[RPG] Can you move and act with the Ready action

actionsdnd-5efamiliarsreactionsspells

I am trying to understand the Find Familiar spell and its interaction with the Ready action.

The PHB reads about Ready:

First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your reaction. Then, you choose the action you will take in response to that trigger, or you choose to move up to your speed in response to it.

When the Ready action says "you choose the action … or you choose to move", is this an exclusive or inclusive or? Can the reaction include movement with an action, e.g. "The moment any monster comes around the corner, I will run at it and stab with my sword"?

For context, I am wondering if a familiar can move to deliver a touch spell on its reaction, as mentioned under the Find Familiar spell:

Finally, when you cast a spell with a range of touch, your familiar can deliver the spell as if it had cast the spell. Your familiar must be within 100 feet of you, and it must use its reaction to deliver the spell when you cast it.

Best Answer

Exclusive Or

The rules on the ready action read:

First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your reaction. Then, you choose the action you will take in response to that trigger, or you choose to move up to your speed in response to it.

In common English, "or" used in this sense is an XOR. You can you have soup or salad but not both. So, you can either move, or you can take an action.

Designer's Intent

A tweet by rules designer Jeremy Crawford agrees with this reading:

When you use Ready, you prepare an action or a move, not both.

So, in the case of a familiar, a reaction spent channeling a spell excludes it from moving away from the target.

Ready the Action for the Familiar's Turn

If you Ready the Touch spell on your turn for the trigger "When my familiar moves in range...", the familiar can use its reaction during its turn (as opposed to its master's turn). If it is close enough it could continue its movement after the reaction was complete. It would also have it's action, which it could use for things like the Help action to distract one of the enemies.

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