I am claiming that Reactions are explicit exception to the "One Thing At a Time" rule.
In terms of my Druid thought expert, you take an Attack action. You then do a normal attack. Still in your Attack action, you take a Bonus Action to Wild Shape. Still in your Attack action, you then Multi-attack. Multi-attack gives you an additional option for your Attack action - and that additional option doesn't care that you've made a normal attack. Only then do you end your Attack action.
My argument is that the reason Multi-attack doesn't contain "you can't use this in the same Attack action as a conventional weapon attack" is because there's no need: the Wild Shape stunt is illegal because you're violating the "One Thing At a Time" rule by taking a Bonus Action midway through your attack.
I read it the same way TarodNet does. Various game features effectively becomes;
Interacting with Things. You can interact with onetwo object* or feature of the environment for free, during either your move or action
Equipping and Unequipping Weapons. You can either equip or unequip onetwo weapon* when you make an attack as part of this action.
Thrown. If a weapon has the Thrown property, you can throw the weapon to make a ranged attack, and you can draw thattwo weapon* as part of the attack
*weapons that lack the Two-Handed property
The way it's written and the way you've changed it here you can draw a weapon and stow a different weapon at the same time using quick draw. That's not what TarodNet is saying. He's saying you have to draw 2 weapons or stow 2 weapons. If that was the intent quick draw would read "You can draw two weapons or stow two weapons that lack the Two-Handed property"
Quick draw is saying normally you can do the interaction to equip or unequip 1 weapon but now you can do that interaction with 2 weapons. The point I'm trying to make is the verbage in quick draw isn't mutually exclusive.
Example: If I draw a shortsword and stow a longsword I have drawn or stowed 2 weapons.
I am claiming that Reactions are explicit exception to the "One Thing At a Time" rule.
In terms of my Druid thought expert, you take an Attack action. You then do a normal attack. Still in your Attack action, you take a Bonus Action to Wild Shape. Still in your Attack action, you then Multi-attack. Multi-attack gives you an additional option for your Attack action - and that additional option doesn't care that you've made a normal attack. Only then do you end your Attack action.
My argument is that the reason Multi-attack doesn't contain "you can't use this in the same Attack action as a conventional weapon attack" is because there's no need: the Wild Shape stunt is illegal because you're violating the "One Thing At a Time" rule by taking a Bonus Action midway through your attack.
Putting aside our different POVs on the One Thing At a Time interpretation when it comes to Bonus Actions or Reactions, I don't think your scenario works because you're taking the Attack action twice.
Multiattack is an Action for monsters (you have to take the Attack action to use it, which you've already done for your regular attack), and the One Thing At a Time rule is specifically there to prevent taking two actions at the same time.
Emphasis mine:
Your Turn
On your turn, you can move a distance up to your Speed and take one action. You decide whether to move first or take your action first.
The main actions you can take are listed in “Actions” earlier in this chapter. A character’s features and a monster’s stat block also provide action options. “Movement and Position” later in this chapter gives the rules for movement.
Your Attack action doesn't immediately end when you take an attack (or Multi-attack). It's still ongoing until you've done everything you can do during it. Neither attack nor Multi-attack is an 'Action' - they're parts of your Attack action. As long as your Attack action is ongoing, you can still take your attack or Multi-attack as long as you haven't taken it yet. The argument being made is that you can attack both before and after interrupting your Attack action to take a Bonus Action, so why would attack and Multi-attack be any different?
Your Attack action doesn't immediately end when you take an attack (or Multi-attack). It's still ongoing until you've done everything you can do during it. Neither attack nor Multi-attack is an 'Action' - they're parts of your Attack action. As long as your Attack action is ongoing, you can still take your attack or Multi-attack as long as you haven't taken it yet. The argument being made is that you can attack both before and after interrupting your Attack action to take a Bonus Action, so why would attack and Multi-attack be any different?
