D&D 5E Polearm feat vs Blink spell

[Brad Crabtree]

If I were to cast blink before the 10' range of polearm master, reappeared behind them and attacked with a melee weapon, would they still get the AoO?

 

[Harzel]

If I were to cast blink before the 10' range of polearm master, reappeared behind them and attacked with a melee weapon, would they still get the AoO?

I'm not sure what you mean by 'before' - you mean 'outside of'? In any case, I don't think this would affect my answer. Where you blinked out from doesn't matter. When you blink in within melee range (for you), you are 'entering their reach' unless for some very unusual reason your reach is greater than theirs.

When you mention being 'behind' them, are you implying that you are using the optional facing rules? If you are not using the optional facing rules, then 'behind' is meaningless and YES, they get the AoO. If you are using the optional facing rules, then I would probably rule that they do not get the AoO because they 'can normally target only creatures in their front and side arcs'. (But this has nothing to do with the fact that you blinked in; the same would apply if you just moved into their rear arc normally, as long as you did not move through one of their side arcs to get there.) The facing rules do also say that a creature can change its facing "as a reaction to another creature's move", but that sounds to me like it uses their reaction and so would preclude an AoO even though they might be facing you as a result.

But as always, I may have overlooked something.

 

[Ovinomancer]

Depending on how you rule "entering", RAW seems to say you would get the OA. However, given the description, and the apparent intent, I'd rule no, that you only get the OA if the target moves normally while entering reach.

But, then again, doesn't really make a huge difference either way, so I might just let the player's ability work and not rule to nerf it. Depends really on my current table and the established tone of the game.

 

[jaelis]

I would not grant an OA for teleporting, either in or out of someone's reach.

 

[mflayermonk]

The rules say OA don't apply to teleporting. The Polearm Mastery feat says you can make an OA on someone entering your reach. So you will have to resolve it yourself with the "Rulings not rules" declaration.

 

[Brad Crabtree]

Thanks for the help.

 

[Caliban]

I'd say not - you aren't "entering their reach" so much as "appearing out of nowhere, within their reach". Unless they can both sense creatures on the ethereal plane and attack creatures on the ethereal plane, then they don't get an Opp Attack because that's where the movement actually occurs.

 

[Horwath]

The rules say OA don't apply to teleporting. The Polearm Mastery feat says you can make an OA on someone entering your reach. So you will have to resolve it yourself with the "Rulings not rules" declaration.

This would go into specific beats general.

As PAM refers to general movement and teleport is a specific situation, I would say that teleport rule goes before PAM rule. Teleport is usually limited resource and PAM is unlimited(well, once per round limited )

 

[Horwath]

double post...

 

[Shiroiken]

Judgement call. I would say that it shouldn't grant the attack, but could see the argument for it.