The current fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons is among the most streamlined and easy to learn ruleset the game has ever used, but there are still some rules groups routinely get wrong. Some of these issues are due to the complexity of the rules in question, but in many cases, this stems from assuming a rule that was present in a prior version of D&D is still there in present-day D&D. Others may have thought that a particular Dungeon Master’s house rule was the official ruling of the game.
While house rules can make fine addition to a tabletop RPG, it is still good for all D&D players to have a grasp on the official rules as written, so they can play with different groups well or participate in convention games or Wizards of the Coast's organized play program, if they wish to do so. Having a good grasp of the official rules of Dungeons & Dragons is especially important for DMs. The rules of 5e D&D are the result of extensive playtesting and game balancing. A DM who understands the official rules may still elect to use house rules, but that will be a decision made to benefit their group, not simply due to a lack of understanding.
Beyond these commonly misunderstood rules, there are a few new players may simply need some reminders on. The “Ten Rules To ” section at the beginning of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything is a good refresher on a few of these, like the Concentration rules, or how casting a spell as a Bonus Action restricts a character from casting any other non-Cantrip spells that turn. These are a few of the rules not touched on in that introductory section that D&D groups are still commonly misunderstanding.
Commonly Misunderstood D&D Rule 1: Delay Action
One of the most common mistakes with fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons is the Delay Action. In short, there is no such thing in the current edition. Prior editions of D&D allowed for a delay, where a character could elect to act after another and lower their initiative score voluntarily for subsequent rounds. This is not allowed in the fifth edition of D&D, and for good reasons.
There are several effects that have durations based on a character’s turn. A Monk’s Stunning Strike ability can stun an enemy until the end of the Monk’s next turn. Many other abilities and spells work based on similar duration, and damage over time effects also trigger on a specific creature’s turn. While prior editions, like fourth edition D&D, offered clarification that the character’s turn was still taking place, and their “action” was taking the Delay Action, eliminating delaying altogether avoids a great deal of confusion.
The elimination of delay rules in Dungeons & Dragons also encourages tactical use of the Ready Action option. Readied actions are more limited than those offered in a standard turn, and require use of a character’s Reaction, but they can offer some clever options in the absence of a delayed turn. They also require Concentration for spells, which breaks any ongoing Concentration spells, and makes the Readied spell vulnerable to disruption by damage. With movement now allowed between attacks, ranged attackers can move out from cover, fire, and return to cover on their turn. A readied action can allow the defender to fire back when the attacker reveals themselves.
Commonly Misunderstood D&D Rule 2: Surprise Rounds
The beginning of the Combat chapter in the Player’s Handbook details Dungeons & Dragons' rules on surprise, but this is still an area many groups struggle with. Some still refer to a “Surprise Round,” a concept taken from prior editions of D&D. Fifth edition D&D can allow for circumstances like a surprise round, but there is some nuance in the differences between editions in how this plays out.
As the Player’s Handbook notes, if no one is attempting stealth on either side of a battle, the combat plays out in standard initiative order. If one or more characters are attempting to be stealthy, “The DM compares the Dexterity (Stealth) checks of anyone hiding with the ive Wisdom (Perception) score of each creature on the opposing side. Any character or monster that doesn’t notice a threat is surprised at the start of the encounter. If you’re surprised, you can’t move or take a reaction until that turn ends, and you can’t take a reaction until that turn ends. A member of a group can be surprised even if the other aren’t.”
A careful reading of this section clarifies that a specific D&D character might be unable to take any action in the first round of combat, but only if they failed to notice “a threat,” meaning this is only if all enemies’ are attempting stealthy approach, and all of their Stealth Checks were higher than the character’s ive Perception value. If even one enemy’s Stealth Check failed to beat the character’s ive Perception, or chose to approach openly, the character has noticed a threat, and can therefore act, but only against the threat they are aware of. Unlike prior editions of D&D, there is no action restriction during the “surprise round,” only the potential that some characters who failed to notice any threats might be unable to act at all.
Commonly Misunderstood D&D Rule 3: Action Types
Fourth edition D&D had three action types, with Standard, Move, and Minor actions. A Standard Action could be downgraded to a Move Action, and a Move Action could be downgraded to a Minor Action. The current edition of Dungeons & Dragons rules use similar nomenclature, but a key difference is that there is no option to exchange one action type with another.
Fifth edition D&D defines a turn as consisting of an Action and the option to move up to a character’s speed. They may also be able to take a Bonus Action, but these are specifically granted by Dungeons & Dragons class features, feats, or spells. No character is innately capable of a Bonus Action, and some characters may be unable to take Bonus Actions.