Because from what I understand, in the 2014 MM, Multiattack was an action (a special one for monsters, if you prefer), and in the 2024 MM, Multiattack is once again an action, listed as an entry in the Actions part of a stat block, but now (2024) it's part of the Attack action.
So yes, it's a different action and, even allowing a BA in the middle, you cannot normally take two Actions.
Example: If I draw a shortsword and stow a longsword I have drawn or stowed 2 weapons.
No you haven't draw or stow 2 weapons in your example, you have draw and stow 2 weapons.
Quick Draw increase the number of weapons interacted with, not the number of interactions itself. If you can either equip or unequip two weapons when you would only one, you can't both both.
Equipping and Unequipping Weapons. You can either equip or unequip onetwo weapon* when you make an attack as part of this action.
From the 2024 Monster Manual: "Some creatures can make more than one attack when they take the Attack action. Such creatures have the Multiattack entry in the “Actions” section of their stat block. This entry details the attacks a creature can make, as well as any additional abilities it can use, as part of the Attack action."
You're taking an Attack action, not two separate Actions. During the first part of it, you use your normal weapon to make an Attack (which you can do during an Attack action). Then you use Wild Shape to shift into a form with Multi-attack. Before the single Attack action you took has ended, you use Multi-attack as part of that Attack action.
From the 2024 Monster Manual: "Some creatures can make more than one attack when they take the Attack action. Such creatures have the Multiattack entry in the “Actions” section of their stat block. This entry details the attacks a creature can make, as well as any additional abilities it can use, as part of the Attack action."
You're taking an Attack action, not two separate Actions. During the first part of it, you use your normal weapon to make an Attack (which you can do during an Attack action). Then you use Wild Shape to shift into a form with Multi-attack. Before the single Attack action you took has ended, you use Multi-attack as part of that Attack action.
We're reading how the Multiattack entry in the Actions section works differently, then. Sorry, I can't explain it better than I already did.
From the 2024 Monster Manual: "Some creatures can make more than one attack when they take the Attack action. Such creatures have the Multiattack entry in the “Actions” section of their stat block. This entry details the attacks a creature can make, as well as any additional abilities it can use, as part of the Attack action."
You're taking an Attack action, not two separate Actions. During the first part of it, you use your normal weapon to make an Attack (which you can do during an Attack action). Then you use Wild Shape to shift into a form with Multi-attack. Before the single Attack action you took has ended, you use Multi-attack as part of that Attack action.
We're reading how the Multiattack entry in the Actions section works differently, then. Sorry, I can't explain it better than I already did. EDIT: or maybe I'm wrong, but it's how I'm ruling it.
Also, I find it interesting that you're using a scenario (BA in the middle) you don't seem to agree with.
It's a thought experiment to demonstrate the problem with taking BA in the middle of another Action. Another example would be a Rogue Hiding between their attacks.
Sorry, MeatLuggin, I wasn’t able to respond to your replies earlier. This is how my brain parses Quick Draw:
You can draw two weapons that lack the Two-Handed property when you would normally be able to draw only one,
or
you can stow two weapons that lack the Two-Handed property when you would normally be able to stow only one.
Basically, it replaces one single draw, or one single stow.
This is the interpretation I agree with, but I can't say the other reading is definitely wrong.
It ultimately depends on whether you parse the object interaction you're taking as "draw or stow a weapon" or "draw a weapon"/"stow a weapon", and object interactions aren't (and shouldn't be) rigidly categorized, so we can't tell.
IMO, since you can't both draw and stow a single weapon at the same time, the interaction you're doing is "draw a weapon", and thus DW turns it into "draw two weapons". (And similarly for stowing.)
IMO, since you can't both draw and stow a single weapon at the same time, the interaction you're doing is "draw a weapon", and thus DW turns it into "draw two weapons". (And similarly for stowing.)
It also lines up well with the name of the feat and the (seeming) intent of the feature: you can draw two swords at once for the purpose of "dual wielding," or stow them both at once when switching to something else. Rather than some complex juggling technique to get simultaneous benefits of dual wielding, a shield, and the dueling fighting style...
