I think I have most things figured out, but I have 2 questions that I can’t seem to find in the books or online.
1. When a team slays an opponent, do they all get the XP for the kill? Do they share the total or do they each get the total XP for the kill?
2. When a player takes their turn and they get 2 actions, can both of those actions be attacks? Do they need a special ability or proficiency to take 2 attacks (ignoring spells and other stuff that would allow for extra actions for the moment)
I swear I have been reading the DM guide repeatedly and missed this every time…
“…They divide the total XP value of the monsters evenly among themselves. If the party received substantial assistance from one or more NPCs, count those NPCs as party members when dividing up the XP. (Because the NPCs made the fight easier, individual characters receive fewer XP.)”
I mean for actions, normally their class ability will specify what they can do for those two actions. The fighter class for example says you can take the Attack action twice but not that you have two actions to use however you want. Perhaps looking back over the features or whatever your looking at to better specify.
The only abilities that grant extra actions are the classic extra attack, which isn’t additional actions, but additional attacks within the same action, and action surge, which grants one extra action, and yes, that action can be another attack, which will benefit from the extra attack feature if the PC has it, granting double their normal attacks. Other than this players have bonus actions, which are not actions. It is specified in an ability’s description whether it is an action, a bonus action, a free action, a reaction, or something longer. Assuming that you are running a game without homebrew then the only extra actions being taken will be a fighter’s action surge, which can be used to add an additional action of ANY type, even a spell, which is specific beating the general rule of “You cannot cast two levels spells on the same turn.”
On a player's turn they can do four things: Action, Movement, Bonus Action, and Free Action(s). Obviously these four different things are used for a variety of different things, but I will briefly go over what their implication to attacks are:
-Movement: is the character's movement. Cannot be used for attacks.
-Free actions: are things that take almost no time like dropping a weapon or say "screw you" to the bad guy. Cannot be used for attacks, however, it is possible to take a couple of free actions in a single turn, unlike movement, action, and bonus action, which are restricted to one per turn.
-Action: is used to make a single attack or cast a single spell. There are two exceptions to making a single attack with an action. The first is that certain classes specify that at certain levels players can make additional attacks (i.e. fighters gain 1 additional attack at 5th, 11th, and 20th levels). However, these additional attacks take place in the same action. The second exception is a fighter's action surge that does give the player an extra action. Action surge is the only way to get two actions in one turn.
Bonus Action: can be used for additional attacks/spells by certain classes/builds. There are two ways to use a bonus action as a second attack: The first is when a player is dual-wielding light weapons. The action would act as the players main-hand weapon attack and the bonus action would act as the players off-hand weapon attack, if they choose to use their bonus action to attack. The second way to use a bonus action to attack is if a caster casts a cantrip as their action, they can cast a leveled spell if it is a bonus action to cast. They cannot cast two leveled spells in the same turn and the cantrip they cast must take an action to cast while the leveled spell must take a bonus action to cast.
2. When a player takes their turn and they get 2 actions, can both of those actions be attacks? Do they need a special ability or proficiency to take 2 attacks (ignoring spells and other stuff that would allow for extra actions for the moment)
If you have a Table/House Rule that allows your players to take 2 actions per turn, then the answer is solely in your wheelhouse. For the list of things a player can do on their turn, during combat, look in the PHB or Basic Rules under Combat - Order of Combat - Your Turn.
There are some reference sheets posted on the internet that might help new players and groups. Here's one that is similar to what I use with new players. 5e Player Reference.
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“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
The second way to use a bonus action to attack is if a caster casts a cantrip as their action, they can cast a leveled spell if it is a bonus action to cast. They cannot cast two leveled spells in the same turn and the cantrip they cast must take an action to cast while the leveled spell must take a bonus action to cast.
I got a little confused by this and I am not aware of any bonus actions spells that are attacks. It does however bring up an ability of sorcerers.
A sorcerer that takes the option of quicken spell can (on a limited basis) cast a spell which normally takes an action as a bonus action. The rule that Kevin specified that if a spell is cast as a bonus action they can not cast any other spells on their turn other than a cantrip with a casting time of an action still applies, so they can quicken an attack spell (levelled spell or cantrip) and then cast a cantrip or attack with a weapon as their action.
Their are numerous other ways charracters can get an attack with their bonus action that have not been mentioned yet for example:
If a monks takes the attack action they can make an unarmed attack with their bonus action, by spending a ki point they can make two attacks as their bonus action instead.
