Ready Action and "combat"

[JoeJ]

Let's take a scenario where an archer has a bow pointed at an orc who is 60 feet away. The orc knows the archer is there, the archer knows the orc is there. Neither is surprised. Both are wounded and waiting on the other to make a move. It's a standoff. let's look at this situation without prepared actions

Did they just teleport to those positions? Each knows the other is there, they're hostile, one is pointing a weapon. How do you get to the archer pointing a drawn bow at an aware enemy without having rolled initiative already?

[p_johnston]

So you’re okay with:

A) Archer Ready’s to shoot Orc. Orc moves and archer misses. But archer wins initiative, so gets to shoot again, essentially getting two full Actions, or 2 turns worth of Actions, before Orc.

B) Orcs are set up in ambush and Ready to attack when they see the PCs. PCs come within view and so every Orc gets a free attack. Then the DM determines the Players are surprised and initiative is rolled. The Orcs get another full turn of attacks before the PCs get to do anything.

I should clarify how I actually use Readied action outside of combat. You can ready actions outside of combat. They do not go off outside of combat, but instead use your reaction on the first turn. It's been a long day and I'm very tired otherwise I would have included it in my original post, my apologies.. I'll add it in.

with that in mind

A) If the archer misses the orc probably kills him before he gets off another shot because it is in the archers face.

B) Orcs set up ambush. I use surprise round as normal. I probably don't bother with initiative in the surprise round unless I have mages who know shield or a similar spell.

I don't use readied actions to abuse the rules. I use them when they make sense. I allow my PC's to do the same. Just blanket statement saying "no readied actions outside of combat" leads to some very silly situations and it's own abuses.

[p_johnston]

Did they just teleport to those positions? Each knows the other is there, they're hostile, one is pointing a weapon. How do you get to the archer pointing a drawn bow at an aware enemy without having rolled initiative already?

That situation was just an example to highlight the most absurd case. The most typical example for why this comes up is with highway robbers and prisoners.

Robbers- Party is facing bandit group who have 15 crossbows trained on party. Party draws weapons, closes distance and starts killing bandits before bandits can twitch a finger.

Prisoners- Archer says he is prepared to shoot the prisoner if he runs. Prisoner runs. Enter initiative, prisoner wins and escapes before archer can fire.

Both scenarios seem absurd to me.

[JoeJ]

That situation was just an example to highlight the most absurd case. The most typical example for why this comes up is with highway robbers and prisoners.

Robbers- Party is facing bandit group who have 15 crossbows trained on party. Party draws weapons, closes distance and starts killing bandits before bandits can twitch a finger.

Prisoners- Archer says he is prepared to shoot the prisoner if he runs. Prisoner runs. Enter initiative, prisoner wins and escapes before archer can fire.

Both scenarios seem absurd to me.

The absurdity is because you're arbitrarily allowing one side to take a hostile acton - pointing a weapon - without rolling initiative, and forcing the other side to just stand there and wait.

Here's how I'd do it (still assuming nobody is surprised). Everyone is pretending to be friendly when, suddenly, the bandits pull out crossbows and point them toward the party. Roll initiative.

1. Bandits win initiative. They Ready an action to attack if anybody moves and call for the party to surrender.

2. PCs win initiative and attack before the bandits can raise their crossbows and take aim.

The prisoner scenario works the same way. Roll initiative when somebody commits a hostile act, like pointing a weapon.

[Kane0]

If we could all agree on when exactly initiative should be rolled and in what circumstances surprise is determined we could end a lot of these disagreements. The fact that it varies seems to be at the root of the problem.

[RSP]

I should clarify how I actually use Readied action outside of combat. You can ready actions outside of combat. They do not go off outside of combat, but instead use your reaction on the first turn. It's been a long day and I'm very tired otherwise I would have included it in my original post, my apologies.. I'll add it in.

with that in mind

A) If the archer misses the orc probably kills him before he gets off another shot because it is in the archers face.

B) Orcs set up ambush. I use surprise round as normal. I probably don't bother with initiative in the surprise round unless I have mages who know shield or a similar spell.

I don't use readied actions to abuse the rules. I use them when they make sense. I allow my PC's to do the same. Just blanket statement saying "no readied actions outside of combat" leads to some very silly situations and it's own abuses.

In A) the archer goes twice if they win initiative: once for the Ready Action and once for their turn, hence two Actions before the Orc gets a chance to go.

