D&D 5E [Question] Grappling

[Saeviomagy]

Does grappling give a benefit to shoving? Why grapple first?

Because that's what judo does. First you grab the guy, then you attempt to put him on the ground. In-game there's no disadvantage to shoving then grappling, but IRL, it's pretty hard to knock someone off their feet without grabbing them first.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

There could be the opponent's turn, taken in part to stand up, between the first action and second action in a shove prone/grapple combination - which is why leading with the grapple makes more sense, as that gives the chance that when the opponent would like to stand up, they have a speed of 0 and aren't able to without first escaping the grapple.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Does grappling give a benefit to shoving? Why grapple first?

Real life judo issues aside, an in-game reason to grapple first is because then, if you fail to push the enemy prone with your second attack, you're still halfway there. You can then decide whether you want to Push again, or just give up and Dodge. However, if you Push first and then fail to grapple, the enemy can just get right back up next turn, and now you've lost what progress you'd already made.

Also, if you grapple first, you can control the enemy's positioning and prevent it from engaging other targets.

There are, however, times when you'd want to Push before grappling, or just give up on grappling and only Push. For example, when executing a fighting retreat, Pushing the enemy prone means that instead of a full attack sequence it only gets a single opportunity attack on you at disadvantage for being prone, whereas you get an almost-full attack sequence on it at advantage.

 

[Plaguescarred]

If someone wants to give up attacks to wrestle and hold a person so that he prevents the person from using his hands/arms, I think there should be a way to do it. For me, winning 2 strength vs. strength/dexterity contests should allow for that. First one to grapple, second one to hold/pin/throw, etc.

Oh man grappler build would love your game! One guy could frequently incapacitate an opponent while his allies beat him up helplessly ....

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Does grappling give a benefit to shoving? Why grapple first?

Because the idea isn't just to throw your opponent; its to throw them and keep them on the floor by maintaining the hold. As Aaron and Hemlock pointed out, just throwing them allows them to get back up again easily. By grappling then throwing, perhaps even in the same round, you're putting them on the floor and they cannot get up until they break your grapple.

If you just want to put them on the floor, no, you don't need to grapple.

 

[Springheel]

So a grappled character can't stand up because that would require movement? Is there anything else a grapple would keep you from doing? Could you keep someone from picking up a weapon, for example?

 

[KahlessNestor]

Probably not, because that's an Object Interaction.

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