Let's say Alex has a crossbow and javelins, but Bob only has melee weapons. They get into a fight in which they need ranged weapons in order to hit enemies, so Alex decides he wants to transfer the javelins to Bob so both can contribute.
How would that best be dealt with? Would it be an action, bonus action or a free action for Alex to pass them to Bob? Could Bob snatch them off of Alex's back during his own turn (aiming Alex was willing)?
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If they were right next to each other, I'd say a free action is fine. If they were further apart an a "toss" would be involved, maybe it would eat up a bonus action.
I'd rule that while adjacent, Alex has to use a free action to drop the javelin, and Bob a free item interaction to pick it up from the ground. Any more item interaction from Alex would require a Use an item action, if say he need to draw it first.
Alternatively, if the javelin is easily accessible, Bob could move adjacent to Alex, draw a javelin from his back as a free item interaction and attack with it
I think most people would agree that handing an item to someone would fall under Interact with an Object, it's the receiving action that's sticky. It's not the receiving character's turn, so accepting an item is going to be either free or a Reaction. Dropping a glass vial full of healing potion at someone's feet and them picking it up on their turn is incredibly unsatisfying to me from a narrative standpoint, as it just makes me picture skyrim characters running around with piles of items on the ground. At least a javelin you can describe it as planting it in the ground or something.
I don't have a good answer. Reaction seems too steep a price for just receiving an item, but making it totally free seems too easy - especially in a party with a familiar or other sidekick handing things out left and right. Maybe you could allow Interact to be done off turn for this purpose only, and you don't get a free use of it back until the end of your next turn. In either case if the receiver has their hands full at the time, something's gotta hit the ground. Maybe in this case a Reaction would be appropriate for a sheathe-and-accept sequence.
All I know is that this is likely to come up at some point in every game, so make a rule for your table and stick to it. Things like drinking potions and eating goodberries are incredibly expensive with respect to the action economy, so I tend to rule on the generous side around these kinds of interactions just to encourage them to be used at all.
This in the Basic Rules and PHB, last line is my emphasis
INTERACTING WITH OBJECTS AROUND YOU
Here are a few examples of the sorts of thing you can do in tandem with your movement and action:
draw or sheathe a sword
open or close a door
withdraw a potion from your backpack
pick up a dropped axe
take a bauble from a table
remove a ring from your finger
stuff some food into your mouth
plant a banner in the ground
fish a few coins from your belt pouch
drink all the ale in a flagon
throw a lever or a switch
pull a torch from a sconce
take a book from a shelf you can reach
extinguish a small flame
don a mask
pull the hood of your cloak up and over your head
put your ear to a door
kick a small stone
turn a key in a lock
tap the floor with a 10-foot pole
hand an item to another character
When we talk about the interaction of an object, it has to be part of a natural course of the main action.
So, rules are written, there you have it. It's an action to hand an item to another player. If the character is willing, they automatically receive it provided they have the means to do so. The interaction with it is you holding it, and the action is the act of giving it to them.
So if character 1 has the javelins on his back, character 2 can totally go up and part of the Attack action, which grants one free object interaction, which in this case is grabbing the javelin they are about to attack with.
It's an interesting note that Crawford has answered tweets on this where he says that dropping a weapon doesn't count as interacting with it, so in theory you could totally draw a weapon, which counts as the interaction of the attack action, attack with it and drop it. Character 2 could then pick it up, which is the interaction of the attack action, attack with it and drop it. Repeat forever(or until enemy kicks away the weapon).
Here are a few examples of the sorts of thing you can do in tandem with your movement and action:
hand an item to another character
When we talk about the interaction of an object, it has to be part of a natural course of the main action.
So, rules are written, there you have it. It's an action to hand an item to another player.
Not sure i understand you correctly but what you posted is proof it's not an action to hand an item to another character as it can be done in tandem with your movement or action while moving or doing something else like attacking.
Seems very costly, if spideycloned is correct. If we were to do it the way I envisaged (Alex uses his offhand to pull out the javelin and either blindly lobs it to Bob or holds it out for Bob to take in a way that's not taking his attention much), it would cost him his entire turn to get one across (BA: draw the javelin; A: pass the javelin to Bob). Im not being funny, but I feel that's kind of pointless - Alex might as well just throw the javelin himself or stick with his crossbow because each of his turns will be handing over a javelin for Bob to use.
Personally, I'd have thought that it was a bonus action - if practiced, a person can quite quickly draw an item and throw it to another person (if only a rough throw) in a swift movement. But if RAW says otherwise, I'll stick to RAW.
