I'm not sure how to rule the following situation, and would like some help on the rules. Here is the situation:
Player A is prone and being pulled by a rope (attached to him) towards a pit. Player B wants to try to stop him from being pulled in. On Player B's turn, she uses her full movement, but don't quite get within 5' to grab/grapple Player A. Player B still has an "action" left. What can Player B do?
- Can Player B us their action to move up to the Player A and a free
action to grab/hold onto them? - Can Player B run up and throw themselves on top of Player B?
- Can Player B move in front of Player A and just stand there to try to stop them from being pulled by?
- Can Player B run ahead and grab the rope as a free action?
Would any of these constitute a help action or a grapple? Basically, can Player B move and do something else that would help or prevent Player A from being dragged into the pit with only an single action remaining? The difficulty is that Player B didn't have enough movement to get close enough to use an action to simply grapple player A, and so they want to move further AND do something.
Thanks. If anyone has a better way to phrase this question, I'm open to edits.
Best Answer
Here's how I would handle it:
Player B would be required to use their Movement to get as close as they could, using their Action to Dash (assuming they can't Dash as a Bonus Action) to close the distance, and their Reaction* to grab Player A or cut the rope, which would either require a Strength(Athletics) roll or an Attack roll against the rope depending on their choice.
The fact that Player B has to roll something to make this happen give tension to the scene and, if they succeed gives a moment of triumph as they save the life of Player A's character. On the flip side, if they fail, it still creates a memorable scene and the players can at least feel satisfied that they got to try to save their friend.
*Can you use a Reaction like that?
The use of a Reaction to grab their ally is a little unorthodox, as there is no specific provision for it, but consider the following:
According to your example, Player B is able to get within 5' of Player A as they are being pulled toward the cliff using their Movement (as depicted by the first arrow). By using their action to Dash, they can get ahead of their ally (as depicted by the second arrow) but by itself, that is not very useful. As a DM who likes to be able to tell my players "yes" when it makes sense to do so, I feel that since the character and the rope will be moving through a square that you now "threaten" you can make an "Opportunity Attack" to grab them or cut the rope. If, after giving this option to the player they thought up some creative way to improve upon it, I would let them try it as long as it made sense that they could make the attempt.
Even if you are not 100% sure of what ruling to make in such a circumstance, as DM you have the right to make up something that makes sense to you, and remember that when you do that, your main goal is to make the game fun. I have found that the best way to do this is to avoid both extremes of 1) Making it too easy, and 2) Denying your players the opportunity to try their plans. The best solution, I have found, is to present a situation that allows the players to make a roll, as long as it makes sense that they should be able to do so, and determine the success or failure based on the result. This way, it feels to the player like the result is due to their character's actions and not the DM's ruling.