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This weekend one of my player's was disappointed when he attempted to riposte and I ruled that he was out of reach of the creature who missed him with an attack.

As an example, when a creature with a melee attack reach of 10ft is roughly 10ft from a character and misses an attack against that character, can a character spend a superiority die to riposte the attack, even though the creature would be out of the character's (5ft) reach?

Is this the correct interpretation of the rules in this situation?

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If the creature is 10' away and attacking at reach, then no without reach herself, the PC cannot attack. The PC is still 10' away from the monster, nothing about the attack changes that.

This is clearer if you are playing on a grid, but it's not too hard to think about in your mind.

What's happening here is not that the monster is closing to attack, the monster is reaching out to attack the PC, but the reaction riposte cannot happen unless the character has a reach weapon herself. Because though the weapon or arm is reaching to the PC's square, the bulk of the monster is too far to attack.

Thus your ruling is correct, there is no ability to respond from the PC to the monster via Riposte.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ It's a shame D&D doesn't let you stab the appendages... \$\endgroup\$
    – Tim B
    Commented Feb 9, 2015 at 18:35
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    \$\begingroup\$ @TimB some monsters (things with tentacles say), can have their appendages attacked. General monsters attacking at reach though, not so much. \$\endgroup\$
    – wax eagle
    Commented Feb 9, 2015 at 18:36
  • \$\begingroup\$ Good point about appendages ~ thanks! \$\endgroup\$
    – ultimate_guy
    Commented Feb 9, 2015 at 20:45
  • \$\begingroup\$ Yeah I think the clarification about appendages can b e an important one. However, I think that would be targetting a specific body part, so wouldn't that require disadvantage or other form of penalty to the attack ? \$\endgroup\$
    – Escoce
    Commented Feb 9, 2015 at 20:46
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Escoce there are no mechanics (except again, for specific monsters, the Roper is one I can think of right this second) so it'd be fully subject to GM adjudication and would be very case by case. \$\endgroup\$
    – wax eagle
    Commented Feb 9, 2015 at 20:48

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