You're taking an Attack action, not two separate Actions. During the first part of it, you use your normal weapon to make an Attack (which you can do during an Attack action). Then you use Wild Shape to shift into a form with Multi-attack. Before the single Attack action you took has ended, you use Multi-attack as part of that Attack action.
It doesn't work this way. You don't just run around making as many attacks as you feel like during an Attack action. It's not some sort of unlimited "attack phase" of the game or something. It's an action that you are taking.
The description for an Attack action is pretty rigidly defined. By default, taking an Attack action allows you to make exactly one attack:
When you take the Attack action, you can make one attack roll with a weapon or an Unarmed Strike.
You have to have access to and use a feature which explicitly allows you to make more than one attack with your attack action, and such a feature will explain exactly what you can do during that Attack action. For example, if you are a Level 5 Fighter with the "Extra Attack" feature, you can take advantage of a rule which says: "You can attack twice instead of once whenever you take the Attack action on your turn." That means exactly what it says and nothing more. You can attack twice instead of once. That doesn't include things like making an attack and then a multi-attack. It very explicitly allows you to attack twice instead of once whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
You're taking an Attack action, not two separate Actions. During the first part of it, you use your normal weapon to make an Attack (which you can do during an Attack action). Then you use Wild Shape to shift into a form with Multi-attack. Before the single Attack action you took has ended, you use Multi-attack as part of that Attack action.
It doesn't work this way. You don't just run around making as many attacks as you feel like during an Attack action. It's not some sort of unlimited "attack phase" of the game or something. It's an action that you are taking.
The description for an Attack action is pretty rigidly defined. By default, taking an Attack action allows you to make exactly one attack:
When you take the Attack action, you can make one attack roll with a weapon or an Unarmed Strike.
You have to have access to and use a feature which explicitly allows you to make more than one attack with your attack action, and such a feature will explain exactly what you can do during that Attack action. For example, if you are a Level 5 Fighter with the "Extra Attack" feature, you can take advantage of a rule which says: "You can attack twice instead of once whenever you take the Attack action on your turn." That means exactly what it says and nothing more. You can attack twice instead of once. That doesn't include things like making an attack and then a multi-attack. It very explicitly allows you to attack twice instead of once whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
In the case we're discussing, you do have a feature that gives you more than one attack during the Attack action: Multi-attack. Multi-attack, unlike Extra Attack, doesn't replace your one attack with multiple attacks. It's a separate thing entirely and doesn't care whether or not you made an earlier attack. All it cares about is if you made an Attack action and the only other actions it conflicts with are other actions of your MM stat block.
I understand that you think this is an absurd abuse of the rules. That's the point. It's supposed to be an absurd abuse of the rules to demonstrate why taking a Bonus Action in the middle of an Attack action doesn't make any sense - even if you reject the clear violation of the "One Thing At a Time" rule.
As already explained by someone else, a monster's "multiattack" ability is an action that it can take. It requires a whole action to perform this task. This is further explained in this rule:
Multiattack
Some creatures can make more than one attack when they take the Attack action. Such creatures have the Multiattack entry in the “Actions” section of their stat block. This entry details the attacks a creature can make, as well as any additional abilities it can use, as part of the Attack action.
So, as part of using its multiattack feature, it is taking an Attack action within that. The particular entry for that particular multiattack will detail exactly which attacks that particular creature can make as part of the Attack action when they use this feature. Any additional attacks or abilities that it can use as part of that Attack action must be listed there. You don't get to do other things with this Attack action. If the monster takes the Multiattack action, it means that it is using the Attack action in a specifically defined way, as defined by that multiattack entry.
In addition, the general rules for the Attack action itself also do not support your interpretation. According to the rules for the Attack action:
When you take the Attack action, you can make one attack roll with a weapon or an Unarmed Strike.
If you have a feature, such as Extra Attack, which modifies this, then you use the rule for that feature -- you don't use the rule for the Attack action and then also use the rule for the feature.
