System Reference Document 5.2.1
10
Action Summary
Disengage Your movement doesn’t provoke Oppor-
tunity Attacks for the rest of the turn.
Dodge Until the start of your next turn, attack 
rolls against you have Disadvantage, and 
you make Dexterity saving throws with 
Advantage. You lose this benefit if you 
have the Incapacitated condition or if your 
Speed is 0.
Help Help another creature’s ability check or 
attack roll, or administer first aid.
Hide Make a Dexterity (Stealth) check.
Influence Make a Charisma (Deception, Intimidation, 
Performance, or Persuasion) or Wisdom 
(Animal Handling) check to alter a crea -
ture’s attitude.
Magic Cast a spell, use a magic item, or use a 
magical feature.
Ready Prepare to take an action in response to a 
trigger you define.
Search Make a Wisdom (Insight, Medicine, 
Perception, or Survival) check.
Study Make an Intelligence (Arcana, History, In -
vestigation, Nature, or Religion) check. 
Utilize Use a nonmagical object.
Player characters and monsters can also do things 
not covered by these actions. Many class features 
and other abilities provide additional action op -
tions, and you can improvise other actions. When 
you describe an action not detailed elsewhere in the 
rules, the Game Master tells you whether that action 
is possible and what kind of D20 Test you need to 
make, if any.
One Thing at a Time
The game uses actions to govern how much you can 
do at one time. You can take only one action at a 
time. This principle is most important in combat, as 
explained in “Combat” later in “Playing the Game.”
 Actions can come up in other situations, too: in a 
social interaction, you can try to Influence a crea-
ture or use the Search action to read the creature’s 
body language, but you can’t do both at the same 
time. And when you’re exploring a dungeon, you 
can’t simultaneously use the Search action to look 
for traps and use the Help action to aid another 
character who’s trying to open a stuck door (with 
the Utilize action).
Bonus Actions
Various class features, spells, and other abilities let 
you take an additional action on your turn called 
a Bonus Action. The Cunning Action feature, for 
example, allows a Rogue to take a Bonus Action. You 
can take a Bonus Action only when a special ability, 
a spell, or another feature of the game states that 
you can do something as a Bonus Action. You other -
wise don’t have a Bonus Action to take.
 You can take only one Bonus Action on your turn, 
so you must choose which Bonus Action to use if you 
have more than one available.
 You choose when to take a Bonus Action during 
your turn unless the Bonus Action’s timing is spec -
ified. Anything that deprives you of your ability to 
take actions also prevents you from taking a Bonus 
Action.
Reactions
Certain special abilities, spells, and situations al -
low you to take a special action called a Reaction. A 
Reaction is an instant response to a trigger of some 
kind, which can occur on your turn or on someone 
else’s. The Opportunity Attack, described later in 
“Playing the Game,” is the most common type of 
Reaction.
 When you take a Reaction, you can’t take another 
one until the start of your next turn. If the reaction 
interrupts another creature’s turn, that creature 
can continue its turn right after the Reaction.
 In terms of timing, a Reaction takes place immedi -
ately after its trigger unless the Reaction’s descrip -
tion says otherwise.
Social Interaction
During their adventures, player characters meet 
many different people and face some monsters that 
would rather talk than fight. In those situations, it’s 
time for social interaction, which takes many forms. 
For example, you might try to convince a burglar to 
confess to wrongdoing or try to flatter a guard. The 
Game Master assumes the roles of any nonplayer 
characters who are participating.
 An NPC’s attitude toward your character is 
Friendly, Indifferent, or Hostile, as defined in “Rules 
Glossary.” Friendly NPCs are predisposed to help, 
and Hostile ones are inclined to hinder.
 Social interactions progress in two ways: through 
roleplaying and ability checks.
Roleplaying
Roleplaying is, literally, the act of playing out a role. 
In this case, it’s you as a player determining how 
your character thinks, acts, and talks. Roleplaying is 
part of every aspect of the game, and it comes to the 
fore during social interactions.
 As you roleplay, consider whether you prefer an 
active approach or a descriptive approach.
 The GM uses an NPC’s personality and your char -
acter’s actions and attitudes to determine how an 