In B), and every ambush that should ever happen, if you play this way, the Orcs would take the Ready Action outside of combat to attack whomever they see. Therefore, using your rules, they’d get their Reaction off right after initiative is rolled, then the first round of combat would kick off with the PCs being surprised and the Orcs getting their normal turns.

I’m not sure why, if you allow Ready Actions outside of combat, ambushes wouldn’t always have it prepared.

[RSP]

Wait. What happened to the orc's attack? Don't you mean, "Orc moves, archer misses, orc moves the rest of the 60' (using Aggressive) and then attacks the archer"?

No. If you allow Ready outside of combat, then in the scenario I was responding to, the Archer could very well go twice: once with their Reaction and then on their own Turn, which if the Archer has a higher initiative, would happen with back-to-back attacks.

Doesn't make sense. If the PCs got readied attacks off, then their action for that (implicit) first round on which surprise occurred must have been "Ready an attack". They can't both Ready an Attack and also Attack on the same round with the same action. Choose one or the other.

In this scenario, it’s not the PCs who Ready; it’s the ambushing Orcs. Again, going with the idea that Ready is allowed outside of combat, every ambush would start with Reaction attacks, then with initiative order with the ambushed side being surprised.

Allowing Ready outside of combat essentially makes ambushes twice as effective.

[RSP]

That situation was just an example to highlight the most absurd case. The most typical example for why this comes up is with highway robbers and prisoners.

Robbers- Party is facing bandit group who have 15 crossbows trained on party. Party draws weapons, closes distance and starts killing bandits before bandits can twitch a finger.

Prisoners- Archer says he is prepared to shoot the prisoner if he runs. Prisoner runs. Enter initiative, prisoner wins and escapes before archer can fire.

Both scenarios seem absurd to me.

Nothing says you can’t give Advantage or Disadvantage on initiative rolls, in fact: “The DM can also decide that circumstances influence a roll in one direction or the other and grant advantage or impose disadvantage as a result.”

In either situation you could give Dis/Advantage or consider it a fast paced situation in which you enter initiative before combat begins.

Keep in mind, drawing a weapon isn’t really considered much in 5e; though, giving Advantage on initiative to a character who has already drawn doesn’t seem inappropriate to me.

[Malifice]

Wait. What happened to the orc's attack? Don't you mean, "Orc moves, archer misses, orc moves the rest of the 60' (using Aggressive) and then attacks the archer"?



Doesn't make sense. If the PCs got readied attacks off, then their action for that (implicit) first round on which surprise occurred must have been "Ready an attack". They can't both Ready an Attack and also Attack on the same round with the same action. Choose one or the other.

Th readied attack was readied the round before. It used the PCs reaction. He still has his action left this round.

[Xetheral]

I don't use readied actions to abuse the rules. I use them when they make sense. I allow my PC's to do the same. Just blanket statement saying "no readied actions outside of combat" leads to some very silly situations and it's own abuses.

I like this approach. Ready is available outside of combat on an ad-hoc basis, and only when it makes the most sense for how to model the in-game action. In most cases it won't be needed, and therefore isn't generally available. That keeps the upsides (for those tables that see an upside) while avoiding the downside of potential exploitability. If a player is uncertain if Ready is available in a given out-of-combat situation, they can simply ask.

[MaxWilson]

No. If you allow Ready outside of combat, then in the scenario I was responding to, the Archer could very well go twice: once with their Reaction and then on their own Turn, which if the Archer has a higher initiative, would happen with back-to-back attacks.

If it's the archer's turn, the orc isn't moving, so no triggering the readied attack.

In this scenario, it’s not the PCs who Ready; it’s the ambushing Orcs. Again, going with the idea that Ready is allowed outside of combat, every ambush would start with Reaction attacks, then with initiative order with the ambushed side being surprised.

Allowing Ready outside of combat essentially makes ambushes twice as effective.

No. Doesn't matter who the ambusher is, he can't both Ready an attack and also Attack on the same round, in combat or out of it. Being out of combat doesn't magically double your number of actions per round.

[Malifice]

A blanket statement saying "no readied actions outside of combat" leads to some very silly situations and it's own abuses.

Such as?

Name one.

