D&D 5E Wizards and bonus actions - not just for bonus action casting cost spells?

[Li Shenron]

In general, bonus actions are faster than other things

That is a common misconception.

Bonus actions are not "faster". A character turn is not subdivided into smaller parts or individual seconds. Everything happens at the same time, your action, your movement, and eventually a bonus action. You normally resolve them in sequence, because it's easier, but there is no such thing as e.g. an Action taking 4 seconds and a bonus action taking 2 seconds. For example, a Bard inspires allies by singing/speaking while attacking. The off-hand attack of a 2WF is not faster than the main-hand attack, it just represents the ability of delivering one more strike than normal on a given round.

So there is no reason why the game should allow 2 bonus actions in the same turn.

 

[CapnZapp]

Yes.

The bonus action is neither smaller nor faster. After all, you can't take two bonus actions in a round, you can't do what a bonus action allows with your regular action, and you can't switch or replace them for each other.

Best to think of them as dramatically major and minor actions. Neither is smaller or faster than the other, and neither can be used to replace the other.

The only difference is that the action tends to be more dramatically significant (hence "major") and the bonus action tends to not be.

And just so noone wonders: no they didn't use these terms. That would not have sat well with the game's simulationist roots.

 

[Ancalagon]

EN World Forum Poster

At level 7, you may check the date of a thread as a bonus action.

 

[jgsugden]

That was quite the thread necro - just to add the text of a section already referenced.

Reminders: Misty Step means you are limited to a cantrip for that round (or, at least, you can't cast a 1 action spell). In the last 2 years I've seen a lot of wizards attempt to cast a 1 action spell and then misty step away.... only to be told that they can't misty step after the 1 action spell. This is one of the things that makes an enchanter good - you can Hypnotic Gaze and still Misty Step away if it fails.

Unseen Servant was mentioned: You can only move it 15' per round. I find this limitation makes it hard to keep going for the full hour in a dungeon. You either slow down the party, or you end up moving more than 60' from it and it 'dies'. It also tends to get eliminated by the first area damage (strength or dex save) effect you encounter.

Xanathar's has a few more options.