D&D 5E D&D 5E Does flanking grant advantage ?

[Awesome Adam]

We've been playing with that if 2, or more, PCs flank an oppoenent, they have advantage. I don't know if this just a decision on the fly, or confused something from sneak attack, but we've switched who is Dungeon Mastering and he asked me about, because he can't find in the PHB.

Now, I swear I've read people mention it before on the forums, am I misremembering or just not looking in the right spot in the rules ?

Any help would be appreciated, so thank you in advance,
Adam

EDIT: The answer I was looking for is found on page 251 of the DMG

When a creature and at least one of it's allies are adjacent to an enemy and on opposite sides or corners of the enemy space, they flank the enemy, and each of them has advantage on melee attack rolls against the enemy.

 

[Ovinomancer]

We've been playing with that if 2, or more, PCs flank an oppoenent, they have advantage. I don't know if this just a decision on the fly, or confused something from sneak attack, but we've switched who is Dungeon Mastering and he asked me about, because he can't find in the PHB.

Now, I swear I've read people mention it before on the forums, am I misremembering or just not looking in the right spot in the rules ?

Any help would be appreciated, so thank you in advance,
Adam

Optional rule in the DMG p 251.

 

[mellored]

Not normally.

But there's an optional rule for flanking in the DMG. Not sure of the exact bonus.

 

[Reynard]

No, but an ally can grant you advantage:

Help

You can lend your aid to another creature in the completion of a task. When you take the Help action, the creature you aid gains advantage on the next ability check it makes to perform the task you are helping with, provided that it makes the check before the start of your next turn.

Alternatively, you can aid a friendly creature in attacking a creature within 5 feet of you. You feint, distract the target, or in some other way team up to make your ally’s attack more effective. If your ally attacks the target before your next turn, the first attack roll is made with advantage.

 

[Awesome Adam]

Optional rule in the DMG p 251.

THANK YOU !!

I knew I wasn't just imagining it. Did completely forget there were some combat rules in the DMG.

When a creature and at least one of it's allies are adjacent to an enemy and on opposite sides or corners of the enemy space, they flank the enemy, and each of them has advantage on melee attack rolls against the enemy.

 

[Reynard]

THANK YOU !!

I knew I wasn't just imagining it. Did completely forget there were some combat rules in the DMG.

When a creature and at least one of it's allies are adjacent to an enemy and on opposite sides or corners of the enemy space, they flank the enemy, and each of them has advantage on melee attack rolls against the enemy.

We use a house rule in which having a 2:1 or greater advantage over your foes grants, well, advantage in melee. So 2 goblins versus 1 PC have advantage, but 3 PCs versus 2 orcs don't.

 

[ad_hoc]

THANK YOU !!

I knew I wasn't just imagining it. Did completely forget there were some combat rules in the DMG.

When a creature and at least one of it's allies are adjacent to an enemy and on opposite sides or corners of the enemy space, they flank the enemy, and each of them has advantage on melee attack rolls against the enemy.

Because it is trivially easy to gain, it essentially breaks the game.

Many powerful abilities involve gaining advantage. For example, this optional rule is a huge nerf to Barbarians.

It also removes all incentive to get creative in combat.

My players requested it so we tried it for half a session before we put a stop to it.

 

[strider13x]

Yeah, because everybody is standing so still during a fight... That is the issue with gridded combat, it assumes everyone is static. In an actual fight to the death it isn't so simple, who is letting someone get behind you like that? Only the DM (and some special abilities) grants advantage, not players (unless using the Help Action), that is why that optional rule is in the DMG and not the PHB.
I do like the 2:1 ratio idea though...

 

[Halivar]

Because it is trivially easy to gain, it essentially breaks the game.

FWIW, we've been running with this rule since day 1, and it really evens out in the end, because monsters are also smart enough to seek advantage. It makes our fights more mobile, as everyone is trying to get into flanking and out of being flanked. This is our solution to otherwise static combat.

 

[Hrothgar Rannúlfr]

We've also been using the optional flanking rule. It works well at out table.