[Kane0]

"When X tosses the rope I jump"

"I take the reins and get ready for when Y gets on"

"I note the pattern of the gates and sprint through when they all open in sequence"

Any sort of situation that requires timing and also features the looming threat of combat or other cause for initiative. You readying these actions means your PC is busy on that task, and cannot respond as they normally would if combat begins in the meantime.
If there is no such urgency, just narrate it.

[RSP]

If it's the archer's turn, the orc isn't moving, so no triggering the readied attack.

You’re missing the situation. Per what was given, Ready happens outside of combat, but prior to whatever the Ready is, combat starts and initiative is rolled.

Therefore, in the given situation, the Archer Ready’s to Attack when the Orc starts to move. When the Orc starts to move combat starts, initiative is rolled but the Reaction Attack from Ready occurs, then the Archer wins initiative, and, as such, gets to attack again.

No. Doesn't matter who the ambusher is, he can't both Ready an attack and also Attack on the same round, in combat or out of it. Being out of combat doesn't magically double your number of actions per round.

Well, if you believe you can Ready outside of combat, then you certain can: the Ready occurs outside of combat so it cannot also be their first Turn within combat.

Once combat starts, Ready would use the character’s Reaction, not their Action. In an ambush situation, you would have the out-of-combat Ready of “I Ready to Attack the first enemy I see.” Upon seeing the enemy, your Reaction would kick in, giving an attack. Then you would also get your normal turn in initiative and all that brings: Actions, Bonus Actions, whatever.

Why would the rules of how Ready works change from the RAW? That alone would suggest RAW, you can not Ready outside of combat.

Now, I’m of the mind Ready can’t happen outside combat, but if you play it can, this is completely valid.

[Kane0]

You’re missing the situation. Per what was given, Ready happens outside of combat, but prior to whatever the Ready is, combat starts and initiative is rolled.

Therefore, in the given situation, the Archer Ready’s to Attack when the Orc starts to move. When the Orc starts to move combat starts, initiative is rolled but the Reaction Attack from Ready occurs, then the Archer wins initiative, and, as such, gets to attack again.

But if the Archer won init the orc hasn't done anything yet, no? He has to decide between preemptively attacking the orc before he charges, or maintaining his ready for if the orc charges.

[RSP]

But if the Archer won init the orc hasn't done anything yet, no? He has to decide between preemptively attacking the orc before he charges, or maintaining his ready for if the orc charges.

The situation was something like a standoff where the Archer is Ready to fire if the Orc moves. If you allow the Ready outside of combat, then when the Orc moves, the Reaction occurs. Nothing happens until the Orc moves but everything goes in motion from that, including, presumably, the start of combat.

The Reaction occurs immediately after it’s trigger. So Orc move, then Reaction. Now the Archer’s turn starts. The Reaction, by RAW, will complete before the next turn starts.

Think of it like this: let’s say the Ready was “If the Orc Attacks Steve, I Attack the Orc.” The Orc then Attacks Steve, but the Orc’s Turn ends following the attack and you go next. Do you lose your Ready Action because you’re next in the order and coincidentally the trigger occurred right before your turn? No. You get your Reaction Attack, then your turn starts.

[Kane0]

The way i see it:

start
1 Player readies to attack if orc moves
2 Orc moves
3 Player uses reaction, attacks orc
4 If player kills orc goto end, else to go 5
5 Orc finishes move
6 Roll initiative (no surprise), resolve combat.
end

So it appears that yes, the player can attack and then attack again, but the orc still gets to finish his move in between the two if he doesn't die in that hit.
Personally I'd chalk that up to the benefits of winning initiative.

[RSP]

The way i see it:

start
1 Player readies to attack if orc moves
2 Orc moves
3 Player uses reaction, attacks orc
4 If player kills orc goto end, else to go 5
5 Orc finishes move
6 Roll initiative (no surprise), resolve combat.
end

So it appears that yes, the player can attack and then attack again, but the orc still gets to finish his move in between the two if he doesn't die in that hit.
Personally I'd chalk that up to the benefits of winning initiative.

So you essentially allow combat outside of combat. That is, each Ready an action (move vs attack) and for whatever reason one goes first, each get to complete their Action, then combat starts?

Why have the arbitrarily decided not Round of Combat and why not just start combat and have initiative determine who goes when?

More often than not there’s more than one Player and more than one enemy. If they all Ready, who goes when? Why create a whole system of “not combat” to decide combat when initiative already does this?