For example, if you have the Level 5 Fighter version of Extra Attack ("You can attack twice instead of once whenever you take the Attack action on your turn") . . .
you cannot take the Attack action, make an attack, and THEN use the Extra Attack feature to make TWO MORE attacks as part of that Attack action. That's just not how it works. The feature allows you to make two attacks instead of one.
Using the multiattack feature works the same way. You do what it says within the entry for that multiattack feature instead of whatever else you may have been able to do with your Attack action.
VerilyRaze Just for the record, I already said the "One Thing At a Time" rule is debatable, but now you're using the Multiattack action, which is only available to monsters (at least for now), in your explanations to discuss a weird -- and in my opinion, wrong -- scenario.
Forget about Bonus Actions for a second. Say you're a level 5 Fighter / level 2 Druid, and you wildshape into a Beast that has the Multiattack entry.
Next round, you take the Attack Action. Are you saying you can use your Extra Attack feature and the beast's Multiattack at the same time, just because you took the Attack Action?
While you're in your Beast form, you can only take actions listed in the stat block. Since the standard Attack action used with Extra Attack isn't listed, you can't use it. Likewise, Multi-attack (or normal Beast form attacks) are not available unless you're in Beast form, so you can't use them. The only time this crops up is if you permit a player to take an Action in the middle of taking a different Action.
Another way to think about this is to ask: why did they bother to write that "Only One Thing At a Time" rule if it didn't apply to taking Bonus Actions in the middle of Actions?
Since the standard Attack action used with Extra Attack isn't listed, you can't use it.
From Level 2: Wild Shape (emphasis mine):
Game Statistics. Your game statistics are replaced by the Beast’s stat block, but you retain your creature type; Hit Points; Hit Point Dice; Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores; class features; languages; and feats. You also retain your skill and saving throw proficiencies and use your Proficiency Bonus for them, in addition to gaining the proficiencies of the creature. If a skill or saving throw modifier in the Beast’s stat block is higher than yours, use the one in the stat block.
Likewise, Multi-attack (or normal Beast form attacks) are not available unless you're in Beast form, so you can't use them. The only time this crops up is if you permit a player to take an Action in the middle of taking a different Action.
Well, I tried to explain why this isn't an issue (or at least not the way I understand the rules) in my previous replies.
Per Rules While Shaped-Shifted, you retain your Class Features such as Extra Attack.
Game Statistics. Your game statistics are replaced by the Beast’s stat block, but you retain your creature type; Hit Points; Hit Point Dice; Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores; class features; languages; and feats.
While you're in your Beast form, you can only take actions listed in the stat block. Since the standard Attack action used with Extra Attack isn't listed, you can't use it. Likewise, Multi-attack (or normal Beast form attacks) are not available unless you're in Beast form, so you can't use them. The only time this crops up is if you permit a player to take an Action in the middle of taking a different Action.
Another way to think about this is to ask: why did they bother to write that "Only One Thing At a Time" rule if it didn't apply to taking Bonus Actions in the middle of Actions?
You example of "why it shouldn't work" isn't a thing based on the actual rules though. For reasons others have stated, but, also, even if there had been some conflict the resolution is just:
Once you start an action, that's the action you're taking. Just because you become ineligible to complete it doesn't suddenly refund it to use again on something else.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
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I am claiming that Reactions are explicit exception to the "One Thing At a Time" rule.
In terms of my Druid thought expert, you take an Attack action. You then do a normal attack. Still in your Attack action, you take a Bonus Action to Wild Shape. Still in your Attack action, you then Multi-attack. Multi-attack gives you an additional option for your Attack action - and that additional option doesn't care that you've made a normal attack. Only then do you end your Attack action.
My argument is that the reason Multi-attack doesn't contain "you can't use this in the same Attack action as a conventional weapon attack" is because there's no need: the Wild Shape stunt is illegal because you're violating the "One Thing At a Time" rule by taking a Bonus Action midway through your attack.
