Actions in Combat in D&D 5e - (DnD Rules School)

in this episode of d d rule school our goal is to learn all about the variety of actions you can take in combat in dnd 5th edition this video is brought to you in partnership with absolute tabletop who makes some excellent d d 5th edition compatible supplements need a fresh new setting check out their incredible a dead man's guide to dragon grin need a new adventure or some inspiration check out their adventure kits this and lots more are available on their website just click the link in the video description hi everyone my name is nate and you are watching wasd 20 a channel about tabletop rpgs and fantasy maps in the last episode we discussed the basic rules of combat including rules for determining surprise and figuring out the order of combat through initiative then we talked about what each character can do on their turn the main things being moving up to your movement speed and taking an action however the only action we covered in that one was the attack action which is probably the most common but the rules do specify nine other actions players can take in combat so those other nine will be included in today's lesson now in addition to the move and action you'll notice that as we're reading some of the action descriptions bonus action and reaction will be mentioned so we should cover those two first a bonus action is one that only certain class features spells or other abilities allow for on your turn don't think you need to take a bonus action every time and don't misinterpret this as your character getting to do something extra on every turn rather if you have a spell that has bonus action as its casting time know that you can do that in addition to your move and action or it might be a class ability like the rogue's cunning action or the barbarians rage in addition to the move and action these class features allow a small extra something that the character can do on their turn and it specifies that they can be done during a bonus action also do note that unless an ability states so it does not matter what order these things happen in you could use your bonus action first then your attack then your move no need to use them in the order i have them here now that's a bonus action for a reaction we're talking about something that a character does in response to certain triggers as with bonus actions these are often abilities specified from class features for example at third level the monk gains the ability to deflect missiles as a reaction catching or redirecting arrows or other ranged attacks this wouldn't happen on the monks turn but as a reaction to an incoming attack on the enemy's turn certain spells like shield also have one reaction as their casting time so in this case you can cast this to get a bonus to your armor class as you are being attacked not on your turn another really common reaction is an opportunity attack normally when you move out of melee range away from a hostile creature the hostile creature can use a reaction to make an opportunity attack or vice versa if an enemy moves out of your melee range just keep in mind you only get one reaction in one round of combat so if my monk has already deflected a missile this round and an enemy moves out of my melee range i don't get an opportunity attack because i've already used my reaction that round the same thing goes for bonus actions only one per round with bonus actions and reactions out of the way it's time to turn our attention to the other possible ways we can use our action we covered the attack action in the last video but the other nine are cast a spell dash disengage dodge help hide ready search use an object so first let's talk about the action cast a spell it's important to note here that casting a spell is not always an action as we just noted some spells can be cast as a bonus action or reaction some take a full minute 10 minutes or even an hour this is always noted in the spell entry under casting time and with a quick glance through the spell list in the player's handbook you will find that most spells do have a casting time of one action so perhaps as a druid you use your turn to move to an advantageous position and then you cast the entangle spell with your action weeds and vines pop out of the ground and now the bandit i've spotted has to succeed on a strength saving throw to avoid being restrained next the dash action while dashing instead of only moving your walking speed you can actually move double your walking speed so here's our barbarian he's going to use his move to chase the evil wizard but he's not in melee range yet so he uses the dash action to move again now since he's already used his action to dash he doesn't also get to attack but he does get in melee range and he's ready to attack on the next turn and if the wizard tries to move on his next turn our barbarian can use a reaction to make an opportunity attack just like we talked about earlier now speaking of opportunity attacks if you want to avoid provoking an opportunity attack when you move out of melee range use the disengage action that's right if you say i am going to disengage you can then use your movement to move away from an enemy without provoking an opportunity attack so our druid here can disengage from the giant attacking it and then move away but since she has already used her action to disengage she can't also attack on this turn another defensive action is the dodge action when you dodge you use your action to become harder to hit until the start of your next turn any attack role made against you has disadvantage which means the attacker will roll two attack rolls and must take the lowest this makes you quite a bit harder to hit you also get advantage on any dexterity saving throws which means you'll roll twice and take