Zee, no kidding, I was having trouble explaining opportunity attacks to a player of mine. And I just so happened to see you post this as I was trying to elaborate. The visuals really help, you are a life saver!
*Me* How could you possibly have trouble explaining this? He makes it seem so simple? *Also Me* okay, so... it's an attack you make as a reaction when someone gets out of range of you... if theyre already within range. and if you're looki-fuck, just watch the video.
@@topogigio7031 i think they mean it would be great as a visiual aid for explaining the rules to new players as the hand book does not always explain things in the best detail, and even when it does sometimes players just dont get it without a good visiual aid
@@topogigio7031 If you ask me to play a game with you, and I ask you what the rules are, and you hand me a 320 page book to read, I'm going to smack you with it.
This is great, thank you! One critical distinction to keep in mind: if something *moves you*, you don't trigger opportunity attacks. If something *forces you to use your movement*, like the Dissonant Whispers or Fear spells, you do trigger opportunity attacks. This is part of why Dissonant Whispers is such a great pickup for, say, a low-level bard with a rapier.
Honestly just make a movie of the entire PHB with this simplistic style and youve effectively reduced the book into a bite size, quick reference video for all ADHD DMs around the world.
Honestly, D&D is one of those games that no reasonable person can be expected to actually play by the rules by sheer virtue that even the core rules are approximately 1000 pages long, and nobody has time for that bullshit. The only reasonable expectation is people will try their best and BS the rest.
Some interesting feats that interact with opportunity attacks: * Polearm master, lets you do an attack as the enemy enter your reach if you wield a polearm weapon. * Sentinel, reduces an enemies movement to 0 when you hit them with an opportunity attack. * War caster, lets you use single-target spells instead of attacks for opportunity attacks. These 3 feats also have some interesting interactions between each other. For example casting spells when enemies enters your reach, or stopping your enemy from ever reaching/leaving your reach.
Polearm Master + Sentinel is the best combo of the three IMO, as Polearms add 5ft to your attack range, so the range of your opportunity attacks extends to 10ft all around you
@@CollinBuckman Fit for purpose. Polearm master is practically a dead feat on a wizard, warlock or any other caster that would potentially benefit greatly from war caster. Likewise, war caster is useless if you don't cast spells. What's better and what's worse for combat based feats revolves around what class you're playing and how your DM runs things. There is no "X feat is better than Y feat" when they're clearly designed to be taken by different classes. Great example, I play with a guy who ALWAYS takes the alert feat, and almost always plays melee damage dealers who can't tank. Having a guy like that take +5 to initiative is actually devastating to his bloodhunter when we have a 9 dex paladin as a tank because it helped guarantee that the order would be him running up to a monster and hitting it, monster getting its turn and hitting him back and then the tank. That feat would cause him to drop so often but not matter how much we explain it to him, he doesn't seem to understand why everyone keeps telling him +5 to initiative is so bad for his dex based glass canon who can't attack properly and disengage on the same turn. That isn't to say that the alert feat is bad, but it's bad if you're basically running a rogue who doesn't have disengage as a bonus action.
@@CollinBuckman Indeed, this is exactly what I play in my longest running game. Add in some maneuvers and you can really power up your control game. My favourite is trip attack with sentinel, not only do you stop them from moving, but they are knocked prone and can't stand up (cause that would cost movement). Basically ends their turn early as they are not close enough to hit you.
Oh, so this would mean that I could use "Shove/Push" action to get a friendly wizard out of a AoO-Zone, should they consent. A friendly use for normally a hostile action.
@Lance Clemings Chill, I was just giving a thought avout the mechanics of the game and how they can be used to in other ways than the obvious, this isn't a competition, "J'zargo"
the "unless moved voluntarily" thing can also be used to your advantage! if your buddy falls unconscious in a cluster of enemies, a healthy ally can grab their limp body and drag it out of attacking range. because the person is unconscious and didn't move themself, they won't provoke opportunity attacks! this maneuver has saved our party's palabarian at least once!
@@Dochamb3rs yes, as long as where you shove them to you end up out of their reach. Some creatures or polearm users have a 10ft reach so if you only shove them back 5 ft you still would provoke an opportunity attack from them.
Lionel Whiskerknot that person could theoretically take the disengage action though, depending on your DM's leniency with the object interaction rule. or just make the tank do it! i did specify "healthy" in my original post for this very reason :)
This also means that movement forced by Dissonant Whispers specifically provokes opportunity attacks because it forces the target to spend its reaction to move. Neat.
@@PalPlays "You also don’t provoke an opportunity attack when you teleport or when someone or something moves you without using your movement, action, or reaction." PHB 195 "On a failed save, it takes 3d6 psychic damage and must immediately use its reaction , if available, to move as far as its speed allows away from you." Dissonant Whispers, PHB 234 You're welcome.
This is why Dissonant Whispers actually winds up being one of the highest damage 1st level spells. To say nothing of the 3d6, you can provoke a buttload of opportunity attacks from your front line.
Adam DeLocke And pole arm mastery lets you make the opportunity attack as soon as the goblin closes to 10’ (assuming you are using a weapon with “Reach”) which combined with Sentinel stops the goblin at 10’.
