Make Your Next Move Count

Sometimes the best move is to wait for the right moment. This July 27–September 28 development roundup brings several new ways to make that moment matter.

Ready when you are

A readied attack spends your standard action in advance for one melee strike when its condition occurs. You can watch a caster begin a timed spell, a target enter, or a watched door open. A hit may disrupt concentration; it is not an automatic spell-stopper.

Counterspelling is more deliberate. You watch a visible caster, identify a perceptible timed spell, and need the same spell available to spend on the counter. Instant spells and psionic powers do not use this window.

You can also prepare to retaliate when a nearby group member or owned follower is attacked. Their attacker’s blow still resolves first: this reaction does not redirect damage or grant a free shield. Only one action can be readied at a time, and an unused opportunity expires.

A good reason to pack another dagger

Thrown weapons now have a proper ranged-combat path. Each throw uses a real matching weapon, drawing reserves before the one in your hand. Returning weapons can come back; ordinary ones need collecting. Throwing into an adjacent room requires the appropriate ranged benefit.

New feats offer other approaches: Shadow follows a target covertly, Garrote attacks from concealment, and Calm attempts to settle a room’s fighting. Each has prerequisites, restrictions, and chances to fail.

Combat-order display, offhand attacks, and reactive damage also received follow-up repairs. The changes are implemented, but live rollout was not verified for this roundup. help ready and help thrown-weapons are the useful starting points in a version that includes them.