The way it's written and the way you've changed it here you can draw a weapon and stow a different weapon at the same time using quick draw. That's not what TarodNet is saying. He's saying you have to draw 2 weapons or stow 2 weapons. If that was the intent quick draw would read "You can draw two weapons or stow two weapons that lack the Two-Handed property"
Quick draw is saying normally you can do the interaction to equip or unequip 1 weapon but now you can do that interaction with 2 weapons. The point I'm trying to make is the verbage in quick draw isn't mutually exclusive.
Example: If I draw a shortsword and stow a longsword I have drawn or stowed 2 weapons.
Putting aside our different POVs on the One Thing At a Time interpretation when it comes to Bonus Actions or Reactions, I don't think your scenario works because you're taking the Attack action twice.
Multiattack is an Action for monsters (you have to take the Attack action to use it, which you've already done for your regular attack), and the One Thing At a Time rule is specifically there to prevent taking two actions at the same time.
Emphasis mine:
Your Attack action doesn't immediately end when you take an attack (or Multi-attack). It's still ongoing until you've done everything you can do during it. Neither attack nor Multi-attack is an 'Action' - they're parts of your Attack action. As long as your Attack action is ongoing, you can still take your attack or Multi-attack as long as you haven't taken it yet. The argument being made is that you can attack both before and after interrupting your Attack action to take a Bonus Action, so why would attack and Multi-attack be any different?
Because from what I understand, in the 2014 MM, Multiattack was an action (a special one for monsters, if you prefer), and in the 2024 MM, Multiattack is once again an action, listed as an entry in the Actions part of a stat block, but now (2024) it's part of the Attack action.
So yes, it's a different action and, even allowing a BA in the middle, you cannot normally take two Actions.
No you haven't draw or stow 2 weapons in your example, you have draw and stow 2 weapons.
Quick Draw increase the number of weapons interacted with, not the number of interactions itself. If you can either equip or unequip two weapons when you would only one, you can't both both.
From the 2024 Monster Manual: "Some creatures can make more than one attack when they take the Attack action. Such creatures have the Multiattack entry in the “Actions” section of their stat block. This entry details the attacks a creature can make, as well as any additional abilities it can use, as part of the Attack action."
You're taking an Attack action, not two separate Actions. During the first part of it, you use your normal weapon to make an Attack (which you can do during an Attack action). Then you use Wild Shape to shift into a form with Multi-attack. Before the single Attack action you took has ended, you use Multi-attack as part of that Attack action.
We're reading how the Multiattack entry in the Actions section works differently, then. Sorry, I can't explain it better than I already did.
Also, I find it interesting that you're using a scenario (BA in the middle) you don't seem to agree with.
Sorry, MeatLuggin, I wasn’t able to respond to your replies earlier. This is how my brain parses Quick Draw:
Basically, it replaces one single draw, or one single stow.
It's a thought experiment to demonstrate the problem with taking BA in the middle of another Action. Another example would be a Rogue Hiding between their attacks.
This is the interpretation I agree with, but I can't say the other reading is definitely wrong.
It ultimately depends on whether you parse the object interaction you're taking as "draw or stow a weapon" or "draw a weapon"/"stow a weapon", and object interactions aren't (and shouldn't be) rigidly categorized, so we can't tell.
IMO, since you can't both draw and stow a single weapon at the same time, the interaction you're doing is "draw a weapon", and thus DW turns it into "draw two weapons". (And similarly for stowing.)
It also lines up well with the name of the feat and the (seeming) intent of the feature: you can draw two swords at once for the purpose of "dual wielding," or stow them both at once when switching to something else. Rather than some complex juggling technique to get simultaneous benefits of dual wielding, a shield, and the dueling fighting style...
It doesn't work this way. You don't just run around making as many attacks as you feel like during an Attack action. It's not some sort of unlimited "attack phase" of the game or something. It's an action that you are taking.
