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The spell time stop states:

No time passes for other creatures, while you take 1d4 + 1 turns in a row, during which you can use actions and move as normal.

I am wondering what counts as "actions" in the above quote, is it only your action, or also bonus actions and reactions.

Can the caster of time stop still use their bonus actions and reactions during stopped time?

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    \$\begingroup\$ I really wish we had a clear, brief term for the normal action on a creature's turn that is not a bonus action or reaction. \$\endgroup\$
    – aschepler
    Commented Jul 23, 2019 at 1:42
  • \$\begingroup\$ @aschepler I've heard people use "standard action" for that. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jul 23, 2019 at 8:49
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    \$\begingroup\$ @RutherRendommeleigh Could definitely work if it were official or common enough. I think at this point using it without explaining could be seen as a confusion with previous D&D versions. \$\endgroup\$
    – aschepler
    Commented Jul 23, 2019 at 10:37

2 Answers 2

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RAW - Yes, a time stop user has both bonus action and reaction available

while you take 1d4 + 1 turns in a row

Emphasis mine. A turn is what let's a character do anything in a round of combat, and there's nothing in the wording of timestop to suggest that the turns you experience during time stop are unusual in any way, just that they happen one after the other

Let's see what the PHB has to say about turns:

On your turn, you can move a distance up to your speed and take one action.

The PHB then goes on to state that

Various class features, spells, and other abilities let you take an additional action on your turn called a bonus action... You can take only one bonus action on your turn

Again, emphasis mine. Given that you're taking multiple turns through timestop, this reads that you should get your bonus action.

As for your reaction:

A reaction is an instant response to a trigger of some kind, which can occur on your turn or on someone else's

When you take a reaction, you can't take another one until the start of your next turn.

Admittedly, your usages of reaction actions are relatively limited within your own turn, but it's still there.

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    \$\begingroup\$ One possible thing you could use your reaction on would be feather fall if you jumped off a cliff or similar \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jul 22, 2019 at 13:52
  • \$\begingroup\$ If I understand this correctly, you are saying that the bit that says "during which you can use actions and move as normal" is just there for clarification but strictly speaking was not necessary as turns grant you those things regardless? \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jul 22, 2019 at 14:10
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Medix2 Yeah, that sums up my intent on that front - I didn't delve into them too much as you had already established movement and "Action" as being the baseline \$\endgroup\$
    – OriBiggie
    Commented Jul 22, 2019 at 14:16
  • \$\begingroup\$ Welcome to the site! Just so you know, you now have enough reputation to post in our RPG chatroom. Feel free to drop by there any time you have a question or just want to hang out and talk about RPGs or other topics. :) \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jul 22, 2019 at 14:35
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Jasper I disagree. Timestop is presented as giving you a series of turns "in a row". I'm pointing out what you're able to do within a turn. I suppose I could rephrase that first part to clarify that these turns should be treated as a normal turn. Which is what you're suggesting? \$\endgroup\$
    – OriBiggie
    Commented Jul 23, 2019 at 8:26
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Yes, and sort of

The description of the time stop spell says:

during which you can use actions

It says actions, multiple. A bonus action is an additional action:

Various class features, spells and other abilities let you take an additional action on your turn called a bonus action.

So the bonus action is an action and combined with your normal action make multiple actions.

Now, a reaction is a weird one for Time Stop.

Certain special abilities, spells, and situations allow you to take a special action called a reaction. A reaction is an instant response to a trigger of some kind, which can occur on your turn or on someone else’s. The opportunity attack is the most common type of reaction.

When you take a reaction, you can’t take another one until the start of your next turn. If the reaction interrupts another creature’s turn, that creature can continue its turn right after the reaction.

It says it is a special action, so that is also an action which is allowed under time stop. However...

Since time is standing still, no (external) triggers occur and you will have to wait for time stop to end to trigger/execute your reaction.

For the commenters below, yes you could have a trigger like that.
In my experience reactions are usually something like, "if he unsheathes his sword I release the Lightning Bolt" or "when he turns his back I pickpocket the key of his belt".
That's why I said taking the reaction is a bit weird when time stops, I don't think it is impossible.

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    \$\begingroup\$ One possible thing you could use your reaction on would be feather fall if you jumped off a cliff or similar \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jul 22, 2019 at 13:59
  • \$\begingroup\$ I think you might be reading too much into the spell in regards to the reactions there. The spell states that time doesn't pass for creatures other than the caster, and due to the concept of there being no secret rules in 5e, I don't see any reason to think that it would work as you described - nothing in the spells description suggests that the actions you take only take place after the timestop ends (although I know certain video game rpgs did show timestop working like that which may be skewing your answer?) \$\endgroup\$
    – OriBiggie
    Commented Jul 22, 2019 at 15:04
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    \$\begingroup\$ You can take reactions on your own turn, and you can react to things that happen as a consequence of you doing something. \$\endgroup\$
    – Cubic
    Commented Jul 22, 2019 at 15:36
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    \$\begingroup\$ I believe there are other places in the rules where "actions" is used as a catch-all term for basically anything a creature can do other than movement, but I can't recall any specific instances at the moment. If you can find one of those, it would give additional support to your answer. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Jul 22, 2019 at 22:25

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