D&D 5E Reacting to Movement

[Baumi]

I have a case where a War Casting Fighter uses Booming Blade as an Opportunity Attack against an Enemy leaving his Reach...

is the Enemy still in Range after the attack or already 5 feet away?

 

[Baumi]

Ah, found the answer .. the OA ist right BEFORE leaving the space.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I would rule that the enemy is in range when the attack goes in, as you point out the OA is before leaving the space. But because of the effects of Booming Blade (the damage on movement) I would allow the enemy to stop moving to avoid the secondary damage. Not all enemies will do so, but some might.

 

[James Gasik]

I would rule that the enemy is in range when the attack goes in, as you point out the OA is before leaving the space. But because of the effects of Booming Blade (the damage on movement) I would allow the enemy to stop moving to avoid the secondary damage. Not all enemies will do so, but some might.

That's an odd ruling, isn't it though? I mean, the OA was triggered by the movement, it just resolves before the movement. By allowing the target to not move, then the trigger never happens in the first place? I'm pretty sure an OA can invalidate the trigger, but I don't think the target should be able to choose not to perform the trigger.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

That's an odd ruling, isn't it though? I mean, the OA was triggered by the movement, it just resolves before the movement. By allowing the target to not move, then the trigger never happens in the first place? I'm pretty sure an OA can invalidate the trigger, but I don't think the target should be able to choose not to perform the trigger.

That is fair enough or the question is when does the secondary damage from Booming Blade go of, on arrival at square 2 of movement or on departure of square 2 or on departure of square 1 since that is where the OA took place. The last one seems s little harsh.

 

[Baumi]

Just because his movement stops, doesn't mean that he moved his full 5 feet. And in fact he could not have moved 5 feet else he would have been out of reach for the attack.

 

[Krachek]

That's an odd ruling, isn't it though? I mean, the OA was triggered by the movement, it just resolves before the movement. By allowing the target to not move, then the trigger never happens in the first place? I'm pretty sure an OA can invalidate the trigger, but I don't think the target should be able to choose not to perform the trigger.

A player will always choose, a monster may not!

 

[Stormonu]

That's an odd ruling, isn't it though? I mean, the OA was triggered by the movement, it just resolves before the movement. By allowing the target to not move, then the trigger never happens in the first place? I'm pretty sure an OA can invalidate the trigger, but I don't think the target should be able to choose not to perform the trigger.

Not odd at all - the opponent is/was moving away, they just haven't moved enough yet to leave the square/reach yet when the OA trips.

 

[James Gasik]

Not odd at all - the opponent is/was moving away, they just haven't moved enough yet to leave the square/reach yet when the OA trips.

Hm, reading the text though, it says:

You can make an opportunity Attack when a Hostile creature that you can see moves out of your reach. To make the opportunity Attack, you use your Reaction to make one melee Attack against the provoking creature. The Attack occurs right before the creature leaves your reach.

This implies that the target has to leave your reach to trigger the attack, at which point, they can't just not leave your reach, or they wouldn't have triggered an opportunity attack in the first place.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Hm, reading the text though, it says:

You can make an opportunity Attack when a Hostile creature that you can see moves out of your reach. To make the opportunity Attack, you use your Reaction to make one melee Attack against the provoking creature. The Attack occurs right before the creature leaves your reach.

This implies that the target has to leave your reach to trigger the attack, at which point, they can't just not leave your reach, or they wouldn't have triggered an opportunity attack in the first place.

How does that interact with Sentinel then?