strangebloke
2022-03-16, 04:58 PM
So, one of the big downsides of grappling as a strat is that you can't grapple someone who isn't adjacent to you normally, which means that they can just keep hitting you. It's sort of useful for tanking, but only if you're very durable. The usual trick here is known as the "grapple-prone" where you knock an enemy prone before grappling them. This means they can only attack at disadvantage, because they can't stand up.
But I was wondering. Is there a way to grapple someone who isn't within five feet of you?
The text for grappling states
The target of your grapple must be no more than one size larger than you and must be within your reach.
Now, nominally, this seems very straightforward. But what is reach? Mostly reach is a function of the Reach weapon property. Your reach increases by 5 feet when you attack with it. Now obviously this doesn't apply to grapples. You aren't attacking with a whip when you're grappling, because a grapple is done "Using at least one free hand."
But what means of increasing reach are there, aside from weapons?
Well, there's the Bugbear. When you make a melee attack, your reach for that attack increases by five feet. Grappling is considered 'a special melee attack' so this works. You can grapple at 10 foot distance, like Chewbacca did to that one imperial AT-ST pilot. Yay! You can initiate a grapple at 10 feet!
What about grappling strike? If you hit someone with a weapon, it says "you can attempt to grapple the target as a bonus action." So normally specific beats general, right? But does "you can attempt to grapple" override all other considerations? It certainly overrides grappling being something that overrides an attack made as part of the attack action, but what about the rest? Can you do this while holding a sword and shield? Hold them in place with a pike without knocking them down? By RAW, this is a pretty tenuous argument and I would say its just wrong.
What about Astral monks? The wording is the same as bugbear, but specifies "when you make an unarmed strike your reach for that unarmed strike increases by five feat." An unarmed strike is a type of weapon attack (though it doesn't involve a weapon :smallsigh:) which is a type of melee attack. Grapples are not weapon attacks, ergo, unarmed strikes are not weapon attacks, ergo, Astral monk can't grapple at 10'. Note that Simic arms and tavern brawler use the same verbage as grappling strike, so even if you combine these effects, it still doesn't work.
What about Eldritch Claw Tattoo? "For the duration, each of your melee attacks with a weapon or an unarmed strike can reach a target up to 15 feet away from you." So you 'can reach' and the effect is the same as if 'your reach' was increased, but it doesn't say your reach is increased. It also says "melee attacks with a weapon or unarmed strike" and while as mentioned grapples are melee attacks, unarmed strikes are not grapples.
...And that's RAW.
But in practice, I really think even considering RAW here is unproductive. I'd go so far as to say that this whole thing illustrates why RAW should be ignored in favor of what makes sense. So what makes sense? Well, in my objective, subjective opinion:
Bugbear makes sense.
Grappling strike doesn't make sense, unless its done with a whip, which I would 100% allow.
Astral monks make sense, since they're arms that have reach and can lift and carry things and grapple. Are they only long
Eldritch Claw doesn't, and is horribly worded in general. I would almost always treat this as something more like the master sword's energy beams from LoZ.
But I was wondering. Is there a way to grapple someone who isn't within five feet of you?
The text for grappling states
The target of your grapple must be no more than one size larger than you and must be within your reach.
Now, nominally, this seems very straightforward. But what is reach? Mostly reach is a function of the Reach weapon property. Your reach increases by 5 feet when you attack with it. Now obviously this doesn't apply to grapples. You aren't attacking with a whip when you're grappling, because a grapple is done "Using at least one free hand."
But what means of increasing reach are there, aside from weapons?
Well, there's the Bugbear. When you make a melee attack, your reach for that attack increases by five feet. Grappling is considered 'a special melee attack' so this works. You can grapple at 10 foot distance, like Chewbacca did to that one imperial AT-ST pilot. Yay! You can initiate a grapple at 10 feet!
What about grappling strike? If you hit someone with a weapon, it says "you can attempt to grapple the target as a bonus action." So normally specific beats general, right? But does "you can attempt to grapple" override all other considerations? It certainly overrides grappling being something that overrides an attack made as part of the attack action, but what about the rest? Can you do this while holding a sword and shield? Hold them in place with a pike without knocking them down? By RAW, this is a pretty tenuous argument and I would say its just wrong.
What about Astral monks? The wording is the same as bugbear, but specifies "when you make an unarmed strike your reach for that unarmed strike increases by five feat." An unarmed strike is a type of weapon attack (though it doesn't involve a weapon :smallsigh:) which is a type of melee attack. Grapples are not weapon attacks, ergo, unarmed strikes are not weapon attacks, ergo, Astral monk can't grapple at 10'. Note that Simic arms and tavern brawler use the same verbage as grappling strike, so even if you combine these effects, it still doesn't work.
What about Eldritch Claw Tattoo? "For the duration, each of your melee attacks with a weapon or an unarmed strike can reach a target up to 15 feet away from you." So you 'can reach' and the effect is the same as if 'your reach' was increased, but it doesn't say your reach is increased. It also says "melee attacks with a weapon or unarmed strike" and while as mentioned grapples are melee attacks, unarmed strikes are not grapples.
...And that's RAW.
But in practice, I really think even considering RAW here is unproductive. I'd go so far as to say that this whole thing illustrates why RAW should be ignored in favor of what makes sense. So what makes sense? Well, in my objective, subjective opinion:
Bugbear makes sense.
Grappling strike doesn't make sense, unless its done with a whip, which I would 100% allow.
Astral monks make sense, since they're arms that have reach and can lift and carry things and grapple. Are they only long
Eldritch Claw doesn't, and is horribly worded in general. I would almost always treat this as something more like the master sword's energy beams from LoZ.