Not fully understanding the Disengage action

[GriffinRider]

Hey all...I feel like I've got myself all tangled up over this one thing, and I'm sorry if I'm rehashing a topic that has been done to death. I'm playing a monk on his way to taking the drunken master path, and so shortly he will be able to take the Disengage action whenever he uses his Flurry of Blows. Plus his speed increases by 10 feet for that turn. Now, I used to think that meant that after a flurry attack I got a bonus action that amounted to being able to move my full movement rate, plus 10 feet, even if I'd already used some or all of my movement for that turn, and avoid OAs as I did so. I was then informed that even with the bonus Disengage action I can only move however many feet of movement that I haven't already used that round...plus 10 feet. Is that accurate? And either way, what is so great about Disengage? I know, I can leave my opponent's reach without provoking an OA, but does this mean, for example, that I can move away from opponent #1 and (assuming I have the movement to do it) also move past opponent #2 without getting hit by him either? Do I have to retreat directly away from my opponent, or can I "retreat" past him or laterally from him? Do I get to zig-zag around a lot of opponents, so long as I don't attack them? It seems like this takes up your action for the turn, but you don't get very much for it. I feel like I must be missing out on the potential for this action, and there's an obvious, more-clever benefit staring me in the face.

[Mjolnirbear]

Dash gives you more movement.

Disengage uses the movement you have, but more carefully. You're immune to all attacks of opportunity, from everyone, unless they have a special rule that says otherwise (like Sentinel), until your turn is over.

If you have 40 feet of movement, and you move 30 feet to attack someone, then disengage using drunken master or cunning action or action surge, you only have 10 feet of movement left.

As an action, disengage is rather useless unless you're about to die or you're a squishy (and about to die). It's almost always better to attack or cast a spell or dodge. But in your case, it's basically free, and gives you a bunch of extra tactical possibilities.

At least, that's how I've been playing it.

No need to apologize. There are no stupid questions; also, I get brain farts all the time and suddenly question things I thought I knew.

[ad_hoc]

What you're proposing is combining the Disengage and Dash actions.

Disengage means you don't provoke OAs during your turn.

A major use for Disengage for the Monk is being able to bypass weaker enemies to get to important targets in order to Stunning Strike them. How good this will be with it being part of Flurry of Blows will depend on exactly when actions can be taken. AFAIK this bit of the rules remains ambiguous.

[Capac Amaru]

I used disengages to terminator my way straight to the big bad last week. The key use of disengage is to escape combat with someone you don't want to fight to get to the entity you DO want to fight.

[GriffinRider]

Okay...starting to come into clearer focus. I guess I'm trying to make sure that with Disengage I can move towards and past some enemies without provoking OAs, so long as I don't attack them. The whole point of this being a bonus action for me (and for others, like the rogue using cunning action) is that I can move, attack someone, then get away from them- using whatever movement I have left- without risking an attack from them, while also possibly moving further into the fight instead of directly away from it. I'm still in the mindset of 3.5, where you could do a full retreat or full withdraw or whatever we used to call it, and that was the only way to escape from getting pounded without taking an OA, but you could only move straight away from the enemy, not around him at all. It's not much of a "bonus" if it can only be used to flee combat entirely, though I suppose it will be nice to hit someone and still get to run away without an opportunity attack, even if it means I can't get near anyone else.

[Mr.Spastic]

The way drunken master works.

Step 1: Use your action to attack.

Step 2: Use bonus action. Spend 1 ki point to do flurry of blows. Flurry of blows gives you two more attacks with unarmed strikes. Drunken Master increases movement by 10 ft and disengages you from enemies.

Step 3: Walk past any enemies you want withiut provoking opportunity attacks. You can also hit them if you want and wpnt lose disengage.

Drunken Master works great when fighting multiple enemies because you can move between them without worrying about opportunity attacks and hit whoever you want.

