold can 5 foot step back, or stab Conan. not both.
Readying an Action: 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.
-The 20th level barbarian can kill the kobold on round 2, by 5 foot stepping during the full attack, but still, 3 attacks to kill a kobold is nuts, and the barbarian is screwed if he's 5the level or less.
You're absolutely right, my apologies. I stand corrected
Conan really should have taken step up, though
Can you then cast another spell
No.
or choose a different target?
Yes, you can choose the targets of your spell after they are cast.
Interrupting with readied actions can make for some serious cheese if you force the other person to stop their action and don't let them modify it.
The return of the immortal Kobold!
Conan the 20th level barbarian charges a first level kobold. The kobold is going to hold an action until conan is 5 feet away, stab him, and then 5 feet back.
Conan moves 60 feet, gets stabbed... and by the idea that his action can't be changed, has to stop.
The real kicker though is that because the kobold's action resets to just before conans, he can KEEP doing this until conan gets fed up and throws his ax.
If Conan has exhausted his movement for the charge, so be it. The kobold has been very, very lucky and will be turned to paste shortly regardless unless it runs away. This scenario doesn't strike me as cheese at all... it's Conan chasing an evasive bunny. Go figure big smashy man can't catch an agile and lucky target for a few seconds.
If the fighter has movement left, I would absolutely include its use as part of the charge.
What sort of change in action are you proposing to grant the fighter who has consumed his movement on a charge?
I wouldn't allow "when Conan is 5' away" to be a condition for readying an action.
In more than one spot, readying an action refers to the triggering action. 5' away isn't an action. And, in this scenario, the RAW says that if Conan still has movment left, after the kobold stabs him, then he gets to continue his movement. Bye bye kobold.
It seems to me that the RAI is that the conditional for a readied action is supposed to pertain to an action: draw a weapon, charge, cast a spell, nock an arrow, aim a crossbow, move, etc.
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I wouldn't allow "when Conan is 5' away" to be a condition for readying an action.
In more than one spot, readying an action refers to the triggering action. 5' away isn't an action. And, in this scenario, the RAW says that if Conan still has movment left, after the kobold stabs him, then he gets to continue his movement. Bye bye kobold.
It seems to me that the RAI is that the conditional for a readied action is supposed to pertain to an action: draw a weapon, charge, cast a spell, nock an arrow, aim a crossbow, move, etc.
It seems to me that 'when the target moves to within melee range' is a perfectly acceptable condition.
Eh, I suppose there is the bit about setting a spear to receive a charge, a la "Braveheart."
I should probably clarify my position that there's no way I'd allow a base kobold to hold off level 20 Conan indefinitely, due to the bit about "interrupting" the enemy's action.