this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2025
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Not in the sense people usually use the phrase "action points".
In D&D, on your turn, you get one action. That might be hitting someone with a sword, casting a spell, or whatever. You can also move, but that's not typically an "action". Some classes also get what are confusingly called "bonus actions", which are extra things you can do on your turn. Rogues, for example, can try to hide as a bonus action even after they did a normal action like shoot someone. A regular fighter who shot someone with a bow wouldn't be allowed to try to hide on the same turn, but the rogue could.
Because you only get one action (and bonus actions), no one calls them action points. You might say "you already took your action" or something.
Compare with a game like the original Fallout. You get a number of action points based on your stats. For an average character, it's 7. Shooting someone typically takes 2, a called shot takes 3. I think movement also takes action points. So on your turn you might shoot someone 3 times (six action points) and move a little (1 action point). Or take a called shot (3 AP) and move a lot (4 AP). Lots of options. Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2 also use action points in a similar way.
This is way more explanation than you probably needed. The key thing is on D&D you typically do one thing on your turn (eg: attack, cast a spell). Pretty much every action has the same "cost" in this sense. You can't really mix and match, and there's not as much tactical depth on your turn. (Pathfinder 2e gives you three actions per turn, but I don't think anyone calls them points there, either.)
Yeah, they're just actions. Though the original joke kinda works, because the way Pathfinder frames it is that you gain actions at the start of your turn, so it's more conceivable that something could prevent you from gaining those actions, or could take them away. (Indeed, the "Slowed" condition says that you "When you regain your actions, reduce the number of actions regained by your slowed value", as a similar example.) Even though they're not called points, they do kinda act like that kind of a resource.