[ad_hoc]

Okay...starting to come into clearer focus. I guess I'm trying to make sure that with Disengage I can move towards and past some enemies without provoking OAs, so long as I don't attack them. The whole point of this being a bonus action for me (and for others, like the rogue using cunning action) is that I can move, attack someone, then get away from them- using whatever movement I have left- without risking an attack from them, while also possibly moving further into the fight instead of directly away from it. I'm still in the mindset of 3.5, where you could do a full retreat or full withdraw or whatever we used to call it, and that was the only way to escape from getting pounded without taking an OA, but you could only move straight away from the enemy, not around him at all. It's not much of a "bonus" if it can only be used to flee combat entirely, though I suppose it will be nice to hit someone and still get to run away without an opportunity attack, even if it means I can't get near anyone else.

Forget everything you know from 3e. Don't apply any of it to 5e.

Time and again I see that the people most confused about the rules are 3e players.

I have an easy time teaching the game to people who have never played hobby games before, but teaching 5e to 3e players is really tough.

[Malifice]

Hey all...I feel like I've got myself all tangled up over this one thing, and I'm sorry if I'm rehashing a topic that has been done to death. I'm playing a monk on his way to taking the drunken master path, and so shortly he will be able to take the Disengage action whenever he uses his Flurry of Blows. Plus his speed increases by 10 feet for that turn. .

No; that's not technically what the ability does:

At 3rd level, you learn how to twist and turn quickly as part of your Flurry of Blows. Whenever you use Flurry of Blows, you gain the benefit of the Disengage action, and your walking speed increases by 10 feet until the end of the current turn.

So whenever you use your FoB (which uses your Bonus action) you also get the benefit of the Disengage action (without using a Bonus action) and your speed increases by 10'. Effectively your FoB rolls a free Disengage in with it.

So whenever you Flurry of Blows, your movement increases by 10' and you become immune to Attacks of Opportunity for any movement you make for the rest of your turn (barring your opponent having Sentinel or a similar ability of course).


Feel free to FoB and then wander off somewhere else, immune to AoO for the turn for your movement.

[Greywander]

Forget everything you know from 3e. Don't apply any of it to 5e.
This. I know Attacks of Opportunity used to be a thing, but they work differently in 5e. In 5e:

You provoke an opportunity attack if you move out of an enemy's reach. This means it only applies to melee. Enemies that have larger reach let you move around inside their reach without provoking OAs, it's only when you leave that you provoke an OA. This is also the only way to provoke an OA in 5e, unless another ability (like a feat) says otherwise.

If you take the Disengage action, you don't provoke OAs for the rest of that turn. So you can literally start your turn with a Disengage, and then walk right past all the enemies, no OAs. For most people, though, this means burning their action; monks and rogues are the only ones that get to Disengage as a bonus action.

I'm AFB, but it sounds like Drunken Master gets a free Disengage when using Flurry of Blows. This means that as soon as you activate Flurry of Blows, you can freely walk around the battlefield without provoking OAs for the rest of your turn.

If I had to guess, the intended use of this feature is that you can tap a couple of minions, activate Flurry, and then walk past all the other minions to punch the Big Bad in the jaw, twice. Alternatively, you can run around Stunning Striking key enemies (like casters) without worrying about OAs from other enemies.

[Unoriginal]

Alternatively, Flurry of Blow the Big Bad in the jaw then retreat without them or their minions being able to punish you for it.

Monks aren't the best frontliners, but they don't need to *stay* in the frontline more than needed.

[GriffinRider]

Thanks everyone. I greatly appreciate the help, and not just on this question but also on all the others where I haven't said thanks.

Yeah, I'm not trying to hang on to my 3.5 knowledge; I just see a lot through that filter because it was my default for so long.

I like what I'm hearing: Disengage allows a character to go in and out of the reaches of however many enemies that you can depending on your movement rate, without incurring an OA. Excellent. Since I'll be able to attack as well, it's feeling like a real bonus.

Thanks again all!