Healer stuck in glue at end of combat. Does he still need to roll to free himself? [duplicate]

Question

My cleric and wizard were both stuck in glue in recent combat, and a third PC was down. Instead of rolling to free themselves, they opted to fight from where they were. Once the combat was "over", i.e. all beasts were felled, did they need to still roll "in turn" to free themselves and heal the dying PC or could they have "rolled free" on their own and healed him? I am a new DM and my Husband is an old school D&D person - not that familiar with 5e but knows the old rules well. we disagreed on this, and I'm curious what you all think. Thanks!

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In reading an answer to a similar question, the writer states combat continues until all things "combat related" are dealt with, which would mean turns continue in order, including saves from glue trap and death saves. If this is correct, then I suppose my question is answered, but I would like someone to clarify. I do not find anything in the PH discussion of combat that specifies when it ends.

Answer 1

Technically yes although if time is not of the essence you can have them automatically succeed at the task by spending 10x the normal amount of time needed (DMG p237)

With enough attempts and enough time, a character should eventually succeed at the task. To speed things up, assume that a character spending ten times the normal amount of time needed to complete a task automatically a succeeds at that task.

Since rounds in combat take 6 seconds that would mean that a full minute of trying to unstick himself would be sufficient to automatically succeed. If you wish to preserve the illusion of time being an issue (perhaps hinting at a random encounter or something) you can still insist they roll though.

Answer 2

I think it's always good to refer to the Golden Rule of DMing:

If There are No Consequences for Failure, you shouldn't be Rolling Dice

In a combat situation, the consequences for failing to escape from a glue trap are

• You remain trapped, possibly unable to contribute to combat
• You're vulnerable (lower-case 'v') to damage because incapacitation makes it easier for enemy attacks to hurt you (and hurt you badly)

Out of combat, the consequences for failing to escape a glue trap are

• You waste time.
• ....

Obviously, it depends on the exact circumstances. If the situation/encounter is on a clock, then perhaps it's appropriate to keep rolling dice. Conversely, if the glue trap is particularly robust, then maybe the PC can't escape at all, and they need to find another solution. But if there's no imminent danger, then you don't need to bother continuing rolling dice; just let them succeed and as DM, just announce that "'x' minutes passed while PC Y freed themselves", and move on.

In your Situation, You'd keep Rolling Dice

Since there's a risk of a PC dying if they don't escape the trap fast enough, it's definitely appropriate to keep rolling dice. I probably wouldn't even exit the initiative order until characters are stabilized.

Answer 3

Yes, I believe they should roll, the reason being that a dying PC is a time sensitive situation. If that situation did not apply (i.e. if the PC was down but stable), then given enough time (chances to succeed at the roll) they would probably be freed from the glue anyway, so the roll would in that case be redundant.