5 Foot Step "no action"

[Selganor]

As the 5ft Step is declared as "no action" can it also be done outside one's initiative?

 

[Pinotage]

As the 5ft Step is declared as "no action" can it also be done outside one's initiative?

I believe that a 5 ft step has to be part of an action itself, although in itself it is not an action and doesn't take up any time. So you need to do it as part of a move equivalent action, or full-attack action etc. So the answer is no.

Pinotage

 

[Selganor]

I believe that a 5 ft step has to be part of an action itself

Believe is a nice thing but nothing that provides "universal" answers

 

[Krelios]

Believe is a nice thing but nothing that provides "universal" answers

Well, first of all, you shouldn't denigrate people who take time to answer a question you've asked. Especially when the answer is in your PHB.

You can move 5 feet in any round when you don’t perform any other kind of movement. Taking this 5-foot step never provokes an attack of opportunity. You can’t take more than one 5-foot step in a round, and you can’t take a 5-foot step in the same round when you move any distance.

You can take a 5-foot step before, during, or after your other actions in the round.

You can only take a 5-foot-step if your movement isn’t hampered by difficult terrain or darkness. Any creature with a speed of 5 feet or less can’t take a 5-foot step, since moving even 5 feet requires a move action for such a slow creature.

You may not take a 5-foot step using a form of movement for which you do not have a listed speed.

 

[Delemental]

Even though defined as a "no action", all of a character's combat actions take place on their initiative.

When a character’s turn comes up in the initiative sequence, that character performs his entire round’s worth of actions.

You can take a 5-foot step before, during, or after your other actions in the round.

So if you can only perform your actions on your initiative, and the 5-foot step is done "before, during, or after" your other actions in the round, then you can't 5-foot step outside your initiative.

The game has defined an action that you can take outside your normal initiative as an "immediate action", which is different from "no action".

 

[Shin Okada]

Hmm, I found one thing. If one's campaign is using immediate action rule (now most of the campaigns are), it becomes not entirely clear. A character can take an immediate action while not in his turn. If so, does that mean he can take a 5-foot step just before, during, or just after that immediate action?

 

[William_2]

Well, first of all, you shouldn't denigrate people who take time to answer a question you've asked. Especially when the answer is in your PHB.

I could not agree more. Ask for opinions, and you will, if you are lucky, find people kind enough to offer them. Answering them with anything but “thank you”, whether they are correct as in this case, or not, does not make any sense to me.

 

[Selganor]

Sorry if someone got offended by my response.

So, is a "no action" an action or not?

If it is, can you take one "no action" in conjunction with another "no action" like Spot/Listen?

 

[Delemental]

Sorry if someone got offended by my response.

So, is a "no action" an action or not?

If it is, can you take one "no action" in conjunction with another "no action" like Spot/Listen?

Well, a "no action" Spot/Listen is only done as a reative action, as in your DM suddenly asks you to roll a Spot or Listen. Actively doing either is a move action. So if you're trying to set up something where you're out of your initiative and suddenly say, "I make a Spot check, then take a 5-foot step", it won't work, because you have to use a move action to initiate a Spot check.

In either case, however, a "no action" like the 5-foot step and Delay are defined as types of actions in a combat round, albeit ones that take up a negligible amount of time. The definitions of the Spot/Listen skill say that a reactive use of the skill "doesn't take an action", which is different from "taking a 'no-action'".

The main point in defining "no actions" is to make it clear that in a combat round, on your initiative, that you can undertake these actions and still have your full allotment of standard, move, and free actions in the round. Compare this to using an immediate action, which states that if you use it, it takes up your free action for the round.

 

[Pinotage]

Believe is a nice thing but nothing that provides "universal" answers

'Believe' is short for 'I don't have the rules reference in front of me'. If you wanted a SRD quote, then it would've been simpler to ask for one.

I think others have given a more definitive answer.

Pinotage