How would the javelins be carried, normally? Would it be feasible to, say, use a Bonus Action to drop the container to the floor, and let Bob use his Bonus Actions to pick them up or use an action to pick up the container for himself or something?
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
Here are a few examples of the sorts of thing you can do in tandem with your movement and action:
hand an item to another character
When we talk about the interaction of an object, it has to be part of a natural course of the main action.
So, rules are written, there you have it. It's an action to hand an item to another player.
Not sure i understand you correctly but what you posted is proof it's not an action to hand an item to another character as it can be done in tandem with your movement or action while moving or doing something else like attacking.
I think he's saying that it's a free action to draw the javelin, then you have to use an action to pass it to the other character? I don't know if it's right, I'm fairly new to DnD so I'm relying on others for interpretation of things.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I think he's saying that it's a free action to draw the javelin, then you have to use an action to pass it to the other character? I don't know if it's right, I'm fairly new to DnD so I'm relying on others for interpretation of things.
If you draw a javelin and hand it over then it's a second item interaction that would require you to take the Use An Item action.
Seems very costly, if spideycloned is correct. If we were to do it the way I envisaged (Alex uses his offhand to pull out the javelin and either blindly lobs it to Bob or holds it out for Bob to take in a way that's not taking his attention much), it would cost him his entire turn to get one across (BA: draw the javelin; A: pass the javelin to Bob). Im not being funny, but I feel that's kind of pointless - Alex might as well just throw the javelin himself or stick with his crossbow because each of his turns will be handing over a javelin for Bob to use.
Well if Alex wants to stand there and be a human javelin stand for Bob for the whole battle then I don't really see it as costly, stupid would be a better description IMO. Also note that you are slightly wrong, it wouldn't use up Alex's Bonus Action, just his free Interaction and Action.
How would the javelins be carried, normally? Would it be feasible to, say, use a Bonus Action to drop the container to the floor, and let Bob use his Bonus Actions to pick them up or use an action to pick up the container for himself or something?
Depends really, I'd expect the to be strapped together or is some sort of large size quiver type of thing (or possibly in a Bag of Holding). It's not specified in the rules and I guess most people just don't actually think about it.
But I can't see many DM's having any issues with Alex using his Action to drop/hand off several javelins in one go. I do think that if Bob is going to receive several javelins at once then that's more that the free Interaction allows for so he'd have to use an Action.
Which would mean that the character could no longer do things like make an attack, right? Which is what I think he was implying.
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Which would mean that the character could no longer do things like make an attack, right? Which is what I think he was implying.
That was aimed at plaguescarred, BTW. The fun of forums only updating on refresh.
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Which would mean that the character could no longer do things like make an attack, right? Which is what I think he was implying.
Right, if you take the Use an Item action, you generally can't use the Attack action unless you have abilities letting you can take one additional action like a Fighter's Action Surge.
So if character 1 has the javelins on his back, character 2 can totally go up and part of the Attack action, which grants one free object interaction, which in this case is grabbing the javelin they are about to attack with.
Not quite. On your turn you can "hand an item to another character", but what you describe is that on your turn you are taking an item FROM another character, not handing it TO another character.
So if character 1 has the javelins on his back, character 2 can totally go up and part of the Attack action, which grants one free object interaction, which in this case is grabbing the javelin they are about to attack with.
Not quite. On your turn you can "hand an item to another character", but what you describe is that on your turn you are taking an item FROM another character, not handing it TO another character.
What Spideycloned reference is to draw a weapon, wether on your person or someone else.
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Let's say Alex has a crossbow and javelins, but Bob only has melee weapons. They get into a fight in which they need ranged weapons in order to hit enemies, so Alex decides he wants to transfer the javelins to Bob so both can contribute.
How would that best be dealt with? Would it be an action, bonus action or a free action for Alex to pass them to Bob? Could Bob snatch them off of Alex's back during his own turn (aiming Alex was willing)?
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
If they were right next to each other, I'd say a free action is fine. If they were further apart an a "toss" would be involved, maybe it would eat up a bonus action.
I'd rule that while adjacent, Alex has to use a free action to drop the javelin, and Bob a free item interaction to pick it up from the ground. Any more item interaction from Alex would require a Use an item action, if say he need to draw it first.
