A question I ask myself every time I make a build using Restrained and/or Grappled Conditions is whether your movement Speed is regained when you free yourself from either.
To Put this into Perspective: If I have an enemy Grappled, and they free themselves from said Grapple with their Action. Do they still get to use their movement or is it still at 0 due to the having been afflicted with the condition at the start of the turn?
I'd say no and here is my reasoning: 1st: You only regain resources like your Action, Bonus Action and Movement Speed at the start of your turn and no other time (at least to my knowledge). 2nd: The mentioned Rule for the Conditions reads:
A grappled creature’s speed becomes 0, and it can’t benefit from any bonus to its speed. A restrained creature’s speed becomes 0, and it can’t benefit from any bonus to its speed.
This is Different from conditions such as Unconscious, which reads:
An unconscious creature is incapacitated (see the condition), can’t move or speak, and is unaware of its surroundings
That is my take on the Topic though, what do you think on this? Is there an actual ruling? I'd love to know
I think it’s understood the the “becomes 0” part only applies as long as the grapple. Otherwise they could never walk anywhere again. Once they break free, they no longer have the grappled condition, and can move. Though they would still draw an opportunity attack if appropriate.
1st: You only regain resources like your Action, Bonus Action and Movement Speed at the start of your turn and no other time (at least to my knowledge).
Those aren't resources you "spend" or "regain", in the same way you regain spell slots and hit points after a long rest
Your speed is just a number that indicates how many feet you can move in a round. It becomes 0 if you're grappled, and goes back to normal the moment you cease to be grappled
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Active characters:
Askatu, hyperfocused vedalken freedom fighter in Wildspace (Zealot barb/Swashbuckler rogue/Battle Master fighter) Green Hill Sunrise, jaded tabaxi mercenary trapped in the Dark Domains (Battle Master fighter) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Your speed is just a number that indicates how many feet you can move in a round. It becomes 0 if you're grappled, and goes back to normal the moment you cease to be grappled
Actually I'm inclined to rule this differently; there are a lot of rules that reference "using" speed, for example:
You can break up your movement on your turn, using some of your speed before and after your action. For example, if you have a speed of 30 feet, you can move 10 feet, take your action, and then move 20 feet.
Whenever you switch, subtract the distance you've already moved from the new speed. The result determines how much farther you can move. If the result is 0 or less, you can't use the new speed during the current move.
This is important for effects that reduce speed, in particular those that halve it like the spirit guardians spell, because it is presumably intended to mean your remaining speed, not your maximum speed (except when those are the same)*. It also does technically mean that if you want to Dash you want to do so when you have as much speed as possible, as Dashing when you have 0 speed left would actually achieve nothing, since Dashing copies your current speed, not by your base speed (which is what is referenced during character creation)*.
However there's a lot of inconsistency as well, as many rules just refer to "speed" when they probably mean "base speed" (otherwise they wouldn't work). But the way I rule movement is essentially as follows:
At the start of your turn your current speed is set to your base speed plus any persistent modifiers affecting it (Monk's Unarmored Movement, being grappled etc.).
During your turn you spend some or all of your current speed until you've none left, or decide to stop moving.
At any time during your turn you can decide to Dash, but usually want to do-so at the start.
This would mean that escaping from being grappled wouldn't restore your speed for the turn (it's too late for that), but it does mean you're free to move normally on later turns.
*It is however a pretty vague area of the rules due to the inconsistency, and I'm not sure they've cleared it up any in OneD&D playtests so far (if anything they confused it more as to what the exact intention is, and they made multiple speeds even more awkward and annoying).
It's a classic example of where "idiomatic" rules immediately fall to pieces; they need to pick clear keywords and then use them consistently, otherwise the rules become confusing and intent becomes muddied. For example, are distance, movement and speed the same thing? Who knows! Wizards of the Coast use them seemingly at random, so neither they nor we can hope to know for sure! 😂
As a counter-example, you've got things like freedom of movement which lets you spend 5 feet of movement to escape being grappled, but it doesn't actually say when that happens; the fact it happens "automatically" could imply it happens to prevent being grappled in the first place, but what if you already are? Being the most specific rule that could mean it happens during the speed reset?
