|
So, this may sound like a very specific situation that would probably never come up, but if it were to come up, I'm not quite certain how I'd resolve it:
During a surprise round, if a character or npc is able to act, they are allowed to make use of a standard action in that round. If Character A decides to ready an action to "standard action charge" a monster whenever it initiates its own "standard action charge" against any target other than Character A.
Let's specify these conditions further, and say that readied action only takes place if the monster's charge takes it at least five feet in a direction towards Character A's allies.
Because the monster's action is already invested in charging a particular character, would Character A's readied action 'block' the monsters charge, and therefore interrupt it. Or, since the monster has a perfectly valid target in front of it, would Character A be forced to recieve the charge attack instead?
What do you mean by "standard action charge"? Charge is a specific combat action that is a full-round action, meaning that it cannot be 'readied', nor can it occur during a surprise round.
To speak to the concept in general, a readied action interrupts the triggering action but continues if at all possible. In this case, the monster would probably couple its charge with an overrun; it would make a combat maneuver check versus your CMD, and assuming that it succeeds, it moves through your square and continues its charge.
He's referring to this:
If you are able to take only a standard action on your turn, you can still charge, but you are only allowed to move up to your speed (instead of up to double your speed) and you cannot draw a weapon unless you possess the Quick Draw feat. You can't use this option unless you are restricted to taking only a standard action on your turn.
Readied actions occur just before the triggering action. If the readied partial charge places Character A in such a position that the monster can no longer complete its charge, then the monster will have essentially lost its action.
Note that the triggering condition here is pretty difficult to adjudicate. It would be hard/impossible to tell who the monster plans on charging until it has moved at least some of the way there. It would be wiser to ready an action to charge when the monster charges, regardless of victim.
Note: I'm not sure I would allow this readied action, but it's probably okay considering the triggering condition can only happen during the surprise round (during which time a standard-action charge is legal).
I had not seen that. Darn footnotes.
[edit]
Would this allow you to ready a charge for use on a surprise round?
|
|
Yeah, you can't ready a charge. Your just allowed to make a special type of charge action if your restricted to a standard action.
In the surprise round they could charge, but they couldn't ready a charge as charging is a full round action.
If this special type of charge action is a standard action, and a standard action can be readied, so long as you follow the constraints of it, I don't see the problem.
I had not seen that. Darn footnotes.
[edit]
Would this allow you to ready a charge for use on a surprise round?
Yes it specifically says you can.
To be honest, I agree with Volkspanzer. I think it's a bit silly to have to have a feat to ready a charge when it meets the other requirements. But that's the RAW, so it is what it is. :)
The feat allows you to ready a charge at any time, whether during a surprise round or during a regular round, so its existence alone doesn't necessarily mean you couldn't ready a surprise-charge.
It's a bit ambiguous if you can ready a charge during a surprise round without the feat, since the "standard-action-charge" uses somewhat unclear wording. Particularly, it never actually says the charge is performed as a standard action, but rather that you can still charge even if you are only able to take a standard action. Do the two mean the same thing? To some it does, to others it doesn't :)
|
If this special type of charge action is a standard action, and a standard action can be readied, so long as you follow the constraints of it, I don't see the problem.
A special condition allows you to charge when your actions are limited, it doesn't exist outside of that special condition traditionally. There is no Standard Action Charge to Ready. You have to ready real standard/move/whatever actions, of which Charge is a Full Round Action unless you possess the feat Rhino Charge.
|
|
Regardless, now that we know there is a way of charging as a standard action (from either side of the argument), how would the initially stated situation be resolved? Would the monster's action be interrupted, or would the monster just attack Character A as its new target for the charge?
Readied actions occur just before the triggering action. If the readied partial charge places Character A in such a position that the monster can no longer complete its charge, then the monster will have essentially lost its action.
Note that the triggering condition here is pretty difficult to adjudicate. It would be hard/impossible to tell who the monster plans on charging until it has moved at least some of the way there. It would be wiser to ready an action to charge when the monster charges, regardless of victim.
Note: I'm not sure I would allow this readied action, but it's probably okay considering the triggering condition can only happen during the surprise round (during which time a standard-action charge is legal).
If you're wondering about the balance of permitting such an action, consider this:
An arcane spellcaster can ready an action to cast a spell (a scorching ray, for example), at an enemy spellcaster attempting to cast something. The scorching rays fire off at the target, regardless of figuring out what spell the enemy was casting, and the enemy caster is forced to make a concentration check for each ray (DC = 10 + damage dealt + level of spell being cast) or lose the spell. Assuming caster level 12 (minimum required level for 3 rays), that's an average DC of 24 to cast even a cantrip during combat, that must be taken 3 times.
In short, the caster deals damage, didn't need to make a spellcraft check, didn't need the spell the enemy was casting, and the enemy caster has a very high chance of losing his spell.
Does that put the readying a charge to nullify a charge into perspective?
My concern had nothing to do with the game-balance of nullifying a charge (you could do that by readying to move into the charger's path, anyway), but solely with whether or not it would be legal to ready a charge :)