the highest this can be a really useful strategy for a tank-like character who just wants to draw attention while the other player characters deal most of the damage it can also be useful if your hit points are currently very low and you just want to increase your chances of staying conscious or alive in the fight next the help action when you take this action you are aiding an ally in the completion of a task giving them advantage on their role to do something this could also be advantage on an attack role if the player is within five feet of the creature being attacked normally i do make my players narrate how they are helping they can give a boost to a character trying to climb a wall so that they would have advantage on their strength athletics check to climb up or perhaps they could distract a giant by pulling its bootstraps from behind giving their ally advantage on the next attack the hide action is another useful one first you have to have a logical place to hide in the environment and if the dm approves you would make a dexterity stealth check in order to hide if you succeed you get certain benefits described under the section on unseen attackers and targets which is on page 194 of the player's handbook to summarize however attacks against you have disadvantage and your own attacks have advantage next let's talk about the ready action this one lets you delay your action until a certain circumstance you declare comes to pass this action after a trigger you name does actually use your reaction and an example might be a character saying i ready an arrow and if any of the kobolds walk through the door i'll shoot if no kobolds walk through that door the action never occurs now let's say that after you're ready your action another party member starts to negotiate with the kobolds if one does step through the door which is the trigger you declared you could still choose not to shoot the arrow you aren't locked into the readied action though you cannot change and say you want to shoot an arrow after one of them insults you or drops down from the ceiling you can only do the action you declared on the trigger you declared also if you ready a spell you are casting the spell and holding its energy this means that yes you are using a spell slot even if the trigger never comes to pass or you change your mind holding the energy for that spell also requires concentration which means if you take damage you will have to make a constitution saving throw to hold that concentration if you haven't cast a spell yet next we have the search action which uses your turn to put your focus on finding something you would describe what you want to search for and the dm will most likely have you roll a wisdom perception check or an intelligence investigation check depending on the nature of your search for more on the difference between perception and investigation see my descriptions of skills in episode 2. i'll put a link up at the top there lastly we have an action called use an object now it's important to note here that there are certain small interactions with objects that don't require you to use an action two examples the rules provide are drawing your sword before you attack or opening a door as a part of your move however for other interactions with objects the dm might require you to use an action maybe it's because you drew your sword and you want to do something else or maybe it's because the action seems like it would just take a bit longer and should cost a full action something like turning a crank of a drawbridge or trying to open a door that is jammed shut rather than just closed well there you have it now we have covered all the actions from the player's handbook but do understand that there are nearly limitless possibilities for other actions too so work with your dungeon master and don't always get caught up in just looking at your character sheet trying to find the actions and abilities that are listed there think outside the box a little bit work with your fellow party members and be creative as you encounter the challenges the dm has planned for you dungeon masters encourage that creativity and work with it in combat i'd love to hear your thoughts and questions on any of this down in the comments below so please do leave those now if you value these videos and you want to help support my channel i would greatly appreciate it there are a couple of ways you can do that one of them is by buying your rpg products through my amazon affiliate links i put some of those down in the video description so you can check out some of those so anything you buy after you click on those links does give a small commission to me at no extra cost to you so check those out and i also do want to thank the wasd 20 patrons patrons are people who support the channel on a monthly basis they get access to things like weekly live map drawing streams and campaign diaries so go check out some of the cool benefits and step up and help support the channel patreon.com wasd20 thank you so much patrons all right that's all for this one i want to thank you all for joining me make sure you're subscribed and give this one a like if it was helpful and take care everybody you'll see me again very soon [Music] [Music] you

Channel: WASD20

Views: 110,814

Keywords: d&d, dungeons and dragons, dnd rules school, learn dnd, dnd basics, how to play d&d, dungeons & dragons, 5th edition d&d, dungeon master, dnd for dummies, game master, tabletop rpg, actions in combat, D&D combat basics, rules for combat, wasd20, ttrpg, role-playing, tabletop, gaming, disengage, help, hide, search, use an object, opportunity attack, d&d reactions, d&d bonus action, dnd5e, d&d 5e, dnd, handbooker helper

Id: Z7ZC-vDTrd4

Length: 12min 13sec (733 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 05 2022