Ratt's Blog

A rough draft homebrew ruleset establishing a 2-Action/1-Bonus action economy, inspired by the Pathfinder 2nd Edition 3-Action economy.

Simply put, this is an attempt to stop wasting an action every time a character doesn’t move and the goal is to keep it that way, as simple as possible. It is very much a work in progress so I will be updating this post regularly as potential issues are found and addressed. Of course, feel free to try these rules yourself and please share any constructive feedback, questions, and ideas via the options on my Links page above.

Standard Attacks

• First Attack action is performed normally. Abilities that allow multiple attacks as part of the same Attack action are also performed normally.
• A second Attack action receives a -5 penalty to its attack roll. Same penalty applies to multiple attacks taken as part of the same action.
• Third and subsequent attack actions receive the -5 penalty and are rolled at disadvantage. Penalties apply to multiple attacks taken as part of the same action.
• Attack actions taken after a Cast action are treated the same as if an Attack action had been taken. Example: PC uses a Cast action to cast “Cure Wounds” as their first action, then chooses to use an Attack action to fire their Light Crossbow at an enemy, that second action receives a -5 to the attack roll.
• This does not apply to bonus-action Cast actions. Example: PC uses a Cast action to cast “Healing Word” (a bonus action spell), then chooses to use an Attack action to fire their Light Crossbow at an enemy, that attack is rolled normally.

Spellcasting

• First Cast action is cast normally. Any abilities that allow a second cast as part of the same action are also normal.
• Any subsequent Cast actions may only be cantrips.
• Spells listed as taking a Bonus action can still be cast like normal.

Movement

• The Move action is no longer its own dedicated action.
• It takes 1 action to Move up to the relevant movement speed.
• A Dash action is done by simply taking two Move actions.
• Move actions can be split throughout the character's turn as normal.
• Bonus action Dash, such as with “Cunning Action,” is normal movement speed, not double.

Last Updated: 23rd February 2024