[RPG] Does the Flyby trait apply when starting on the ground next to an enethe

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The Flyby special trait states, for example:

The peryton doesn't provoke an opportunity attack when it flies out of an enemy's reach (MM 251).

The name of the trait implies that an creature approaches an enemy target while in flight, attacks, and then continues past out of the enemy's reach without provoking (thus flying by). The description, however, doesn't appear to restrict the advantage to this particular sequence.

Would you apply this advantage if a creature starts its turn on the ground adjacent to an enemy and uses its fly speed to move away (thus flying out of an enemy's reach)?

For the purposes of this question, it would probably be helpful to ignore the mechanics necessary for a winged creature to launch itself into the air, and think more in terms of magical (i.e. instant take off) flight.

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It looks like, yes, it does apply when starting on the ground next to an enemy. There's no restriction on it about starting the turn in flight, nor any rule elsewhere that would make starting to fly not count as flying for the first square of movement.

However, a DM who cares about what abilities actually do fictionally and what they actually look like is within their rights to rule that it can only be used while reasonably doing an actual flyby. Since it's a DM-controlled monster, that would be ruling in the PCs' favour too, so it's unlikely to be a point of contention.

A DM heading a group who wanted to play in more of a D&D 4e style, with abilities doing only and exactly what they say — a playstyle that 5e can support with some thought — would also be perfectly in their rights to say that Flyby can be used during takeoff and landing. Since this is unfavourable to the PCs though, a DM who isn't playing in a group that explicitly wants that kind of combat style might want to reconsider playing this ability literally.

Yes, if the second Goblin is not within the Reach of the thing making the opportunity attack

It seems a bit weird, however the criteria for triggering an opportunity attack are:

You are moving out of the reach of a hostile creature
This movement is from one of your Actions, Bonus Actions, Movement or Reaction
You have not taken the Disengage action
You are not Teleporting

For this question we can discount Point 4, as the Goblin Boss can't teleport.

We'll also ignore Disengaging for now.

For Point 2, the movement is by the Goblin Boss' Reaction, which fulfills that criteria

For Point 1, if the swapping with the second Goblin does not cause the Goblin Boss to leave the Reach of any hostile creature, it will not trigger an Opportunity attack. In the diagrams below, the first set of movement will not trigger an opportunity attack, while the second set will.

EG    ->    EB
B           G


EBG   ->    EGB

E - Enemy; 
G - Goblin; 
B - Goblin Boss

Note that wherever the second Goblin is moved from, it does not trigger an Opportunity attack from anything as its movement is forced by the Goblin Boss.

As for using Disengage (via Nimble Escape), it only stops OAs for the rest of your Turn, not the entire Round.

So, if someone had Readied an action to hit the Goblin Boss when the Boss did a specific thing, then the Goblin Boss did that thing on the Boss' turn, and in Reaction the Boss used Redirect Attack, that would not trigger an OA, wherever it moved, as it is still the Boss' Turn so Disengage is still in effect. But normally, Disengage would not help for this.

[RPG] Who benefits from flanking

When dealing with Medium creatures, yes, it might read more easily to say "both". The "each of them" becomes important when dealing with Large or bigger creatures, which take up so much space that multiple creatures can fit side by side on one end.

The rule, from the viewpoint of the attacker, is basically:

Am I adjacent to an enemy?
Is at least one of my allies also adjacent to the creature on the opposite end?

If yes, you have flanking.

For an example of when the "each" comes into play, see below diagram of three Allies flanking a Giant. In this situation, all three Allies attack with advantage due to flanking, because "Am I adjacent to an enemy and is there an ally adjacent on the opposite of the creature" is true for all three.

A A

G G

G G

A

On the other hand, in this situation, that doesn't work.

A

G G A

G G

A

While the top and bottom attacker have advantage due to flanking, the one on the right does not.

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Related Solutions

[RPG] Does the Goblin Boss’s Redirect Attack provoke an opportunity attack

Yes, if the second Goblin is not within the Reach of the thing making the opportunity attack

[RPG] Who benefits from flanking

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