This is counted as a specific ruling, technically. The only thing wrong with the above answer is their definition of a turn, A turn is literally mere moments when compared to the 6 second time-frame of a round. During a round, each participant in a battle takes a turn. You'll quickly notice that a well-played thief will almost always trigger their Sneak Attack during their turn, and that is ok.Ī round represents about 6 seconds in the game world. This might sound very powerful, but keep in mind that Thieves do not get extra attacks, and because they'll be using Finesse or Light weapons to do their dirty work, their damage dice without Sneak Attack are pitiful. To directly talk about sneak attack, a Thief can Sneak Attack not only on every single one of his turns, but he can also do it on his opponent's turns. Generally at my tables we've played such that turns happen approximately simultaneously within one round, with initiative being a good abstraction to explain why that orc didn't manage to attack (because he died before he could). Remember that combat in D&D is an abstraction, HP represents more than just physical cuts and scrapes, and the order that actions actually occur in a turn is ambiguous at best. Beyond this breakdown, it's dangerous to think too hard about what is happening.

So, according to the Player's Handbook, a turn is at most about 6 seconds long, because a round is comprised of many turns. * Incidentally, AD&D rounds are 1 minute each, not 6 seconds each, which makes an AD&D combat turn 10 minutes long.Ī round represents about 6 seconds in the game world. (This usually means at most twice per round though, since there are limits on the number of actions available to a character on their turn and off their turn.) However, if a once-per-turn ability can be used as a Reaction, that means they may use it on their turn and on every other combatant's turn, making for more than once per round. So a rogue can Sneak Attack once per turn within a round, which usually means once per 6-second round. It is not a measure of time, but of opportunity to take actions. In D&D 5e, a turn has the same meaning as it does in a card game or similar: a PC gets their turn to do something within the round. The AD&D meaning of “turn” as being ten rounds* in combat time (or ten minutes in exploration time) last appeared in AD&D 2nd edition, and has been eliminated from editions newer than 1999. D&D 5e turns are completely different from AD&D turns, and only share the name.

D&d 5e turn