In this example, the standoff is in place. Start initiative. If Archer wins, then they Ready to Attack on the Orc’s move. If the Orc wins, they move before firing. Is it odd that the Orc moves before the Archer looses an arrow? Not anymore than any other round of combat where individuals get to move before others can take any sort of action.

Flip it around. If the Player says “I Ready to move when the Orc nocks an arrow,” should the Player just get a full move, out of combat round, before the Orc can fire an already nocked arrow?

[Kane0]

So you essentially allow combat outside of combat. That is, each Ready an action (move vs attack) and for whatever reason one goes first, each get to complete their Action, then combat starts?

Why have the arbitrarily decided not Round of Combat and why not just start combat and have initiative determine who goes when?

More often than not there’s more than one Player and more than one enemy. If they all Ready, who goes when? Why create a whole system of “not combat” to decide combat when initiative already does this?

In this example, the standoff is in place. Start initiative. If Archer wins, then they Ready to Attack on the Orc’s move. If the Orc wins, they move before firing. Is it odd that the Orc moves before the Archer looses an arrow? Not anymore than any other round of combat where individuals get to move before others can take any sort of action.

Flip it around. If the Player says “I Ready to move when the Orc nocks an arrow,” should the Player just get a full move, out of combat round, before the Orc can fire an already nocked arrow?

I didn't say it's what I do, that is my reading of what you were discussing with p_johnston.

Combat and turns have to start somewhere, any time chosen is potentially arbitrary to somebody. It is a chicken-and-egg scenario where there is a potentially awkward clunk when gears are changed between narration and initiative.

For what it's worth, I agree with you. 99% of the time initiative solves our problems. Its those weird edge cases that can stump some DMs and bring them here to ask about it.

[MaxWilson]

You’re missing the situation. Per what was given, Ready happens outside of combat, but prior to whatever the Ready is, combat starts and initiative is rolled.

Therefore, in the given situation, the Archer Ready’s to Attack when the Orc starts to move. When the Orc starts to move combat starts, initiative is rolled but the Reaction Attack from Ready occurs, then the Archer wins initiative, and, as such, gets to attack again.

Well, if you believe you can Ready outside of combat, then you certain can: the Ready occurs outside of combat so it cannot also be their first Turn within combat.

Dude, if you're inventing bad rules that lead to illogical outcomes, that's on you, not on me. I already told you how to rule out such that everything works together logically; when you introduce extra rules on top such as "the orc doesn't get to finish his turn because combat just started," you're responsible for the breakage.

Consider how it would work of combat had already started: archer readies an action, orc does nothing except talk, round ends without triggering the action. Repeat for a while until orc eventually charges. Archer gets his readied attack, then the orc hits him if he's still alive. The scenario should play out identically whether you count that Ready as happening "outside of combat" or not. When you decide to end the round in the middle of the orc's turn so you can reroll initiative, you're cheating the orc out of his action. That's on you.

It's not readying "outside of combat" that's causing the problem here. It's the way you're running the transition from non-combat you combat, as if it were some kind of videogame loading a separate combat mode divorced from the pre-combat reality.

[Arial Black]

Is the intent of your message to mean that a character cannot cast fireball outside of combat? Like, Merlin the Great, pondering life and the futility of it all, erupts in anger and slings a fireball at a nearby oak tree setting the tree ablaze. Are you saying he can't do that unless there's an orc hiding in the bushes behind him about to stab him in the wiggly bits?

I'm just looking for clarification here. Because I don't think there are any rules restricting casting a spell outside of combat. Regardless of what that spell is or isn't.

I'm pretty sure a player can cast Feather Fall regardless if he's in combat or not.

I'm happy to clarify.

My comment was directed at an example where a fireball was cast at enemies, before initiative was rolled.

There is nothing preventing spell casting outside combat, per se. But, and this is the crucial bit, IF the spell you cast is an attempt to harm (or otherwise mess with) the enemy, this is combat, and MUST therefore be resolved in combat rounds and initiative order.

NOT because you cast a spell, but because that particular casting initiated combat.

If you want to cast a spell outside of a Combat Round, where that spell does NOT initiate combat, then you can, and you don't need to use the Cast A Spell action to do so (and can't even if you wanted to); you just cast it.

Does that answer your question?

