I believe this has been remedied with Tasha’s as now the steel defender reads, “It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another action. That action can be one in its stat block or some other action.“
“Or some other action” leads me to believe grapple or escaping one can be used.
Correct. (Technically it always could, but the wording left it in doubt for some folks. Now it is unambiguous.)
I believe this has been remedied with Tasha’s as now the steel defender reads, “It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another action. That action can be one in its stat block or some other action.“
“Or some other action” leads me to believe grapple or escaping one can be used.
The question can't be answered without a house rule, because the Defender's body shape is never defined (you can pick any appearance you want, which might mean your GM is cool with it having as many hands as you want; one of the few things we can be absolutely confident of is that the Defender is not limited to a maximum of two hands). Certainly without hands it can't grapple without a house rule - the grapple action requires a free hand. *With* hands you can equip it with weapons (which it won't be proficient with) and other gear. Your GM is also encouraged by Jeremy Crawford to house rule that it can grapple with non-hands, so that's an easy out if your GM wants to limit wielding complex tools without limiting grappling.
If your GM *does* let you festoon the thing with hands, don't forget to also ask for permission to modify it to be able to speak, so it can operate magic items that require speech. That alchemy jug won't produce its own mayonnaise.
It actually says that it can take any action, including the ones in it's stat block.
"In combat, the defender shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another action. That action can be one in its stat block or some other action. If you are incapacitated, the defender can take any action of its choice, not just Dodge."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Correct. (Technically it always could, but the wording left it in doubt for some folks. Now it is unambiguous.)
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
I agree.
The question can't be answered without a house rule, because the Defender's body shape is never defined (you can pick any appearance you want, which might mean your GM is cool with it having as many hands as you want; one of the few things we can be absolutely confident of is that the Defender is not limited to a maximum of two hands). Certainly without hands it can't grapple without a house rule - the grapple action requires a free hand. *With* hands you can equip it with weapons (which it won't be proficient with) and other gear. Your GM is also encouraged by Jeremy Crawford to house rule that it can grapple with non-hands, so that's an easy out if your GM wants to limit wielding complex tools without limiting grappling.
If your GM *does* let you festoon the thing with hands, don't forget to also ask for permission to modify it to be able to speak, so it can operate magic items that require speech. That alchemy jug won't produce its own mayonnaise.
It actually says that it can take any action, including the ones in it's stat block.
"In combat, the defender shares your initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately after yours. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another action. That action can be one in its stat block or some other action. If you are incapacitated, the defender can take any action of its choice, not just Dodge."