Sentinel Clarification

[TheUser]

Skulker Sentinel human variant with Shadow Sorcerer 1/Arcane Tricker 5. In complete darkness his vision is clear but he counts as lightly obscured even against creatures with Darkvision.

He melee attacks with Find Familiar Owl providing advantage and then uses bonus action hide and repositions himself (skulker lets this happen in pitch black darkness).


If a creature swings at the space where he used to be do they proc sentinel? My gut says yes since they aren't technically targetting him, but rather the space he once occupied. What do you all think?

[ProsecutorGodot]

Sentinel says "makes an attack against a target other than you (and the target does not have this feat"

"Target" is defined in the Making an Attack section as "a creature, an object, or a location."

As long as you're still within 5 ft, I would say yes, nothing contradicts raw as far as I can tell. Considering that Sentinel is designed with exploiting openings in mind, I think this is more or less in line with the intent as well.

It's an incredibly unlikely scenario brought up by the less than stellar lighting rules, but it works.

[nickl_2000]

I think no, it doesn't proc a reaction for sentinel. The person is making an attack against you still, sure they are missing wildly since you aren't there anymore, but they are still attempting to attack you.

[ProsecutorGodot]

I think no, it doesn't proc a reaction for sentinel. The person is making an attack against you still, sure they are missing wildly since you aren't there anymore, but they are still attempting to attack you.

It's a bit ambiguous, but I think that this line in Unseen Attackers and Targets:


When you attack a target that you can't see, you have disadvantage on the attack roll. This is true whether you're guessing the target's location or you're targeting a creature you can hear but not see. If the target isn't in the location you targeted, you automatically miss, but the DM typically just says that the attack missed, not whether you guessed the target's location correctly.

Lends to the idea that you would get sentinel if they attempt to target you by attacking the area you were previously at. I don't think you count as the target of the attack unless it actually resolves against your AC or save.