Say a player wants to do something like climb a wall, swim in a hard current, recall information mid battle, would this require an action? Do they use their action to try and climb or is this something else?
Some actions require skill checks but not all skill checks require actions.
Follow the rules for whatever they're trying to do. If they're swimming, follow the rules for swimming. If they're climbing, follow the rules for climbing. There aren't specific rules for recalling information beyond "it's some sort of intelligence check" so that's up to the DM. I wouldn't call for an action; you either remember something on the spur of the moment or you don't, but it doesn't require active effort in my opinion.
Some ability checks in combat do require their own action (hide, search, and possibly others), but some do not.
The guidance the rules have on the matter can be found here. To that guidance I would add that any ability checks that are being made as part of the character's movement (climbing or swimming, for example) are probably best to not have take an action so that players can have their character do something else in the same turn or use the Dash action to try and move further.
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Say a player wants to do something like climb a wall, swim in a hard current, recall information mid battle, would this require an action? Do they use their action to try and climb or is this something else?
Some actions require skill checks but not all skill checks require actions.
Follow the rules for whatever they're trying to do. If they're swimming, follow the rules for swimming. If they're climbing, follow the rules for climbing. There aren't specific rules for recalling information beyond "it's some sort of intelligence check" so that's up to the DM. I wouldn't call for an action; you either remember something on the spur of the moment or you don't, but it doesn't require active effort in my opinion.
Some ability checks in combat do require their own action (hide, search, and possibly others), but some do not.
The guidance the rules have on the matter can be found here. To that guidance I would add that any ability checks that are being made as part of the character's movement (climbing or swimming, for example) are probably best to not have take an action so that players can have their character do something else in the same turn or use the Dash action to try and move further.