D&D 5E hypothetical - a giant capturing downed pc's while rest of party fights on? rule for this

[wicked cool]

can anyone point out if/where this a rule where if a pc is downed during combat that they could be captured and dragged away by an enemy while other characters are still fighting

I ask as I my hands on the new hill giant miniature and he has this backpack that is large enough to hold party member in it. made me think of a rescue operation adventure

 

[DEFCON 1]

There are no specific rules because DMs can decide to have their monsters do whatever they want during a fight. If the PCs are fighting giants, and you decide to have one giant grab an unconscious character and then leave the battlefield... nothing wrong with that. Same way that same giant could use its actions to stomp the unconscious character into the mud, giving it two failed Death Saves on the giant's turn.

There is no game rule that states once a monster has knocked someone out that they automatically will move on to another upright target. That is just something most DMs do to be a little more fair to the PCs so as to not arbitrarily kill them during many battles.

 

[Plaguescarred]

can anyone point out if/where this a rule where if a pc is downed during combat that they could be captured and dragged away by an enemy while other characters are still fighting

I ask as I my hands on the new hill giant miniature and he has this backpack that is large enough to hold party member in it. made me think of a rescue operation adventure

In order to do this, the giant would need to grab the unconscious character (Grappling PHB195) and drag him along at half speed unless the character is two or more sizes smaller than the giant. Chances are the weight of the character won't be a problem to drago or carry (Lifting & Carrying PHB176). Doing so may provoke opportunity attacks from nearby characters if thw giant leaves their reach though. Then the rest of the PCs will have to decide if they keep fighting the remaining enemies, or pursue the fleeing giant. They can always try to track him down after the fight if they kept fighting instead too. I think you have a good adventure seed here anyway

 

[Rils]

Yep, agreed. No roll needed. If a character is downed and making death saves, then the giant just picks them up and walks off.

Heck, even if they aren't downed - the giant can try to pick them up using the grapple rules, and if he succeeds, he pops them in the sack and now they're Restrained.

 

[Plaguescarred]

Yep, agreed. No roll needed. If a character is downed and making death saves, then the giant just picks them up and walks off.

Attacking or grappling an unconscious creature should still be rolled. Its not a guaranteed success. It'd normally be with advantage in the case of an attack roll, and i think there would even be no advantage on the ability check being not an attack. Only Strenght or Dexterity saving throws have an automatic result.

 

[iserith]

Attacking or grappling an unconscious creature should still be rolled. Its not a guaranteed success. It'd normally be with advantage in the case of an attack roll, and i think there would even be no advantage on the ability check being not an attack. Only Strenght or Dexterity saving throws have an automatic result.

Barring some particular circumstance in the scene that is complicating the giant's efforts, I don't think there's much grounds for ruling that picking up an unconscious PC has an uncertain outcome. Therefore, no mechanics need come into play to resolve that uncertainty in my view.

 

[Lidgar]

Attacking or grappling an unconscious creature should still be rolled. Its not a guaranteed success. It'd normally be with advantage in the case of an attack roll, and i think there would even be no advantage on the ability check being not an attack. Only Strenght or Dexterity saving throws have an automatic result.

Given the grapple is an opposed check (Str/Dex), how can an unconscious PC oppose the grapple?

 

[Bawylie]

Attacking or grappling an unconscious creature should still be rolled. Its not a guaranteed success. It'd normally be with advantage in the case of an attack roll, and i think there would even be no advantage on the ability check being not an attack. Only Strenght or Dexterity saving throws have an automatic result.

I disagree.

The outcome of an action against an unconscious or helpless character is certain, therefore no roll is appropriate.

However, let's explore some mitigating circumstances:

The ally is down, but a PC nearby specifically defends and protects them until help can arrive. The giant attempts to nab the unconscious ally. Now, we have uncertainty. We don't know the outcome, so we need (maybe an opposed) check to determine what happens next.

Next scenario.

The ally is down. The giant is 30 ft away. The PCs are 30 ft away. Both sides move to the downed ally. If we're still on initiative, then whoever's turn it is gets there first. No uncertainty, no roll needed for what's next. If we're NOT on initiative, we don't really know who arrives first. Maybe you'll use the movement speeds of the participants to determine who gets there. Maybe the giant is content to move at its base speed while the PCs are motivated to sprint. There's uncertainty. I might allow a strength (athletics) test to see if a character with a lower speed could sprint and arrive before a creature with a higher speed (especially if the player says something like "well I'll sprint or dash or whatever so I can get there first).

Ultimately it's a case by case basis that relies on your judgments on the totality of the circumstances. There is No Rule, but there are several considerations.


-Brad

 

[Plaguescarred]

Barring some particular circumstance in the scene that is complicating the giant's efforts, I don't think there's much grounds for ruling that picking up an unconscious PC has an uncertain outcome. Therefore, no mechanics need come into play to resolve that uncertainty in my view.

If that was the case the unconscious condition would not say attack rolls against the creature have advantage, but instead that it hit autimatically like for Strenght and Dexterity saving throws.

 

[Plaguescarred]

Why would you need to roll to successfully attack an unconscious creature but not to grapple it?

Given the grapple is an opposed check (Str/Dex), how can an unconscious PC oppose the grapple?

A DM could always say an unconscious creature automatically loose a contest since it cannot oppose the effort, but even the Contest rule don't have automatic failure for unconscious creature.

I'm not saying unconscious creature shouldn't automatically fail the check, i'm saying the rules don't automatically grant it as written, like for a saving throws.