@Adam DeLocke Even then, the goblin would have to have made a melee attack against the person with the pole arm master feat, but, they can avoid that by jumping down on them from above! Or by being invisible, as you have to see the creature to get an opportunity attack
You could show them in their books where it says all of this. You're trying to learn, no joke, like 20 times the content of your players. Ask them to do more than 0% effort and hey, they'll probably enjoy it all the more
Unless the person attacking has blindsight or truesight, thus allowing them to see the target. Going by a RAW understanding, I think this would mean that if you couldn't see the target and were instead relying on tremor sense, you would stl be unable to attack
One of my favourite adventures is one that I made to teach newbies about opportunity attacks A ghost disturbs a carnival, and possess a set of pan pipes, summoning a bunch of giant rats from a long alley. The players must stop the rats from disturbing the rest of the carnival down the street (if 5 or more get past them the guards stop the festivities). If they manage to defeat the ghost without destroying the possessed intrument it becomes an item called pipes of the sewers.
@@joshuahunsbro1830 Does it? :O I played with a Bugbear that went full Sentinal build and used that extra range to great effect because we assumed he had the extra range on all turns.
@@toniconge7003 The race option specifies "A melee attack on your turn." An Op attack is not your turn. This is, of course, if you're using the monstrous race option presented in Volo's Guide and not the actual Bugbear statblock.
@@toniconge7003 I just reread Volo's Guide about it & sure enough it says on your turn. That being said D&D is a Magical game where you can adjust rules to your play style, so it's not like you were doing it wrong.
In other relationships if your passive (aggression) is high enough, you can bring up old $h!t as a reaction whenever someone makes a critical...I mean, criticism attack against you.
This is one of the best D&D Rules video ideas I've seen for at the table questions! These could be my new favorite video format. PLEASE MORE CRUDE REFERENCE VIDEOS!!!
I like this grid-based style of animation for illustrating more numbers-y game mechanics, and as usual, you're really good at explaining things very concisely.
Nice video. Great quick reference guide for new players and quick refreshers alike :). Some sub-points I'd add are: 1) Disengage action applies to any opportunity attacks for the rest of the turn; 2) Magic/effects that force a hostile character to use their movement does trigger opportunity attacks (i.e. Dissonant Whispers); 3) Even if a hostile creature isn't engaged with a creature (i.e. they are running through a field of enemies), if they enter and leave the creatures range of melee attack, the creature can use its reaction, if available, for an opportunity attack.
Thanks Zee! Been DMing for over 10 years now and am trying to make a go of full time world building and content creation as a career. Your videos have been invaluable over the last few years and both my players and I love them
Dude, this style of video is absolutely perfect, it's bite-sized AND animated. I struggled to understand attacks of opportunity, but this made everything clear instantly!
thank you, my sister keeps thinking that if you move only 1/2 your move speed on your turn, you wont be targeted for an attack of op. she is still wrong. (for reference, we try to play the game without home-brew rules and only have added one, and it's only to make spells hit harder.)
Not only did I actually learn a thing or two off of this (that last rule was one I'd never heard of), but dude.... your animation is getting better and better.
This is super nifty to have, thank you. Please make more of these for other rules. I'm not sure off the top of my head what else I'd like a quick guide like this for, but I am certain there are other rules that can be covered under a minute. Thanks again, A DM
So many times players COULD take the disengage action before running away, but don't, only to get knocked unconscious on the way out. I've seen this happen multiple times on Critical Role.
It's a balancing act. By taking the Disengage action you're foregoing the Dash action, which means that an equal-speed enemy can just stroll up and hit you again on their turn - in which case, all you did was delay your doom by half a round.
@@DrakeAurum This is assuming you've over extended your character and you cannot retreat into the range of an ally for assistance. If you've dropped to 5 hp and want to escape, you should have done so much earlier (unless you were fireballed and failed the save while it rolled max damage, ain't nobody expecting that).
Just don't take anything from Critical Role as helpful for playing a game. Mercer bullshits so many rules and changes interpretations of the same rule so often I don't know why they left Pathfinder.
Just a PSA, Critical Role came from Pathfinder. That's why Matt has struggled with knowing rules, especially in the first season. They literally bullshitted Pathfinder into D&D and that fact is not talked about enough. You a fan of CR? Pathfinder is more your style. A lot of "Big Bang Theory" style "fans" nowadays
@@topogigio7031 I disagree. In the first half of S1 you're totally correct, but in the second half they get a firmer grasp of the rules finally. The still screw stuff up sometimes and Matt still has some weird hate boner towards shove and grapple but it isn't that bad overall
The change to allow you to move through enemy's threatened squares without provoking an attack of opportunity really bugs me in 5e. I can appreciate why they did it, having gotten rid of the 5 foot step mechanic, there is no easy repositioning mechanic anymore, but being able to run circles around an enemy who put themself in front of you to block you so long as you don't move away from them just feels wrong.
Have you ever tried skirting around someone in a 180 degree arc before? There’s not much they can do to get you. Only when you break from that contact & expose your back is there really an issue.
Think of collegiate wrestling. You can try to run a circle around your opponent all day but they'll just turn slightly. How much more quickly can you look around yourself than it would take someone to literally run around you in a five foot radius
That's how real fights work though, people circle each other. The only thing that makes it weird is the turn based nature of the movement. You have to remember, that in some abstract way, they more or less are moving at the same time. One moves forward while the other circles around them
I play pathfinder and dnd, I enjoy the 5 foot step mechanic and leaving any threatened space much more. it makes you think about your moves more. I also prefer +2 on flanks, high grounds ect. over just "advantage" cause you get a benefit to positioning well. as opposed to just reckless attack easy advantage
Lovely bit of animation, the lack of unnecessary details makes what you are saying very clear, (like only two figures, one weapon, no floor texture) liked the internal organs getting spilled so you remember casually running off is dangerous. Can picture a paladin pushing a shield shove to save a wounded wizard
QuantumFluxable this is untrue. Movement is a meter of sorts that is expended throughout your turn. You can break up movements without having to use an “action” and dashing only adds speed to this “meter”. The issue is largely semantic, but can confuse new players and miss lead some into using all of their movement at once when they might prefer to do otherwise.
