Actions in Combat

When you take your Action on your turn, you can take one of the Actions presented here, an Action you gained from your features or a feature, or an Action that you improvise. Many monsters have Action options of their own in their stat blocks.
When you describe an Action not detailed elsewhere in the rules, the GM tells you whether that Action is possible and what kind of roll you need to make, if any, to determine success or failure.

Spellcasters, as well as many monsters, have access to spells and can use them to great effect in combat. Each spell has a casting time, which specifies whether the caster must use an Action, a Bonus Action, a Reaction, minutes, or even hours to cast the spell. Casting a spell is, therefore, not necessarily an Action. Most spells do have a casting time of an Action, so a spellcaster often uses his or her Action in combat to cast such a spell.

When you take the Dash Action, you gain extra movement for the current turn. The increase equals your Speed, after applying any modifiers. With a Speed of 10, for example, you can move up to 20 squares on your turn if you dash.
Any increase or decrease to your Speed changes this additional movement by the same amount. If your Speed of 10 is reduced to 6, for instance, you can move up to 12 squares this turn if you dash.

If you take the Disengage Action, your movement doesn't provoke Opportunity Attacks for the rest of the turn.

When you take the Dodge Action, you focus entirely on avoiding attacks. Until the start of your next turn, any Attack roll made against you has Disadvantage if you can see the attacker, and you make Reflex Saving Throws with Advantage. You lose this benefit if you are Incapacitated or if your Speed drops to 0.

When you want to grab a creature or wrestle with it, you can take the Grapple Action. The target of your grapple must be no more than one size larger than you, and it must be within your range.

You try to seize the target by making a grapple Check, a Strength (Athletics) Check contested by the target's Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Coordination) Check (the target chooses the skill to use). If you succeed, you subject the target to the Grappled condition see "Conditions". The condition specifies the things that end it, and you can release the target whenever you like (no action required).

Alternatively, you can forgo grappling and Push the target instead. You make a grapple Check like before and if you succeed the target is Pushed 2.

You can lend your aid to another creature in the completion of a task. When you take the Help Action, the creature you aid gains Advantage on the next Attribute Check it makes to perform the task you are helping with, provided that it makes the Check before the start of your next turn.
Alternatively, you can aid a friendly creature in attacking a creature within 1 square of you. You feint, distract the target, or in some other way team up to make your ally's Attack more effective. If your ally Attacks the target before your next turn, the first Attack roll is made with Advantage.

With the Hide Action, you try to conceal yourself. To do so, you must make a DC 15 Dexterity Check (Stealth) while you're Heavily Obscured or behind Three-Quarters Cover or Total Cover, and you must be out of any visible enemy's line of sight; if you can see a creature, you can discern whether it can see you.
On a successful Check, you are Hidden. Make note of your Check's total, which becomes the DC for a creature to find you with a Wisdom (Perception) Check.

With this Action, you use a maneuver that you know. See "Maneuvers > Maneuver Rules" for the general rules for maneuvers
Each maneuver has an associated Action, which specifies whether the user must use an Action, Bonus Action, or a Reaction to use the maneuver.

Sometimes you want to get the jump on a foe or wait for a particular circumstance before you act. To do so, you can take the Ready Action on your turn, which lets you act using your Reaction before the start of your next turn.
First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your Reaction. Then, you choose the Action you will take in response to that trigger, or you choose to move up to your Speed in response to it. Examples include "If the cultist steps on the trapdoor, I'll pull the lever that opens it," and "If the goblin steps next to me, I move away."
When the trigger occurs, you can either take your Reaction right after the trigger finishes or ignore the trigger. Remember that you can take only one Reaction per round.
When you ready a spell, you cast it as normal but hold its energy, which you release with your Reaction when the trigger occurs. To be readied, a spell must have a casting time of an Action.

When you take the Search Action, you devote your attention to finding something. Depending on the nature of your search, the GM might have you make a Wisdom (Perception) Check or an Intelligence (Investigation) Check. See "Playing the Game > Environments > Traps".

You normally interact with an object while doing something else. When an object requires your Action for its use, you take the Utilize Action. This Action is also useful when you want to interact with more than one object on your turn.

Various features, spells, and other abilities let you take an additional Action on your turn called a Bonus Action. You can take a Bonus Action only when a special ability, spell, or other feature of the game states that you can do something as a Bonus Action. You otherwise 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 when you have more than one available.
You choose when to take a Bonus Action during your turn, unless the Bonus Action's timing is specified, and anything that deprives you of your ability to take Actions also prevents you from taking a Bonus Action.

You can use a Bonus Action to use the Utilize Action to drink a potion or poison you have, but only for yourself.

Certain special abilities, spells, and situations allow 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, 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.

A Free Action is an Action that can be taken at any time without limit, very few things are Free Actions, usually limited to certain features and maneuvers.
There is no limit to how many you can take in a single turn or round, although some do specify when they must be taken, such as during your turn.
Like Bonus Actions, anything that deprives you of your ability to take Actions also prevents you from taking a Free Action.