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Unleash Your Potential: A Comprehensive Guide to D&D Bonus Actions

So, you’re ready to elevate your Dungeons & Dragons gameplay? Mastering the bonus action is crucial! It’s the key to unlocking tactical flexibility and maximizing your character’s effectiveness in combat and beyond. Your bonus action is like that secret weapon in your arsenal, ready to be deployed when the moment is right. It can make the difference between victory and defeat, survival and demise.

What Can I Do On My Bonus Action?

The short answer: You can only use a bonus action if a specific ability, spell, class feature, or game mechanic explicitly allows you to do something as a bonus action. It’s not a default action; you need a trigger! Unlike your action, movement, or reaction, you don’t automatically have a bonus action to spend.

Here’s a breakdown of common uses:

Off-Hand Attack (Dual Wielding): If you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you’re holding in the other hand.
Certain Spells: Many spells have a casting time of 1 bonus action. These include staples like healing word, spiritual weapon, and misty step.
Class Features: Numerous class features grant bonus action options. For example, a Rogue might use Cunning Action to Dash, Disengage, or Hide. A Monk can use a bonus action to make an unarmed strike after attacking with a monk weapon or unarmed strike.
Feats: Some feats unlock bonus action abilities. The Shield Master feat, for instance, allows you to attempt to shove a creature as a bonus action after taking the Attack action.
Item Effects: Certain magical items grant abilities that can be used as bonus actions.
Shoving Some features, such as the Shield Master Feat can grant you the ability to shove as a bonus action
Grappling The Grappler feat and other class features and abilities might grant you the ability to Grapple as a Bonus action.

Essentially, the game tells you when you can use your bonus action. Pay close attention to your character sheet and the descriptions of your abilities.

Diving Deeper: The Nuances of Bonus Actions

While the concept seems straightforward, mastering bonus actions involves understanding the specific rules and interactions at play. The power lies in the ability to combine actions for optimal effects during combat, exploration, and social encounters.

Important Considerations:

One Bonus Action Per Turn: You can only take one bonus action on your turn. Choose wisely!
Timing Matters: A bonus action must be used during your turn. You can’t hold it or use it as a reaction.
Specificity is Key: The ability or spell must explicitly state it uses a bonus action. You can’t just decide to do something as a bonus action because it seems faster.
No Trading: You cannot exchange an action for a bonus action, or vice versa. They are distinct action types.

Bonus Action Mastery: Class Specific Tips

Each class has particular bonus actions that makes it unique. The following are some of the many class features in DnD that enable bonus actions:

Barbarian: The Path of the Totem Warrior can grant you the ability to dash as a bonus action.
Bard: Can use a bonus action to grant a Bardic Inspiration die.
Cleric: The domain of war cleric is allowed to make a weapon attack as a bonus action.
Druid: can cast healing spirit as a bonus action.
Fighter: The Battle Master subclass has abilities that can grant bonus actions.
Monk: Can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action
Ranger: can cast healing spirit as a bonus action.
Rogue: Cunning Action allows a rogue to Dash, Disengage, or Hide as a bonus action.
Sorcerer: expend one spell slot and gain a number of sorcery points equal to the slot’s level.
Warlock: A celestial warlock can use Healing Light to heal as a bonus action.
Wizard: The School of Abjuration can grant the ability to use a bonus action.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Bonus Actions

Here are 15 of the most common questions regarding Bonus Actions:

1. Can I use my bonus action to move?

Yes, but only if a feature or ability allows it. For example, the Rogue’s Cunning Action allows them to Dash (move) as a bonus action. You can even break up your movement, attack action, and bonus action in any order you choose on your turn, giving you extreme flexibility in combat.

2. Can anyone attack with a bonus action?

No. You can only take the attack action as a bonus action if there is something in your class allowing it, such as how the domain of war cleric is allowed to make a weapon attack as a bonus action or dual-wielding with light weapons.

3. What can Sorcerers do with bonus actions?

As a bonus action on your turn, you can expend one spell slot and gain a number of sorcery points equal to the slot’s level. This allows sorcerers to replenish sorcery points for metamagic on the fly.

4. What are the rules for bonus action spellcasting?

A spell cast with a bonus action is especially swift. You must use a bonus action on your turn to cast the spell, provided that you haven’t already taken a bonus action this turn. Crucially, you can’t cast another spell during the same turn, except for a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action. This is often referred to as the “Bonus Action Spell” rule.

5. Can you sneak attack on a bonus action?

Yes, if you meet the criteria for Sneak Attack. It happens the first time on each turn (not each round; important distinction) that you hit with an attack that fulfills the conditions of sneak attack. This can be during your action, your bonus action, the extra action from haste, or even when using your reaction to make an opportunity attack.

6. Can you throw a dagger as a bonus action?

Yes. “Thrown” is a weapon property, not a separate ability. You can throw both daggers as part of your attack action and bonus action (if dual-wielding with the thrown property and the light property). Without two weapon fighting though you won’t get the added proficiency bonus with your off hand attack.

7. Can anyone make an unarmed strike as a bonus action?

Not just anyone, but Monks can! When you use the Attack action with an unarmed strike or a monk weapon on your turn, you can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action.

8. Can you use a bonus action as a full action?

No. The official ruling is that bonus actions and actions are not interchangeable. As per the Sage Advice Compendium, a bard can’t use a bonus action to grant a Bardic Inspiration die and an action to cast healing word.

9. Can you only use a bonus action once?

You can only take one bonus action on your turn, but you can use it on multiple turns. Readied Actions don’t happen on your turn, so this limit does not apply to them.

10. Can you throw a hand axe as a bonus action?

With your action you can throw one hand axe, and if it hits it will deal 1d6+strength damage. Then, if you are dual wielding with the light and thrown properties, with your bonus action you can throw a second one dealing only 1d6 damage. Drawing a handaxe counts as an object interaction and can be performed for free once per turn.

11. Does dual wielding use a bonus action?

Yes. By default, you have one bonus action per round, regardless of how many other actions you have. If you’re a level 11 fighter who gets three attacks per attack, and you action surge for three more attacks, then you still only get one bonus attack for dual wielding.

12. Can you shove with a bonus action attack?

Shoving can be a valuable tool, but it’s often ignored because it doesn’t output damage. Here’s how you can push your martial game to the next level: The Shield Master feat allows you to Shove as a bonus action as long as you’re wearing a shield. Some other features may also allow you to shove as a bonus action.

13. Can I cast a bonus action spell then attack?

Yes! Bonus action spells are one of the best ways to improve your action economy during combat, allowing you to cast a powerful spell and have an action to attack or cast a cantrip on the same turn, with some restrictions.

14. Can you use a cantrip and bonus action attack?

You can certainly cast a bonus action spell, and then use your action to cast a cantrip, but casting a cantrip with a casting time of “1 bonus action” should still trigger the normal limitations for bonus action spells: you could only follow it up with a cantrip with a casting time of 1 action.

15. Can you cast two bonus action spells in one turn?

No. Spells must be cast using their normal casting time unless a specific rule or feature says otherwise. If a spell is cast using a bonus action, you cannot cast any other spell in the same turn except a cantrip cast as an action.

Conclusion

Understanding and utilizing bonus actions effectively is essential for optimizing your character’s potential in D&D 5e. Always remember to check your class features, spells, and feats for abilities that grant you bonus action options. By mastering the art of the bonus action, you’ll become a more versatile, strategic, and powerful adventurer. Happy gaming, and remember the Games Learning Society (GamesLearningSociety.org) for more resources on game-based learning and design!

What can I do on my bonus action?