72
votes
Accepted
Can I trigger an Opportunity Attack by forcing an opponent to move out of my reach?
Yes, but only if the ability forces the enemy to move out of reach using their movement, action, or reaction
The rules state that only when the enemy uses their movement, action, or reaction to move ...
- 93.9k
67
votes
Would there be balance issues if I allowed opportunity attacks against any creature, not just hostile ones?
From memory the War Caster feat is the only thing that might work well with this. Its third benefit is:
"When a hostile creature's movement provokes an opportunity attack from you, you can use your ...
- 579
65
votes
Accepted
Can a monster with no melee attack make an Opportunity Attack?
Yes, but why it can isn't immediately obvious, though in the case of a Flameskull it's pretty impotent
To make an opportunity attack the monster needs to be able to make a melee attack (PHB, p. 195):
...
- 243k
58
votes
Accepted
Do the Tunnel Fighter UA fighting style and the Polearm Master feat combine to grant indefinite opportunity attacks?
You are correct.
Tunnel Fighter lets you make opportunity attacks for free, and Polearm Master lets you do so at a distance.
An intelligent or reasonably aware force would have a good chance to ...
58
votes
Accepted
How would combat work without opportunity attacks?
Coming from a D&D point of view...
The game becomes a lot more mobile, speed is more valuable, the concept of front-liner diminishes, and being at range is either difficult or not important.
I ...
- 46k
49
votes
Accepted
Can you cast the Shield spell against an opportunity attack?
Reactions can be taken on your turn.
A reaction is an instant response to a trigger of some kind, which can occur on your turn or on someone else's.
PHB, pg.190
Therefore, yes, you can cast ...
- 56.8k
46
votes
Accepted
Do characters provoke opportunity attack when they leave another character's reach who is not facing them?
There are no facing rules in 5e by default. Thus one provokes an OA leaving an opponent's reach no matter how you imagine the characters are faced. The reasoning behind this is that the round ...
- 101k
45
votes
Is there a way to leave melee combat without provoking an opportunity attack?
Disengage
Disengage, as has been given in other answers, does allow you to use your action to move away without provoking an opportunity attack.
If you take the Disengage action, your movement doesn'...
- 40.2k
43
votes
Does this lake event in the "Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden" adventure allow a grapple as an opportunity attack?
These rules are for that encounter, not general.
This is a great example of specific over general! The rules around that encounter for knuckleheads are specific and only relevant for that activity. ...
- 124k
42
votes
When you cast invisibility on your turn, and walk away from 2 enemies, do they get an attack of opportunity?
No, they don't get opportunity attacks.
From PHB, page 195:
You can make an opportunity attack when a hostile creature that you can see moves out of your reach.
- 56.8k
40
votes
Is making all Opportunity Attacks have disadvantage game breaking in any way?
The wizard won't like it.
The big negative impact this would have, in my view, is that it makes it significantly harder to maintain a defensive front line. If enemies can pretty much run past the ...
- 72.8k
39
votes
Can I circle around an opponent and avoid opportunity attacks?
Players Basic Rules, pg 71
Moving Around Other Creatures
If you leave a hostile creature’s reach during your move,
you provoke an opportunity attack, as explained later in
the chapter.
and,
Players ...
- 8,442
39
votes
Accepted
How many Opportunity Attacks can a PC make during a round?
You only get ONE reaction between the start of your turn and the start of your next turn.
An Opportunity Attack is considered a Reaction (PHB pp195)
You can make an opportunity attack when a hostile ...
- 124k
37
votes
When I walk towards an enemy and get within 10 feet, can I make an opportunity attack with Polearm Mastery and a reach weapon?
From the section on opportunity attacks:
You can make an opportunity attack when a hostile creature that you
can see moves out of your reach. To make the opportunity attack, you
use your ...
- 32k
36
votes
Accepted
Can a failed opportunity attack against a character protected by the sanctuary spell retarget someone else?
On a failed save, the creature must choose a new target or lose the
attack or spell. (PHB 272)
While it is not explicitly stated, it is a reasonable assumption you have to choose a valid target for ...