So one thing I like to do with my rogue characters is to have high intimidation so that they can scare the enemies away allowing for opportunity attacks which allow me to activate my sneak attack twice per round
This is very informative on top of being whimsically and fantastically animated. Reach weapon illustration would have been a nice addition, but I love it regardless.
@@Accomplisss That's barely meta gaming. If I was meta gaming I would be a Bugbear Battle Master Fighter, with the Trip maneuver, with both the Pole Arm Master & Sentinel feats.
@@Accomplisss Somebody does a neat combo that's remotely synergistic "metagaming bad, how dare you crunch numbers" On a more serious note, first of all, the correct term here would be powergaming, even if I feel like that would be a gross exxageration. Metagaming is using out of character knowledge to influence your in-character decisions, and this isn't even exclusively a bad thing. Everyone knows trolls are weak to fire, it feels counterinuitive to make an intentionally sub-optimal decision just so you don't "metagame" by shooting one with fire just because a character hasn't been explicitly made aware of this. The only time Metagaming is actually bad is when you're using information that is supposed to only be known by an explicit number of people, or the DM revealed by accident. (To a lesser extent, information about modules, too, but a lot of the modules are versatile enough for good DMs to keep things fresh so that this shouldn't be too much of a problem. Plus, most people homebrew settings even when using modules anyways.)
@@ihave2cows I didn't really intend to draw out a huge reply, but I get what you are saying. It's not really meta gaming, but in a way ppl look up that combo and purposely plan it to maximize is use. Idk but that is a "meta"
Movement still provokes opportunity attacks BUT the enemy can't *react* to the provocation because their reaction's been used already. So if the enemy in question has two reactions for whatever reason, they can still make opportunity attacks even after spending the first reaction.
Wow, this is really helpful! I was having some trouble trying to understand how opportunity attacks work, and this was a very brief, yet helpful guide to remind me of when opportunity attacks are possible! Thank you! :)
I sometimes like to have my Fighter/ Barbarian with +12 in Athletic's use her Opportunity Attack to Grapple. It's like; "Bitch, you thought you were going somewhere? Think again!"
This is perfect! A very handy guide! I've had players argue that if anything steps close to them it's an opportunity attack ect ect, or if something knocks them out they should still be allowed. Just gonna.. save this for future reference.
I really really like more this format than the surprise video. Short, I can send the link to this video to a player for quick reference. Keep it going, zee!
I'd love a full video on the more intricate mechanics like this, it'd be super useful, I have so much trouble visualizing them myself, and trying to explain them is just practically impossible for me.
Don't forget, "your reach" is to within 10 feet of you if you're wielding a long weapon such as a glaive, pike or halberd. If the enemy gets within 10 feet of you, then tries to nope out of there, you can still give it a smack in the butt as it does so. As many people have pointed out, Polearm Master feat also allows you to do this when the enemy *enters* your reach as well: just don't forget you only get one reaction a turn, so a DM could be sneaky and move a high health enemy into your range to provoke an opportunity attack and let a low health, higher priority opponent slip away from combat.
I loved this, this is familiar, yet new, this was good, it's simple, but not too simple, your animations are important for visual learners like me and I know other people.
I really love the effort you put into these videos man. It sucks RUclips doesn't seem to tailored to benefit animation yet you crank out content ( it's insightful too). In particular I love when you recap scenarios in your campaigns. Keep up the good work! Also, I loved using disengage.
another important distinction is focusing on that "you can see" line. If you cast fog cloud or darkness or invisibility, you can zip past a bunch of baddies with impunity
I think the biggest hang up for me on Opportunity attacks is a holdover from 3.5e/pathfinder: in 5e your threatened area is one continuous blob, and an enemy can move freely inside it as long as they don't *leave* it, rather than your threatened area being a series of squares, and each time they leave one of those squares they provoke an attack of opportunity. It does make certain things like reach weapons a lot less powerful, but that's what polearm master is for.
I just wanna appreciate all the little animation bits you do cuz it's so freaking amazing. That first AoO cleaving the thing in half!? OOOH, my heart warmed with joy! Thank you for sharing your skills with us
just found out through this video that you can 5ft melee attack diagonals. whoops, we've always only allowed directly adjacent, but this changes things! thanks!
I wouldn't mind a whole series of short videos of mechanics from you! My players were convinced to take and use various creative spells you showed on Animated Spellbook.
Dissonant Whispers is a beautiful spell because it forces the target (if they fail the save) to use their reaction to move, meaning that they provoke opportunity attacks
Our table still uses the 4E "Shift" mechanic, where you can take 1 5ft step out of range in a straight line (no diagonal cos they're movement and 1/2), cos it's essentially like taking a different position. It makes combat a lot more fun for players, especially us squishy folks who need to get some distance (especially for spells)
One of my favorite little interactions with AoOs is using War Caster with Booming Blade. By using your reaction to cast Booming Blade as your attack of opportunity you can force the creature you're attacking to decide whether or not to continue with their planned movement. If you're trying to play a tank for the party it puts you in a lot of win-win situations where you either force the enemy to fight you or instead force them to take a lot of damage to attack your allies :D
One big thing you missed that's a change from previous editions: you can move *within* a creature's threatened area without provoking an opportunity attack. You can even move though its space if you're two or more size categories smaller (one or more if you're a halfling).
