D&D 5E Dragging a fallen comrade to 'safety' isn't safe

[Herobizkit]

So, assume you're behind an ally who has just hit 0 HP and fallen unconscious as a result of a solid melee hit from his opponent. Both you and the opponent are within 5' of the fallen ally, who is now prone and bleeding out. Like a good soldier, you want to get your ally out of there.

As I understand it, dragging a "grappled" target takes half your move. Assuming the DM wants to rule it like a grapple, you can drag your ally 15' away from the opponent with a move action once you initiate the grapple (which automatically succeeds, of course). Once you begin the drag, though...

Am I correct in assuming the drag would trigger an OA from the opponent? If so, I believe the attack would also be at Advantage (as the ally is prone) and any hit would be a critical (as the ally is unconscious).

Doesn't make for much battlefront heroics, bit I think that's RAW correct.

Am I missing anything?

 

[Iosue]

You don't grapple an unconscious creature. It would be using an object as an action, or improvising an action. The grabbed ally wouldn't be fighting your movement so any move limitation would be based on encumbrance, not the grapple rules.

Also, OAs are only triggered by moving out of an opponent's reach, so the movement would trigger the OA, not the grabbing the ally, regardless of whether the grapple rules are used or not.

 

[Charles Rampant]

In general, fleeing from combat in 5e is really tough. The only people that can do it with any grace are Monks, Rogues, and spellcasters with access to Misty Step, Teleport, Expeditious Retreat or Word of Recall. Everyone else will have to either take more damage on the way out, or not be able to get far enough away to not just be caught next turn anyway.

Only way around it would be, I think, to add a 'fleeing' action to the game, which combined Dash and Disengage, but forbade you from attacking the turn afterwards.

 

[dropbear8mybaby]

Also, OAs are only triggered by moving out of an opponent's reach, so the movement would trigger the OA, not the grabbing the ally, regardless of whether the grapple rules are used or not.

Only the movement of the character doing the dragging would trigger an OA. The unconscious character isn't the one moving, they're being moved, and therefore doesn't qualify for an OA.

 

[Horwath]

There is no grapple as your friend does not make any resistance to being dragged. It's all up to your strength.

There is only potential of AoO vs you. You can do without if you grab your ally from opposite side in respect to the enemy.

99% chance is that in battle no one will spend and action to hit downed enemy while his head it being threatened by still very live and kicking enemy 2ft away.

 

[ArchfiendBobbie]

Dragging an ally to safety is really an invention of modern times, due to one particular battlefield phenomenon that exists today which wouldn't have during the medieval era: Covering fire.

However, since arcane casters can reach machinegun levels of magic missile use and archery is more point-and-shoot in DnD, covering fire is possible to arrange. If the archer and the mage direct their attacks to the guy you need to drag away from, that person probably has bigger concerns than an attack of opportunity on you.

 

[Leatherhead]

OA's are not triggered when you are forced to move out of your square, such as when another creature moves you.

 

[Sunseeker]

OA's are not triggered when you are forced to move out of your square, such as when another creature moves you.

Correct.

The biggest problem here is simply that without someone to cover you and distract the enemy in front of your fallen ally, you're simply not going to be moving fast enough to get out of combat.

 

[77IM]

Dragging someone out of melee shouldn't be safe; it requires you to lower your defenses, so you should get clobbered. It's not in-genre; when was the last time you saw an action movie where someone dragged their ally away from the foe that felled them? In-genre, you'll want to turn that enemy's attention elsewhere BEFORE dragging the ally away; most likely, it's a team effort. I really like semicolons; they're useful in lots of sentences.

 

[UselessTriviaMan]

Why couldn't the dragger use a Disengage action to remove both himself and his fallen comrade safely?