Grappling and melee attacks [Archive] - Wizards Community

Grappling and melee attacks [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Keaerin
05-03-07, 03:09 PM Question when striking into a grapple does the attack hit the target they declare with melee attacks. I know that when firing a missle weapon into a grapple you risk striking either target but what about with melee weapons.

The situation that arose was the group druid became grappled by an very hungry croc, it was trying to drag him down into the water. The group rogue swam over and tryed to stick it with her sword. Both creatures are medium sized. I ruled that for this fight (after about 10 mins of book seaching) she can strike just the gator but that I will investigate this.

Thanks for your time.
Merestil Haye
05-03-07, 03:22 PM Question when striking into a grapple does the attack hit the target they declare with melee attacks. I know that when firing a missle weapon into a grapple you risk striking either target but what about with melee weapons.

The situation that arose was the group druid became grappled by an very hungry croc, it was trying to drag him down into the water. The group rogue swam over and tryed to stick it with her sword. Both creatures are medium sized. I ruled that for this fight (after about 10 mins of book seaching) she can strike just the gator but that I will investigate this.

Thanks for your time.If the attack was a melee attack, then it automatically hits whatever creature the attacker aimed for. So you ruled correctly.

The relevant information is in Table 8-6 (Armour Class Modifiers) on page 151 of the PHB. Read the "Grappling" line and the associated footnotes, and you will see that you are instructed to roll randomly to see which defender is struck when making a ranged attack into a grapple, but not when making a melee attack.

(It was also a sneak attack because the poor foolish croc had denied itself its Dex bonus to AC when it grappled the Druid. Unless it took a -20 penalty to all grapple checks that is.)
Keaerin
05-03-07, 04:31 PM (It was also a sneak attack because the poor foolish croc had denied itself its Dex bonus to AC when it grappled the Druid. Unless it took a -20 penalty to all grapple checks that is.)

Yeah I ruled that it was a sneak as well thanks for the info.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Keaerin 05-03-07, 03:09 PM	Question when striking into a grapple does the attack hit the target they declare with melee attacks. I know that when firing a missle weapon into a grapple you risk striking either target but what about with melee weapons. The situation that arose was the group druid became grappled by an very hungry croc, it was trying to drag him down into the water. The group rogue swam over and tryed to stick it with her sword. Both creatures are medium sized. I ruled that for this fight (after about 10 mins of book seaching) she can strike just the gator but that I will investigate this. Thanks for your time.
Merestil Haye 05-03-07, 03:22 PM	Question when striking into a grapple does the attack hit the target they declare with melee attacks. I know that when firing a missle weapon into a grapple you risk striking either target but what about with melee weapons. The situation that arose was the group druid became grappled by an very hungry croc, it was trying to drag him down into the water. The group rogue swam over and tryed to stick it with her sword. Both creatures are medium sized. I ruled that for this fight (after about 10 mins of book seaching) she can strike just the gator but that I will investigate this. Thanks for your time.If the attack was a melee attack, then it automatically hits whatever creature the attacker aimed for. So you ruled correctly. The relevant information is in Table 8-6 (Armour Class Modifiers) on page 151 of the PHB. Read the "Grappling" line and the associated footnotes, and you will see that you are instructed to roll randomly to see which defender is struck when making a ranged attack into a grapple, but not when making a melee attack. (It was also a sneak attack because the poor foolish croc had denied itself its Dex bonus to AC when it grappled the Druid. Unless it took a -20 penalty to all grapple checks that is.)
Keaerin 05-03-07, 04:31 PM	(It was also a sneak attack because the poor foolish croc had denied itself its Dex bonus to AC when it grappled the Druid. Unless it took a -20 penalty to all grapple checks that is.) Yeah I ruled that it was a sneak as well thanks for the info.