Alternatively, if the javelin is easily accessible, Bob could move adjacent to Alex, draw a javelin from his back as a free item interaction and attack with it
I think most people would agree that handing an item to someone would fall under Interact with an Object, it's the receiving action that's sticky. It's not the receiving character's turn, so accepting an item is going to be either free or a Reaction. Dropping a glass vial full of healing potion at someone's feet and them picking it up on their turn is incredibly unsatisfying to me from a narrative standpoint, as it just makes me picture skyrim characters running around with piles of items on the ground. At least a javelin you can describe it as planting it in the ground or something.
I don't have a good answer. Reaction seems too steep a price for just receiving an item, but making it totally free seems too easy - especially in a party with a familiar or other sidekick handing things out left and right. Maybe you could allow Interact to be done off turn for this purpose only, and you don't get a free use of it back until the end of your next turn. In either case if the receiver has their hands full at the time, something's gotta hit the ground. Maybe in this case a Reaction would be appropriate for a sheathe-and-accept sequence.
All I know is that this is likely to come up at some point in every game, so make a rule for your table and stick to it. Things like drinking potions and eating goodberries are incredibly expensive with respect to the action economy, so I tend to rule on the generous side around these kinds of interactions just to encourage them to be used at all.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
This in the Basic Rules and PHB, last line is my emphasis
INTERACTING WITH OBJECTS AROUND YOU
Here are a few examples of the sorts of thing you can do in tandem with your movement and action:
When we talk about the interaction of an object, it has to be part of a natural course of the main action.
So, rules are written, there you have it. It's an action to hand an item to another player. If the character is willing, they automatically receive it provided they have the means to do so. The interaction with it is you holding it, and the action is the act of giving it to them.
So if character 1 has the javelins on his back, character 2 can totally go up and part of the Attack action, which grants one free object interaction, which in this case is grabbing the javelin they are about to attack with.
It's an interesting note that Crawford has answered tweets on this where he says that dropping a weapon doesn't count as interacting with it, so in theory you could totally draw a weapon, which counts as the interaction of the attack action, attack with it and drop it. Character 2 could then pick it up, which is the interaction of the attack action, attack with it and drop it. Repeat forever(or until enemy kicks away the weapon).
Not sure i understand you correctly but what you posted is proof it's not an action to hand an item to another character as it can be done in tandem with your movement or action while moving or doing something else like attacking.
Thanks for the replies!
Seems very costly, if spideycloned is correct. If we were to do it the way I envisaged (Alex uses his offhand to pull out the javelin and either blindly lobs it to Bob or holds it out for Bob to take in a way that's not taking his attention much), it would cost him his entire turn to get one across (BA: draw the javelin; A: pass the javelin to Bob). Im not being funny, but I feel that's kind of pointless - Alex might as well just throw the javelin himself or stick with his crossbow because each of his turns will be handing over a javelin for Bob to use.
Personally, I'd have thought that it was a bonus action - if practiced, a person can quite quickly draw an item and throw it to another person (if only a rough throw) in a swift movement. But if RAW says otherwise, I'll stick to RAW.
How would the javelins be carried, normally? Would it be feasible to, say, use a Bonus Action to drop the container to the floor, and let Bob use his Bonus Actions to pick them up or use an action to pick up the container for himself or something?
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I think he's saying that it's a free action to draw the javelin, then you have to use an action to pass it to the other character? I don't know if it's right, I'm fairly new to DnD so I'm relying on others for interpretation of things.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
If you draw a javelin and hand it over then it's a second item interaction that would require you to take the Use An Item action.
Well if Alex wants to stand there and be a human javelin stand for Bob for the whole battle then I don't really see it as costly, stupid would be a better description IMO. Also note that you are slightly wrong, it wouldn't use up Alex's Bonus Action, just his free Interaction and Action.
Depends really, I'd expect the to be strapped together or is some sort of large size quiver type of thing (or possibly in a Bag of Holding). It's not specified in the rules and I guess most people just don't actually think about it.
But I can't see many DM's having any issues with Alex using his Action to drop/hand off several javelins in one go. I do think that if Bob is going to receive several javelins at once then that's more that the free Interaction allows for so he'd have to use an Action.
Which would mean that the character could no longer do things like make an attack, right? Which is what I think he was implying.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
That was aimed at plaguescarred, BTW. The fun of forums only updating on refresh.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
Right, if you take the Use an Item action, you generally can't use the Attack action unless you have abilities letting you can take one additional action like a Fighter's Action Surge.
Not quite. On your turn you can "hand an item to another character", but what you describe is that on your turn you are taking an item FROM another character, not handing it TO another character.
What Spideycloned reference is to draw a weapon, wether on your person or someone else.