[Fuzzy Logic]

I guess my last question wasn't as clear cut as I thought it was. Here's what I tell players who ask if they can ready an attack outside of combat:
"No that's what the surprise mechanic is for"
Or alternatively
"Yes but all the monsters are also readying attacks for the first opponent they see. So we'll just do initiative"

If you could ready attacks to go off before initiative, everyone would carry a crossbow around for that first free hit.

[Arial Black]

Also, Chapter 8 of PHB describes that in combat, and other fast-paced situations, the game relies on rounds that are described in Chapter 9. Which tells us that during rounds participants takes turns in the order defined by initiative. So, we've established, that fast-paced situations, and not necessarily combat require switching to rounds, which in turn means that players have to roll initiative.

I say that by trying to execute their plan party creates a fast-paced situation, that requires switching to rounds, which in turn means that this requires them to roll initiative, thus allowing for Wizard to Ready an action. So no, this isn't "cheating", this is legal and fair procedure.

I'll tell you why what you are doing is cheating: you are trying to get your side of the imminent combat into Combat Rounds and initiative order, while at the same time denying your opponents access to their place in the initiative order, to do their own planning, their own Actions, denying them their chance to act before you by being immune to surprise/beating your Stealth check/not suffering from surprise, and possibly getting your side the chance to act twice before they even get to act once, even if they are NOT surprised and three times if they are.

And your excuse for this is to misuse the 'initiative can also be used for fast-paced situations' clause, saying that the very fact you are planning for combat means that you need the 'non-combat fast-paced' initiative so that you can use it to to segue nicely into actual combat, giving your side a massive, unfair advantage, against the rules, just by saying, "I'm planning!"

It is a breathtakingly blatant attempt to cheat.

[Mordaedil]

I can't believe there's 8 pages worth of discussion being had over this.

There is really no right or wrong way to handle this, it's all really up to what you as a DM will allow.

For me personally, I would allow the players to perform one round of actions in the order they want to as their surprise actions, as I count it as them setting off the combat only when the enemy is made aware of their prescence. A surprise round is after all usually afforded monsters caught off-guard. If the players plan is to open a door, launch a fireball through it and close it again, I will count that as their surprise round. If the players say they want to throw open the door and rush in, fireballs and swords flashing, I will ask everyone to roll their initiative and roll the goblins and then afford the players a whole round of actions for free. Their actions become determined by their rolls. Meanwhile in the former scenario, they got things to play out how they wanted it to at the cost of no need to worry about order, delay or readying.

For monsters setting up ambushes, I will usually allow the players a perception check to see if they catch the ambush and if they don't, the monsters will get a surprise round against the player. I get to determine their order as I am the DM and usually it won't involve "open the door and fireball the party and close the door on them". That seems needlessly cruel to do to the players.

Also combat rounds do exist outside of combat, it's referred to as time passing. That is why you can do things like cast teleport outside of combat, you can throw fireballs at trees on the horizon if you want to and you can hit walls with your swords and break through dungeon walls if you want to. There is a reason we refer to 10 rounds as a minute.

[Unoriginal]

"When X tosses the rope I jump"

"I take the reins and get ready for when Y gets on"

"I note the pattern of the gates and sprint through when they all open in sequence"

Any sort of situation that requires timing and also features the looming threat of combat or other cause for initiative. You readying these actions means your PC is busy on that task, and cannot respond as they normally would if combat begins in the meantime.
If there is no such urgency, just narrate it.

None of those situations requires a Ready action unless initiative was rolled, in which case the situation is combat-rule-based.

The way i see it:

start
1 Player readies to attack if orc moves
2 Orc moves
3 Player uses reaction, attacks orc
4 If player kills orc goto end, else to go 5
5 Orc finishes move
6 Roll initiative (no surprise), resolve combat.
end

By the rules, the Orc and the PC would both have had to roll initiative BEFORE the Orc could move, and by definition before the PC could prepare.

Because they were clearly engaging in a combat encounter.

The PC don't get an extra out-of-turn Ready action for no reason so that they can shoot the Orc.

[JoeJ]

I get to determine their order as I am the DM and usually it won't involve "open the door and fireball the party and close the door on them". That seems needlessly cruel to do to the players.

How is that needlessly cruel? Aren't the players prepared for their characters to be on the receiving end of the same tactic they themselves use? If you're playing the monsters as if they want to lose, aren't you basically cheating your players out of a fair challenge?