In practice, personally I'd rule on this case-by-case. For example, if characters are in some kind of chase or scramble to escape then I'd allow immediate movement because that's the imperative, but if a player is grappling to tank (keep enemies from moving to attack allies) then I'd be inclined to have movement speed not be restored yet, so there's still an opportunity to grapple again, though it partly depends how much a deal costing the action was for that particular enemy (sometimes it's such a big penalty for a monster that that's more than valuable enough on its own).
Your speed is just a number that indicates how many feet you can move in a round. It becomes 0 if you're grappled, and goes back to normal the moment you cease to be grappled
Actually I'm inclined to rule this differently; there are a lot of rules that reference "using" speed, for example
There are all kinds of things in the game you "use" without them being resources you expend and replenish
Unless you can point to a specific rule that says when and how you regain your spent Speed, there is no reason to think it's a depletable resource in that sense. Something like:
At the end of a long rest, a character regains all lost hit points. The character also regains spent Hit Dice, up to a number of dice equal to half of the character's total number of them (minimum of one die). For example, if a character has eight Hit Dice, he or she can regain four spent Hit Dice upon finishing a long rest.
Instead, the rules for turns just say:
On your turn, you can move a distance up to your speed and take one action. You decide whether to move first or take your action first. Your speed — sometimes called your walking speed — is noted on your character sheet.
It says nothing about "At the beginning of your turn, regain any speed you used on your prior turn" or anything like that
Askatu, hyperfocused vedalken freedom fighter in Wildspace (Zealot barb/Swashbuckler rogue/Battle Master fighter) Green Hill Sunrise, jaded tabaxi mercenary trapped in the Dark Domains (Battle Master fighter) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Contrary to an often popular belief, yiour speed never change unless noted otherwise this even when moving and when it specifically change, then it's affected accordingly until restored, so if you're speed is 0, it is no longer 0 when whatever effect reduced it no longer affect you.
This is important for effects that reduce speed, in particular those that halve it like the spirit guardians spell, because it is presumably intended to mean your remaining speed, not your maximum speed (except when those are the same)*. It also does technically mean that if you want to Dash you want to do so when you have as much speed as possible, as Dashing when you have 0 speed left would actually achieve nothing, since Dashing copies your current speed, not by your base speed (which is what is referenced during character creation)*.
However there's a lot of inconsistency as well, as many rules just refer to "speed" when they probably mean "base speed" (otherwise they wouldn't work). But the way I rule movement is essentially as follows:
At the start of your turn your current speed is set to your speed plus any persistent modifiers affecting speed (Monk's Unarmored Movement, being grappled etc.).
During your turn you spend some or all of your current speed until you've none left, or decide to stop moving.
At any time during your turn you can decide to Dash, but usually want to do-so at the start.
This would mean that escaping from being grappled wouldn't restore your speed for the turn (it's too late for that), but it does mean you're free to movement normally on later turns.
In my opinion, the entire explanation above is misinterpreting the term "speed" and therefore is making incorrect rulings. The term speed refers to a rate of movement, both in plain english and within the rules of the game. Rate of movement means distance per unit of time. For example, a human has a speed of 30 by default. Nothing about this changes after some movement has been used. In combat, the 30 means 30 feet per 6 seconds. (distance / time, not just distance).
Here is the rule for the Dash action:
When you take the Dash action, you gain extra movement for the current turn. The increase equals your speed, after applying any modifiers. With a speed of 30 feet, for example, you can move up to 60 feet on your turn if you dash.
Any increase or decrease to your speed changes this additional movement by the same amount. If your speed of 30 feet is reduced to 15 feet, for instance, you can move up to 30 feet this turn if you dash.
The bit at the end about "if your speed of 30 feet is reduced to 15 feet" . . . that has nothing to do with whether or not you've already used 15 feet of movement during the current turn. It's referring to whether or not you are suffering from some sort of ongoing condition that causes you to move at a slower speed, such as being encumbered. So, if you are encumbered and you attempt to Dash, your dashing speed will obviously not be as fast as it would have been if you were not encumbered. But you absolutely can use up all of your movement for the current turn and then take the Dash action in order to gain more movement.
There are all kinds of things in the game you "use" without them being resources you expend and replenish
Unless you can point to a specific rule that says when and how you regain your spent Speed, there is no reason to think it's a depletable resource in that sense. Something like:
Every character and monster has a speed, which is the distance in feet that the character or monster can walk in 1 round
Ergo, at the start of the round a creature has a finite speed that it may use to move (walk, fly etc.), the more it moves, the less speed it has remaining (see previous quotes above).