That actually makes a lot of sense. I've never played the game, but follow a podcast as they play, and I've been trying to figure it out, lol. Alex and Ben are really good at explaining things, but the visuals are incredibly useful. Thank you!
I Love this crude reference idea! I think it having a phb page number could be helpful too for people who pull this video up while arguing with a player lol.
This answered one of my questions with War Caster: Do you have disadvantage on ranged attacks? Answer is yes because the creature would provoke an Opportunity of Attack before it left melee range. It would be within 5 feet and cause disadvantage to be applied if able.
Should also note the weird 5e change: you can move anywhere around the reach of the creature without provoking opportunity attacks. Essentially, you can circle around an enemy within 5ft without penalty
Another important distinction from older editions is that you only trigger the attack of opportunity when you attempt to leave the reach of your enemy, not if you move around inside the threatened area. Older editions allowed for attacks of opportunity any time you left a threatened space, even if you were moving to another threatened space. Basically, in 5e, you can jink around a melee combatant without penalty, only when you retreat from him or attempt to move past does he get to attack you.
Zee: if something knocks them out of range, you dont get a opportunity attack Me, casting a glyph of warding right next to me to get past the castle guards with halberds and sentinel: Dont mind me
Didn’t know about the ‘something else moving you’ rule. That’s a character I’m never getting back.
There would be combo powerbuilds of Pusher and Hitter. Full wrestler style.
I know because I tried.
Assasin on a rope
however you can repeatably dunk someone in and out of a wall of fire, literally a swirly from hell, which is why i love pact of fiend warlocks
@@codebracker
I think you are confusing attacker and attacked.
@@Scarletraven87 nah, tie a rope to a rouge, he goes in and attacks and then you have someone pull him away before the enemy's turn
Zee, no kidding, I was having trouble explaining opportunity attacks to a player of mine. And I just so happened to see you post this as I was trying to elaborate. The visuals really help, you are a life saver!
*Me* How could you possibly have trouble explaining this? He makes it seem so simple?
*Also Me* okay, so... it's an attack you make as a reaction when someone gets out of range of you... if theyre already within range. and if you're looki-fuck, just watch the video.
When the enemy leaves the PC's reach on their own free will that is not instantaneous. Bam!
Man i had trouble with 3.5 opportunity attacks rule XD in this edition is way simplier.
Easiest solution is to just use 3.5 rules, 5e is just poorly thought out and written.
@@KageRyuu6 Yeah, but the opportunity attacks in 3.5 is like a page long. 5e is just a paragraph.
This is a great idea for a new series(?). It'll be really helpful for new players to have a quick and visual guide to some of these rules
Or a handy book that's often on sale for cheaper than $30 that covers these kind of topics and more
@@topogigio7031 i think they mean it would be great as a visiual aid for explaining the rules to new players as the hand book does not always explain things in the best detail, and even when it does sometimes players just dont get it without a good visiual aid
I agree with you my lost united states brother
New Channel idea, Basics with Bashew!
@@topogigio7031 If you ask me to play a game with you, and I ask you what the rules are, and you hand me a 320 page book to read, I'm going to smack you with it.
This is great, thank you! One critical distinction to keep in mind: if something *moves you*, you don't trigger opportunity attacks. If something *forces you to use your movement*, like the Dissonant Whispers or Fear spells, you do trigger opportunity attacks. This is part of why Dissonant Whispers is such a great pickup for, say, a low-level bard with a rapier.
Honestly just make a movie of the entire PHB with this simplistic style and youve effectively reduced the book into a bite size, quick reference video for all ADHD DMs around the world.
I feel like dnd beyond would really benefit to having minute long blurb videos like these in their digital PHB pages.
@@KazumiKiguma BRILLIANT!
ADHD DMs unite- ooh new dice
Honestly, D&D is one of those games that no reasonable person can be expected to actually play by the rules by sheer virtue that even the core rules are approximately 1000 pages long, and nobody has time for that bullshit.
The only reasonable expectation is people will try their best and BS the rest.
Some interesting feats that interact with opportunity attacks:
* Polearm master, lets you do an attack as the enemy enter your reach if you wield a polearm weapon.
* Sentinel, reduces an enemies movement to 0 when you hit them with an opportunity attack.
* War caster, lets you use single-target spells instead of attacks for opportunity attacks.
These 3 feats also have some interesting interactions between each other. For example casting spells when enemies enters your reach, or stopping your enemy from ever reaching/leaving your reach.
Polearm Master + Sentinel is the best combo of the three IMO, as Polearms add 5ft to your attack range, so the range of your opportunity attacks extends to 10ft all around you
@@CollinBuckman Fit for purpose. Polearm master is practically a dead feat on a wizard, warlock or any other caster that would potentially benefit greatly from war caster. Likewise, war caster is useless if you don't cast spells. What's better and what's worse for combat based feats revolves around what class you're playing and how your DM runs things. There is no "X feat is better than Y feat" when they're clearly designed to be taken by different classes.
Great example, I play with a guy who ALWAYS takes the alert feat, and almost always plays melee damage dealers who can't tank. Having a guy like that take +5 to initiative is actually devastating to his bloodhunter when we have a 9 dex paladin as a tank because it helped guarantee that the order would be him running up to a monster and hitting it, monster getting its turn and hitting him back and then the tank. That feat would cause him to drop so often but not matter how much we explain it to him, he doesn't seem to understand why everyone keeps telling him +5 to initiative is so bad for his dex based glass canon who can't attack properly and disengage on the same turn. That isn't to say that the alert feat is bad, but it's bad if you're basically running a rogue who doesn't have disengage as a bonus action.
