D&D 5E Accidental cheating due to forgetting action economies?

[bedir than]

I favour physical reminders.

Small cards or counters with "Action" on one side and "Action taken" on the other side; same for "Bonus Action" and "Reaction". At the start of a player's turn, they flip all of them face up. As they declare each type of action, they turn the card over.

In my experience, it takes two or three sessions for everyone to get to grips with the system, then you can stop usng the physical memory joggers.

Minor adjustment would be to add "Move"

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Mistakes are not cheating, but don't let them pull the wool over your eyes. If someone is constantly going "oops!" and it is always in their favor, then then are likely cheating.

Well, yeah, unless they are like one player of mine.

When he goes "oops!" and it is in his favor, he still immediately corrects things even if it is "Oh, wait... sorry, I spaced out that I was paralyzed so that whole last turn of mine didn't happen." He also happens to point out other mistakes, even ones that I've made as the DM in the party's favor. He's a rare sort of gamer, but there are probably at a few out there with the same trait of wanting to play by the rules agreed upon but being a little forgetful from time to time.

 

[Satyrn]

He also happens to point out other mistakes, even ones that I've made as the DM in the party's favor.

I have a habit of doing that too when I'm a player. It's annoyingn to me that I do it. I want to just shut up and let the players and DM make whatever mistakes they make because it doesn't really matter.

As DM I let a lot of little things slide, while still encouraging correct rules implementation for future actions.

 

[bgbarcus]

The way the rules are written is a problem. Things like Bonus Action are proper nouns but the PHB does not capitalize them to make it explicit to the reader. Using natural language is a good thing but the editors failed to understand that natural written language has more tools than natural spoken language.

Everyone makes mistakes during play. When I forget to call for something like a Concentration Save, I don't penalize the player but I will ask for the save when it is remembered. If we don't recall the exact damage, the save can be the base DC 10. Generally it is best to just hand wave the forgotten thing and keep going.

For in-person games, the idea of Action, Bonus Action, and Reaction cards is good. My games are on Roll20 where that is not as easy to do around the whole "table" but I expect player to do whatever works for keeping track of their options each round. My group is not offended when one player points out an error to another so we all routinely help each other keep things straight.

 

[Devilbass]

Yeah, mistakes definitely are not cheating. And mistakes will always happen. It's easy to get caught up in the heat of the moment and forgot that you've already used a bonus action or something.

Case in point, last night my EK used Shield to avoid a hit, but I then made an attack of opportunity against someone that round. In that moment, I was just really excited to make the OA and went for it, killing the enemy. I realized my mistake a few moments later, and it was easy to ret-con in this instance. It would be weird to call this cheating, even accidental (contradiction in terms). It was a simple mistake fuelled by a desire to be a badass, nothing more, nothing less.

 

[garnuk]

I like this "second action" idea. I'll try using it and see if it makes things more clear.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

So I've noticed a lot of this at my table:

Players that switch characters and classes often between games don't read and re-read the combat sections, and sneak in extra actions until someone catches them.

I don't think anyone's doing this on purpose. Most recently is the TWF bonus action not stacking with the rogue's dash/dodge/disengage.

Not a criticism, but I see this a LOT with the ex-3.5 players in my group.

How do I help move them away from this behavior?

You could switch to Speed Factor initiative, which has a clear declare/act separation. When everybody declares their action, write it down on a little grid, and then check it off when the action gets resolved.

Then as long as you know the rules well (which you seem to), it is straightforward to notice that the Rogue is declaring too many actions for his action economy.

 

[S'mon]

Yeah, mistakes definitely are not cheating. And mistakes will always happen. It's easy to get caught up in the heat of the moment and forgot that you've already used a bonus action or something.

Case in point, last night my EK used Shield to avoid a hit, but I then made an attack of opportunity against someone that round. In that moment, I was just really excited to make the OA and went for it, killing the enemy. I realized my mistake a few moments later, and it was easy to ret-con in this instance. It would be weird to call this cheating, even accidental (contradiction in terms). It was a simple mistake fuelled by a desire to be a badass, nothing more, nothing less.

As GM I tend to feel it's my responsibility to remember/track PC actions - several of my 4e players have little idea of the mechanics even after years of play. If they remember the difference between Interrupt, Reaction and Opportunity Action I'm delighted. 5e is a fair bit simpler with just one Reaction per round, and just an Action + Bonus Action on your own round, so easier for me to track.