[Kuu Lightwing]

I'll tell you why what you are doing is cheating: you are trying to get your side of the imminent combat into Combat Rounds and initiative order, while at the same time denying your opponents access to their place in the initiative order

I do not do such thing. If orcs are aware of the party they are free to ready their own actions and do their own planning. If the players are the ones that have access to door's open/close mechanism, then they have tactical advantage - as it should be. But that doesn't mean that orcs cannot do their own thing.

And your excuse for this is to misuse the 'initiative can also be used for fast-paced situations' clause, saying that the very fact you are planning for combat means that you need the 'non-combat fast-paced' initiative so that you can use it to to segue nicely into actual combat, giving your side a massive, unfair advantage, against the rules, just by saying, "I'm planning!"

It is a breathtakingly blatant attempt to cheat.

I use the rules, I don't misuse them. Yes, they create a fast-paced situation, because they want to precisely sequence their actions, therefore they need to roll initiative. Players have tactical advantage by being able to exploit the fact that they control when exactly they are going to be able to affect the enemy. Denying them this advantage for no apparent reason, feels like bad DMing.

[RSP]

Dude, if you're inventing bad rules that lead to illogical outcomes, that's on you, not on me. I already told you how to rule out such that everything works together logically; when you introduce extra rules on top such as "the orc doesn't get to finish his turn because combat just started," you're responsible for the breakage.

Consider how it would work of combat had already started: archer readies an action, orc does nothing except talk, round ends without triggering the action. Repeat for a while until orc eventually charges. Archer gets his readied attack, then the orc hits him if he's still alive. The scenario should play out identically whether you count that Ready as happening "outside of combat" or not. When you decide to end the round in the middle of the orc's turn so you can reroll initiative, you're cheating the orc out of his action. That's on you.

It's not readying "outside of combat" that's causing the problem here. It's the way you're running the transition from non-combat you combat, as if it were some kind of videogame loading a separate combat mode divorced from the pre-combat reality.

Please read back before responding. It’s not my situation. I was responding to how another stated they play it.

Now as to what you’ve said: “when you introduce extra rules on top such as "the orc doesn't get to finish his turn because combat just started," you're responsible for the breakage.”

How does the Orc get to “finish his turn” when you’re outside of combat and initiative, and there are no Turns yet? That’s an issue because there are no turns yet. Plus, the Orc didn’t Ready anything, so why would they get a “Turn?” If you just assume everyone “Readys” an Action before combat, all you’ve done, again, is create a ‘non-combat combat’ that doesn’t have the benefit of initiative to dictate who goes first.

[RSP]

I didn't say it's what I do, that is my reading of what you were discussing with p_johnston.

Combat and turns have to start somewhere, any time chosen is potentially arbitrary to somebody. It is a chicken-and-egg scenario where there is a potentially awkward clunk when gears are changed between narration and initiative.

For what it's worth, I agree with you. 99% of the time initiative solves our problems. Its those weird edge cases that can stump some DMs and bring them here to ask about it.

The DM calls for initiative, that’s when combat starts. If there’s something that occurs that the DM feels isn’t covered by initiative or the surprise rules, they are always free to adjudicate it, obviously.

[RSP]

Also combat rounds do exist outside of combat, it's referred to as time passing. That is why you can do things like cast teleport outside of combat, you can throw fireballs at trees on the horizon if you want to and you can hit walls with your swords and break through dungeon walls if you want to. There is a reason we refer to 10 rounds as a minute.

Combat Rounds do not exist outside of combat: you’re either in combat or are not. Rounds can exist outside combat.

Either way, initiative is how Rounds and Turns are defined:

“A round represents about 6 seconds in the game world. During a round, each participant in a battle takes a turn. The order of turns is determined at the beginning of a combat encounter, when everyone rolls initiative.”

You cannot, RAW, have Turns without initiative. When initiative is rolled, combat or fast paced timing begins:

“Initiative determines the order of turns during combat. When combat starts, every participant makes a Dexterity check to determine their place in the initiative order.”

So you cannot have Turns outside of initiative.

Also, keep in mind, the Player describes what their character does, and the DM determines how to resolve what is described. So a Player stating “I Ready to Attack” is really just shorthand for “My character gets ready to attack the Orc if the Orc moves.” Obviously, the Orc is also getting ready to do something (at the least, moving). So whose “ready to do something” goes first? Whomever has the higher initiative.