Sentinel definitely feels a hair broken
@@CollinBuckman Indeed, this is exactly what I play in my longest running game. Add in some maneuvers and you can really power up your control game. My favourite is trip attack with sentinel, not only do you stop them from moving, but they are knocked prone and can't stand up (cause that would cost movement). Basically ends their turn early as they are not close enough to hit you.
Polearms were a mainstay of medieval armies for good reason. Alexander the Great wouldn't have gotten far without them.
Oh, so this would mean that I could use "Shove/Push" action to get a friendly wizard out of a AoO-Zone, should they consent.
A friendly use for normally a hostile action.
That is an excellent idea, and I will have to steal it for the future. Theme and RP appropriate as well!
Get down Mr President
@Lance Clemings Chill, I was just giving a thought avout the mechanics of the game and how they can be used to in other ways than the obvious, this isn't a competition, "J'zargo"
It makes sense. "Get down!"
You could also grapple them and then move them at half speed and release them whenever.
the "unless moved voluntarily" thing can also be used to your advantage! if your buddy falls unconscious in a cluster of enemies, a healthy ally can grab their limp body and drag it out of attacking range. because the person is unconscious and didn't move themself, they won't provoke opportunity attacks!
this maneuver has saved our party's palabarian at least once!
True but then wouldn't the person dragging him be subject to it since he entered and then left their striking distance?
Lionel Whiskerknot Yes, but you’re still keeping the unconscious and vulnerable character out of harms way
Wait so could you shove an enemy to get yourself out of AoO range?
Like to keep your extra attacks instead of sacrificing them for disengage?
@@Dochamb3rs yes, as long as where you shove them to you end up out of their reach. Some creatures or polearm users have a 10ft reach so if you only shove them back 5 ft you still would provoke an opportunity attack from them.
Lionel Whiskerknot that person could theoretically take the disengage action though, depending on your DM's leniency with the object interaction rule. or just make the tank do it! i did specify "healthy" in my original post for this very reason :)
This also means that movement forced by Dissonant Whispers specifically provokes opportunity attacks because it forces the target to spend its reaction to move. Neat.
No. Involuntary movement does not provoke opportunity attacks.
EDIT: Maxim is right; I was wrong. Use Dissonant Whispers to provoke AoO ALL day long!
@@PalPlays "You also don’t provoke an
opportunity attack when you teleport or when someone
or something moves you without using your movement,
action, or reaction." PHB 195
"On a failed save, it takes 3d6 psychic damage and must immediately use its reaction , if available, to move as far as its speed allows away from you." Dissonant Whispers, PHB 234
You're welcome.
@@AnadynTheCursed Oh! The more you know! That's a nice little upside to the spell.
This is why Dissonant Whispers actually winds up being one of the highest damage 1st level spells. To say nothing of the 3d6, you can provoke a buttload of opportunity attacks from your front line.
@@originalph00tbag It's also a great way to burn a caster's reaction.
“In the doobly-doo”
Matt Colville is pleased
I think Wheezy Waiter invented that, though. At least as far as a term for a RUclips description bar.
And the Vlogbrothers before he
@@fuzzythoughts8020 No, they actually did in fact get it from Craig Benzine, AKA Wheezy Waiter! DFTBA :D
Who would win:
A honed warrior with a reach weapon, Polearm Mastery, and Sentinel Feat
or: One slippery Nimble Goblin boi
Adam DeLocke And pole arm mastery lets you make the opportunity attack as soon as the goblin closes to 10’ (assuming you are using a weapon with “Reach”) which combined with Sentinel stops the goblin at 10’.
The mobile goblin.
Adam DeLocke ranged weapons.
The mage in the background that cast fireball on them both.
@Adam DeLocke Even then, the goblin would have to have made a melee attack against the person with the pole arm master feat, but, they can avoid that by jumping down on them from above! Or by being invisible, as you have to see the creature to get an opportunity attack
*Posted 46 seconds ago*
_OPPORTUNITY ATTACK!_
But you wouldn't get an attack of opportunity when the video is posted, you would get it if the video was removed...
@@0Fyrebrand0 ah unless he had polearm master
@@0Fyrebrand0 But not if it got copyright struck or something along those lines.
I like the animation in this one.
Shepic Does Stuff simple... but effective! And by simple I mean less than his normal details.
As a semi new DM this helped me explain the whole thing of opportunity attacks. Thanks for the work you put in to these.
You could show them in their books where it says all of this. You're trying to learn, no joke, like 20 times the content of your players. Ask them to do more than 0% effort and hey, they'll probably enjoy it all the more
Ha! I can tell: someone’s been watching Matthew Colville.
Always
@@zeebashew Many of your videos seem to be missing.
One in particular I'm looking for is about Mold Earth.
Could you fix this please?)
"a creature you can see" this means invisible creatures can move without provoking correct?
yes, invisibility is actually a very powerful buff
Unless the person attacking has blindsight or truesight, thus allowing them to see the target.
Going by a RAW understanding, I think this would mean that if you couldn't see the target and were instead relying on tremor sense, you would stl be unable to attack
Or if you're blinded. :P
@@Worldtraceur unless when you're using greater invisibility I think
Barring special senses, yes!
One of my favourite adventures is one that I made to teach newbies about opportunity attacks
A ghost disturbs a carnival, and possess a set of pan pipes, summoning a bunch of giant rats from a long alley. The players must stop the rats from disturbing the rest of the carnival down the street (if 5 or more get past them the guards stop the festivities).
If they manage to defeat the ghost without destroying the possessed intrument it becomes an item called pipes of the sewers.
