Questions tagged [actions]
For questions involving the rules that apply to taking a certain action in a specified system.
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What does upper-case-A-Attack action vs. lower-case-a-attack mean?
What exactly is the difference between Attack action and attack?
It seems each time a question regarding this pops up, there's always somebody arguing they are not different. I feel there should be a ...
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Can you break up your Attack action for a bonus action?
You can do it to move:
If you take an action that includes more than one weapon attack, you can break up your movement even further by moving between those attacks. For example, a fighter who can ...
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Which uses of Bonus-Action spellcasting are legal?
Looking at other questions about casting spells as a bonus action has left me trying to keep a lot of information in my head about whether a given combination of spells is legal according to the ...
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Is dropping a weapon "free", in terms of action cost?
I've seen many people on StackExchange and other forums mention that you can drop something as a free action, but I've never seen it sourced, or come across support for it in the Player's Handbook. ...
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Shield Master - Can the shield push be taken before an attack?
Can the shield push from the Shield Master feat be taken before an attack? i.e. Push prone, follow up with an attack while they're down.
Shield Master
You use shields not just for protection ...
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Casting multiple spells in a single round
In the PHB page 202 under the bonus action heading it states:
You can't cast another spell during the same turn, except for a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action.
This seems to state that if ...
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Does an Action Surge grant a second bonus action?
We were trying to understand how the "Action Surge" rule works, and after some discussion we came to a standstill.
Starting at 2nd level, you can push yourself beyond your normal limits for a ...
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How does the Ready action work?
So from reading the Player's Handbook, it seems that the Ready action is taken instead of any other action as it is an action in its own right. However, can you move on the same turn that you ready an ...
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Do I choose the target or the ally when using the Help action in combat?
One of the uses of the Help action is to grant advantage on an ally's attack against another creature:
[...] you can aid a friendly creature in attacking a creature within 5 feet of you. You feint, ...
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Can I use a spell with a casting time of "Bonus Action" as my action?
I get that some spells are "especially swift" to cast and thus have a casting time of "Bonus Action". But is there any reason I couldn't cast such a spell as my Action?
Does it make a difference if ...
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Is it possible to interrupt spellcasting?
As this blog post suggests, there seems to be a hole in the D&D Basic rules. Maybe. The rules for readying an action state:
When the trigger occurs, you can either take your reaction right ...
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Action economies, two-handed weapons, and spells with Somatic components
This is a follow-on to Can you cast spells with a Somatic component if you're holding a two-handed weapon?
So, I have a spell, say Sanctuary, that is cast as a bonus action, yet requires Verbal ...
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Is it possible to cast multiple spells per turn?
Never had an issue with spellcaster scaling until today.
A player in the group claims he can cast Eldrich Blast twice on his turn. Once as an action, and a second time as a bonus action since it is a ...
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Are actions and bonus actions interchangeable?
While I know you can't cast 2 spells of first level or higher in a turn, and actions can't just be used as bonus actions, is the reverse true?
Say there's a barbarian cleric that rages as a bonus ...
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How far does a rogue move when dashing twice using Cunning Action?
A rogue receives a bonus Cunning Action, and one option is to Dash. My understanding is a Dash allows a player to move up to twice his speed for his turn.
If a rogue is using a regular action to Dash ...
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Can you use a bonus action from Cunning Action in the middle of an Attack action? [duplicate]
If I have a Fighter 5/Rogue 2 (so I have both Extra Attack and Cunning Action) am I able to shoot an enemy with a bow, move to cover, bonus action Hide from Cunning Action, and finally make my second ...
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Drawing and sheathing a weapon in 5e, and the actions required
I've seen this question asked about 4e, and I think I've found the passage in the 5e PHB that answers the question, but I'd like to make sure I understand this correctly before I impose it on my game.
...
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Can monk move between his extra and bonus attacks?
There are clean rules for moving between actions and between attacks granted by those action (e.g. a fighter with four attacks can move between them freely).
But the monk's Flurry of Blows feature is ...
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Can a rider move using his mount, attack from his mount, then have the mount dash away?
I seem to have misunderstood the mounted combat rules. Reading them again it seems that the mount and rider are treated as separate entities but share initiative (this assumes a controlled mount, not ...
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On the turn after Haste ends, can you use a reaction?
The description of the Haste spell concludes with:
When the spell ends, the target can't move or take actions until after its next turn, as a wave of lethargy sweeps over it.
Could the target ...
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Do you have to take the Attack action before you can make the bonus-action attack from the Crossbow Expert feat?
The third benefit of the Crossbow Expert feat says (PHB, p. 165):
When you use the Attack action and attack with a one-handed weapon, you can use a bonus action to attack with a hand crossbow you are ...
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Must a monk's Flurry of Blows attacks occur after the initial (and extra) attack from the Attack action?
Looking at the wording of Flurry of Blows, I may be overthinking it, but the description of the feature (PHB, p. 78) says:
Immediately after you take the Attack action on your turn, you can spend 1 ...
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Can any actions happen at the same time/instant?
I don't know if this is philosophical or physics...but hopefully we don't have to go there:
Inspired by:
Does the Spirit Guardians spell stack with multiple casters?
How do you determine the '...
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Which balancing issues, if any, would arise from allowing PCs to spend actions on bonus action features?
I understand that RAW, features/spells/etc. that require a bonus action (e.g. Bardic Inspiration or Healing Word) cannot be used with a regular action instead (see this question).
However, what would ...
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Can you use a Bonus Action on a turn other than your own?
The rules for Bonus Actions (PHB, pg.189) state;
You can take only one bonus action on your turn...
Which to me can be read in two ways.
