So a little setup to help grant me some reprieve to my "newb"ness to this --- back in Sept 2018 , after over 25 years of NOT playing D & D at all, I got back into and bought the core books on 5e. I then started VTT gaming and have been since early Nov 2018. I read the books yet I'm still not crystal clear on the timing of when I'm allowed to do things. I hoping you guys / gals here can clear that up for me.
My understanding is per turn each player gets at least a reaction, an action ("attack" for instance) and is allowed to use their full movement. .... as straight forward as that seems I think reactions are most confusing....because of the timing of when to use them.
So once my turn is done I really can't do anything until my next turn? Are there exceptions to this (besides the most obvious one in 5e....Opportunity Attack)?
Also speaking of Opportunity Attacks....are they triggered when a hostile is moving away within 5 ft. of you OR does the direction not matter as long as it within 5ft. (period)?
Opportunity attacks (AoO) happen when someone moves out of your reach. If I have a Quarterstaff, and someone is right there, and moves 10ft away without Disengage-ing, I get to hit them as a reaction. If you have a reach weapon, such as a Halberd, once he leaves 10ft if me I can hit him with an AoO, at the cost of a reaction.
Reactions happen on anyone else’s turn, or yours. You get them back at the beginning of your turn.
There are also Bonus Actions, which are a form of action granted by either your class, an item, or your race.
Reactions can be taken whenever their triggering conditions occur, and do not have to happen on your turn. In fact, most of the time they do not occur on your turn, but rather on someone else's, since they're usually triggered by some other creature's action (which normally happens on their turn, not yours). There are exceptions, but they're rare.
Once your turn is done, you can't take any Actions or Bonus Actions, but you can still take your Reaction, unless you used it during your turn. You only have one Reaction, which "refreshes" at the start of your turn.
Opportunity Attacks are a type of Reaction which are triggered by a hostile creature exiting your threatened area, which is normally 5' around you, unless you're using a Reach weapon (like a glaive), which gives you a longer reach (+5', in the case of the glaive), or have some feature that gives you a longer reach. So while technically the direction does not matter, in practice it does, since a creature must be moving away from you in order to exit your threatened area. The key point, though, is that the trigger is not "a creature moves within 5' of me" or even "a creature moves within my threatened area", but rather "a creature exits my threatened area". Note that they need to use their movement to exit the are for the Opportunity Attack to be triggered. If they're pushed, or otherwise moved without using their movement, Opportunity Attack is not triggered. Likewise, teleportation does not trigger it.
As a more general answer:
Each Round of combat is composed of several Turns, specifically one for each creature involved. The creatures involved each take a Turn, in order of Initiative. During a creature's Turn, they can take an Action (the PHB specifies which Actions are generally available, but some features, spells, etc., might add to that list), and -- if they have a feature, spell, etc. that gives them one -- a Bonus Action. They can also move their full movement. (Movement can be split between activities: if you have Extra Attack, allowing you to attack more than once when using the Attack Action, you can move, use one attack, move again, use another attack, then move again, as long as the total movement does not exceed your Speed.)
Additionally, at any moment, whether it's that creature's Turn or not, if a Reaction is triggered, it can be taken, if available. A creature's Reaction becomes available at the start of their Turn. Reactions, as a general rule, occur immediately after their triggering activity. Some Reactions specify a different timing. For example, Opportunity Attack is specified to occur right before the creature exits your threatened area; Shield is specified to occur right before your are hit, even though it is triggered by being hit (so, if you're hit, Shield's AC bonus can cause the hit to become a miss).
Good Evening all,
So a little setup to help grant me some reprieve to my "newb"ness to this --- back in Sept 2018 , after over 25 years of NOT playing D & D at all, I got back into and bought the core books on 5e. I then started VTT gaming and have been since early Nov 2018. I read the books yet I'm still not crystal clear on the timing of when I'm allowed to do things. I hoping you guys / gals here can clear that up for me.
My understanding is per turn each player gets at least a reaction, an action ("attack" for instance) and is allowed to use their full movement. .... as straight forward as that seems I think reactions are most confusing....because of the timing of when to use them.
So once my turn is done I really can't do anything until my next turn? Are there exceptions to this (besides the most obvious one in 5e....Opportunity Attack)?
Also speaking of Opportunity Attacks....are they triggered when a hostile is moving away within 5 ft. of you OR does the direction not matter as long as it within 5ft. (period)?
Thank you.
Opportunity attacks (AoO) happen when someone moves out of your reach. If I have a Quarterstaff, and someone is right there, and moves 10ft away without Disengage-ing, I get to hit them as a reaction. If you have a reach weapon, such as a Halberd, once he leaves 10ft if me I can hit him with an AoO, at the cost of a reaction.
Reactions happen on anyone else’s turn, or yours. You get them back at the beginning of your turn.
There are also Bonus Actions, which are a form of action granted by either your class, an item, or your race.
Extended Signature! Yay! https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/3153-extended-signature-thread?page=2#c21
Haven’t used this account in forever. Still a big fan of crawling claws.
Thank you!
Reactions can be taken whenever their triggering conditions occur, and do not have to happen on your turn. In fact, most of the time they do not occur on your turn, but rather on someone else's, since they're usually triggered by some other creature's action (which normally happens on their turn, not yours). There are exceptions, but they're rare.
Once your turn is done, you can't take any Actions or Bonus Actions, but you can still take your Reaction, unless you used it during your turn. You only have one Reaction, which "refreshes" at the start of your turn.
Opportunity Attacks are a type of Reaction which are triggered by a hostile creature exiting your threatened area, which is normally 5' around you, unless you're using a Reach weapon (like a glaive), which gives you a longer reach (+5', in the case of the glaive), or have some feature that gives you a longer reach. So while technically the direction does not matter, in practice it does, since a creature must be moving away from you in order to exit your threatened area. The key point, though, is that the trigger is not "a creature moves within 5' of me" or even "a creature moves within my threatened area", but rather "a creature exits my threatened area". Note that they need to use their movement to exit the are for the Opportunity Attack to be triggered. If they're pushed, or otherwise moved without using their movement, Opportunity Attack is not triggered. Likewise, teleportation does not trigger it.
As a more general answer:
Each Round of combat is composed of several Turns, specifically one for each creature involved. The creatures involved each take a Turn, in order of Initiative. During a creature's Turn, they can take an Action (the PHB specifies which Actions are generally available, but some features, spells, etc., might add to that list), and -- if they have a feature, spell, etc. that gives them one -- a Bonus Action. They can also move their full movement. (Movement can be split between activities: if you have Extra Attack, allowing you to attack more than once when using the Attack Action, you can move, use one attack, move again, use another attack, then move again, as long as the total movement does not exceed your Speed.)
Additionally, at any moment, whether it's that creature's Turn or not, if a Reaction is triggered, it can be taken, if available. A creature's Reaction becomes available at the start of their Turn. Reactions, as a general rule, occur immediately after their triggering activity. Some Reactions specify a different timing. For example, Opportunity Attack is specified to occur right before the creature exits your threatened area; Shield is specified to occur right before your are hit, even though it is triggered by being hit (so, if you're hit, Shield's AC bonus can cause the hit to become a miss).