- 61.3k
35
votes
Accepted
Do opportunity attacks end the target's movement?
You are correct; movement may be resumed after an Attack of Opportunity.
Movement is "spent" by the foot; as in, if a creature has a movement speed of "30ft", then they can spend that much speed ...
- 3,472
35
votes
Accepted
Can you react to an opportunity attack?
The rules for reactions are fairly straightforward:
Certain special abilities, spells, and situations allow you to take a special action called a reaction. A reaction is an instant response to a ...
- 36.3k
34
votes
How many opportunity attacks can you make per turn before becoming exhausted?
Usually a creature has only a single opportunity attack available
To make an opportunity attack a creature needs to use their reaction to do so. From the rules on opportunity attacks (emphasis mine):
...
- 36.3k
32
votes
Accepted
Can a druid get out of wild shape to avoid an opportunity attack?
This sounds like a clever way to avoid an Attack of Opportunity.
The Druid is not moving, merely using a magical effect to take up less space. This is less "moving" than teleport, which expressly ...
- 32k
32
votes
Accepted
Do Animated Objects make Opportunity Attacks?
Yes, they can make opportunity attacks.
From the description of the animate objects spell:
You decide what action the creature will take and where it will move during its next turn, or you can issue ...
- 21.4k
32
votes
Accepted
Is the spell from the third benefit of the War Caster feat still considered an opportunity attack for the Sentinel feat?
No, it's not an opportunity attack
The relevant phrasing in the Sentinel feat (PHB, p. 169-170) is:
When you hit a creature with an opportunity attack, the creature's speed becomes 0 for the rest of ...
- 7,619
31
votes
Accepted
Does moving behind full cover count as "leaving the opponent's reach" for purposes of opportunity attacks?
Yes, he gets an OA
You are moving to get away from him, and for sure "being on the other side of the wall" means you are "out of his reach" as most attackers cannot reach through a ...
- 142k
31
votes
Accepted
Can a shove give an Opportunity Attack?
No.
From page 74 of the Basic Rules (also PHB p.195, or this SRD site):
Opportunity Attacks
[...] You can avoid provoking an opportunity attack by taking the Disengage action. You also don’t provoke ...
- 13.6k
31
votes
Accepted
Polearm master vs disengage
There is no Opportunity Attack
The Polearm Master Feat is clear that the reactionary attack is an Opportunity Attack, and Disengage says that your movement doesn't cause Opportunity Attacks.
In ...
- 28.5k
31
votes
Accepted
Does changing your reach provoke opportunity attacks?
As you also quote:
You can make an opportunity attack when a hostile creature that you
can see moves out of your reach.
None of the creatures have moved if your reach changes, therefore they do ...
- 61.3k
31
votes
Accepted
Is the reaction from the third benefit of the Sentinel feat considered an opportunity attack?
No, it's not an opportunity attack.
An opportunity attack is a specifically named game mechanic with specific rules set out for it (as found on page 195 of the PHB).
If the third benefit of the ...
- 56.8k
31
votes
Can you Disengage while you are in darkness?
Yes
In 5e you don't disengage "from" someone. Instead, you just don't provoke OAs when you move:
If you take the Disengage action, your Movement doesn’t provoke Opportunity Attacks for the rest of ...
- 65.4k
30
votes
Accepted
Does Sentinel work against creatures who can avoid Opportunity Attacks?
The feat specifically calls out the case of the moving creature taking the Disengage action. A creature using Flyby or Mobile does not take such an action, but simply does not provoke an AoO. Thus ...
- 61.3k
30
votes
How to describe that an enemy can avoid opportunity attacks?
The way you approach this depends on how your players interact with you as the DM. I've used two methods that seem to work.
Rules-based Approach
If your players are rules-oriented, new to the game, ...
- 6,412
30
votes
Are my house rules good to make it easier to run away from combat in 5E?
"Are there other house rules that could achieve my goal more cleanly?"
Chase Rules
I strongly encourage the Chase rules found in chapter 8 of the Dungeon Master's Guide
I have used these in ...
- 73k
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