In current D&D, movement is specifically movement, not a separate action type. The default “Action” can be used for the Dash Action, which allows a D&D character to double their movement speed for that turn, but this is a specific Action, not exchanging one action type for another. In the same way characters can never take more than one Reaction per round, they can never take more than one Bonus Action per turn.
Commonly Misunderstood D&D Rule 4: Free Actions
The term “Free Action” was used more often in third edition D&D, but in current fifth edition the closest thing is the description of “Other Activity On Your Turn” in the Combat chapter of the Player’s Handbook. This section grants a character the ability to communicate during their turn, but it also allows for limited interaction with objects. The Dungeons & Dragons rule states, “You can also interact with one object or feature of the environment for free, either during your move or your action.” It offers examples such as opening a door or drawing a weapon. The rule elaborates, “If you want to interact with a second object, you need to use your action.”
As noted before, Action is a distinct action type that cannot be exchanged with movement or the Bonus Action type. D&D's Dual Wielder feat adds the ability to “draw or stow two one-handed weapons when you would normally be able to draw or stow only one.” This, combined with understanding of the Free Action limit to “one object or feature of the environment” means that a character cannot sheathe one weapon and draw another during the same turn without using their Action.
A Dungeons & Dragons character wielding a longbow can stow the weapon as their Free Action, as that involves interaction with a single object, but if they draw their greatsword on the same turn, that interaction with a second object requires use of their Action, preventing them from attacking that turn, unless they make use of a class feature, such as Action Surge, or a spell, like Haste. Dual Wielder only allows a character to “draw or stow two one-handed weapons,” instead of one, but this feat does not allow them to both stow a one-handed weapon like a rapier and draw a one-handed ranged weapon like a hand crossbow as a single free action.
A character could, instead, drop a weapon at their feet, rather than stowing it, and use their free action to draw a different weapon, thereby saving their Action to attack, per D&D designer Jeremy Crawford’s Sage Advice compendium, as, “The intent is that letting go of something requires no appreciable effort. But picking it up does.” It should be noted that this could allow an enemy to pick up the weapon on their own turn, however, which could lead to the loss of a valuable D&D weapon if that enemy chooses to flee with it.
Commonly Misunderstood D&D Rule 5: Opportunity Attack
The fifth edition D&D rules for Opportunity Attacks also work differently from prior editions, as characters only provoke this specific type of Reaction melee attack when they leave a hostile character’s reach. This means that reach weapons, typically polearms like the glaive and halberd, may actually make an Opportunity Attack less likely (without the use of the Polearm Master feat) as an enemy can freely move within a character’s threatened reach in current edition D&D, and the Opportunity Attack is only triggered when they leave the threatened area.
A wider threatened area means more room for the enemies to maneuver, which could make a polearm-using melee character less likely to serve as a deterrent against foes seeking out more vulnerable “back row characters,” depending on positioning. The Polearm Master feat adds the option to take an Opportunity Attack with certain weapons “when they enter the reach you have with that weapon,” restoring the usefulness of some reach weapons for Opportunity Attacks, and adding new tactical options for non-reach weapons, like the quarterstaff.
These Opportunity Attack rules allow D&D characters to use their movement to literally run circles around an enemy without fear of a retributive attack, so long as they do not leave the threatened reach of any other enemies while doing so. Groups can freely make use of this to have speedier characters move to the “back” of an enemy to attack, allowing characters with slower movement rates to attack from the closer side.
Other Common Misunderstood D&D Rules: Multi-Classing & Spellcasting
Other rules beyond those covered in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything that groups commonly overlook, but require less in-depth explanations, include the restrictions on Multi-Classing. Changing classes requires that characters meet certain thresholds with their base statistics, not statistics modified by use of an item like a Belt of Giant Strength. They also need to meet the minimum stat thresholds for both the class they are leaving as well as the class they are going into, something that many players fail to recognize when planning their builds.
Spellcasting requires a free hand, unless the character has the Warcaster feat, though Crawford’s Sage Advice compendium clarifies this a bit, to the benefit of certain builds. Changing “handedness” is a non-action, just like dropping a weapon. This means that characters using a Versatile weapon can change from using it one-handed to two-handed without using their Free Action object interaction for the turn, but, also, characters wielding a two-handed weapon can hold it in one hand to cast a spell, and then return to the two-handed grip, without any sort of action usage required. Sword and shield s, or dual-wielding spellcasters, will still need Warcaster to cast spells, however.
The Misunderstood D&D Rules Can Be Learned With Effort
Having a solid grasp on the “rules as written” makes for a better player, and Dungeon Master, in Dungeons & Dragons. Though the current edition has been on the market for more than six years now, it is never to late, even for groups who have become accustomed to their house-created versions of rules, to learn the “official” rules, so they can decide which works best for them.
