So I  was looking up the Bard 'College of Swords' (Xanathar's p. 15), specifically the flourishes. I understand the mechanic of the 'defensive' and 'slashing' flourishes, but the mechanic (or rather, the point!) of the 'mobile flourish' bewildered me. RAW it says:

Mobile Flourish. You can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration to cause the weapon to deal extra damage to the target you hit. The damage equals the number you roll on the Bardic Inspiration die. You can also push the target up to 5 feet away from you, plus a number of feet equal to the number you roll on that die. You can then immediately use your reaction to move up to your walking speed to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the target.

Basically I'm hoping someone can please help me understand why that last part - the reaction - is useful? That's the part I don't understand. From my understanding, the combat would go like this:

1. Use 'mobile flourish' on a, say, scimitar melee attack; roll a 5 on the inspiration die, so it deals an extra 5 damage, and I push the target 10 feet away.

2. Now I can use my reaction straight away to move 'to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the target' - my question is, why would I do this? Why would I want to move back within 5 feet, so they can strike me straight away on their turn? What benefit does this have? Following RAW, the movement only allows me to walk to an unoccupied space within 5 feet.

Hope someone can explain, much appreciated!

You could move all the way to the other side of the enemy, so it can improve mobility. It can also be used to trap an enemy. If the enemy needs range (archer or mage for example), now they trigger an AoO.

It isn't an every time thing, just a sometime thing. That is why it is a secondary option.

Thanks for your reply. The enemy wouldn't trigger an attack-of-opportunity however, as with the mobile flourish, you've already used your reaction to gain that additional movement.

I see your point about moving to the other side of an enemy (though I would think the circumstances for that to have any kind of use are quite specific).

Quote from Notaris818 >>

Thanks for your reply. The enemy wouldn't trigger an attack-of-opportunity however, as with the mobile flourish, you've already used your reaction to gain that additional movement.

I see your point about moving to the other side of an enemy (though I would think the circumstances for that to have any kind of use are quite specific).

 The enemy will trigger an AoO when they move away to make a ranged attack on their turn.

And yeah some of my examples are kind of niche. I think it will most often be useful for strategic repositioning and cutting off movement options.

Quote from DxJxC >>

Quote from Notaris818 >>

Thanks for your reply. The enemy wouldn't trigger an attack-of-opportunity however, as with the mobile flourish, you've already used your reaction to gain that additional movement.

I see your point about moving to the other side of an enemy (though I would think the circumstances for that to have any kind of use are quite specific).

 The enemy will trigger an AoO when they move away to make a ranged attack on their turn.

And yeah some of my examples are kind of niche. I think it will most often be useful for strategic repositioning and cutting off movement options.

 Can confirm: I have seen it most frequently used in combat situations where the Bard has managed to push the enemy into range of one of their allies, and then use their reaction to move into a position so their ally (or themselves) can benefit from the flanking bonus, which grants you both advantage on melee attack rolls against that enemy. Excellent use of a reaction in that case and yet another way the Bard provides utility to the party.

Interesting! Thank you - I can see the extra utility that the mobility might provide (esp if the DM is running flanking as a houserule). 

Also, if the enemy in question is a ranged attacker, moving back into melee range leaves them at disadvantage.

You might also use Mobile Flourish to get your target away from one or more of your more injured party members.  Or to move an opponent from 15' to 5' of a cliff's edge so that you could push them off (or allow the Druid/Wizard to Gust spell them off) next turn.  It's very useful once you see it in the context of overall party tactics, assuming that the players and their characters get along with each other.  

@Maestrino you're right, but on the enemy's turn they can simply move back out of melee range without provoking an attack of opportunity.

@Song_of_Blues thank you! Very useful in the context of group tactics. 

You're welcome.  That's what we're here for.  

Something I'm finding a little perplexing is that there no size limit on the target of the mobile flourish, no saving throw or strength contest. Per RAW, a small character could push  the terrasque 10ft or off a cliff with it. 

