To Strangle a Foe

[Unoriginal]

There is no rule directly stating how your typical combatant can strangle their opponent.

Reading the rules about suffocation and grappling, I would say that it's possible for someone engaged in grapple to strangle their foe, as long as they can stop them from holding their breath. But how would you rule it?

Strangling a foe would be pretty useful when fighting spellcasters, beings with lots of immunities/resistances to weapons (a la Nemean Lion), or Druids in Wild Shape.

[No brains]

I think the ettercap gets a web garrote in this edition. If you can play one of those guys you can get a strangle attack.

[Asmotherion]

There is no rule directly stating how your typical combatant can strangle their opponent.

Reading the rules about suffocation and grappling, I would say that it's possible for someone engaged in grapple to strangle their foe, as long as they can stop them from holding their breath. But how would you rule it?

Strangling a foe would be pretty useful when fighting spellcasters, beings with lots of immunities/resistances to weapons (a la Nemean Lion), or Druids in Wild Shape.

This is DM improvisation. I'd make it resolve as a bonus action wile grapling the opponent, and a str cotest to do so. However, that does not prevent the spellcaster to use somatic components in any way, and they take no direct damage, they just start suffocating, as per the rules.

Many players forget to be creative with their character's actions, just because they have a set of "pre-determined actions" they are proficient with. I'm happy to see people think out of the box, and as a DM I always reward it, as long as it's not too far-reaching.

[Naanomi]

I think the ettercap gets a web garrote in this edition. If you can play one of those guys you can get a strangle attack.
There is an NPC in 'out of the abyss' who uses a normal garotte with similar rules I think

[Lombra]

I'd just rule it a grapple check and if the creature fails to free itself CON+1 rounds it drops to 0 HP.

[JackPhoenix]

Refluffed unarmed attack against grappled foe.

[Envyus]

I just use the drowning rules for it with a slight change. They have their con mod in rounds to escape or drop to 0 hp.

[Hrugner]

I just use the drowning rules for it with a slight change. They have their con mod in rounds to escape or drop to 0 hp.

Instantly choking out someone with a con score of 10 seems a bit too potent.

[Fishyninja]

We had a similar encounter in one of the campaigns I was playing in.

The enemy was an a group of invisible drow (Don't ask). Anyway long story short My Dwarf fighter knocked one into a shallowish stream and I was straddled over it's back holding it's head down under the water.

The DM ruled that it was a Str v Str check and if the drow failed it would take a net 6 damage each round, if it was held under for 3 rounds it would auto die.

I expedited the drow's end by utilising a dig in the ribs as a free action.

[Veniur]

The rules for suffocating are on PHB Pg 183 and what it basically says is that a creature can hold its breath for 1 + Con mod minutes. When it runs out of breath it has Con mod rounds to breath again or it drops to 0 hp and starts dying.
It also talks about how there's a minimum of 30 sec to hold your breath and there's a minimum of 1 round after running out of breath before you start dying.
I would say that if you did a grapple check vs their Con save then you would start strangling them. They would then have Con mod rounds to figure out how to escape using Str(Athletics) or Dex(Acrobatics) or some other way (spells or ingenuity) or they would fall unconscious.
If you continued to strangle them past consciousness, they would fall to 0 and start dying the next round.
I know that seems clunky, but that would seem to make the most sense to me plus it gives your allies or their allies time to stop you from outright killing them if they can.

[Vogonjeltz]

There is no rule directly stating how your typical combatant can strangle their opponent.

Reading the rules about suffocation and grappling, I would say that it's possible for someone engaged in grapple to strangle their foe, as long as they can stop them from holding their breath. But how would you rule it?

Strangling a foe would be pretty useful when fighting spellcasters, beings with lots of immunities/resistances to weapons (a la Nemean Lion), or Druids in Wild Shape.

From a grapple, contest required. Number of hands required would be dependent on if the character can wrap their hands or arm around the subjects throat, maybe they'd have to employ a rope or similar object. (I recognize that grappling requires a hand, in this case the strangle would be grappling, but now with 2 hands, or with two hands using a chain or whatever).

If the contest succeeds, they begin suffocating the target (requires that the target actually needs to breath, of course, so not useful against the undead or constructs) following the rule for that, up until that time the subject could do anything they normally would do to break a grapple to break the suffocation attempt (i.e. action for a contest to escape or teleportation/moving the opponent, etcetera).

[comk59]

There are two enemies with garrotes, I think we extrapolated the rules for them a few months ago? Let me see if I can track it down.

*edit*
found it.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?486745-The-Garrote-An-Assassin-s-best-friend