Contrary to an often popular belief, yiour speed never change unless noted otherwise this even when moving and when it specifically change, then it's affected accordingly until restored, so if you're speed is 0, it is no longer 0 when whatever effect reduced it no longer affect you.
Citation?
Because the rules don't say this, in fact they say a lot of things that don't actually make proper sense considering they use the word speed to refer to at least three different things mechanically, and then other words that may or may not mean one of these or something different.
The movement rules really are a mess when you take a close look at them.
In my opinion, the entire explanation above is misinterpreting the term "speed" and therefore is making incorrect rulings.
Instead of insisting I don't know what words mean, please feel free to actually read all of what I said. I know full well what the word speed is supposed to mean, but I also know how inconsistently and contradictorily it's used in the D&D 5e rules.
I've given multiple rules-as-written quotes, and while I didn't actually blockquote the Dash rules in my post (only tool-tipped it), I also discussed that as well, because it's a good example of just how multiple words used are used inconsistently, as the rules use distance, movement, speed, base speed etc. to refer to essentially the same thing across multiple rules (across multiple page) and why that's problematic, so it isn't the "gotcha" you seem to think it is.
I said what I intended to say in full knowledge of the written text of the rules, I gave my preferred ruling and my reasoning on that basis, along with a note on how I actually run it in light of the problems with the movement rules.
It would have been really nice if people on this sub-forum would read my longer posts fully rather than just rushing to pick out the bits they want to use to try to "win" the argument but it's clear this won't be one of those times, so I'm just going to unsubscribe now, because I'm not interested in yet another circular argument where the same point(s) just get ignored ad nauseum.
I always thought of it as meaning the same thing as "you can't move" but this is an interesting take. I don't think it's particularly realistic though. If you get out of an armlock, you don't have to wait 6 seconds or something before bolting, so I'd rule that the creature can move on the same turn it escapes.
Because the rules don't say this, in fact they say a lot of things that don't actually make proper sense considering they use the word speed to refer to at least three different things mechanically, and then other words that may or may not mean one of these or something different.
The citation below explain how speed is used and most importantly doesn't say its reduce upon moving or that its a ressource spent. This way you can with a speed 30 moves 30 feet, dash and move 30 feet more where if your speed was reduced after moving you couldn't.
Movement and Position: On your turn, you can move a distance up to your speed. You can use as much or as little of your speed as you like on your turn, following the rules here
I would say that your speed is what it is at character creation, except for when an effect or feature modifies it. If your speed is 30 and the grappled condition makes it 0, then it becomes 30 again as soon as that condition is no longer modifying your speed. As for the ability to move, the general rule says you can move up to your speed on your turn. If your speed was 0, you haven't used any movement. If you misty step away from someone who is grappling you, then you are no longer grappled. Your speed is 30 again, and it's still your turn, so you are free to move up to your speed unless there is something else modifying your speed or your ability to move.
Barring special rules or features, the target uses their Action to break being grappled, which can be at the beginning of their turn, thus ending the condition during their turn. If they're not otherwise restrained, incapacitated, prone, etc. etc. Then I would rule they've not only regained full use of their full movement speed but, yes, can also move if they so choose.
I found a Devs tweet on the subject for those interested:
@Glytched Is Freedom of Movement Broken? It doesn't seem to help a Grappled or Restrained creature, at all. It this a mistake or working as intended? if your speed is 0, how do you expend 5 feet of movement?
@JeremyECrawford Freedom of movement is an example of a feature (an exception) that lets you circumvent a general rule; it lets you spend 5 feet of movement to escape a grapple, even though your speed is 0. Magic!
@Glytched So under freedom of movement, a creatures speed can be reduced to 0 (non-magically) but they are able to suspend 5ft to escape? So after that, (if in init.) their speed would still be zero for that turn?
@JeremyECrawford If you escaped the grapple, your speed isn’t 0 any longer.
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A question I ask myself every time I make a build using Restrained and/or Grappled Conditions is whether your movement Speed is regained when you free yourself from either.
To Put this into Perspective: If I have an enemy Grappled, and they free themselves from said Grapple with their Action. Do they still get to use their movement or is it still at 0 due to the having been afflicted with the condition at the start of the turn?
I'd say no and here is my reasoning:
1st: You only regain resources like your Action, Bonus Action and Movement Speed at the start of your turn and no other time (at least to my knowledge).
