Player Actions

and Agency
In THIS SESSION, WE’LL BE
TALKING ABOUT:
• Things a D&D5e character can do in a
variety of situations
In D&D, you have your three main
pillars of play:
• Social
• Exploration
• Combat

We’ll talk about what a character can do in each of

the pillars.
In General, a character can do
anything that is listed in a character
sheet.

The best way to know if you can

proceed with a certain course of
action is to ask your dm.
This guide is meant to guide you
through scenarios and give you an
idea of what you can do.

This guide is not meant to limit what

you do in the game.
Exploration & social
• In scenarios involving these pillars, player actions usually can be
summarized into the following:
• Using Skills
• Using Features & Spells
• Using Equipment
• Interacting with the surroundings
• Note that a player can use any combination of these to produce a
solution to whatever their objective is.
Using Skills
• Depending on your current objective, certain skills might be crucial in
advancing the story.
• Identifying what skills your character is good at is key to having a
successful interaction with the DM’s world.
Using Skills (cont.)
• Let’s say that your adventuring party is locked inside a room, and you
need to think of a way out:
• A strong person in your party can use athletics to try to break the door
down.
• If you have someone in your party who is good at investigation, they
can try to scan for traps first before you attempt to break the door.
• Maybe you can use deception to fool one of the guards into getting
your group out of there.
How will I know if it will work?
• The first thing you need to do, is to confirm with your DM that you
will be attempting a certain course of action.
• The DM (in their head) thinks of how difficult your chosen action is
based on the circumstances surrounding it and creates a Difficulty
Class (DC), an arbitrary number based on the difficulty of the action.
• The DM then lets you roll a D20. Whatever number you roll, you will
add it with your skill bonus written in your character sheet and the DM
will confirm whether you beat the DC or not via narration.
Example
• Let’s say that your party’s Barbarian wants to ram through the door.
• Once that is confirmed by the DM, the DM then thinks to themselves:
“Ok. The door is not that special anyway. It’s made of some old wood.
There’s a flimsy padlock holding the door back from the other side. This
shouldn’t be too difficult I’ll make this DC 10.”
• The DM then lets the Barbarian roll a check, probably athletics in this case.
Assuming that the Barbarian has a +5 modifier in athletics and they roll a
12. 12+5=17, It passes!
• The DM then narrates how the Barbarian successfully rams through the
door.
Sometimes however, things don’t
need a roll.
• Depending on the style of your DM, sometimes rolling the dice is not
needed when your chosen course of actions is either TOO EASY that
you will surely succeed, or TOO DIFFICULT that you will surely fail.
• In D&D 5e, If the task is too easy, a Natural 1 can still be successful. If
the task is too difficult, a Natural 20 can still be unsuccessful.
The DM is also Empowered
• Depending on how much or by how little you’ve succeeded or failed,
your DM is empowered to narrate in such a way that it considers how
high or low you have rolled.
• Sometimes these consequences and narrations will also have actual in
game manifestations
Using Features & spells
• If your party is lacking proficiency in a certain skill, certain class
features and spells can help you augment your party’s capabilities in
exploration making the scenario more manageable for you.
Using Features & spells (Cont.)
• If you see writings on the wall that none in your party can understand, a
spell like Comprehend Languages might be useful for that.
• If you are worried about an undead threat, a paladin has the ability
called Divine Sense to look for skeletons, zombies, and the like.
• If you are an acolyte wanting for respite in a new city and you share the
same faith with the clergy in the city, you can use the feature Shelter of
the Faithful to seek temporary refuge.
Using Features & spells (Cont.)
• Be sure to read first what your feature or spell does and if it’s
something you can do.
• If you are unsure, consult with the DM.
• Depending on the situation, the DM can still call for a roll of an ability
or a skill.
Using Equipment
• Adventurers usually bring with them a variety of tools that can aid
them in their adventuring.
• A character without darkvision can light a torch or a lantern to aid
their sight.
• If there is a need to bind a prisoner, a bundle of rope or manacles can
do the trick.
• If you want to quietly undo a lock, thieves’ tools can help you do that
for you.
Interacting with the environment
• The DM normally also has things lying around the area that a player
can utilize.
• A player can talk to Non-Player Characters (NPCs) that appear in and
around the place.
• A player can also look to the environment to look for things that they
can manipulate and use like buttons and levers.
Combat
• When in a fight, the flow of the game changes and we move into a
more turn-based structured fight system.
• Combat starts when them DM declares that everyone has to “Roll
Initiative.”
• Initiative decides the order of combat, going from the highest initiative
to the lowest initiative.
Your Turn
• When your turn arrives in combat, you have all of the following
available to you:
• Movement
• 1 ACTION
• 1 Bonus ACTION
• 1 Free Item / Environment InterACTION
• Free Actions
Movement
• You are able to move a distance equivalent to your speed.
• You are allowed to segment this movement between the different
actions that you are allowed to do as long as you do not exceed your
speed.
ACTIONS
• Attack – makes an attack with a weapon that you are carrying. Certain features
allow you to attack multiple times in one turn.
• Cast A Spell – cast a spell that has a casting time of one action.
• Dash – Doubles your movement speed for the turn.
• Disengage – Safely move away from opponents for the turn.
• Dodge – Have opponents miss you more and dodge things easier.
• Help – Help out a creature do a skill or help in combat by distraction
• Hide – Make a stealth check to try to hide
ACTIONS (Cont.)
• Ready – Utilize your reaction to do an action outside of your turn after
a certain trigger.
• Search – Try to find or locate something or someone.
• Use an Object – Use an object that requires extra time consumption to
be used (e.g. Potions)
• Improvise – Try to do anything! (as long as the DM allows it)
Bonus ACTIONS
• Certain class and race features as well as spells can be utilized on
bonus actions.
• These are actions that are quick enough that it can be utilized
coinciding an action.
• Examples:
• Casting Healing Word (Level 1 Spell)
• Using Second Wind (Fighter feature)
Free item/environment interaction
• Quick actions that can be done fast and within a reasonable timeframe
unless the DM determines that it cannot be done so reasonably quickly.
• Pulling a lever
• Opening a door
• Bringing out a weapon
• Some magic items and other Special Objects always require an Action
to use, as stated in their descriptions.
Free ACTIONS
• While you are taking your turn, you can include a variety of flourishes
and forms of showmanship that require neither your Action nor your
movement.
• You can also communicate with your team and with the enemy
through brief utterance and gestures.
• E.g. “I point my greatsword at the enemy and shout “MY STEEL
HUNGERS FOR YOUR BLOOD!””
Outside of your turn
• You can reply to your enemies and allies as long as it’s something
quick.
• You also have access to 1 REACTION.