D&D 5E Breaking the Game with Double Bonus Actions

[Fanaelialae]

If you're worried about making a blanket ruling, simply say that the Bag of Tricks can be activated using an action OR a bonus action. Then, if there is anything that you do want to limit, you can leave them as bonus action only.

That said, I don't disagree with your ruling. By RAW, you cannot swap an action for another bonus action. (If you do go the route of allowing them to be traded, keep in mind that with action surge that could mean 3 bonus actions per turn. That isn't necessarily broken, but should be factored into your calculus.)

 

[dco]

I don't see the problem, a bonus action is an extra action you can take on your turn, it can have some prerequisites but that's all.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

It's a bonus action. You get one per turn. It's a fundamental rule of the game. Is allowing one in lieu of a normal action overpowering? Probably not. It's up to the DM to allow or not. But players need to plan for the base case rather than harangue the DM over extending it.

 

[dco]

It's a bonus action. You get one per turn. It's a fundamental rule of the game. Is allowing one in lieu of a normal action overpowering? Probably not. It's up to the DM to allow or not. But players need to plan for the base case rather than harangue the DM over extending it.

If we go by the rules in this case it says the player can use a bonus action to command the creature, not that he must use a bonus action.
For a general rule allowing a bonus action as an action is a homebrew if you don't consider them as an extra action, but the rules say "additional action" and you can interpret it literally, in any case it won't change many things and there are workarounds like spell research for spells.

 

[Coroc]

@ OP

No rule book at Hand atm but isn't casting healing word a Bonus Action?

So why didn't the Player use her bag of tricks as an ACTION and then cast healing word as a Bonus action?

I think i might overlook something here please elaborate on this.

 

[Coroc]

Addon : command a mob? Did she shout a command to a mob which she had summoned before? Or did she use a Bag of tricks to summon?

Uttering a command is a free Action, you can shout anything you like, anytime to anyone.

 

[jaelis]

@ OP

No rule book at Hand atm but isn't casting healing word a Bonus Action?

So why didn't the Player use her bag of tricks as an ACTION and then cast healing word as a Bonus action?

I think i might overlook something here please elaborate on this.

Commanding a creature that the BoT has previously summoned is a bonus action.

I don't think there are any situations where using your action to perform a bonus action will break anything. Occasionally it might not make sense, though I can't really think of any good examples.

 

[Sleepy Walker]

Regardless of its legality or intention, right now there are no big offenders that jump out at me with regards to how balanced turning an action into a bonus action would be.

In almost every case, with two exceptions, I've needed an action or some resource to make that bonus action shine or be desirable. The exceptions would be taking two bonus actions to prepare spells or abilities. Like stacking hex and hexblade hex on one turn. Is even this overpowered? Not really. It is forgoing any offense with the hope that you do not lose concentration and do not get taken down for a large boost to damage the next turn.

The other exception would be to activate multiple bonus action abilities, see magic items or high level monster hunter ranger. The magic item double bonus action could very well get out of hand. The classes taking two bonus actions or even casting two bonus action spells is not a problem. The amount of synergistic combinations, after taking into account the prevalence of concentration, is minimal, still costs spell slots, and is almost always buffing or preparing for the next round.

I say allow it, but let them know that you have the right to rule any particular combination as something you want or not.

*edit: Like, a person could cast mass healing word twice or misty step twice.

There are only 8 bonus action spells that do not require concentration and 27 that do. Of these spells requiring concentration, 17 or 18 need an action to make them work (attack action). Biggest possible abuse would be plopping down a Healing Spirit and then I guess some class ability to make it worth it, since spell wise it looks like all healing or just preparing for next round.

 

[Blue]

Earlier editions had rules about downgrading actions to take more of a quicker one. But that's not quite the role of a bonus action in 5e. A bonus action is not an allotted amount of time you have in every round - you don't have a bonus action if not granted by something. Rather, it's something you do along with your normal action. You can even resolve it before the triggering action (e.g. Shield Master shove to prone before the triggering Attack action) because it's just part and parcel of the same thing.

That said, from a balance perspective it will change a bit of feel but probably not be unbalanced. Some abilities could be "nova'd" out quicker when then normally have a once per turn limitation, but you could avoid that by not allowing the same bonus action twice in the same turn. So the OP example of commanding a bag of tricks and casting a healing word would be okay if the DM wanted to allow it.

 

[TwoSix]

Sure, why not? Just tell your players you reserve the right to shot down particular combinations if they find one that's really annoying.