D&D 5E Whip Feat

[Guest 6801328]

Anyone can make a Str(Athletics) or Dex(Acrobatics) "attempt". If an anchor point is available and the DM judges that the action being attempted would benefit from the presence of a rope or similar aid to climbing/swinging etc, granting advantage on the check would be reasonable.

The presence of a feat that grants this specific ability however, would imply that you can't do it without that feat.

I'm not quibbling with the benefit of having a rope-like object attached to an anchor point. I'm quibbling with the challenge of firmly attaching a whip in fewer than 100 attempts. THAT requires a feat, in my book.

I would most certainly not be considered to have proficiency in Whip, but if you can point out somewhere suitable near me and lend me a whip, I'm pretty sure that I could demonstrate how using a long, flexible tool makes some athletic tasks easier.

As above, I'd love to see you attach the whip from 10' away securely enough to support your body weight. I'll give you 100 attempts.

You're using the weapon to make the attack.

Right. And grappling/shoving is not done with weapons, it's done with hands.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

As I said that is the way I read it (leaving room for other possibilities).
I think saying you need a free hand to grapple and not intending that free hand be used to grapple is a stretch.

Fair enough. Quite a few weapon styles teach throws, holds and unbalancing techniques where both hands remain on the weapon.

In terms of whips, I seem to remember Indiana Jones using his free hand to pull on the whip as well as the hand he wielded it with when performing that sort of maneuver.

Do you mean your reach for a weapon attack with it so the whip is (magically?) growing 5 feet longer?

Yes. Just like your weapon (magically) grows 5 feet longer when you use the Lunge Battlemaster Maneuver, or the Spear Mastery Feat.

I'm not quibbling with the benefit of having a rope-like object attached to an anchor point. I'm quibbling with the challenge of firmly attaching a whip in fewer than 100 attempts. THAT requires a feat, in my book.

As above, I'd love to see you attach the whip from 10' away securely enough to support your body weight. I'll give you 100 attempts.

If ability to attach the whip to a suitable anchor point is the intended benefit of the feat, you might want to tighten up the wording a little. It does not give the impression that that is what that section is about.

(In my experience, its not so much getting the thing to attach securely, its freeing it up quickly after you've just pulled heavily on it. - Without walking over and unwrapping it by hand.)

Right. And grappling/shoving is not done with weapons, it's done with hands.

If you say so.

 

[SmokeyCriminal]

If you want to replicate an Indiana Jones Character, then you should consider just allowing the Rogue Thief to use the Whip with Fast Hands and Second-Story Work. It replicates all the Tool stuff you want to replicate with the Whip Feat, and the Damage issue is moot because Sneak Attack.

Or at the very least take a look at Fast Hands and Second-Story Work for guidance and inspiration for the Whip Feat.

When it comes to using the Whip to swing across a pit. You're basically using the Whip with Use an Object Action, Have it cost your Bonus Action and not require a roll (For the Indiana Jones Character/Feat user, anyone else should possibly require a roll and your Action).

 

[Guest 6801328]

(In my experience, its not so much getting the thing to attach securely, its freeing it up quickly after you've just pulled heavily on it. - Without walking over and unwrapping it by hand.)

I'll defer to your greater experience with whips, and not only because it supports my hypothesis that the kinds of whip tricks in question require specific expertise.