Reach

[elyktsorb]

Does anyone have a list of all the ways you can get Reach on a character?

[Aett_Thorn]

Wield a Reach weapon.

That’s it, really. Now, there are other ways to increase the distance from you the enemy can be and still hit them, for sure, like a Bugbear’s racial ability. But those are somewhat different.

[Darc_Vader]

There are probably a few options available via Wildshape/Polymorph/Shapechange/etc, but other than that I think Aett_Thorn is right. Reach is pretty much exclusively a weapon property.

[zinycor]

Technically only the weapon property. But Bugbears can attack at a longer reach, I believe it even stacks with a reach weapon

[Mellack]

There was a Guardian Ranger archetype that could get reach. Not sure if it ever made it to official print.

[CheddarChampion]

Battlemaster's lunging attack?

If your goal is to control a larger area you could also be mounted or be the target of enlarge/reduce.

[Cheesegear]

Does anyone have a list of all the ways you can get Reach on a character?

Bugbear Battle Master with a Polearm.
Cast Enlarge.
???
Profit.

[elyktsorb]

Alright since no one seems to have a comprehensive list of things that give you Reach I'll just make one.

Starting with -

Weapons:

Improvised Weapons - DM Dependent.

Simple - None.

Martial - Glaive, Halberd, Lance, Pike, Whip.

Races:

Bugbear

Class Abilities:

Astral Self (UA) give's monks a 10ft unarmed strike reach at 3rd lvl on activation.

Beast (UA) allows Barbarian's to manifest a tail at 3rd lvl while Raging that has the Reach property

Primeval Guardian (UA) give's Ranger's a form at 3rd lvl with 5ft of increased reach on activation.

Other/notes:

Maneuvers - Lunging Attack gives you reach for an attack.

Druids can turn into some things with Reach, but that's really not what I'm looking for here. Shoutout to the Giant Octopus for having 15ft of reach that it can grapple with.

Shoutout to Echo Fighter's for having something better than Reach as a 3rd lvl ability.

Seems there was a push for UA classes that involved Reach as a mechanic at some point.

[Cicciograna]

Relevant.

https://i.imgur.com/l6Okfox.jpg

[JackPhoenix]

Bugbear Battle Master with a Polearm.
Cast Enlarge.
???
Profit.

Enlarge does nothing to reach.

[elyktsorb]

Enlarge does nothing to reach.

Yes and no. If you use it, you effectively 20% increase? your reach in that since you now cover 4 squares instead of one, you can reach more creatures technically. So while not increasing your actual reach it does allow you to reach more targets in a way.

Medium to Large on a character with Reach would be going from 24 to 32 squares they can hit.

And if that character was a bugbear using a reach weapon it would be 48 squares they can hit to 60 they can hit.

But yeah, I'm not looking for control area, I'm specifically looking for Reach so I can attack without being punished.

[OldTrees1]

Is it just me or is reach mostly a debuff in 5E? Since AoEs only trigger if they leave your ZOC, then it is free to close with your target and the less reach the less freedom they have.

[elyktsorb]

Is it just me or is reach mostly a debuff in 5E? Since AoEs only trigger if they leave your ZOC, then it is free to close with your target and the less reach the less freedom they have.

Typically most people who want reach want to be able to control more area with melee stuff for like sentinel.


I'm researching this because I'm trying to make a spore druid/monk multiclass work.

[x3n0n]

Is it just me or is reach mostly a debuff in 5E? Since AoEs only trigger if they leave your ZOC, then it is free to close with your target and the less reach the less freedom they have.

I've been tempted toward Dual Wielder with "good weapon" plus whip for this reason: AoOs for both zones. Seems like it would be especially nice with Cavalier: good dice up close and lots of controlled space with whip.

[OldTrees1]

Typically most people who want reach want to be able to control more area with melee stuff for like sentinel.


I'm researching this because I'm trying to make a spore druid/monk multiclass work.

Ah, so weakening the first 2 parts of Sentinel in exchange for more frequently triggering the 3rd part of Sentinel. Larger ZOC means the enemy has less reason to disengage and will trigger AoOs much less. But more of your allies are within reach for the counterstrike reaction.

Oh for a Druid/Monk the most efficient way to get reach is a reach weapon. But elyktsorb found Way of the Astral Self does give a passive 10ft reach.


I've been tempted toward Dual Wielder with "good weapon" plus whip for this reason: AoOs for both zones. Seems like it would be especially nice with Cavalier: good dice up close and lots of controlled space with whip.

I am not sure, but that might just make your reach a 10ft ZOC rather than a 5ft ZOC and a 10ft ZOC.

[PhoenixPhyre]

I am not sure, but that might just make your reach a 10ft ZOC rather than a 5ft ZOC and a 10ft ZOC.

By default (ie ignoring the weird UAs), reach is a property of a weapon or a weapon attack, not a character. Your character doesn't have a reach attribute. Weapons (and attacks made with them) have a reach attribute. So wielding a whip and a shortsword gives you two separate triggers for OAs--one with a whip at 10 ft, one with a shortsword at 5 ft. You can't use the whip at 5 ft for an OA--they didn't leave the reach of that weapon. And you can't use the shortsword at 10 ft, because you're outside its reach.

