Originally Posted by
BerzerkerUnit
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.