Quote Originally Posted by BerzerkerUnit View Post
Much appreciation to all that cited the MC rules. I do not have the photographic memory necessary to recall a specific call out in a 3rd location that I read once and have skimmed as necessary ever since.

As for the limit to grapple shove attempt limitation, I'm less convinced that's intent. There are narrative justifications. In the attacking rules it says shoves and grapples are maneuvers you can perform instead of an attack when you can make an attack on your turn. But that deserves its own thread (and actually should probably just be ruled on at the table by the dm).

Example: My pact warhammer hits a creature in the chest and instead of swinging again, I plant my feet and use it to force them back. I wrap my Pact whip or fighting chain around the target's feet to put them on their back... How are those not valid? Only through an exceedingly narrow reading of RAW. Since RAW can't be expected to cover every possible circumstance in a game designed to emulate all of existence + magic nonsense, I do not find narrow readings of RAW helpful in most cases. As a guideline to prevent recursive loops and infinite combos, etc. sure, but there's nothing broken by letting a warlock shove and grapple in the same turn when they're built to melee.
For the same reason that Haste can't be used for a Shove or Grapple attempt - it is specific beyond just "an attack". Haste specifies that you can take the attack action but that action can only be used to make a single weapon attack. Thirsting Blade says that you attack twice with your pact weapon. This means that to qualify for multiple attacks, both attacks must involve your pact weapon.

This rules Grappling out entirely, as its specifically something that require you use at least one free hand to seize someone with, you're not attacking with your pact weapon. Shoving is plausible but this runs into a "permission slip" issue where it's not clear whether you qualify for multiple attacks unless it can be definitively ruled that a Shove involves your pact weapon.