Bugbear PCs: have an extra 5ft of reach
Archers: It's free real estate 😏
Get polearm master and it extends to 15ft radius and when they enter your reach.
@@RolandTheJabberwocky Bugbear extra reach is only on the bugbears turn while making a melee attack. :( So it won't add to your reach on other turns.
@@joshuahunsbro1830
Does it? :O
I played with a Bugbear that went full Sentinal build and used that extra range to great effect because we assumed he had the extra range on all turns.
@@toniconge7003 The race option specifies "A melee attack on your turn." An Op attack is not your turn. This is, of course, if you're using the monstrous race option presented in Volo's Guide and not the actual Bugbear statblock.
@@toniconge7003 I just reread Volo's Guide about it & sure enough it says on your turn. That being said D&D is a Magical game where you can adjust rules to your play style, so it's not like you were doing it wrong.
Does this apply in other relationships in general?
Asking for a friend.
Is this humor i see attempted?
Seriously, is it?
@@defensivekobra3873 Mmmmaybeee?
@@defensivekobra3873 Can't win if you don't play.
In other relationships if your passive (aggression) is high enough, you can bring up old $h!t as a reaction whenever someone makes a critical...I mean, criticism attack against you.
@@DDWyssA veteran in the game of life, I presume?
This is one of the best D&D Rules video ideas I've seen for at the table questions! These could be my new favorite video format. PLEASE MORE CRUDE REFERENCE VIDEOS!!!
I like the "something else moves you", I wasn't aware of that!
I like this grid-based style of animation for illustrating more numbers-y game mechanics, and as usual, you're really good at explaining things very concisely.
Wow. This is actually pretty handy, thanks dude!
Nice video. Great quick reference guide for new players and quick refreshers alike :). Some sub-points I'd add are:
1) Disengage action applies to any opportunity attacks for the rest of the turn;
2) Magic/effects that force a hostile character to use their movement does trigger opportunity attacks (i.e. Dissonant Whispers);
3) Even if a hostile creature isn't engaged with a creature (i.e. they are running through a field of enemies), if they enter and leave the creatures range of melee attack, the creature can use its reaction, if available, for an opportunity attack.
Thanks Zee! Been DMing for over 10 years now and am trying to make a go of full time world building and content creation as a career. Your videos have been invaluable over the last few years and both my players and I love them
Dude, this style of video is absolutely perfect, it's bite-sized AND animated. I struggled to understand attacks of opportunity, but this made everything clear instantly!
thank you, my sister keeps thinking that if you move only 1/2 your move speed on your turn, you wont be targeted for an attack of op. she is still wrong.
(for reference, we try to play the game without home-brew rules and only have added one, and it's only to make spells hit harder.)
I think that's a legacy rule from a previous edition? I can't recall for certain, but it does ring a bell.
@@Taurusus it's basically how disengage works in 3e
Not only did I actually learn a thing or two off of this (that last rule was one I'd never heard of), but dude.... your animation is getting better and better.
I feel like he made this because he just got FRUSTRATED trying to explain this to someone in his d&d group
This is super nifty to have, thank you. Please make more of these for other rules. I'm not sure off the top of my head what else I'd like a quick guide like this for, but I am certain there are other rules that can be covered under a minute.
Thanks again,
A DM
So many times players COULD take the disengage action before running away, but don't, only to get knocked unconscious on the way out. I've seen this happen multiple times on Critical Role.
It's a balancing act. By taking the Disengage action you're foregoing the Dash action, which means that an equal-speed enemy can just stroll up and hit you again on their turn - in which case, all you did was delay your doom by half a round.
@@DrakeAurum This is assuming you've over extended your character and you cannot retreat into the range of an ally for assistance. If you've dropped to 5 hp and want to escape, you should have done so much earlier (unless you were fireballed and failed the save while it rolled max damage, ain't nobody expecting that).
Just don't take anything from Critical Role as helpful for playing a game. Mercer bullshits so many rules and changes interpretations of the same rule so often I don't know why they left Pathfinder.
Just a PSA, Critical Role came from Pathfinder. That's why Matt has struggled with knowing rules, especially in the first season. They literally bullshitted Pathfinder into D&D and that fact is not talked about enough. You a fan of CR? Pathfinder is more your style. A lot of "Big Bang Theory" style "fans" nowadays
@@topogigio7031 I disagree. In the first half of S1 you're totally correct, but in the second half they get a firmer grasp of the rules finally. The still screw stuff up sometimes and Matt still has some weird hate boner towards shove and grapple but it isn't that bad overall
Very cute, quick blurb of info! It's a nice visual aid and helped me get it better, even though I've been rolling dice half my life.
The change to allow you to move through enemy's threatened squares without provoking an attack of opportunity really bugs me in 5e. I can appreciate why they did it, having gotten rid of the 5 foot step mechanic, there is no easy repositioning mechanic anymore, but being able to run circles around an enemy who put themself in front of you to block you so long as you don't move away from them just feels wrong.
Have you ever tried skirting around someone in a 180 degree arc before? There’s not much they can do to get you. Only when you break from that contact & expose your back is there really an issue.