You can only take a bonus action if it is your turn.
You can ...
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Can I use a bonus action before my action?
In D&D 5e can I use my bonus action before my action? For example if I wanted to cast Ensnaring Strike before my action to benefit from the bonus immediately.
Is this OK, or is a bonus action ...
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Do ability checks in combat require an action?
I was under the impression that using skills, and therefore making an ability check in combat required an action. Note: I'm obviously not talking about passive perception, it's definitely passive, it'...
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What does Use an Object cover?
I saw this come up in another question in regards to drinking a healing potion not being a Use an Object action as the text in the equipment chapter under healing potion specifically says that using a ...
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How to explain the mechanics of movement in the absence of a "move action"?
D&D 5e has actions, bonus actions, and reactions. People frequently also use the term move action when talking about the kinds of actions you can take during your turn.
However, a “move action” ...
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Does The Amazing Lightspeed Horse work, RAW?
N Medium humanoids have gathered on an arbitrarily long field, standing in a line with each creature 120 feet away from each of its neighbors. The creature at one end of the line is mounted on a horse ...
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Can you ready an action for "immediately before my next turn"?
I have two actions that I want to do, one right after the other. I want to try to avoid anything happening between the two actions that could interfere with my plan.
What I want to do is, on one turn, ...
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Can I cast a spell and attack in the same turn?
Specifically I am asking as a level 1 Half-elf Bard. As far as I know he doesn't have any dual wielding capabilities yet, or anything that states he has a bonus action to attack.
So I'm wondering if ...
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How to get more Bonus Actions?
Other than having the Haste spell cast on you and using the action provided to use something that requires a bonus action are there any other ways to gain additional bonus actions in 5e?
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Can you ready a bonus action?
The Ready action states:
Then, you choose the action you will take in response to that trigger...
I am unsure whether this means you can only ready an action such as Dodge, Hide, Attack, Cast A ...
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Can a character grab a potion from a pack and drink it without using their action?
In the Player's Basic Rules, it says
Interacting with objects around you: Here are a few examples of the sorts of thing you can do in tandem with your movement and action:
...
withdraw a potion ...
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Casting two cantrips, both modified by metamagic?
Can you cast one cantrip, modifying it with "Twinned Spell" (Fire Bolt) to target 2 creatures, and then cast another cantrip as a Bonus Action (Fire Bolt), using "Quickened Spell" to target one of the ...
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Can you cast bonus action and reaction spells while already casting a spell with a casting time longer than a turn?
Can a bonus action or reaction spell be cast while already casting a spell with a casting time of more than a turn?
(If the bonus action or reaction spell is not a concentration spell.)
I found this ...
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What overpowered combinations would be available if I allow a bonus action to be used in place of a standard action?
It has come up in game a couple of times that a player might want to cast a spell that has a casting time of 1 bonus action using their "main" action (if they have another bonus action they also want ...
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Does an ability or spell grant me the bonus action with which to use it?
The 5e D&D Basic Rules v0.1 description of casting times says that spells with a casting time of "bonus action" require a bonus action to cast (p. 79, emphasis mine):
Most spells ...
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Can monsters with multiattack take grapple and shove actions?
If lets say... an Owlbear which has the multiattack trait wants to knock someone down and grapple them. Can the owlbear replace the 2 attack actions covered under the multiattack with a grapple and a ...
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If a Spell has a casting time of 1 minute, what part of the caster's action economy would it take up if it was cast in combat?
This is a bit difficult of an idea for me to articulate, so I'll try and do my best:
If a character was to attempt and cast a spell with a casting time of 1 minute, while in combat, would they have to ...
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What exactly does the Otto's Irresistible Dance spell prevent?
In 5e, Otto's Irresistible Dance forces its target to do the following things:
The target begins a comic dance in place: shuffling, tapping its feet, and capering for the duration. [...]
A dancing ...
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In combat, do all skill checks require an action to perform? [duplicate]
In combat, do all skill checks require an action for a PC to make them?
I'm looking for guidance from RAW, from an official ruling such as from Sage Advice (though there seems to be nothing on that ...
user27327
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Can I Ready an action to Disengage?
I want to Ready the Disengage action to trigger if a creature comes near me. Is that possible?
My DM told me I could Ready any other action like Dodge, etc. except for Disengage. I've read the player'...
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Do you get your free interaction during a readied action?
Example situation:
You're on the other side of a door. You have a spell slot available for Magic Missiles. Can you ready an action to, on the Rogue's signal, open the door and cast Magic Missiles at ...
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If I Ready an action, can I then use my reaction for something else?
Merle the Wizard is fighting enemies with his friends on a bridge. He wants to cast a spell on the BBEG, but they are currently out of range and so he uses his action to ready a spell for when the ...
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If your fighter casts Green-Flame Blade or Booming Blade, do you still get extra Attacks?
If you're a high-elf fighter who has the Extra Attack feature, when you cast green-flame blade or booming blade, do you get to make your additional attacks?
If so, can you cast the spell again on ...
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Can a spell be cast while using a bonus action to control another spell?
Spells such as the cleric's Spiritual Weapon and the Wizard's Bigby's Hand enable the caster to continue to manipulate the spell's effect as a bonus action after the spell has initially been cast.
...
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When do you receive a bonus action and reaction?
When you start combat, after determining surprise and establishing positions; you roll for initiative. At this point, do all combatants have a reaction or bonus action even if they are not first?
For ...
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Order of attacks when using Two Weapon Fighting and Extra Attack
Both Two Weapon Fighting and Extra Attack give additional attacks in a turn, but in what order do those attacks take place? Is it up to the player, or must it be a specific order?
My initial ...
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