The description for an Attack action is pretty rigidly defined. By default, taking an Attack action allows you to make exactly one attack:
You have to have access to and use a feature which explicitly allows you to make more than one attack with your attack action, and such a feature will explain exactly what you can do during that Attack action. For example, if you are a Level 5 Fighter with the "Extra Attack" feature, you can take advantage of a rule which says: "You can attack twice instead of once whenever you take the Attack action on your turn." That means exactly what it says and nothing more. You can attack twice instead of once. That doesn't include things like making an attack and then a multi-attack. It very explicitly allows you to attack twice instead of once whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
In the case we're discussing, you do have a feature that gives you more than one attack during the Attack action: Multi-attack. Multi-attack, unlike Extra Attack, doesn't replace your one attack with multiple attacks. It's a separate thing entirely and doesn't care whether or not you made an earlier attack. All it cares about is if you made an Attack action and the only other actions it conflicts with are other actions of your MM stat block.
I understand that you think this is an absurd abuse of the rules. That's the point. It's supposed to be an absurd abuse of the rules to demonstrate why taking a Bonus Action in the middle of an Attack action doesn't make any sense - even if you reject the clear violation of the "One Thing At a Time" rule.
Those aren't the rules though.
As already explained by someone else, a monster's "multiattack" ability is an action that it can take. It requires a whole action to perform this task. This is further explained in this rule:
So, as part of using its multiattack feature, it is taking an Attack action within that. The particular entry for that particular multiattack will detail exactly which attacks that particular creature can make as part of the Attack action when they use this feature. Any additional attacks or abilities that it can use as part of that Attack action must be listed there. You don't get to do other things with this Attack action. If the monster takes the Multiattack action, it means that it is using the Attack action in a specifically defined way, as defined by that multiattack entry.
In addition, the general rules for the Attack action itself also do not support your interpretation. According to the rules for the Attack action:
If you have a feature, such as Extra Attack, which modifies this, then you use the rule for that feature -- you don't use the rule for the Attack action and then also use the rule for the feature.
For example, if you have the Level 5 Fighter version of Extra Attack ("You can attack twice instead of once whenever you take the Attack action on your turn") . . .
you cannot take the Attack action, make an attack, and THEN use the Extra Attack feature to make TWO MORE attacks as part of that Attack action. That's just not how it works. The feature allows you to make two attacks instead of one.
Using the multiattack feature works the same way. You do what it says within the entry for that multiattack feature instead of whatever else you may have been able to do with your Attack action.
VerilyRaze Just for the record, I already said the "One Thing At a Time" rule is debatable, but now you're using the Multiattack action, which is only available to monsters (at least for now), in your explanations to discuss a weird -- and in my opinion, wrong -- scenario.
Forget about Bonus Actions for a second. Say you're a level 5 Fighter / level 2 Druid, and you wildshape into a Beast that has the Multiattack entry.
Next round, you take the Attack Action. Are you saying you can use your Extra Attack feature and the beast's Multiattack at the same time, just because you took the Attack Action?
While you're in your Beast form, you can only take actions listed in the stat block. Since the standard Attack action used with Extra Attack isn't listed, you can't use it. Likewise, Multi-attack (or normal Beast form attacks) are not available unless you're in Beast form, so you can't use them. The only time this crops up is if you permit a player to take an Action in the middle of taking a different Action.
Another way to think about this is to ask: why did they bother to write that "Only One Thing At a Time" rule if it didn't apply to taking Bonus Actions in the middle of Actions?
Not really (emphasis mine):
From Level 2: Wild Shape (emphasis mine):
Well, I tried to explain why this isn't an issue (or at least not the way I understand the rules) in my previous replies.
EDIT: edited for clarity.
Per Rules While Shaped-Shifted, you retain your Class Features such as Extra Attack.
EDIT Ninja'ed by TarodNet !
You example of "why it shouldn't work" isn't a thing based on the actual rules though. For reasons others have stated, but, also, even if there had been some conflict the resolution is just:
Once you start an action, that's the action you're taking. Just because you become ineligible to complete it doesn't suddenly refund it to use again on something else.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.