Fighting RulesRule

7.12.2021

Actions

During a combat round, you can take one action from the list below.

Attack

As an action, you make one melee or ranged attack.

Cast a Spell

In an epic fight, a human wizard creates sparkling lights, blinding some of the ravenous horde of orcs. But an especially fierce one, profiting from the human's pause in combat, smashes its hammer down upon him, splitting his head.

Find rules on casting spells in the 5eS Rulebook.

Casting spells in combat means you leave the fierce battle to concentrate on a spell, exposing yourself to all others. Whenever you attempt casting a spell, any creatures within 5 feet of you when you cast the spell may use their reaction to make an opportunity attack against you.

Dash

You may move up to your speed without using your movement.

Disarm

You make one melee attack against a target within reach's dAC. If you hit, you can choose to disarm them instead of dealing damage, if the DM rules this is possible.

The creature no longer has its weapon. It must spend half its movement to retrieve it, and provokes opportunity attacks when crouching to pick it up.

Disengage

You don't provoke opportunity attacks until the start of your next turn.

Dodge

Until the start of your next turn, all attack rolls made against you have disadvantage if you can see the attacker, and you have advantage on Acrobatics saves.

Grapple

When you want to grab a creature or wrestle with it, you can use the Attack action to make a special melee attack, a grapple. If you’re able to make multiple attacks with the Attack action, this attack replaces one of them.

The target of your grapple must be no more than one size larger than you, and it must be within your reach. You have disadvantage on all grapple-related rolls against a creature that is larger than you.

Using at least one free hand, you try to seize the target by making a grapple check, an Athletics check contested by the target’s Athletics or Acrobatics saving throw (the target chooses which skill to use). You succeed automatically if the target is incapacitated.

If you succeed, you subject the target to the grappled and restrained conditions (see Appendix A), and you can release the target whenever you like (no action required).

Escaping a Grapple. A grappled creature can use its action to escape. To do so, it must succeed on an Athletics or Acrobatics check contested by your Athletics check. A creature that escapes a grapple has disadvantage on attacks until the end of its next turn.

Moving a Grappled Creature. When you move, you can drag or carry the grappled creature with you, but your speed is halved, unless the creature is two or more sizes smaller than you.

Hide

As an action, you may attempt to hide, if the DM rules the environment is suitable for an attempt to hide. You cannot hide from creatures that know your location.

You make a Stealth check. This is the DC other creatures must beat to spot you, using Perception. If you attack a creature you were hidden from until that moment, you have advantage on that attack roll.

Prepare an Action

You can spend an action to prepare another one. You forfeit your action, and define an action you will perform sometime before the start of your next turn, as well as the conditions in which this will happen. For example, you might want to wait for an enemy to enter within bowshot range before shooting, meaning you prepare to make a ranged attack against that enemy as soon as it enters within range.

Protect

As an action, you can try to protect your allies. Until the start of your next turn, no opportunity attacks can be made against any creatures of your choosing if either the target or the attacker is in melee range of yourself. The first melee attack performed against you after you used the Protect action has disadvantage on its roll.

Kick/Shove

Using the Attack action, you can make a special melee attack to kick a creature, either to knock it prone or push it away from you. If you’re able to make multiple attacks with the Attack action, this attack replaces one of them.

The target of your shove must be no more than one size larger than you, and it must be within your reach. You make an Athletics or Acrobatics check contested by the target’s Athletics or Acrobatics saving throw (the target chooses which skill to use). You succeed automatically if the target is incapacitated.

If you succeed, you either knock the target prone or push it 5 feet away from you. If you push it 5 feet away, it has disadvantage on attacks until the end of its next turn.

Reactions

You have one reaction per round. You can use it anytime during that round, if the trigger requirements are met.

Opportunity Attacks

In a fight, everyone is constantly watching for enemies to drop their guard. You can rarely move heedlessly past your foes without putting yourself in danger.

You can make an opportunity attack when a hostile creature that you can see moves out of your reach. To make the opportunity attack, you use your reaction to make one melee attack against the provoking creature. The attack occurs right before the creature leaves your reach. page

You don’t provoke an opportunity attack when you teleport or when someone or something moves you without using your movement, action, or reaction. For example, you don’t provoke an opportunity attack if an explosion hurls you out of a foe’s reach or if gravity causes you to fall past an enemy.

Further Options and Rules

A collection of passive or situational rules not tied to action economy.

Difficult Terrain

Difficult terrain is any kind of ground that is hard to navigate. Any movement on it costs 1 extra foot of movement.

Lunge

Using 10 feet of movement, you can lunge forward when making a melee attack roll. If there is open space between you and your target, you can increase your reach by 5 feet without provoking opportunity attacks. You cannot use this move if your weapon has the short property.

Moving Around other Creatures

You can freely move through a nonhostile creature's space. You can only move through a hostile creature's space if it is two sizes larger or smaller than you, however. You can't willingly end your turn in a creature's space.

Parry

Whenever you are targeted by a melee attack, you may use your Parry Point to attempt parrying it. The attacker must roll against both your dAC and your hAC to hit. You regain any expended Parry Points at the start of your turn.

Surprise

At the DM's discretion, your party might surprise enemies - for example, when ambushing them. In this case, for the first round of combat is a "surprise round".

Only you can use actions and bonus actions during this round. Make out initiative between the players at will. The enemy may only use reactions.

At the end of the surprise round, roll initiative and do combat rounds as normal.

Two-Weapon Fighting

When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you’re holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you’re holding in the other hand. You don’t add your ability modifier to the damage of the bonus attack, unless that modifier is negative.

If either weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon, instead of making a melee attack with it.

Flanking

When you attack a target which is within reach of one of your allies, you have a +2 bonus to attack rolls against it. The ally must be able to attack the target. If that ally is directly opposite the creature, you have a +4 bonus instead.

Unseen Attacker

If you attack a creature that did not see you before your attack, you have advantage on the attack roll.