2nd: The mentioned Rule for the Conditions reads:
This is Different from conditions such as Unconscious, which reads:
That is my take on the Topic though, what do you think on this? Is there an actual ruling? I'd love to know
I think it’s understood the the “becomes 0” part only applies as long as the grapple. Otherwise they could never walk anywhere again. Once they break free, they no longer have the grappled condition, and can move. Though they would still draw an opportunity attack if appropriate.
Those aren't resources you "spend" or "regain", in the same way you regain spell slots and hit points after a long rest
Your speed is just a number that indicates how many feet you can move in a round. It becomes 0 if you're grappled, and goes back to normal the moment you cease to be grappled
Active characters:
Askatu, hyperfocused vedalken freedom fighter in Wildspace (Zealot barb/Swashbuckler rogue/Battle Master fighter)
Green Hill Sunrise, jaded tabaxi mercenary trapped in the Dark Domains (Battle Master fighter)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Actually I'm inclined to rule this differently; there are a lot of rules that reference "using" speed, for example:
Movement and Position (Combat):
Breaking Up Your Move (Combat):
Using Different Speeds (Combat):
This is important for effects that reduce speed, in particular those that halve it like the spirit guardians spell, because it is presumably intended to mean your remaining speed, not your maximum speed (except when those are the same)*. It also does technically mean that if you want to Dash you want to do so when you have as much speed as possible, as Dashing when you have 0 speed left would actually achieve nothing, since Dashing copies your current speed, not by your base speed (which is what is referenced during character creation)*.
However there's a lot of inconsistency as well, as many rules just refer to "speed" when they probably mean "base speed" (otherwise they wouldn't work). But the way I rule movement is essentially as follows:
This would mean that escaping from being grappled wouldn't restore your speed for the turn (it's too late for that), but it does mean you're free to move normally on later turns.
*It is however a pretty vague area of the rules due to the inconsistency, and I'm not sure they've cleared it up any in OneD&D playtests so far (if anything they confused it more as to what the exact intention is, and they made multiple speeds even more awkward and annoying).
It's a classic example of where "idiomatic" rules immediately fall to pieces; they need to pick clear keywords and then use them consistently, otherwise the rules become confusing and intent becomes muddied. For example, are distance, movement and speed the same thing? Who knows! Wizards of the Coast use them seemingly at random, so neither they nor we can hope to know for sure! 😂
As a counter-example, you've got things like freedom of movement which lets you spend 5 feet of movement to escape being grappled, but it doesn't actually say when that happens; the fact it happens "automatically" could imply it happens to prevent being grappled in the first place, but what if you already are? Being the most specific rule that could mean it happens during the speed reset?
In practice, personally I'd rule on this case-by-case. For example, if characters are in some kind of chase or scramble to escape then I'd allow immediate movement because that's the imperative, but if a player is grappling to tank (keep enemies from moving to attack allies) then I'd be inclined to have movement speed not be restored yet, so there's still an opportunity to grapple again, though it partly depends how much a deal costing the action was for that particular enemy (sometimes it's such a big penalty for a monster that that's more than valuable enough on its own).
Characters: Bullette, Chortle, Dracarys Noir, Edward Merryspell, Habard Ashery, Legion, Peregrine
My Homebrew: Feats | Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Races
Guides: Creating Sub-Races Using Trait Options
WIP (feedback needed): Blood Mage, Chromatic Sorcerers, Summoner, Trickster Domain, Unlucky, Way of the Daoist (Drunken Master), Weapon Smith
Please don't reply to my posts unless you've read what they actually say.
There are all kinds of things in the game you "use" without them being resources you expend and replenish
Unless you can point to a specific rule that says when and how you regain your spent Speed, there is no reason to think it's a depletable resource in that sense. Something like:
Instead, the rules for turns just say:
It says nothing about "At the beginning of your turn, regain any speed you used on your prior turn" or anything like that
Active characters:
Askatu, hyperfocused vedalken freedom fighter in Wildspace (Zealot barb/Swashbuckler rogue/Battle Master fighter)
Green Hill Sunrise, jaded tabaxi mercenary trapped in the Dark Domains (Battle Master fighter)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Contrary to an often popular belief, yiour speed never change unless noted otherwise this even when moving and when it specifically change, then it's affected accordingly until restored, so if you're speed is 0, it is no longer 0 when whatever effect reduced it no longer affect you.
