One of my players in my campaign is a Clockwork Soul sorcerer and has access to Restore Balance at level 1.
It says this allows them to remove advantage and disadvantage on a creature they can see within 60ft as a reaction. They tried to use this on an ability check outside of combat to which I said they couldn't do that since it is a "reaction". I feel that this would pretty much eliminate all disadvantage on ability checks and be too strong if they were allowed to do that.
Is there any specific rule that says whether or not something of this nature can be used out of combat?
So far as I know there is nothing to say that this feature can't be used in the exact way the player wanted to. The feature states "When a creature you can see within 60 feet of you is about to roll a d20 with advantage or disadvantage, you can use your reaction to prevent the roll from being affected by advantage and disadvantage." Not it says any d20 roll, not just attack rolls, or saving throws. If this feature were only to be limited to combat, it would specify that.
Also there is no reason a Reaction cannot be used outside of combats, same as any other Action or Bonus Action. Otherwise players wouldn't be able to use any feature, spell or actions outside of combat. The feature is limited in the number of times it can be used though, proficiency bonus times per long rest, so it's hardly going to eliminate disadvantage on all ability checks. Not to mention if I play does use it this way, they have to weight up the cost of not being able to use it in combat.
They can only use it a number of times equal to their proficiency bonus per long rest. At level one, they can do it twice. The most they will ever be able to do is six. This is a far cry from “eliminating all disadvantage on ability checks.”
You can take a reaction outside combat. While it's usage frequency is tied to turns, which is normally tracked during combat, such special action can be taken anytime the trigger arise.
As others have stated, creatures still have access to their Action, Bonus Action, and Reaction whether in an initiative order or not.
While combat is typically when initiative is decided and players start taking turns, you can also use initiative and turns anytime the exact sequence of events is important to track.
When not using an initiative order and a player tries to use an ability like Restore Balance you just need to ask if it has been less than 6 seconds since they least tried to use the ability.
Also, as others have said Restore Balance is limited to only Proficiency Bonus number of uses which recover on a long rest.
Finally, there are many ways you can adjudicate how to represent how challenging a task is. If something is inherently difficult or easy should have a correspondingly high or low DC.
One of my players in my campaign is a Clockwork Soul sorcerer and has access to Restore Balance at level 1.
It says this allows them to remove advantage and disadvantage on a creature they can see within 60ft as a reaction. They tried to use this on an ability check outside of combat to which I said they couldn't do that since it is a "reaction". I feel that this would pretty much eliminate all disadvantage on ability checks and be too strong if they were allowed to do that.
Is there any specific rule that says whether or not something of this nature can be used out of combat?
So far as I know there is nothing to say that this feature can't be used in the exact way the player wanted to. The feature states "When a creature you can see within 60 feet of you is about to roll a d20 with advantage or disadvantage, you can use your reaction to prevent the roll from being affected by advantage and disadvantage." Not it says any d20 roll, not just attack rolls, or saving throws. If this feature were only to be limited to combat, it would specify that.
Also there is no reason a Reaction cannot be used outside of combats, same as any other Action or Bonus Action. Otherwise players wouldn't be able to use any feature, spell or actions outside of combat. The feature is limited in the number of times it can be used though, proficiency bonus times per long rest, so it's hardly going to eliminate disadvantage on all ability checks. Not to mention if I play does use it this way, they have to weight up the cost of not being able to use it in combat.
They can only use it a number of times equal to their proficiency bonus per long rest. At level one, they can do it twice. The most they will ever be able to do is six. This is a far cry from “eliminating all disadvantage on ability checks.”
You can take a reaction outside combat. While it's usage frequency is tied to turns, which is normally tracked during combat, such special action can be taken anytime the trigger arise.
As others have stated, creatures still have access to their Action, Bonus Action, and Reaction whether in an initiative order or not.
While combat is typically when initiative is decided and players start taking turns, you can also use initiative and turns anytime the exact sequence of events is important to track.
When not using an initiative order and a player tries to use an ability like Restore Balance you just need to ask if it has been less than 6 seconds since they least tried to use the ability.
Also, as others have said Restore Balance is limited to only Proficiency Bonus number of uses which recover on a long rest.
Finally, there are many ways you can adjudicate how to represent how challenging a task is. If something is inherently difficult or easy should have a correspondingly high or low DC.
These all make sense. Thank you for the feedback.