Think of collegiate wrestling. You can try to run a circle around your opponent all day but they'll just turn slightly. How much more quickly can you look around yourself than it would take someone to literally run around you in a five foot radius
That's how real fights work though, people circle each other. The only thing that makes it weird is the turn based nature of the movement. You have to remember, that in some abstract way, they more or less are moving at the same time. One moves forward while the other circles around them
I play pathfinder and dnd, I enjoy the 5 foot step mechanic and leaving any threatened space much more. it makes you think about your moves more. I also prefer +2 on flanks, high grounds ect. over just "advantage" cause you get a benefit to positioning well. as opposed to just reckless attack easy advantage
Lovely bit of animation, the lack of unnecessary details makes what you are saying very clear, (like only two figures, one weapon, no floor texture) liked the internal organs getting spilled so you remember casually running off is dangerous. Can picture a paladin pushing a shield shove to save a wounded wizard
I would have enunciated "movement, action, or reaction" differently so it doesn't sound like movement is a type of action.
a move action IS a type of action (along with a bonus action)
QuantumFluxable this is untrue. Movement is a meter of sorts that is expended throughout your turn. You can break up movements without having to use an “action” and dashing only adds speed to this “meter”. The issue is largely semantic, but can confuse new players and miss lead some into using all of their movement at once when they might prefer to do otherwise.
Not even hear for the information, just loving that adorable animation!
So one thing I like to do with my rogue characters is to have high intimidation so that they can scare the enemies away allowing for opportunity attacks which allow me to activate my sneak attack twice per round
How are you intimidating and attacking on your turn? Both cost an action.
This is very informative on top of being whimsically and fantastically animated. Reach weapon illustration would have been a nice addition, but I love it regardless.
This has helped me realize how many opportunity attacks I have wasted over my years of playing D&D.
how?
@@ModrunOfficial That I haven't been using opportunity attacks.
@@JohnSmith-ex8iw like none at all? wows
so good, thanks for this Zee! I would love more quick references i could play for my players with these kind of simple questions
Speaking of opportunity attacks, Pole Arm Master + Sentinel is a fun combo.
As a DM I hate this combo and encourage meta gaming to be a no no
@@Accomplisss That's barely meta gaming. If I was meta gaming I would be a Bugbear Battle Master Fighter, with the Trip maneuver, with both the Pole Arm Master & Sentinel feats.
@@Accomplisss Somebody does a neat combo that's remotely synergistic
"metagaming bad, how dare you crunch numbers"
On a more serious note, first of all, the correct term here would be powergaming, even if I feel like that would be a gross exxageration.
Metagaming is using out of character knowledge to influence your in-character decisions, and this isn't even exclusively a bad thing. Everyone knows trolls are weak to fire, it feels counterinuitive to make an intentionally sub-optimal decision just so you don't "metagame" by shooting one with fire just because a character hasn't been explicitly made aware of this. The only time Metagaming is actually bad is when you're using information that is supposed to only be known by an explicit number of people, or the DM revealed by accident. (To a lesser extent, information about modules, too, but a lot of the modules are versatile enough for good DMs to keep things fresh so that this shouldn't be too much of a problem. Plus, most people homebrew settings even when using modules anyways.)
@@ihave2cows I didn't really intend to draw out a huge reply, but I get what you are saying. It's not really meta gaming, but in a way ppl look up that combo and purposely plan it to maximize is use. Idk but that is a "meta"
i really like this please make more. this is perfect to post in my d&d group for a visual reference
Emphasis on "enemy you can see". I've had a few players in magical darkness try to argue 'well, I would've heard him running away!"
I mean ok, roll d20
make a fast boi and they can't see you because you are going so fast
@@andrewz4401 That's the Mobile feat (sorta, you have to attempt to ask them first).
That’s really helpful! Please do more of those short “quick reference” videos
Additionally if the enemies reaction has already been used movement doesn't provoke opportunity attacks right?
Opportunity attacks use the reaction. So no reaction -> no opportunity attack
Movement still provokes opportunity attacks BUT the enemy can't *react* to the provocation because their reaction's been used already. So if the enemy in question has two reactions for whatever reason, they can still make opportunity attacks even after spending the first reaction.
I like this quick and dirty style of animation. It works well for these kinds of simple explanations.
I really like how this video lacks the DM's notes. Doing those as separate videos I feel is best.
Wow, this is really helpful! I was having some trouble trying to understand how opportunity attacks work, and this was a very brief, yet helpful guide to remind me of when opportunity attacks are possible!
Thank you! :)
I sometimes like to have my Fighter/ Barbarian with +12 in Athletic's use her Opportunity Attack to Grapple.
It's like; "Bitch, you thought you were going somewhere? Think again!"
This is perfect! A very handy guide! I've had players argue that if anything steps close to them it's an opportunity attack ect ect, or if something knocks them out they should still be allowed. Just gonna.. save this for future reference.
This animation is amazing. Been subscribed for a while now. Great job man! Keep them coming!
This helped me so much. Mechanics just clicked into place finally when this was being explained. Thanks a whole lot for the video!
Thank you, this is the short digestible content that I love from you! I definitely prefer this to the lengthy videos
Continue this “quick ref” series. I love it
I love your work, watched this twice just for the cartoonlike movements
Thank you!
I really really like more this format than the surprise video. Short, I can send the link to this video to a player for quick reference. Keep it going, zee!
I'd love a full video on the more intricate mechanics like this, it'd be super useful, I have so much trouble visualizing them myself, and trying to explain them is just practically impossible for me.
I love these simple rule explanations. It can be really hard to explain how something works.
Damn those were some detailed guts for one opportunity attack
:o
A collection of more videos like this would be really valuable to teach new players with.
Actually really enjoy this format wouldnt mind seeing more of it for sure
Don't forget, "your reach" is to within 10 feet of you if you're wielding a long weapon such as a glaive, pike or halberd. If the enemy gets within 10 feet of you, then tries to nope out of there, you can still give it a smack in the butt as it does so. As many people have pointed out, Polearm Master feat also allows you to do this when the enemy *enters* your reach as well: just don't forget you only get one reaction a turn, so a DM could be sneaky and move a high health enemy into your range to provoke an opportunity attack and let a low health, higher priority opponent slip away from combat.
