Inspired by the rowing boat: The Perma Grappling Limb

[Skylivedk]

So... just started skimming the new Eberron book with one of my players. He wanted to turn the Battlesmith into a grappler. Because he likes grappling. He doesn't like Strength though (booh strength, dump strength!). He found a solutiong in the following phrasing in Prosthetic Limb

"You can detach or reattach it as an action, and it can't be removed by anyone else."

So his idea is:

Grapple baddie. Detach limb. Baddie is now stuck at 0 ft movement.

Thoughts? It's obviously rule lawyery as high hell, but should it fly by RAW?

[Expected]

How heavy is the prosthetic limb? Is it similar to an Immovable Rod and something stops the enemy from moving with it?

[JackPhoenix]

If you deattach the limb, you're no longer grappling the target... it's no longer your hand, but separate magic item. That's assuming the de-attached limb isn't inert and won't fall slack on its own.

[kazaryu]

"You can detach or reattach it as an action, and it can't be removed by anyone else."



this wording is pretty explicitly referring to the players end of the limb, not the hand end. its saying that someone else cannot detach the limb from you. not that people are incapable of detaching hte limb from (in this case) your shoulder. not that they can't force the fingers open. so no, it doesn't even work RaW.

[Mr Adventurer]

So... just started skimming the new Eberron book with one of my players. He wanted to turn the Battlesmith into a grappler. Because he likes grappling. He doesn't like Strength though (booh strength, dump strength!). He found a solutiong in the following phrasing in Prosthetic Limb

"You can detach or reattach it as an action, and it can't be removed by anyone else."

So his idea is:

Grapple baddie. Detach limb. Baddie is now stuck at 0 ft movement.

Thoughts? It's obviously rule lawyery as high hell, but should it fly by RAW?


How does this even avoid Str? You'd have to establish the grapple to begin with.

[HappyDaze]

If a player sincerely thought that this could be used in the manner the OP suggested, I'd be worried about how they interpreted pretty much every rule in the books.

[ProsecutorGodot]

I don't see the logic, it doesn't have any functionality that prevents them from moving afterwards as it only functions as part of your body while attached to you, meaning as soon as you detach it you are no longer grappling the creature with that prosthetic limb, it's no longer a part of your body and it doesn't function like one.

[Sigreid]

With the others. This kind of tortured reading is why some people get nervous about natural language rules.

[Skylivedk]

Don't worry, he would never bring that character to my table. Just like he wouldn't wear a rowboat as a hat to cause damage to enemies when moving into them...

[Fable Wright]

The benefit of Strength is literally Athletics, the do-it-all physical skill. Removing the best part of Athletics from Strength is like saying you can only apply Dexterity to AC or Initiative or to-hit or to damage. Or saying that you can use Wisdom to Persuade people instead of Charisma, because you have well-reasoned arguments.

It just breaks existing paradigms and seriously weakens the niche skills are supposed to have.