Quick question about Sanctuary

[visitor]

Sanctuary:
...Until the spell ends, any creature who targets the warded creature with an attack or a harmful spell must first make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature must choose a new target or lose the attack or spell....


So is that attack action or attack (roll)? It's not specified, seems you could read it either way. So with a monster with multiattack or character with extra attack do you roll the save once for the turn/attack action, or let the attacker have a save for each separate attack/attack roll?

How have you been ruling it?


Extra Attack: Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Multiattack: A creature that can make multiple attacks in a turn has the Multiattack ability. A creature cannot use Multiattack when making an opportunity attack, which must be a single melee attack.

[MaxWilson]

Per attack roll.

E.g. an opportunity attack is not part of an Attack action, but Sanctuary works against it anyway. Ditto spells that are attacks.

[LordEntrails]

Don't try to read that much into it. Or try to bypass it.

Any attack, i.e. a multi-attach, a spell attack, a weapon attack, or attempt to harm the protected target invokes the protection.

[MaxWilson]

Note that there's some controversy over whether uses of the Attack action which are not attacks by the PHB definition (i.e. "If there’s ever any question whether something you’re doing counts as an attack, the rule is simple: if you’re making an attack roll, you’re making an attack.") count as attacks anyway because they are triggered by the Attack action.

E.g. there's controversy over whether someone under the Sanctuary spell can be grappled, or can grapple others, without respectively triggering Sanctuary's effects or ending Sanctuary.

Check with your DM.

[visitor]

Don't try to read that much into it. Or try to bypass it.

Any attack, i.e. a multi-attach, a spell attack, a weapon attack, or attempt to harm the protected target invokes the protection.


I'm not asking trying to bypass Sanctuary; if anything the spell would be stronger if a fighter with 3 extra attacks only gets one save per turn, foregoing all his attacks that turn on a missed save.


But interesting point about opportunity attacks and grapples. This is a case where applying the rule of attack = attack roll isn't as clear, because they add "harmful" before "spell"...so even spells with saving throws (vs. attack rolls) are affected. Does that imply the "attacks" the spell provides protection from also are not exclusively attack rolls, but "attacks" in a general sense?

(I would think so, but now I'll have to double check the wording of those other spells affecting "attacks")

[DarkKnightJin]

I think that the save for a creature with Extra or Multiattack is once per turn, when they try to attack.
It doesn't make sense to me to have them be "maybe not" on 1 attack, but not the rest of their Attack Action.

Also keep in mind that spells like Fireball don't trigger the save. That's explicitly called out in the text for Sanctuary.