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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7382182" data-attributes="member: 42582">No. The crazy person doesn't exist, and isn't declaring any actions. So let's try again: In the fiction, a crazy person is trying to fly to the moon; and, at the table, the player of the crazy person declares "My PC flaps his/her arms trying to fly to the moon." That is not an action declaration of an attempt to fly to the moon - and given that it doesn't need resolution, it's probably not even an action declaration of any sort - it's simply a description of what one's PC is doing.This is like the crazy PC example. If the player knows that there are no swords to be found, then s/he can't meaningfully declare "I go to the market to buy a holy sword", because she knows that there is no action to resolve! S/he can describe the PC frantically hunting for one if s/he likes, but there's no actual declaration to be resolved there as the player already knows what is going to happen. It's just colour!(Not everything a player says about what his/her PC does is an action declaration. "I tighten my belt to make sure it doesn't slip off" isn't an action declaration in D&D, given that the game has no rules for belt tightness nor belts falling off. It's just colour, like "I lick my lips before taking the shot" narrated by a player whose PC is in an archery contest; or "I wear a headband to keep the sweat out of my eyes", given that D&D has no rules for being blinded by one's own sweat.)Here are the rules from pp 71 of the 5e Basic PDF (I choose these because they're ready-to-hand, but earlier editions aren't wildly different in this respect):When you take your action on your turn, you can take one of the actions presented here, an action you gained from your class or a special feature, or an action that you improvise . . . The most common action to take in combat is the Attack action, whether you are swinging a sword, firing an arrow from a bow, or brawling with your fists. With this action, you make one melee or ranged attack.How much clearer could the game be that "I attack the 10 orcs in front of me!" is not a permissible action declaration?Here's another example, from p 78:Before a spellcaster can use a spell, he or she must have the spell firmly fixed in mind, or must have access to the spell in a magic item.So the player of a fighter, or the player of a 1st level wizard, who has no magic items, can't declare "I cast a Wish spell" - because the conditions for that action declaration (namely, that the character - having access to the spell in a magic item - must have the spell firmly fixed in mind) are not satisfied.There are all sorts of limits on action declarations in D&D. (Another example I just remembered: in 1st ed AD&D Unearthed Arcana, only a fighter or cavalier-type can declare an attempt to disarm.) Given that it actually has one of the more intricate action economies of any RPG (a legacy of its wargame roots) this is hardly surprising!</blockquote>

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