D&D 5E Great Weapon Master Feat Question

[Valador]

So, my team is out here in Poland on mission in no man's land with limited internet access and nothing around this military post... so we decided to start up a D&D campaign. As I'm building my signature Paladin, I was looking at the Great Weapon Master feat and a question popped into my head...

Q:
Can the bonus action attack be taken after a move? i.e. I attack and kill or crit a critter, move, and then take my feat awarded bonus attack.

The flavor of the feat description would make it appear that the intent is to basically attack in one position, using the momentum of the first attack to carry over into another... However, all it really says is that if you meet the requirements, you are given a bonus attack. It says nothing about any sort of adjacent enemies, etc.

So, how would you guys interpret this?

I would probably be inclined to allow moving in between the attack and the bonus attack simply because RAW does not specify that it cannot be done.

 

[Thyrwyn]

The bonus action can be taken at any time.

You choose when to take a bonus action during your turn, unless the bonus action’s timing is specified, and anything that deprives you of your ability to take actions also prevents you from taking a bonus action.

 

[Paraxis]

Yes you are correct, by RAW you just gain a bonus action and can use it after you take more movement. That is how my table plays it, but I have seen some DM's care more about the fluff than the mechanics and rule the other way so you might want to double check with them before you build your character.

 

[Valador]

Thank you, gentlemen!

 

[Minsc]

Awesome!

I hadn't read into it too much, but I was thinking it was just like Cleave from 3e. I'm glad you can move.

 

[Barsoom]

The bonus action can be taken at any time.

I disagree. In fact, let's look again at the quote you brought up yourself:

You choose when to take a bonus action during your turn, unless the bonus action’s timing is specified, and anything that deprives you of your ability to take actions also prevents you from taking a bonus action.

Note the "unless the bonus action's timing is specified" clause.

In this particular case, is the bonus action's timing indeed specified? Yes, it is: "when you score a critical hit with a melee weapon or reduce a creature to 0 hit points ..."

So it seems that, by RAW, you must take the bonus action attack right there and then.

 

[Valador]

I go off the key part that says "on your turn, when..." Which to me makes it sound like at any time during your turn as long as you met one of those criteria... It doesn't say you must Attack instantly, just that during your turn you gain a bonus Attack. Otherwise, once you reduce something to 0 and there's nothing in range then you essentially have a semi uselss feat...

 

[Kikuras]

Most other feats that restrict the scope of the use of that feat are rather specific in how that feat is restricted. By no means is there a specific restriction as to when the bonus action occurs other than it occur after a critical hit or dropping the opponent to 0. It is also important to note that the entire purpose of the bonus action is to attack another creature, yet without the ability to move, it is quite possible that you wouldn't be able to use it, as there might be a lack of a valid target within reach.

 

[Barsoom]

Most other feats that restrict the scope of the use of that feat are rather specific in how that feat is restricted. By no means is there a specific restriction as to when the bonus action occurs other than it occur after a critical hit or dropping the opponent to 0.

Nope. Not "after". There's no word "after" present in the feat description. The keyword that is present is "when". It occurs "when you score a critical hit or drop.... etc". Which falls exactly under the "unless the bonus action’s timing is specified" clause.

It is also important to note that the entire purpose of the bonus action is to attack another creature, yet without the ability to move, it is quite possible that you wouldn't be able to use it, as there might be a lack of a valid target within reach.

Now we're delving into RAW vs. RAI. It is possible that the intent was to let you move and they just forgot to word it properly.

It is also possible the intent was only to use it when surrounded by a horde of enemies. Who are we to know? If you're the DM, feel free to interpret their intent as you will, of course, but if the question is about what the rule actually is, there can be only one answer - the actual rule is that you must take the bonus attack immediately.

 

[Gadget]

Personally, I think GWM is a little on the strong side, so any interpretation that would limit it without being silly would get a lot of buy in from me.