In my opinion, the entire explanation above is misinterpreting the term "speed" and therefore is making incorrect rulings. The term speed refers to a rate of movement, both in plain english and within the rules of the game. Rate of movement means distance per unit of time. For example, a human has a speed of 30 by default. Nothing about this changes after some movement has been used. In combat, the 30 means 30 feet per 6 seconds. (distance / time, not just distance).
Here is the rule for the Dash action:
The bit at the end about "if your speed of 30 feet is reduced to 15 feet" . . . that has nothing to do with whether or not you've already used 15 feet of movement during the current turn. It's referring to whether or not you are suffering from some sort of ongoing condition that causes you to move at a slower speed, such as being encumbered. So, if you are encumbered and you attempt to Dash, your dashing speed will obviously not be as fast as it would have been if you were not encumbered. But you absolutely can use up all of your movement for the current turn and then take the Dash action in order to gain more movement.
Movement (Adventuring):
Ergo, at the start of the round a creature has a finite speed that it may use to move (walk, fly etc.), the more it moves, the less speed it has remaining (see previous quotes above).
Citation?
Because the rules don't say this, in fact they say a lot of things that don't actually make proper sense considering they use the word speed to refer to at least three different things mechanically, and then other words that may or may not mean one of these or something different.
The movement rules really are a mess when you take a close look at them.
Instead of insisting I don't know what words mean, please feel free to actually read all of what I said. I know full well what the word speed is supposed to mean, but I also know how inconsistently and contradictorily it's used in the D&D 5e rules.
I've given multiple rules-as-written quotes, and while I didn't actually blockquote the Dash rules in my post (only tool-tipped it), I also discussed that as well, because it's a good example of just how multiple words used are used inconsistently, as the rules use distance, movement, speed, base speed etc. to refer to essentially the same thing across multiple rules (across multiple page) and why that's problematic, so it isn't the "gotcha" you seem to think it is.
I said what I intended to say in full knowledge of the written text of the rules, I gave my preferred ruling and my reasoning on that basis, along with a note on how I actually run it in light of the problems with the movement rules.
It would have been really nice if people on this sub-forum would read my longer posts fully rather than just rushing to pick out the bits they want to use to try to "win" the argument but it's clear this won't be one of those times, so I'm just going to unsubscribe now, because I'm not interested in yet another circular argument where the same point(s) just get ignored ad nauseum.
Characters: Bullette, Chortle, Dracarys Noir, Edward Merryspell, Habard Ashery, Legion, Peregrine
My Homebrew: Feats | Items | Monsters | Spells | Subclasses | Races
Guides: Creating Sub-Races Using Trait Options
WIP (feedback needed): Blood Mage, Chromatic Sorcerers, Summoner, Trickster Domain, Unlucky, Way of the Daoist (Drunken Master), Weapon Smith
Please don't reply to my posts unless you've read what they actually say.
I always thought of it as meaning the same thing as "you can't move" but this is an interesting take. I don't think it's particularly realistic though. If you get out of an armlock, you don't have to wait 6 seconds or something before bolting, so I'd rule that the creature can move on the same turn it escapes.
The citation below explain how speed is used and most importantly doesn't say its reduce upon moving or that its a ressource spent. This way you can with a speed 30 moves 30 feet, dash and move 30 feet more where if your speed was reduced after moving you couldn't.
Movement and Position: On your turn, you can move a distance up to your speed. You can use as much or as little of your speed as you like on your turn, following the rules here
I would say that your speed is what it is at character creation, except for when an effect or feature modifies it. If your speed is 30 and the grappled condition makes it 0, then it becomes 30 again as soon as that condition is no longer modifying your speed. As for the ability to move, the general rule says you can move up to your speed on your turn. If your speed was 0, you haven't used any movement. If you misty step away from someone who is grappling you, then you are no longer grappled. Your speed is 30 again, and it's still your turn, so you are free to move up to your speed unless there is something else modifying your speed or your ability to move.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Barring special rules or features, the target uses their Action to break being grappled, which can be at the beginning of their turn, thus ending the condition during their turn. If they're not otherwise restrained, incapacitated, prone, etc. etc. Then I would rule they've not only regained full use of their full movement speed but, yes, can also move if they so choose.
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I found a Devs tweet on the subject for those interested: