Even if the monster had 20ft reach he'd still provoke the PAM when he attacks him with a natural weapon because he's entering the reach. Any way you slice it, some portion of him enters the reach to even be capable of attacking the PAM dude.
We often conflate PAM's special opportunity attack with the default opportunity attacks but PAM's opportunity attack doesn't mention movement whatsoever. Only entering the reach.
When you punch an adjacent creature you are not entering it's space. Entering means moving into , not simply reaching into it.
"Entering" isn't defined in 5e. As such, use the common use language. If someone punches you, they're entered your reach.
They have not. If a creature has 10 foot reach, and you have normal 5 foot reach, you cannot attack them at 10 feet. Only if they or you move closer.
They have entered your reach if they're making bodily contact with you. 100% undeniable. They're making contact with your face. They've obvious come within 10ft of you.
Interesting. Do you then give people free opportunity attacks against every creature with a reach attack?
No, I follow the rules.
If it has to enter your reach to attack then it would certainly be considered leaving your reach when it pulls its attack back afterward.
Leaving your reach isn't the trigger for Opportunity Attacks why does it matter if they leave your reach?
Do you let folks take opportunity attacks to knock the polearm out of an attacker's hand every time they make an attack from 10'?
Nope. That's isn't a thing.
Personally, I'd never play it as described here. "Entering" in my opinion, in the context of opportunity attacks, refers to the creature MOVING to enter the region threatened ('reach') by another creature.
5e doesn't define it as such. You, if you DM, are certainly free to rule that is what it means if you want. The books don't.
It is not referring to momentary entry/exit by extremities, appendages or weapons performing an attack.
Certainly a reasonable call to make for you and your table, sure.
However, if another DM wants to play it otherwise by using a different interpretation of "enter/exit" then go for it.
Enter, sure. But nothing talks about "exiting". To be clear, normal opportunity attacks don't trigger by leaving someone's reach. Specifically and exactly they:
Chapter 9: Combat
"You can make an opportunity attack when a hostile creature that you can see moves out of your reach.
Normal opportunity attacks trigger specifically by moving. Polearm Master makes no distinction.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Sage Advice officially ruled on what constitute entering an AOE, which can translate for reach. You are not passing INTO them if you're not moving.
Reading the description of any of those spells, you might wonder whether a creature is considered to be entering the spell’s area of effect if the area is created on the creature’s space. ... Our design intent for such spells is this: a creature enters the area of effect when the creature passes into it.
So it only needs to pass into it. A punch into the area would certainly cause it to pass into it.
You're not passing INTO it by merely putting an hand in it.
As far as I am aware 5e mechanics do not allow attacking specific body parts. The tentacle/arm is not occupying a space separate from the body. Therefor you still have to attack the square the creature occupies.
Nothing in the polearm feat allows for you to attack a creatures appendage.
As far as I am aware 5e mechanics do not allow attacking specific body parts. The tentacle/arm is not occupying a space separate from the body. Therefor you still have to attack the square the creature occupies.
Nothing in the polearm feat allows for you to attack a creatures appendage.
This is true also.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
10 feet away is “within the 10 ft. reach.” If the monster is 15 feet from Character A, and moves 5 feet closer and is now only 10 feet away, then yes, Character A can use their PAM attack.
If monster is 10 feet away and moves 5 feet closer to Character A, then no because the Monster was already within Character A’s reach.
If monster is within 5 feet of Character A (so 5 feet away) and moves 5 feet back from Character A to a total of 10 feet from Character A (10 feet away) then no because the Monster was already within Character A’s reach.
Monster Movement Beginning End 🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲|🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲 🔲🔲🧟♂️🔲🔲|🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲 ⬅️ 🧟♂️ Is 15 feet away from 🧝♂️ 🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲|🔲🔲🧟♂️🔲🔲 ⬅️ 🧟♂️ Moves up to 10 ft from 🧝♂️ 🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲|🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲 🔲🔲🧝♂️🔲🔲|🔲🔲🧝♂️🔲🔲⬅️ 🧝♂️ Makes PAM attack. ✅ 🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲|🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲 🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲|🔲🔲🔲🔲🔲 🧟♂️=Monster 🧝♂️=Character A 🔲=5ft
I know this is debatable, as I was reading here and in other posts (see Polearm master with sentinel), but I really need to ask something because if I don't, I'll go crazy. And this diagram is exactly what I needed.
Suppose character A also has the Sentinel feat. Does it make sense to stop the monster when it is at 15 feet? Physically, your weapon doesn't have that length.
Common sense tells me the monster should be stopped at 10 feet because it tried to move from 10 feet to 5 feet, triggering both the Polearm Master and Sentinel feats.
The Polearm Master feat says "While you are wielding a glaive, halberd, pike, quarterstaff, or spear, other creatures provoke an opportunity attack from you when they enter the reach you have with that weapon." If it occured before it does, it would be out of reach. So the target has to be within the last space/square of your reach.
While not official ruling, i did asked the Dev on Twitter back in 2014;
@Plaguescarred Does a Polearm Master opportunity attack interrupt movement?
@JeremyECrawford The Polearm Master attack is in response to a creature entering your reach, so movement can be before and after it.
@Plaguescarred It doesnt interrupt movement being an opportunity attack?
@JeremyECrawford It is interrupting any further movement the target might have, after it is within your reach.
@Plaguescarred Ok so it works differently than a normal opportunity attack then, which interurpt before leaving your reach (otherwise target would be out) And thus not interurpting creature ‘entering your reach”, more reacting after they did. Polearm Master fluff say you can keep your enemies at bay with reach weapons is not really true if attack is when adjacent
@JeremyECrawford On the grid, the target is adjacent if you're using a quarterstaff, but 5 feet away with the other PM weapons.
@JeremyECrawford To be clear, the word "interrupt" has no special meaning in the game. It's used to clarify timing: "X happens before Y."
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Ok, folks, so the diagram was correct, as was the linked answer in my previous post, and the following sentence from @Quar1on:
If the question is if moving from 10 feet away to 5 feet away from somebody with PAM triggers an opportunity attack, then no (assuming the weapon has reach). PAM triggers when somebody enters your reach, so if your reach is 10 they can move around all they want within that 10 foot radius.
Please, allow me to add my conclusion here. As you mentioned in this previous reply, @Plaguescarred:
Reading the description of any of those spells, you might wonder whether a creature is considered to be entering the spell’s area of effect if the area is created on the creature’s space. ... Our design intent for such spells is this: a creature enters the area of effect when the creature passes into it.
Because most creatures have a 5-foot reach, their melee reach extends to the adjacent 8 squares (24 squares if they have a 10-foot reach). Using a grid, this should be the area covered by their reach:
So, when a creature enters the reach you have with that weapon (green or black square), PAM!
Because most creatures have a 5-foot reach, their melee reach extends to the adjacent 8 squares (24 squares if they have a 10-foot reach). Using a grid, this should be the area covered by their reach:
Correction, a Polearm Master with 10 foot reach don't extends to 24 squares but 16 squares. Squares deeper within it's reach aren't considered as entering it's reach as the creature is already in it.
Similarly, a Polearm Master with 5 foot reach don't extends to the square it occupy for the same reason.
No, I follow the rules.
Leaving your reach isn't the trigger for Opportunity Attacks why does it matter if they leave your reach?
Nope. That's isn't a thing.
5e doesn't define it as such. You, if you DM, are certainly free to rule that is what it means if you want. The books don't.
Certainly a reasonable call to make for you and your table, sure.
Enter, sure. But nothing talks about "exiting". To be clear, normal opportunity attacks don't trigger by leaving someone's reach. Specifically and exactly they:
Normal opportunity attacks trigger specifically by moving. Polearm Master makes no distinction.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
You're not passing INTO it by merely putting an hand in it.
loll yeah. In that thread at least it was established that you were moving when entering ☺
As far as I am aware 5e mechanics do not allow attacking specific body parts. The tentacle/arm is not occupying a space separate from the body. Therefor you still have to attack the square the creature occupies.
Nothing in the polearm feat allows for you to attack a creatures appendage.
This is true also.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
I know this is debatable, as I was reading here and in other posts (see Polearm master with sentinel), but I really need to ask something because if I don't, I'll go crazy. And this diagram is exactly what I needed.
Suppose character A also has the Sentinel feat. Does it make sense to stop the monster when it is at 15 feet? Physically, your weapon doesn't have that length.
Common sense tells me the monster should be stopped at 10 feet because it tried to move from 10 feet to 5 feet, triggering both the Polearm Master and Sentinel feats.
The Polearm Master feat says "While you are wielding a glaive, halberd, pike, quarterstaff, or spear, other creatures provoke an opportunity attack from you when they enter the reach you have with that weapon." If it occured before it does, it would be out of reach. So the target has to be within the last space/square of your reach.
While not official ruling, i did asked the Dev on Twitter back in 2014;
Think of it like this: to attack them with your opportunity attack, they need to be in range of that attack.
If normal op attacks triggered after they left 5ft the target would be too far to hit.
Similarly, if the PAM op attack triggered before they enter your reach the target would be too far to hit.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Ok, folks, so the diagram was correct, as was the linked answer in my previous post, and the following sentence from @Quar1on:
Please, allow me to add my conclusion here. As you mentioned in this previous reply, @Plaguescarred:
Because most creatures have a 5-foot reach, their melee reach extends to the adjacent 8 squares (24 squares if they have a 10-foot reach). Using a grid, this should be the area covered by their reach:
So, when a creature enters the reach you have with that weapon (green or black square), PAM!
Correction, a Polearm Master with 10 foot reach don't extends to 24 squares but 16 squares. Squares deeper within it's reach aren't considered as entering it's reach as the creature is already in it.
Similarly, a Polearm Master with 5 foot reach don't extends to the square it occupy for the same reason.
Right about "Squares deeper within it's reach aren't considered as entering it's reach as the creature is already in it".
But... 12 or 16 squares? Is that because you are not including some squares?
Maybe this image from here (5ft Squares VS Reach) is useful:
Typo, 16, i corrected it