I've thought of putting a restriction on it at my table for this reason. "can push any creature of large size or smaller". Or adding in a strength save equal to the spell save DC. 

I agree, it is strange that there is no size limit on that.  I would probably houserule that in if I were a DM.

Another potential use for Mobile Flourish: Say a monster is grappling one of your allies. You can use Mobile Flourish to push the monster away from your ally, breaking the grapple.* You can then use your reaction to put yourself between the monster and the ally it was grappling.

*Assuming you are able to push the monster farther away from your ally than the monster's reach. This may not work on certain long-tentacled monsters.

I am pretty sure that when you force a creature to move they do not incur an AoO.  

The use I thought of for Mobile Flourish is to trigger a Booming Blade, but that requires a way to get Booming Blade.  Magic Initiate or High Elf will do it.

Since the College of Swords grants you an extra attack, you could follow up after your first attack with another one. Or let's say you stabbed them then kicked them off your blade toward the cliff's edge but they didn't quite fall over. You can follow it up by replacing your second attack with a shove to get them off the edge.

At its most basic form this is a very limited but potentially very useful way of forcing an opponent to reposition.  It can be used to line up more enemies for another party member's attack, say Cone of Cold or Cloudkill or Lightning Bolt.  It also allows the Bard to reposition at the same time, ideally to outside the AoE in question.

Another possible use is to trap an enemy between the Bard and other melee allies.  If the target wants to flee, it may now find it's path blocked.  If the Bard is able to somehow inflict the Frightened condition, they can also force the target to move in a specific direction.

You can also re-enact that cringy thing with the teleporting behind you, because you studied the blade.

While it's nice to have a flourish that creates a gap between you and your target, and an optional Reaction to pursue them...I must confess; it would have been nice to have the freedom to use said Reaction as a means to escape.

I feel like the Flourishes are intended to work in specific situations that happen commonly for a Sword Bard..."Defensive Flourish" for when they must deflect blows..."Slashing Flourish" when you want to deal damage to more than one target...and "Mobile Flourish"...well, it seems like it wanted to be that feature that let the Sword Bard speedily move to where they wanted to go.

Perhaps I am merely lamenting the loss of the Satire Bards Bonus Action "Dash & Disengage" feature, and wish to see it emulated somewhat in the Sword Bards bag of tricks.

It also adds to your movement speed, doesn't it?  

I kind of thought that was the point of the reaction.  You get your regular movement speed, but then again as a reaction as long as you move within 5 feet.  

It's a pretty specific situation, but if you really needed to cover some ground and an enemy is on or near your path:  You could push them potentially 10 feet, then run 20 feet to get behind them. You could then use the +10 movement you got from the flourish attack and any remaining normal movement to take an AoO and keep running.  

So if you have 30 movement speed and roll a 5+ on the flourish, you could move 60 feet in a turn while making an attack and a bonus action.  Hence: "Mobile Flourish."

Quote from jsktrogdor >>

It also adds to your movement speed, doesn't it?  

I kind of thought that was the point of the reaction.  You get your regular movement speed, but then again as a reaction as long as you move within 5 feet.  

It's a pretty specific situation, but if you really needed to cover some ground and an enemy is on or near your path:  You could push them potentially 10 feet, then run 20 feet to get behind them. You could then use the +10 movement you got from the flourish attack and any remaining normal movement to take an AoO and keep running.  

So if you have 30 movement speed and roll a 5+ on the flourish, you could move 60 feet in a turn while making an attack and a bonus action.  Hence: "Mobile Flourish."

 Correct in premise (mobile flourish does effectively give you more movement), wrong in execution (unused movement is not added to your remaining movement for the turn).

Example break down:

• Move 10 feet to reach an enemy.
• Use mobile flourish, push enemy 10 feet
• Use reaction to move 20 (or more depending on diagonal rules and terrain) feet to be on other side of enemy within 5 feet.
• Use remaining 20 feet of movement

Total movement ~50.

+10ft from Blade Flourish's "whenever you take the attack action," though that happens regardless of Mobile Flourish makes 60ft