So like, what can I do?

One round in DnD 5e is 6 seconds. During that round, each player or NPC involved in combat takes a turn. If you can't decide what to do and don't want to attack immediately, consider taking the Dodge or Ready action.

On Your Turn

On your turn, you can do the following things in any order;

Move

• Move up to your character's Speed. If using a grid, generally speaking 1 square is equal to 5 feet.
• You can move multiple times in one turn, as long as you stay within your total movement speed.
• If prone, you can stand up at the cost of half of your movement speed for that turn.
• Also if prone, you can crawl at half speed (each square "costs" 10 feet).

Take an Action - Choose ONE of the following

• Attack - Make one melee or ranged attack. This can be with the weapon on your character sheet, but your fists or a rock from the floor work fine too.
• Cast a Spell - If your character has access to spells, they can cast any spell with a casting time of 1 action once per turn.
• Dash - Taking the Dash action gives you extra movement speed equal to your current Speed.
• Disengage - Take this action to safely retreat out of melee range. Your movement will not provoke opportunity attacks this turn.
• Dodge - Until the start of your next turn, attacks on you are made with Disadvantage if you can see the attacker. You lose this benefit if you become Incapacitated or if your Speed drops to 0.
• Ready - Use your Reaction to act on another's turn. Choose a trigger and an action, for example "If any goblins move near me, I move away" or "I attack the next person to walk through that door". You can react using any action, or move up to your Speed.
• Something Else - Describe what you want to do, the GM will say if it's possible or not and why.

Bonus Actions

• Certain class features let you take a bonus action. You can only take 1 bonus action per turn, so if you have multiple available to you you must choose 1.
• You may make a second attack with your bonus action if you are holding a light melee weapon in each hand. You don't add your ability modifier to the damage of the bonus attack, unless that modifier is negative.
• Spells with a casting time of 1 bonus action can also be cast with a regular action if you have already used your bonus action.
• If you use a bonus action to cast a spell, you may not cast any other spells this turn except for Cantrips with a casting time of 1 action.

Other/"Free" Actions

• Certain activities take such little time to be not worth tracking, or are otherwise insignificant:
• Drawing or sheathing your weapon.
• Interacting with the environment, for example picking up a rock or opening a door.
• Communicating with other players or NPCs.

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