Actions in Combat
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When you take your action on your turn, you can take
one of the actions presented here, an action you gained
from your class or a special feature, or an action that
you improvise. Many monsters have action options of
their own in their stat blocks.
When you describe an action not detailed elsewhere
in the rules, the DM tells you Whether that action is
possible and What kind of roll you need to make, if any,
to determine success or failure.
Attack
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The most common action to take in combat is the Attack
action, whether you are swinging a sword, firing an
arrow from a bow, or brawling with your fists.
With this action, you make one melee or ranged
attack. See the “Making an Attack” section for the rules
that govern attacks.
Certain features, such as the Extra Attack feature
of the fighter, allow you to make more than one attack
with this action.
Cast a Spell
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Spellcasters such as wizards and clerics, as well as
many monsters, have access to spells and can use
them to great effect in combat. Each spell has a casting
time, which specifies whether the caster must use an
action, a reaction, minutes, or even hours to cast the
spell. Casting a spell is, therefore, not necessarily an
action. Most spells do have a casting time of 1 action,
so a spellcaster often uses his or her action in combat
to cast such a spell. See chapter 10 for the rules
on spellcasting.
Dash
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When you take the Dash action, you gain extra
movement for the current turn. The increase equals
your speed, after applying any modifiers. With a speed
of 30 feet, for example, you can move up to 60 feet on your
turn if you dash.
Any increase or decrease to your speed changes this
additional movement by the same amount. If your speed
of 30 feet is reduced to 15 feet, for instance, you can
move up to 30 feet this turn if you dash.
Disengage
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If you take the Disengage action, your movement doesn't
provoke opportunity attacks for the rest of the turn.
Dodge
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When you take the Dodge action, you focus entirely on
avoiding attacks. Until the start of your next turn, any
attack roll made against you has disadvantage if you
can see the attacker, and you make Dexterity saving
throws with advantage. You lose this benefit if you are
incapacitated (as explained in appendix A) or if your
speed drops to 0.
Help
----
You can lend your aid to another creature in the
completion of a task. When you take the Help action,
the creature you aid gains advantage on the next ability
check it makes to perform the task you are helping with,
provided that it makes the check before the start of
your next turn.
Alternatively, you can aid a friendly creature in
attacking a creature within 5 feet of you. You feint,
distract the target, or in some other way team up to
make your ally‘s attack more effective. If your ally
attacks the target before your next turn, the first attack
roll is made with advantage.
When you take the Hide action, you make a Dexterity
(Stealth) check in an attempt to hide, following the rules
in chapter 7 for hiding. If you succeed, you gain certain
benefits, as described in the “Unseen Attackers and
Targets” section later in this chapter.
Ready
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Sometimes you want to get the jump on a foe or wait for
a particular circumstance before you act. To do so, you
can take the Ready action on your turn so that you can
act later in the round using your reaction.
First, you decide what perceivable circumstance
will trigger your reaction. Then, you choose the action
you will take in response to that trigger, or you choose
to move up to your speed in response to it. Examples
include “If the cultist steps on the trapdoor, I’ll pull the
lever that opens it,” and “If the goblin steps next to me,
I move away.”
When the trigger occurs, you can either take your
reaction right after the trigger finishes or ignore
the trigger. Remember that you can take only one
reaction per round.
When you ready a spell, you cast it as normal but
hold its energy, which you release with your reaction
when the trigger occurs. To be readied, a spell must
have a casting time of 1 action, and holding onto the
spell’s magic requires concentration (explained in
chapter 10). If your concentration is broken, the spell
dissipates without taking effect. For example, if you are
concentrating on the web spell and ready magic missile,
your web spell ends, and if you take damage before
you release magic missile with your reaction. your
concentration might be broken.
Search
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When you take the Search action, you devote your
attention to finding something. Depending on the
nature of your search, the DM might have you make
a Wisdom (Perception) check or an Intelligence
(Investigation) check.
Use an Object
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You normally interact with an object while doing
something else, such as when you draw a sword as part
of an attack. When an object requires your action for
its use, you take the Use an Object action. This action
is also useful when you want to interact with more than
one object on your turn.
Improvising an Action
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Your character can do things not covered by the actions in
this chapter, such as breaking down doors, intimidating
enemies, sensing weaknesses in magical defenses, or calling
for a parley with a toe. The only limits to the actions you can
attempt are your imagination and your character’s ability
scores. See the descriptions of the ability scores in chapter 7
For inspiration as you improvise.
When you describe an action not detailed elsewhere in
the rules, the DM tells you whether that action is possible
and what kind of roll you need to make, ifany, to determine
success or failure.