MORE OF THESE PLEASE! THERE ARE SO MANY BASIC MECHANICS THAT AREN'T IMMEDIATELY CLEAR.
I loved this, this is familiar, yet new, this was good, it's simple, but not too simple, your animations are important for visual learners like me and I know other people.
I really love the effort you put into these videos man. It sucks RUclips doesn't seem to tailored to benefit animation yet you crank out content ( it's insightful too). In particular I love when you recap scenarios in your campaigns. Keep up the good work!
Also, I loved using disengage.
This is super helpful, rarely do people visualize some of the kinda hard to grasp rules without taking 10 years
Ohh my! I just had a revelation, an animated DM SCREEN! Please Zee make this happen
This is amazing. Little tutorials like this are so helpfuly for new players, exepcially a group playing for the first time.
another important distinction is focusing on that "you can see" line. If you cast fog cloud or darkness or invisibility, you can zip past a bunch of baddies with impunity
I think the biggest hang up for me on Opportunity attacks is a holdover from 3.5e/pathfinder: in 5e your threatened area is one continuous blob, and an enemy can move freely inside it as long as they don't *leave* it, rather than your threatened area being a series of squares, and each time they leave one of those squares they provoke an attack of opportunity. It does make certain things like reach weapons a lot less powerful, but that's what polearm master is for.
I just wanna appreciate all the little animation bits you do cuz it's so freaking amazing. That first AoO cleaving the thing in half!? OOOH, my heart warmed with joy! Thank you for sharing your skills with us
Doob-lee-doo is official dnd youtuber slang now
Hope you are right!
There's a few non-D&D RUclipsrs who use it, too. I don't know who started it, but it caught on long ago.
This is such a helpful and concise reference! Thanks for sharing, Zee
just found out through this video that you can 5ft melee attack diagonals. whoops, we've always only allowed directly adjacent, but this changes things! thanks!
“The dooblidoo” is the verbal component is a spell to summon Matt Collville.
I was just wondering what this was. Thank you!
these lil minis are dope, you should do a bunch of these for commonly misconstrued rules, id watch the hell out of em
Love the art style. I totally adore cutesy little things partaking in brutal acitivities...
That's why I run an underground baby derby ring.
Thanks for the info! I was only mostly sure attacks of opportunity could only be melee until now.
I wouldn't mind a whole series of short videos of mechanics from you! My players were convinced to take and use various creative spells you showed on Animated Spellbook.
Dissonant Whispers is a beautiful spell because it forces the target (if they fail the save) to use their reaction to move, meaning that they provoke opportunity attacks
Our table still uses the 4E "Shift" mechanic, where you can take 1 5ft step out of range in a straight line (no diagonal cos they're movement and 1/2), cos it's essentially like taking a different position. It makes combat a lot more fun for players, especially us squishy folks who need to get some distance (especially for spells)
One of my favorite little interactions with AoOs is using War Caster with Booming Blade. By using your reaction to cast Booming Blade as your attack of opportunity you can force the creature you're attacking to decide whether or not to continue with their planned movement. If you're trying to play a tank for the party it puts you in a lot of win-win situations where you either force the enemy to fight you or instead force them to take a lot of damage to attack your allies :D
Amazing, I am one hundred percent using this. I now need the warcaster feat. Lol
You're awesome Zee. I need to show this to my players! Keep up the good work.
One big thing you missed that's a change from previous editions: you can move *within* a creature's threatened area without provoking an opportunity attack. You can even move though its space if you're two or more size categories smaller (one or more if you're a halfling).
Short, sweet, clear, and fun animation. This is beautiful.
That actually makes a lot of sense. I've never played the game, but follow a podcast as they play, and I've been trying to figure it out, lol. Alex and Ben are really good at explaining things, but the visuals are incredibly useful. Thank you!
I found it on the dooblidoo (do not freaking know how to spell it). Loved that it is spreading from Matt's channel
I Love this crude reference idea! I think it having a phb page number could be helpful too for people who pull this video up while arguing with a player lol.
Like the short format and art style! More the better Sir!
This answered one of my questions with War Caster: Do you have disadvantage on ranged attacks?
Answer is yes because the creature would provoke an Opportunity of Attack before it left melee range. It would be within 5 feet and cause disadvantage to be applied if able.
Should also note the weird 5e change:
you can move anywhere around the reach of the creature without provoking opportunity attacks.
Essentially, you can circle around an enemy within 5ft without penalty
this is such a great explanation im genuinely surprised and impressed
you might be the most helpful channel on youtube for dnd
Bro, this short is a cool concept and was very well executed.
Bigby's Cannonball Hand at 0:23 is my favorite bit.
3.5 ed. oppurtunity attacks: "did you just sneeze?"
Another important distinction from older editions is that you only trigger the attack of opportunity when you attempt to leave the reach of your enemy, not if you move around inside the threatened area. Older editions allowed for attacks of opportunity any time you left a threatened space, even if you were moving to another threatened space. Basically, in 5e, you can jink around a melee combatant without penalty, only when you retreat from him or attempt to move past does he get to attack you.
Zee: if something knocks them out of range, you dont get a opportunity attack
Me, casting a glyph of warding right next to me to get past the castle guards with halberds and sentinel:
Dont mind me
I have homebrewed the 5-foot step back in 5e because I can't live without it