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I was just considering the option of, in combat, having a tanky character ready an action to move in the way of an opponent. It wouldn't be a very useful action most of the time, but it could be handy in situations where the whole group is fighting a single beefy monster. However, I'm not quite sure how it'd work - so I had a couple of questions I thought I'd throw out there.
1. If you interposed yourself with a readied action in front of a foe's charge on someone else, would you be able to stop your foe's movement? If so - would they lose their attack, or would they be able to use it on you. What about trying to bull-rush/overrun?
2. Could you interpose yourself in front of a foe using a normal move to block their movement? I suppose it depends if moving in general is his action, or if moving in his initially chosen path is his action.
And if you see any other issues with this tactic - feel free to bring it up.
1) To the best of my knowledge this isn't clearly spelled out, as with much of the readied actions we get into murky territory.
Charge lists what you have to do to be able to initiate it, but not what happens if it is interrupted. Adding in that declaration isn't really an explicit step in pathfinder an it becomes pretty much a gray area.
I would rule that if you made yourself a valid target for his charge action, he could indeed switch his charge to you (similar in concept in how you can full attack, but if your opponent goes down after the first swing you can then move). If his charge was no longer valid (presumably having not moved far enough) I would probably rule that he hadn't moved far enough to start the charge yet, and had only used part of his move action.
2) Also not covered, but in general I believe a character can, if they wish, move each 5' and see if anything happens during their move action. Once again, there isn't really an explicit declaration step in pathfinder. We don't do it that way, because it would slow down the game and usually it doesn't matter, but each portion of a move happens sequentially and is determined after the last one completes. This would of course, by RAW, mean that he is moving across the room, starts to move into your trigger square, and you dash across the room from 30' away, beating him there, which, like many readied actions by RAW doesn't really make a lot of sense. In any event, it seems clear to me that just because he was thinking about running up and stabbing the wizard, he doesn't have to provoke from you just because you moved up to threaten him as a readied action, he certainly could just decide to stab you himself.
Frankly, the Pathfinder readied action mechanic is pretty poorly thought out and doesn't fit in with the system too well. While it is a powerful tactical tool, it is also open to a lot of interpretation and confusion. I'd suggest keeping readied actions as clear and simple as possible, unless you fully discuss it with your GM and group first to be sure everyone is on the same page.
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2) Also not covered, but in general I believe a character can, if they wish, move each 5' and see if anything happens during their move action. Once again, there isn't really an explicit declaration step in pathfinder. We don't do it that way, because it would slow down the game and usually it doesn't matter, but each portion of a move happens sequentially and is determined after the last one completes. This would of course, by RAW, mean that he is moving across the room, starts to move into your trigger square, and you dash across the room from 30' away, beating him there, which, like many readied actions by RAW doesn't really make a lot of sense. In any event, it seems clear to me that just because he was thinking about running up and stabbing the wizard, he doesn't have to provoke from you just because you moved up to threaten him as a readied action, he certainly could just decide to stab you himself.
You can move in 5' increments while using the move action, but you can't make a 5' step no-action and then convert it into a move action.
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To reply to the OP post, a Readied action happen before the action that triggered it.
That sometime can generate strange effects that a GM has to adjudicate.
I agree with Dave Justus that the best way to adjudicate this situation seem to be:
- if the charging character has moved 10 or more feet and the tanky character interpose himself in his path he can switch his target.
- if he has moved less than 10' he hasn't completed a charge but has started a move action. I would take a step further and impose the charge penalties to AC but not the attack bonus, as a minimum for the attack made by the tanky character. The charger could complete his move or attack the tanky character.
If the character with the ready action didn't interpose himself but only stepped adjacent to the charging character route to make an attack I would require the charging character to complete the charge, possibly eating a regular attack and an AoO from the character with the ready action.
The actual situation at the table can change that interpretation, depending on character positions and the wording of the ready action.