73
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 ...
- 95.3k
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
66
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):
...
- 244k
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 ...
- 46.8k
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 ...
- 57.1k
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'...
- 40.5k
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. ...
- 126k
43
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 ...
- 77.8k
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.
- 57.1k
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 ...
- 126k
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 ...
- 32.2k
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 ...
- 61.8k
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 ...
- 36.5k
35
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 ...
- 75.9k
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):
...
- 36.5k
33
votes
Accepted
Does a Polearm Master with 10' reach get an opportunity attack vs an enemy 10' away when they step to only 5' away?
A creature within your reach already cannot enter your reach.
To “enter” your reach, as required by Polearm Master, a creature must go from not being in your reach to being in your reach. This is what ...
- 153k
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 ...
- 32.2k
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 ...
- 21.7k
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 ...
- 7,699
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 ...
- 28.7k
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 ...
- 61.8k
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 ...
- 57.1k
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 ...
- 70.6k
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 ...
- 61.8k
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, ...
- 6,794
29
votes
Accepted
Does teleporting into the reach of a character with the Polearm Master feat provoke an opportunity attack?
By RAW you do not provoke an Opportunity Attack when you enter their reach by teleportation.
You also don't provoke an opportunity attack when you teleport or when someone or something moves you ...
- 6,002
28
votes
Can a Hydra make multiple opportunity attacks at once?
The hydra can take them all at the same time in response to a single trigger or pace them out over a round in response to multiple triggers.
Here's the text of the feature we're talking about (from ...
- 30.3k
28
votes
Accepted
Are there any class abilities that allow a character to negate/disable the Disengage action?
The Sentinel feat
A quick search for the keyword "Disengage" across all published classes returns no class features that allow a player to make an opportunity attack against an opponent that has ...
- 3,176
28
votes
Do creatures with a reach of 0 get attacks of opportunity when a foe moves away?
Zero foot reach means attacking only in the same combat space.
tl;dr 0-reach creatures do get an opportunity attack.
Swarm example
Things like a swarm of insects can occupy the same space as an ...
- 34.5k
27
votes
Accepted
Can a familiar use its reaction to attack someone leaving its reach?
The Find Familiar spell (PHB p240):
Your familiar acts independently of you, but it always obeys your commands. In combat, it rolls its own initiative and acts on its own turn. A familiar can’t ...
- 13.8k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible