jasper
Rotten DM
If during your attack action you hit a same size or smaller foe by +5. You can use your reaction to grapple the foe. You gain half cover until the foe's turn.
D&D 5E How To Do A Human Shield Grapple
Maxperson
Morkus from Orkus
It might be too strong as a reaction. You could do it as a readied action, but then it might be too limited.
doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
It might require already having the target grappled.
But it also requires you to grapple, then for an attack to go a certain way (depending on method), so I’m not sure.
Maxperson
Morkus from Orkus
I think already grappling might be the better way to go. As a pure reaction, it seems a bit strong to me unless another resource limits it somehow. You mentioned Battle Master or Monk, so maybe Ki/Superiority dice are a good enough limiter. I'd have to see it in play.
The rules already support this pretty clearly. Grapple them on your turn and move to put the grappled creature between you and the enemy. On the enemies turn if the grappled creature is covering at least half of you then you have cover if he attacks from that direction, depending on the size either 1/2 or 3/4 cover and they have a -2 or -5 on their attack roll against you. There are optional rules on "hitting cover" in the DMG, if you are using those rules an attack that misses you by less than 2 or 5 respectively might hit the guy you grappled.
This would normally use your action (for the grapple) and your move for the positioning. This is most effective when the enemy can not move around you. If he can move around you to strike from another direction (where you are uncovered) he can nullify this. You could use your reaction to pivot the grappled creature into the attack, to do this though you would need to take the ready action on your turn. You would ready action to move the enemy into the attack when it is launched as a reaction. Since this would use your action for ready, you could not normally do it the same turn you initiated the grapple, but you could every turn thereafter.
I think the best way to employ this using your reaction to position the bad guy would be to use the tavern brawler feat and unarmed fighting style. With these two things you could make an unarmed attack and then grapple with a bonus action. Then once he is grappled, use a ready action every turn as described above while also doing 1d4 damage to him while he remains in the grapple. I think that would be RAW and RAI and if you use the optional hitting cover rules and have a high-AC character this could be a viable technique. You are giving up a lot for that though.
There are potentially 2 things happening here: using an opponent as cover, and interposing an opponent so they absorb damage against you.
In the first case I think we should just add a reaction that says "If you are attacked while 5 feet from an opponent who is between you and the attacker, you may use your reaction to grant yourself partial cover against the attack (full cover if the opponent is one or more size categories larger than you)." I like this one because a) anyone can do it and b) it gives people something to do with their reaction besides Opportunity Attack, which makes the battlefield more dynamic (always a good thing).
The second should take an action, though, and should read something like "If you have an opponent grappled you may Ready an action to interpose the enemy in harms way against an attack aimed at you. The attacker must roll against the grappled opponent's AC and if the attacker hits, the grappled foe takes the damage. If the attacker targets you with a non-area effect spell requiring a saving throw instead, you make your save normally. On a successful save your opponent takes the damage and on a failed save you both take half." Or something.
I can't say whether I think this should be a feat or available to anyone
In the first case I think we should just add a reaction that says "If you are attacked while 5 feet from an opponent who is between you and the attacker, you may use your reaction to grant yourself partial cover against the attack (full cover if the opponent is one or more size categories larger than you)." I like this one because a) anyone can do it and b) it gives people something to do with their reaction besides Opportunity Attack, which makes the battlefield more dynamic (always a good thing).
The second should take an action, though, and should read something like "If you have an opponent grappled you may Ready an action to interpose the enemy in harms way against an attack aimed at you. The attacker must roll against the grappled opponent's AC and if the attacker hits, the grappled foe takes the damage. If the attacker targets you with a non-area effect spell requiring a saving throw instead, you make your save normally. On a successful save your opponent takes the damage and on a failed save you both take half." Or something.
I can't say whether I think this should be a feat or available to anyone
Flamestrike
Legend
Tavern Brawler lets you punch someone (couple with the Superior technique fighting style, Martial adept feat or Battlemaster levels for Disarming strike as well), then grapple them as a bonus action.
A Fighter can do this from 1st level, as can a Monk (no Tavern Brawler, he just uses his action to attack [grapple] and his bonus action to martial arts punch, spamming a superiority dice (from Martial adept) on Disarming strike.
A Fighter can do this from 1st level, as can a Monk (no Tavern Brawler, he just uses his action to attack [grapple] and his bonus action to martial arts punch, spamming a superiority dice (from Martial adept) on Disarming strike.
Charlaquin
Goblin Queen (She/Her/Hers)
I’m so glad I’m not the only one to have thought “isn’t this just a natural consequence of the (optional) hitting cover rules?”
I disagree. Unless you’re using the optional Facing rules (which I personally like, but I know I’m in the significant minority on), it shouldn’t matter which direction attackers target you from. It’s assumed you can freely change the direction you’re facing at any time.
Well, if you’re using the optional Facing rules, you can just change facing as a reaction; no need to use the Ready action to set it up. On the other hand, if you’re not using those rules, a reaction shouldn’t be needed to change what direction you’re facing; if you’re grappling someone, you should get half cover in all directions (which could cause attacks to hit the creature you’re grappling if you’re using the optional hitting cover rules.)
That all said, I do think using the Ready action to grapple someone in response to being targeted with an attack seems like a solid tactic, especially if the optional hitting cover rules are in play.
Tavern Brawler and the Unarmed Fighting Style certainly make this tactic even stronger. Again though, I don’t think a Ready action would be necessary to interpose a creature you already have grappled between yourself and an attacker. If you’re using the optional Facing rules you can do so as a reaction without having to Ready it, and if you aren’t it isn’t even necessary to use a reaction to do so.
Flamestrike
Legend
A DM would be well within his or her rights to say 'He's grappling and using the target as a shield' though, impose a penalty for cover (which likely exists anyway due to the rules on how cover works) and render some 'hit the target on a 1' rule as well.
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