Greywander
2019-05-06, 01:48 AM
Okay, so when you grapple a creature, their speed becomes 0. Simple enough. They can't move. Not by themselves, anyway. So what about when you move? Or when you move them? Here's the relevant excerpt:
Moving a Grappled Creature. When you move, you can drag or carry the grappled creature with you, but your speed is halved, unless the creature is two or more sizes smaller than you.
At first, this also seems straightforward: when you move while grappling, it costs double movement (or rather, your speed is halved, which is only relevant if the grapple ends during your turn). But hold on, this only considers the scenario in which you are both moving. In fact, there are three distinct movement scenarios in which the half movement may or may not come into play:
Both creatures move.
The grappler moves the grappled creature around them, but remains stationary.
The grappler moves around the grappled creature, but holds them in place.
The first one is the situation that has already been addressed: you move and drag the grappled creature behind you. Let's look at the other two.
So let's consider an example where you grab a creature, and then want to move them to the other side of you (perhaps so your allies can gather around and beat them up). You remain stationary, but the enemy is moved 10 feet. Does this cost movement? If so, is your movement speed halved for this movement? Is this type of movement even allowed? The rules don't actually say anything about moving a creature unless you, yourself are moving.
Then, there's the example in which you grab a creature and then move around them while holding them in place. Obviously, since you are moving, this will cost movement. But is your speed halved?
We can try to rationalize what's going on in order to derive a more universal rule, but we quickly run into some issues.
You have to spend movement to move the grappled creature. Thus, if you are both moving, it costs double movement. If you move the creature around you, you only need to pay for their movement.
Your movement costs double while you are grappling. You can move a grappled creature without spending movement, but if you move it always costs double, even if they don't move.
Your movement costs double when both of you move, but not if only you move. You can move the grappled creature without spending movement, and move around the creature at full speed.
Each of these have some issues. In the first case, what happens if you grapple two creatures? You do, after all, have two hands. Or, you could shapechange into a kraken and grapple 10 creatures. Do you have to pay for the movement of all 10, plus yourself?
In the second case, being able to move a creature without spending movement is just asking to get them dragged repeatedly through a Spike Growth until they expire, all on the same turn they get grappled. This is probably why most such environmental hazard spells only deal damage once per turn/round, instead of every time a creature enters the area on a given turn.
In the third case, you can just move around the creature at normal speed, move them around you for free, move around them at normal speed, etc. basically dragging them wherever at normal speed instead of half speed.
Honestly, I feel like the best solution to this whole headache is to ignore the half speed while grappling and just use variant encumbrance (if the grappled creature is heavy enough, you'll slow down). Even this doesn't say anything about moving another creature (or object) without moving yourself. Dragging might imply that you have to move ahead of them, but if a creature is light enough you can just lift them up and spin around.
Moving a Grappled Creature. When you move, you can drag or carry the grappled creature with you, but your speed is halved, unless the creature is two or more sizes smaller than you.
At first, this also seems straightforward: when you move while grappling, it costs double movement (or rather, your speed is halved, which is only relevant if the grapple ends during your turn). But hold on, this only considers the scenario in which you are both moving. In fact, there are three distinct movement scenarios in which the half movement may or may not come into play:
Both creatures move.
The grappler moves the grappled creature around them, but remains stationary.
The grappler moves around the grappled creature, but holds them in place.
The first one is the situation that has already been addressed: you move and drag the grappled creature behind you. Let's look at the other two.
So let's consider an example where you grab a creature, and then want to move them to the other side of you (perhaps so your allies can gather around and beat them up). You remain stationary, but the enemy is moved 10 feet. Does this cost movement? If so, is your movement speed halved for this movement? Is this type of movement even allowed? The rules don't actually say anything about moving a creature unless you, yourself are moving.
Then, there's the example in which you grab a creature and then move around them while holding them in place. Obviously, since you are moving, this will cost movement. But is your speed halved?
We can try to rationalize what's going on in order to derive a more universal rule, but we quickly run into some issues.
You have to spend movement to move the grappled creature. Thus, if you are both moving, it costs double movement. If you move the creature around you, you only need to pay for their movement.
Your movement costs double while you are grappling. You can move a grappled creature without spending movement, but if you move it always costs double, even if they don't move.
Your movement costs double when both of you move, but not if only you move. You can move the grappled creature without spending movement, and move around the creature at full speed.
Each of these have some issues. In the first case, what happens if you grapple two creatures? You do, after all, have two hands. Or, you could shapechange into a kraken and grapple 10 creatures. Do you have to pay for the movement of all 10, plus yourself?
In the second case, being able to move a creature without spending movement is just asking to get them dragged repeatedly through a Spike Growth until they expire, all on the same turn they get grappled. This is probably why most such environmental hazard spells only deal damage once per turn/round, instead of every time a creature enters the area on a given turn.
In the third case, you can just move around the creature at normal speed, move them around you for free, move around them at normal speed, etc. basically dragging them wherever at normal speed instead of half speed.
Honestly, I feel like the best solution to this whole headache is to ignore the half speed while grappling and just use variant encumbrance (if the grappled creature is heavy enough, you'll slow down). Even this doesn't say anything about moving another creature (or object) without moving yourself. Dragging might imply that you have to move ahead of them, but if a creature is light enough you can just lift them up and spin around.