It's My Turn! Now What Do I Do...
Every round you get:
one(1) ACTION
one(1) BONUS ACTION
one(1) REACTION
MOVEMENT
reasonable number of FREE ACTIONs
THESE CAN BE TAKEN IN ANY ORDER
| ACTION | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| Attack | Melee or ranged attack |
| Grapple | Special melee attack |
| Shove | Special melee attack |
| Cast a spell | Cast time of 1 ACTION |
| Dash | Double MOVEMENT speed |
| Disengage | Prevent opportunity attacks |
| Dodge | Increase defenses |
| Escape | Escape a grapple |
| Help | Grant an ally advantage |
| Use Object | Interact, use special abilities |
| Hide | You hide |
| Search | You search |
| Ready | Choose trigger and ACTION |
| Use feature/trait | Some features/traits cost an ACTION |
| Improvise | Any ACTION not on this list |
Definitions
ACTION
A standard ACTION allows you to do something, most commonly make an attack or cast a spell.
BONUS ACTION
You can take a BONUS ACTION only when a special ability, spell, or other feature of the game states that you can do something as a BONUS ACTION. You otherwise don't have a BONUS ACTION to take.
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. If the REACTION interrupts another creature's turn, that creature can continue its turn right after the REACTION.
| BONUS ACTION | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| Cast a spell | Cast time of 1 BONUS ACTION |
| Use feature/trait | Some features/traits use BONUS ACTIONs |
| Off-Hand Attack | Attack with a different weapon in the other hand |
| REACTION | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| Opportunity Attack | Special attack against fleeing enemy |
| Cast a spell | Cast time of 1 REACTION |
| Use feature/trait | Some features/traits use REACTIONs |
| FREE ACTION | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| Drop an Item | Drop an item |
| Drop Prone | Drop to a prone position |
| Speak | In general, speaking is a FREE ACTION that you can perform even when it isn’t your turn. Speaking more than few sentences is generally beyond the limit of a FREE ACTION |
| Use feature/trait | Some features/traits are FREE ACTIONs |
| Drop a Spell | You can stop concentrating on an active spell as a FREE ACTION |
FREE ACTION
FREE ACTIONS don’t take any time at all, though there may be limits to the number of FREE ACTIONs you can perform in a turn.
MOVEMENT
Every character and monster has a speed, which is the distance in feet that the character or monster can walk in 1 round.
BREAK IT UP:
You can break up your MOVEMENT on your turn, using some of your speed before and after your ACTION. For example, if you have a speed of 30 feet, you can move 10 feet, take your ACTION, and then move 20 feet.