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Message: <blockquote data-quote="redrick" data-source="post: 6630493" data-attributes="member: 6777696">When it comes to monster abilities, there really is no RAW. As long as a DM is consistent in what a given creature's abilities are (unless their creature is a Dungeon Hustler), there's no foul in adding or adapting a creature's abilities in a way that the DM feels to make sense. The only things to keep in mind are a) does it make sense in the context of the rest of the world for the creature to have any given ability and b) does it significantly change the power of an opponent, thereby affecting encounter balance (for DM's who track that stuff) or xp rewards (for DM's who track that stuff.)So, in answering question a), I would look at the creature in question and say, "is this multi-attack part of a simultaneous coordinated attack, or is it more just an expression of how the creature can use multiple independent 'weapons'? And does it make sense for a creature of this intelligence and physical build to push, shove or grapple with a single one of said 'weapons'?" So I would rule that most bipedal creatures would be able to grapple or shove as part of their multiattack, though they'd need a free hand for the grapple. A troll makes one bite attack and 2 claw attacks. I find it totally reasonable for one of those claw attacks to be an attempt to knock down or push a character, or to grab a character.As for question b), I'd probably say that a monster has to give up its high damage attack if it wants to follow that shove or grapple check with another attack. So, looking at the troll, the bite does half the damage of the claw attack. Letting the troll headbutt a PC to the ground and then make its two claw attacks with advantage feels a little unbalancing — the troll has sacrificed a low-damage attack roll to make a high-damage attack roll at advantage.Most monsters are not proficient in athletics, so, unless you decide to grant them some other proficiency, their grapple or trip attempt is going to be made with a lower bonus than their regular attack. Many melee PCs, on the other hand, will have athletics proficiency, meaning that their opposed roll to shoving and grappling will begin to outstrip their AC as they get above 5th level. Once that multi-attacker has closed with the wizard in melee, that dude is probably in a bad space no matter what.</blockquote>

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