Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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Hypothetical scenario:
A is grappling B
Somebody else comes along and blasts them both with a thunderwave. They both fail the save, and are blown straight away from the caster.
By the rules, is the grapple broken?
Should the grapple be broken?
I think it would depend on the exact geometry of the situation, but probably not?
Just moving someone isn't enough to break a grapple; they have to be moved out of the grapple's reach. If the grappler and the grappled target are both moved the same distance away from some third point, it's unlikely to change the distance between the two of them at all.
pronouns: he/she/they
Per RAW, it wouldn't be broken unless A and B were somehow pushed in different directions
I don't think it would be outrageous for a DM to ask the grappler to make an Athletics check to hang on in that scenario, though
Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid)
PIPA - Planar Interception/Protection Aeormaton, warforged bodyguard and ex-wizard hunter (Warrior of the Elements monk/Cartographer artificer)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
RAW: it depends onlocation and trigonometry.
Beeaking a grapple via forced movement requires either the grappler to be forced away from the grappled, or the grappled to be forced away from the grappler.
Thunderwave pushes vreatures directly away from you.
So If one wanted to be strictly by the rules, i think mathematically if the caster is at coordinate 0,0 and the grapller is due east at 1,0 and the grappled charavter is northeast at 1,1, then the grappler would be moved tl10 feet east to 3,0 and the grappled would be moved 10 feet to the northeast to 3,3
That would put a and b 10 feet apart and break the grapple.
But if the caster is at 0,0, the grappler is at 1,0, and the grappled is at 2,0, then both a and b get pushed due east and end up at 3,0 and 4,0 and are still within reach so are still grappled.
If A and B are perpendicular to the caster, but far enough away, the trigonometry starts to work out that it looks like they both get pushed straight east, even though there should be some north/south separation, if its less than 2.5 feet, theyd stay next to.each other.
So, itlf you were converting the rules.into a computer program, the answer would be "it depends", and the program would do the trigonometry and calculate end posiotions and if they are far enough apart, grapple ends. But if you are a human dm, tryiing to keep combat moving, probably just flip a coin. In the aoe of thunderwave there are probably 50% of the scenarios that mathematically end uo separated, and the other half, they dont.
Athletics check makes the most sense. Depends on where the thunder wave was placed, though. What if the grapplee was the caster?
Heyo! You can call me Link. Here’s a bit about me:
Roomba Knight, Architect of the Cataclysm, Foxy Lunar Archpriest. Dubbed The Fluffy Bowman by Golden. He/Him
Theatre Kid, Ravenclaw, bookworm, DM, Lego fanatic, mythology nerd, pedantic about spelling. I also love foxes, cats, otters, and red pandas!
I love K-pop Demon Hunters and Korean Mythology. If you want to ask me about something, send me a PM!
I try to keep the peace and be neutral most of the time…
Then that could be a very effective way to break the grapple, unless the grappler has some bonkers range on their attack. There's no way to place a thunderwave that wouldn't push the grappler away from the caster
Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid)
PIPA - Planar Interception/Protection Aeormaton, warforged bodyguard and ex-wizard hunter (Warrior of the Elements monk/Cartographer artificer)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Unless the grappler was a roper or something like that.
Heyo! You can call me Link. Here’s a bit about me:
Roomba Knight, Architect of the Cataclysm, Foxy Lunar Archpriest. Dubbed The Fluffy Bowman by Golden. He/Him
Theatre Kid, Ravenclaw, bookworm, DM, Lego fanatic, mythology nerd, pedantic about spelling. I also love foxes, cats, otters, and red pandas!
I love K-pop Demon Hunters and Korean Mythology. If you want to ask me about something, send me a PM!
I try to keep the peace and be neutral most of the time…
I'd say i would depend If the distance between the Grappled target and the grappler exceeds the grapple’s range, then the grapple end. Otherwise it would remain.