D&D 5E Opportunity Attack around a Corner: Yes or No?

[jayoungr]

On this particular map, there is a sort of pillar covering the corner, but I don't know if that is relevant.

 

[Charlaquin]

Upper and lower left. There is no obstruction in that square. That's how it works with hard corners, unless the DM wants to say that the wall doesn't perfectly align with the grid. I wouldn't though, even in this case. I would rather treat all hard corners the same so players know what to expect.

Interesting. I would say that even if the wall does perfectly align with the grid it obstructs lines between the two left-hand corners of Grimmwald’s space and the bottom-right corner of the space in question, since such a line would also have to go along the grid line. The only way the wall wouldn’t obstruct such a line is if the wall didn’t reach the grid line.

 

[Stormonu]

I agree with @Spohedus, when the orc leaves the square, the fighter would get the attack, but the orc would have some form of cover. Of course, if he moved to the square above (and to the right of the square you indicated), it could attack Kalista and wouldn't provoke an attack because it didn't leave Grimmwald's reach, and in fact could move two squares up from the dotted square to allow more of its friends to surround Kalista without Grimmwald getting an Opportunity Attack.

 

[iserith]

On this particular map, there is a sort of pillar covering the corner, but I don't know if that is relevant.

I wouldn't make it relevant. It's set dressing, not a tactical consideration in my view.

That said, I would be fine if the DM did say it was a tactical consideration, but if I didn't know that up front, I'd be miffed if I set up in that position specifically to be able to OA orcs (for some reason) only to find out I couldn't OA or that there was cover. It would seem arbitrary to me. It's all in setting that expectation up front.

 

[Charlaquin]

On this particular map, there is a sort of pillar covering the corner, but I don't know if that is relevant.

Personally I’d say it isn’t relevant. The wall should be treated as if it aligns with the grid, even if the artwork doesn’t perfectly reflect that. I just think a wall that lines up with the grid would constitute an obstruction to a line being drawn along the grid.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

On this particular map, there is a sort of pillar covering the corner, but I don't know if that is relevant.

The pillar creates the cover, but he can still make the attack.

 

[Prakriti]

Yes, the PC gets an opportunity attack. The orc does not have cover.

The rules in the PHB only applies to movement, not attacks. The orc clearly leaves the PC's reach. There is no cover because you can draw a line from the corner of the PC's space to every corner of the space the orc leaves without anything blocking it.

If the orc doesn't want to provoke the attack, it can Disengage and move.

This is the RAW answer, but I think a DM would be justified in applying half-cover in this case.

 

[iserith]

Interesting. I would say that even if the wall does perfectly align with the grid it obstructs lines between the two left-hand corners of Grimmwald’s space and the bottom-right corner of the space in question, since such a line would also have to go along the grid line. The only way the wall wouldn’t obstruct such a line is if the wall didn’t reach the grid line.

I'm not convinced that going along the grid line counts as an obstacle in a way the rules contemplate.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Yes, that should get an opportunity attack. I don't see a big cheese issue here, and I think having everyone as tokens taking up their entire 5 foot square, perfectly centered, perhaps makes it seem more unnatural than it really is.

But, perhaps missing the issue you are trying to get at, in this case the orc should just take the movement penalty to move through his ally's square and avoid his enemy's melee range.

 

[iserith]

But, perhaps missing the issue you are trying to get at, in this case the orc should just take the movement penalty to move through his ally's square and avoid his enemy's range.

Yes, something is off about this whole thing. Orcs move toward their enemies, aggressively, not away from them!

These orcs must be doppelgangers.