Actions

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You affect the world around you primarily by using actions, which produce effects. Actions are most closely measured and restricted during the encounter mode of play, but even when it isn’t important for you to keep strict track of actions, they remain the way in which you interact with the game world.

You will need to track your actions carefully in an encounter. At the start of each turn you take in an encounter, you regain 3 actions and 1 reaction to spend that round. You can spend your actions in many different ways.

There are four types of actions: single actions, activities, reactions, and free actions.

Single actions can be completed in a very short time. They’re self-contained, and their effects are generated within the span of that single action.

Activities usually take longer and require using multiple actions, which must be spent in succession. Stride is a single action, but Sudden Charge is an activity in which you use both the Stride and Strike actions to generate its effect.

Reactions have triggers, which must be met for you to use the reaction. You can use a reaction anytime its trigger is met, whether it’s your turn or not. Outside of encounters, your use of reactions is more flexible and up to the GM. Reactions are usually triggered by other creatures or by events outside your control.

Free actions don’t cost you any of your actions per turn, nor do they cost your reaction. A free action with no trigger follows the same rules as a single action (except the action cost). It must be used on your turn and can’t be used during another action. A free action with a trigger follows the same rules as a reaction (except the reaction cost). It can be used any time its trigger is met.

Action Icon Key

These icons appear in stat blocks as shorthand for each type of action. As a player, you’ll usually see the icon in an action’s header (such as in a basic action, skill action, feat, or spell). In a creature stat block, or a feat that gives you a new action in addition to other benefits, the icon will appear in the running text.