What the bugbear trait does is extend your weapon's reach for attacks with those weapons during your turn. So it doesn't affect OAs at all.

Even the "passive" UA reach increasers work the same way--they take the reach attribute of whatever weapons you're wielding (or an unarmed attack, which acts for these purposes as if it has a reach of 5 ft) and increases it by X. But since none of those are official or with final wording, they're probably a bad source of rules guidance.

[elyktsorb]

Oh for a Druid/Monk the most efficient way to get reach is a reach weapon. But elyktsorb found Way of the Astral Self does give a passive 10ft reach.


My current dilemma is either to go with reach, or to go with mobile. As I'll be attempting to protect 8 temp hp for Spore Druid. Mobile will let me move wherever I want for the most part, but reach makes it so I never have to engage in the first place. And being a monk they can easily walk in and out of range without much issue with their extra movement.



Even the "passive" UA reach increasers work the same way--they take the reach attribute of whatever weapons you're wielding (or an unarmed attack, which acts for these purposes as if it has a reach of 5 ft) and increases it by X. But since none of those are official or with final wording, they're probably a bad source of rules guidance.

I completely missed that note on Bugbears so that's important, though it does seem mildly silly in turns of physics.

As the UA ones are concerned. The Barbarian is normal. The Ranger one ADDS 5ft of reach so you could do OA's out to 15ft with a weapon that has reach. And the monk one specifies the arms have a reach of 10ft, which would be like a normal reach weapon and they could make OA's out to 10ft.

[x3n0n]

I am not sure, but that might just make your reach a 10ft ZOC rather than a 5ft ZOC and a 10ft ZOC.

Re-reading, I think you're right. Bummer. That really does make 10ft reach feel like a nerf for other than PAM users, AG Barb, and Cavalier lv10+, excepting the specific case being discussed (avoiding *others'* OAs).

It's even actively counter-productive for Cavalier lv3-9. Sigh.


By default (ie ignoring the weird UAs), reach is a property of a weapon or a weapon attack, not a character. Your character doesn't have a reach attribute. Weapons (and attacks made with them) have a reach attribute. So wielding a whip and a shortsword gives you two separate triggers for OAs--one with a whip at 10 ft, one with a shortsword at 5 ft. You can't use the whip at 5 ft for an OA--they didn't leave the reach of that weapon. And you can't use the shortsword at 10 ft, because you're outside its reach.

I would love that, but it's unclear to me from the RAW: "Most creatures have a 5-foot reach and can thus attack targets within 5 feet of them when making a melee attack."
And
"Reach. This weapon adds 5 feet to your reach when you attack with it, as well as when determining your reach for opportunity attacks with it."

If creature reach is shorthand for "the reach of any of its available melee attacks", then it works the way I'd like. If it's "the largest reach of any of its melee attacks", then not.

[PhoenixPhyre]

I would love that, but it's unclear to me from the RAW: "Most creatures have a 5-foot reach and can thus attack targets within 5 feet of them when making a melee attack."
And
"Reach. This weapon adds 5 feet to your reach when you attack with it, as well as when determining your reach for opportunity attacks with it."

If creature reach is shorthand for "the reach of any of its available melee attacks", then it works the way I'd like. If it's "the largest reach of any of its melee attacks", then not.

Another way of looking at it is like this (if you move to a creature-centric version):

1. All humanoids have a reach of 5' by default.
2. Reach weapons add 5' to that when using that weapon. So if you have two weapons, you have two potentially-different reach attributes (one for each weapon).

As a note: monsters are different. There, the reach isn't by creature but by attack. Some have 15' with one attack and 5' with a different one. For instance, the Adult White Dragon has
* 5' reach (claws)
* 10' reach (bite)
* 15' reach (tail)

If you read reach as being the largest of all your weapons, then the dragon cannot use his claws or bite to make OAs, and can only make them at 15' with his tail. Which doesn't make much sense in the fiction or in the mechanics. If a creature (originally 5' away) moves away, the dragon can choose any one of
* claws on the first step (5' -> 10')
* bite on the second step (10' -> 15')
* tail on the third step (15' -> 20')

[x3n0n]

Another way of looking at it is like this (if you move to a creature-centric version):

1. All humanoids have a reach of 5' by default.
2. Reach weapons add 5' to that when using that weapon. So if you have two weapons, you have two potentially-different reach attributes (one for each weapon).

As a note: monsters are different. There, the reach isn't by creature but by attack. Some have 15' with one attack and 5' with a different one. For instance, the Adult White Dragon has
* 5' reach (claws)
* 10' reach (bite)
* 15' reach (tail)

If you read reach as being the largest of all your weapons, then the dragon cannot use his claws or bite to make OAs, and can only make them at 15' with his tail. Which doesn't make much sense in the fiction or in the mechanics. If a creature (originally 5' away) moves away, the dragon can choose any one of
* claws on the first step (5' -> 10')
* bite on the second step (10' -> 15')
* tail on the third step (15' -> 20')

Mechanically, I agree that your description makes sense, and is how I would like to run it at my table.
I don't think the relevant sentences in the rules do anything to disambiguate this case in the definition of "your reach", but maybe that's nothing new.

Thanks. :)