94
votes
Accepted
What does upper-case-A-Attack action vs. lower-case-a-attack mean?
The "Attack action" is a specific action; attacks are anything with an attack roll.
What is the Attack action?
The "Actions in Combat" section of the Player's Handbook (PHB, page ...
- 75.5k
89
votes
Is it possible to cast multiple spells per turn?
You were quoted the rules incorrectly.
First, Eldritch Blast has a casting time of 1 action (PHB p.237). You've only got one action on your turn, so you can only cast Eldritch Blast once. ("Off ...
- 101k
79
votes
Accepted
Can an unconscious person drink a potion?
Your players are right. An unconscious character can consume a potion administered by another player.
This ruling is held up by the Sage Advice Compendium (p. 21):
Can potions be administered to ...
- 3,876
65
votes
Accepted
Does a fighter's Action Surge trigger Extra Attack?
Yes, a fighter gets their extra attack when using action surge
Action surge gives you an extra action on your turn:
On your turn, you can take one additional action on top of your regular action and ...
- 93.9k
64
votes
Accepted
Can a weapon be "unsheathable"?
Realistically, weapons too large or unwieldy to sheathe were simply carried in-hand until they were used. Realistically, anyone wielding one had a sidearm sheathed on their hip, as well—which is what ...
- 345k
56
votes
Accepted
Does The Amazing Lightspeed Horse work, RAW?
No. The Amazing Light Speed Horse™ cannot move an infinite distance
(And what distance it does move without taking the dash action is at a speed of at most movement per round, and with the dash action ...
- 6,044
53
votes
How to get more Bonus Actions?
No, there are no ways to gain an additional bonus action. Note that I didn't say no others - the Haste spell doesn't give you one either.
Until the spell ends, the target [...] gains an additional ...
- 144k
53
votes
What happens if a caster is surprised while casting a spell with a long casting time?
The caster continues casting the spell.
Taking the same quotes from @Xirema's answer, we have the following for casting spells with a long casting time:
Certain spells (including spells cast as ...
- 7,285
53
votes
Accepted
If you use two Scimitars of Speed, do you get 2 bonus action attacks?
No. You can only ever take one bonus action on a turn.
The scimitar of speed lets you use your bonus action to make an attack, regardless of what you do with your action:
In addition, you can make ...
- 49.6k
51
votes
Accepted
Is drawing an arrow from a quiver an item interaction?
Drawing an arrow from a quiver is part of the action of attacking with a longbow
Longbows (and all ranged weapons that fire projectiles) have the ammunition property which says:
Drawing the ...
- 93.9k
50
votes
Accepted
Do you start combat with your weapon drawn when combat is not expected?
There are no specific rules vis-à-vis how a character starts combat. D&D5E attempts to avoid that kind of specificity when basic logic and reasoning will do:
If the character is hanging out in a ...
- 48.2k
48
votes
Can I Ready an action to Disengage?
There's nothing in the Ready action description that would prevent readying Disengage. When you ready an action you:
decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your reaction. Then, you ...
- 56.8k
47
votes
Accepted
What happens if a caster is surprised while casting a spell with a long casting time?
Rules as Written, the Spellcaster would lose the spell
This is relatively straightforward. The rules for spellcasting state unambiguously that a caster casting a spell with a long casting time must ...
- 52.3k
46
votes
Accepted
How does the Ready action work?
Your Turn
On your turn, you can move and perform an action. The ready action is, as you point out, an action like any other. This means that on your turn you can move and take the ready action.
The ...
- 12.1k
46
votes
Is there a better technique to handle the lag between cause and effect?
Treat turns as simultaneous
To ensure better coordination, the DM might describe turns as simultaneous (they are, apparently).
Example 1. The cleric casts Turn Undead. The DM says, which undead were ...
- 65.4k
45
votes
How many bonus actions can I take?
You only get one
Per page 189 in the PHB,
You can take only one bonus action on your turn, so you must choose which bonus action to use when you have more than one available.
- 5,955
44
votes
Accepted
If a character is stunned but still has attacks remaining, can they still make those attacks?
I would say that Alex can no longer finish their turn, as they are immediately Stunned and therefore incapacitated.
Stunned
A stunned creature is incapacitated (see the condition), can’t ...
- 8,442
44
votes
Can you cast a bonus-action spell, then Ready a leveled spell on the same turn?
No, because the Ready Action requires you to cast the spell as normal and then hold it, releasing it with your reaction later.
You are using your action to cast the spell on your turn.
PHB pg. 193 ...
43
votes
Can Lay on Hands be used to both heal hit points and remove diseases/poisons with the same action?
Unfortunately not.
RAW, the use of Lay on Hands is heal HP, or cure disease. The keyword in the phrase is "alternatively" (emphasis mine).
Alternatively, you can expend 5 hit points from ...
- 23k
42
votes
Accepted
Can a Goodberry not be administered to an unconscious creature?
By RAW, you may not be able to administer a goodberry - by RAI, you most certainly can
A very strict RAW reading would conclude that in order to gain the benefit of a goodberry, the consuming ...
- 65.5k
42
votes
Accepted
Would allowing a Thief (with Fast Hands) to use the Healer feat's tending action as a bonus action be balanced?
I don't believe allowing this would even be a house rule, the rules support it as-is.
The action enabled by the Healer feat is just a new use for an object and, therefore, is still technically the Use ...
- 19.3k
42
votes
Accepted
Are there any mechanical issues with removing the concept of "triggers" for readied actions?
It probably doesn't break the game.
Ready actions that fail aren't (or shouldn't be) so enormously common that this is going to seriously change the game. At worst, this makes readied actions slightly ...
- 72.8k
41
votes
Is dropping a weapon "free", in terms of action cost?
The only indication we have within the rules that dropping things might be free is that dropping an object is not included in the (fairly extensive) list of example object interactions.
However, ...
- 144k
41
votes
Accepted
Which uses of Bonus-Action spellcasting are legal?
The table is entirely correct
Action Surge does not interact in any way with the bonus-action spell rule (other than being limited in the same way as other spells if you use a bonus action spell). ...
- 72.6k
40
votes
Accepted
Does every potion require an Action to consume?
Drinking/administering a potion takes an action, as you cited from DMG at p.139. That's the general rule in effect, unless specifically contradicted.
You note that the DMG's description of the Potion ...
- 101k
40
votes
What does upper-case-A-Attack action vs. lower-case-a-attack mean?
Capitalization is a red herring: the real distinction is between "attack" and "Attack action".
Both of the answers from nitsua60 and Medix2 are correct regarding the nature of the distinction. ...
- 63.4k
40
votes
Accepted
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?
You have to concentrate to maintain the spell, and spend your action each turn casting the spell
Longer casting times are noted in the PHB and Basic rules. I'll quote the relevant text from D&D ...
- 26.3k
39
votes
Does the Spiritual Weapon spell take a bonus action or an action to use?
This is a little confusing. You only ever get one bonus action on a turn — but this spell lasts a minute, which is ten turns. So, you can attack once with spiritual weapon as part of the casting — ...
- 29.8k
39
votes
Can a Rogue effectively triple their speed by combining Dash and Ready, spreading it over several turns?
Yes, and they don't need to ready an action to do it
Say their movement is 30ft. They expend their movement for 30ft, use their action to Dash for an extra 30ft, then Bonus action to Dash again with ...
- 1,181
38
votes
Accepted
Can a Circle of the Moon Druid still use Wild Shape as an action?
The phrase "gain the ability" means that it doesn't replace anything. In addition to your previous ability to wild shape as an action, you now also have the ability to wild shape as a bonus action.
...
- 25.4k
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