In 4E, combatants can't take Opportunity Actions (OAs) and Immediate Actions (IAs) on their own turn. Some Defenders function by getting to make OAs or IAs whenever the enemy attacks or shifts. This makes them "sticky" in that it's hard to get away from/past them without getting smacked (and often times that cancels the movement).
So the following trick came to mind, for an attacker to get past/away from a Defender: The attacker readies an action to move/shift/charge/attack-an-adjacent-squishy as soon as it becomes the defender's turn. That way the defender can't use OAs.
- Is that a legal condition for a readied action, or does the condition have to be something concrete and visible done by the defender? e.g. "the defender moves, or attacks, or uses any power"?
- Would the trick work as I'm envisioning it? It seems like both the PCs and the mobs could use it.
- What are the downsides of using this? Obviously you give up your Standard action, which is a high price to pay if you were only going to use a Move action to walk or Shift. It also shuffles you around in the turn order. Anything else I'm missing?
- Are there any easy counters to it? I see:
- Doubling up Defenders would ensure that at least one Defender's OA can function.
The Defender could choose for the first action of its round to be readying an action to intercept the attacker. In that case it wouldn't be an OA (but that has upsides and downsides).Edit this won't work; readied actions can't take effect during your original turn.- The Defender could Delay until the attacker's next turn, denying them the Readied Action -- but this requires that the Defender know that the attacker is trying this.
Or am I completely off-base here? Does some rule prevent this trick?