I have a few questions about grappling in 5e:
- When grappled, can you cast spells? If so, is there a limit to which spells you can cast (i.e. no somatic or component)
- If you have a bonus action (offhand attack), can you attack in the same round you grapple an opponent?
- Do you need to "Maintain" your grapple every round, or is it only contested on the grappled enemy's turn (should they choose to try and escape)?
I suspect I'll be updating this with more questions. I sent an email out to my group but they haven't chimed in yet.
Thanks!
1: Yes. Grapple only reduces your speed to 0. No other penalty is applied.
2: Yes. Grapple takes 1 hand (or apendage), you are free to do anything else with the other hand.
3: No. You do not need to maintain a grapple. Though you do need to remain concious, and your hand remains occupied.
Grapple is grabbing someone's cloak. fur, or shoe lace.
Restrained is when your actually tacking or pinning someone.
To be clear about #2, it's more of a "It depends" because a Bonus Action attack often needs something to activate it.
That said, nothing inherently stops you from attacking just because you have a dude in one hand, as long as you can attack with just one hand (so no greatsword swinging while YOU are grappling. However, your GRAPPLED foe could swing with a greatsword, because he's not grappling anyone!)
And for #3, I think if you're incapacitated you let go...? Correct me if I'm wrong 
(and OP, feel free to head on over to the Player's Help section. There's an entire thread dedicated to grappling! Rules, builds, FAQ, all that jazz)
Thanks everyone! I did check out that thread in the Player's Help section, but nowhere did it address my most pressing question, which was the "Casting while being grappled" issue. I noticed it talks a lot about the actual action of grappling, but not much about what you can/can't do once grappled/restrained. At least (in the brief skim-through I did) I didn't catch anything about that.
ande8135 wrote:
We came up with a few more:
- Any affect on AC? (I'm guess this is a "no", especially since RAW doesn't say much other than you can't move)
- Does grappling affect cover (either to the grappler, or the grappled)?
- Can you grapple back, so that both participants are grappled?
I have a question too, here is a problematic situation:
If an aboleth, who is a large creature with a reach of 10 feet, grapples a medium character with a reach of 5 feet, is the medium character prevented from attacking the aboleth because he cannot move (grappled: speed of 0) to reach it? By RAW, I would say the character cannot attack the aboleth but it's kind of silly since the aboleth is ''touching'' the character to maintain its grapple so its tentacle could be attacked.
i don't have my book handy, but does the Monster Manual provide stats for the Aboleth's tentacles? The entry for the Roper has stats specific to the tentacle itself.
ande8135 wrote:
I would say they could attack the grappler. 5e isn't about strict appliance to the rules. If it makes sense to the GM then it would be allowable.
DMs are free to say "Yes you can attack the Aboleth" or "Yes you can attack and then break the tentacle" or even "No, you can't attack the Aboleth."
All of which I find very reasonable! Now, the question becomes, in a given situation (in AND out of character), which method is best?
OP #1: So long as you have a free hand to access your M components, or arcane focus, and use S components. So no grappling 2 creatures, unless you're only casting spells with V components.
OP #2: If you're talking about the basic two-weapon fighting rules, no. You have to use your Attack action to attack with a weapon, the grapple definitely doesn't fall into that category. But things like Martial Arts would work. With Extra Attack you could Action: grapple and attack (monk weapon or unarmed), then Bonus Action: attack unarmed.
OP #3: The grapple is maintained as long as they don't escape, get knocked out of your grasp, or you get incapacitated.
Post 6 #1: No effect on AC at all.
Post 6 #2: Cover rules apply as normal. People in front of other people provide half cover. If I had you by the collar and we were face to face, you'd have half cover from anyone shooting at you from behind me and I'd have the same from anyone shooting at me from behind you.
Post 6 #3: So long as the grappled creature has a hand free, they can attempt to grapple the grappler right back.
Danny_Montanny wrote:
mellored wrote:
jonathonhawke wrote:
I've always ruled it as, "Grappling is just grabbing onto someone with one hand" then making another check lets you "restrain them so they are impaired in some way, describe to me how you are restraining them." Then I let them use GI Joes if they want to get creative.
My favorite mage grapple is pulling their arms behind their back and hooking under them like a full nelson, Then making a dexterity check to lock your hands infront of their neck/under their jaw, rather than behind their head. It's very hard (which is what the check is for). This locks their arms and lets you apply pressure to their throat to obscure the verbal components.