[RPG] Does Grappling have any rules other than preventing movement

dnd-5egrapple

I seem to remember in previous versions of D&D, Grappling would grant bonuses to attackers and make grappling creatures harder to attack and such things.

However, I'm reading the rules for grappling in the D&D 5 Basic Rules, and I'm not seeing anything like that. It appears that grappling simply prevents movement, and not much else.

From the conditions appendix:

GRAPPLED

  • A grappled creature's speed becomes 0, and it can't benefit from any bonus to its speed.

  • (etc., how to end the condition)

Is that all grappling does? It doesn't hamper attacking or anything else? Or am I missing something?

If that's all, in what situations would I really want to grapple someone?

Best Answer

You are correct. However, there is one extra benefit you gain from having someone grappled: the ability to forcefully move them. You mainly want to grapple someone when their movement is giving you problems or you want them to be elsewhere, and shoving them is not good enough.

In addition to normal grappling, there is a feat in the Player's Handbook called Grappler (p. 167), which allows you to restrain your target at the cost of restraining yourself as well.