Attack: equip a weapon and move between attacks
The Attack action includes specific opportunities to equip a weapon and, when a feature grants multiple attacks, to divide movement between them. Identify which attacks belong to the action.
Use it at the table
- Start with the action’s one attack; use a specific feature for additional attacks.
- When making an attack as part of this action, equip or unequip one weapon before or after it.
- If a feature grants multiple attacks, spend available movement between them as desired.
Make the call
A fighter with Extra Attack attacks one enemy, has 10 feet of movement available, and wants to move 10 feet before the second attack. Is that sequence permitted?
The ruling
Yes; movement can be used between those attacks.
The rule expressly permits movement between attacks granted as part of the Attack action. The fighter still spends ordinary available movement and observes any other movement rules. Extra Attack supplies the additional attack; merely moving or equipping a weapon does not create one.
Watch for this mistake
The equip-or-unequip permission is attached to an attack made as part of this action. Do not treat it as permission to swap unlimited weapons at any moment.
Ask the table
How many attacks does the action grant, and how much movement remains between them?
The source rule
SRD 5.2.1, page 177. Read the official PDF.
When you take the Attack action, you can make one attack roll with a weapon or an Unarmed Strike. Equipping and Unequipping Weapons. You can either equip or unequip one weapon when you make an attack as part of this action. You do so either before or after the attack. If you equip a weapon before an attack, you don’t need to use it for that attack. Equipping a weapon includes drawing it from a sheath or picking it up. Unequipping a weapon includes sheathing, stowing, or dropping it. Moving between Attacks. If you move on your turn and have a feature, such as Extra Attack, that gives you more than one attack as part of the Attack action, you can use some or all of that movement to move between those attacks.
Source and reuse
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (“SRD 5.2.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
The explanation, example and table prompt are Table Ready adaptations; source text has been reflowed. This guide and its printable card are available under the same CC BY 4.0 license. Independent reference; no official affiliation. These rules are optional for our system-neutral adventures.