I had a situation come up in a game and wanted to see if others had some insight/solutions. I had a party who wanted to tackle and restrain an opponent so they could question them--the person was hostile and initiative had been rolled. The first player did a grapple (per rules) and they were successful then the next player did the same, then the following the same, at which point I ruled the person was restrained, the party then drug him to the ground and bound their victim. I did not have an inherent problem with it a the time, but it was the first time I used the 5e grapple rules. Honestly, I think it is way too easy to grapple someone--and although grappling does not, by definition, lead to someone being restrained, it, logically can lead there.
I guess where I am having issue is that it simply seems too easy to grapple an opponent (little potential consequence, just loss of an action) when in reality attempting to grab someone in combat is not that easy and even if successful could leave one vulnerable.
Any thoughts on how to adjudicate grappling leading to restraining?
The Player’s handbook states in the conditions section, “if multiple effects impose the same condition on a creature, each instance has its own duration, but the condition’s effects don’t get any worse.” So, if you are suffering from 3 people grappling you, that would mean that you would be grappled (not restrained), but you would have to break out from all 3 player’s grapples individually since they each have their own duration.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I had a situation come up in a game and wanted to see if others had some insight/solutions. I had a party who wanted to tackle and restrain an opponent so they could question them--the person was hostile and initiative had been rolled. The first player did a grapple (per rules) and they were successful then the next player did the same, then the following the same, at which point I ruled the person was restrained, the party then drug him to the ground and bound their victim. I did not have an inherent problem with it a the time, but it was the first time I used the 5e grapple rules. Honestly, I think it is way too easy to grapple someone--and although grappling does not, by definition, lead to someone being restrained, it, logically can lead there.
I guess where I am having issue is that it simply seems too easy to grapple an opponent (little potential consequence, just loss of an action) when in reality attempting to grab someone in combat is not that easy and even if successful could leave one vulnerable.
Any thoughts on how to adjudicate grappling leading to restraining?
The Player’s handbook states in the conditions section, “if multiple effects impose the same condition on a creature, each instance has its own duration, but the condition’s effects don’t get any worse.” So, if you are suffering from 3 people grappling you, that would mean that you would be grappled (not restrained), but you would have to break out from all 3 player’s grapples individually since they each have their own duration.