A PC with the great weapon master feat, if they make an attack which is a critical hit of reduced the enemy to 0 hit points can make a melee weapon attack as a bonus action
A stars druid in Archer form can make a ranged spell attack with their bonus action.
This isn't an exhaustive list, make sure you know what options all your players have chosen for their characters and that you read through and understand all thier features.
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I think I have most things figured out, but I have 2 questions that I can’t seem to find in the books or online.
1. When a team slays an opponent, do they all get the XP for the kill? Do they share the total or do they each get the total XP for the kill?
2. When a player takes their turn and they get 2 actions, can both of those actions be attacks? Do they need a special ability or proficiency to take 2 attacks (ignoring spells and other stuff that would allow for extra actions for the moment)
thank you.
I swear I have been reading the DM guide repeatedly and missed this every time…
“…They divide the total XP value of the monsters evenly among themselves. If the party received substantial assistance from one or more NPCs, count those NPCs as party members when dividing up the
XP. (Because the NPCs made the fight easier, individual characters receive fewer XP.)”
so now I just need to know about the actions. 😊
I mean for actions, normally their class ability will specify what they can do for those two actions. The fighter class for example says you can take the Attack action twice but not that you have two actions to use however you want. Perhaps looking back over the features or whatever your looking at to better specify.
The only abilities that grant extra actions are the classic extra attack, which isn’t additional actions, but additional attacks within the same action, and action surge, which grants one extra action, and yes, that action can be another attack, which will benefit from the extra attack feature if the PC has it, granting double their normal attacks. Other than this players have bonus actions, which are not actions. It is specified in an ability’s description whether it is an action, a bonus action, a free action, a reaction, or something longer. Assuming that you are running a game without homebrew then the only extra actions being taken will be a fighter’s action surge, which can be used to add an additional action of ANY type, even a spell, which is specific beating the general rule of “You cannot cast two levels spells on the same turn.”
On a player's turn they can do four things: Action, Movement, Bonus Action, and Free Action(s). Obviously these four different things are used for a variety of different things, but I will briefly go over what their implication to attacks are:
-Movement: is the character's movement. Cannot be used for attacks.
-Free actions: are things that take almost no time like dropping a weapon or say "screw you" to the bad guy. Cannot be used for attacks, however, it is possible to take a couple of free actions in a single turn, unlike movement, action, and bonus action, which are restricted to one per turn.
-Action: is used to make a single attack or cast a single spell. There are two exceptions to making a single attack with an action. The first is that certain classes specify that at certain levels players can make additional attacks (i.e. fighters gain 1 additional attack at 5th, 11th, and 20th levels). However, these additional attacks take place in the same action. The second exception is a fighter's action surge that does give the player an extra action. Action surge is the only way to get two actions in one turn.
Bonus Action: can be used for additional attacks/spells by certain classes/builds. There are two ways to use a bonus action as a second attack: The first is when a player is dual-wielding light weapons. The action would act as the players main-hand weapon attack and the bonus action would act as the players off-hand weapon attack, if they choose to use their bonus action to attack. The second way to use a bonus action to attack is if a caster casts a cantrip as their action, they can cast a leveled spell if it is a bonus action to cast. They cannot cast two leveled spells in the same turn and the cantrip they cast must take an action to cast while the leveled spell must take a bonus action to cast.
If you have a Table/House Rule that allows your players to take 2 actions per turn, then the answer is solely in your wheelhouse. For the list of things a player can do on their turn, during combat, look in the PHB or Basic Rules under Combat - Order of Combat - Your Turn.
There are some reference sheets posted on the internet that might help new players and groups. Here's one that is similar to what I use with new players. 5e Player Reference.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
I got a little confused by this and I am not aware of any bonus actions spells that are attacks. It does however bring up an ability of sorcerers.
A sorcerer that takes the option of quicken spell can (on a limited basis) cast a spell which normally takes an action as a bonus action. The rule that Kevin specified that if a spell is cast as a bonus action they can not cast any other spells on their turn other than a cantrip with a casting time of an action still applies, so they can quicken an attack spell (levelled spell or cantrip) and then cast a cantrip or attack with a weapon as their action.
Their are numerous other ways charracters can get an attack with their bonus action that have not been mentioned yet for example:
This isn't an exhaustive list, make sure you know what options all your players have chosen for their characters and that you read through and understand all thier features.