[RPG] Riposte an opportunity attack and Menacing attack in a single turn

battle-masterdnd-5efighter

Battle Master says "You can use only one maneuver per attack."

But what happens if you move to attack another creature, triggering an attack of opportunity and use a parry/riposte to respond to it, then attack the creature you were moving towards – can you use a 2nd of your superiority dice because it's a separate "attack" or does it count as the same attack?

Does that change if you use the Charge feat to attack?

Could you Dash, Riposte and use a Bonus Action to attack with Menacing all in one go, burning 2 superiority dice in the process?

Best Answer

But what happens if you move to attack another creature, triggering an attack of opportunity and use a parry/riposte to respond to it, then attack the creature you were moving towards - can you use a 2nd of your superiority dice because it's a separate "attack" or does it count as the same attack?

According to your description, here is the sequence of events:

  1. You start moving
  2. You trigger an attack of opportunity from enemy A
  3. You use either the Parry or Riposte maneuvers on the attack
  4. You continue moving
  5. You use the Attack action and attack enemy B

If this is true, there are two (or more) different attacks happening: one is an opportunity attack by enemy A as you pass, and one (or more) is an attack by you as part of your Attack action.

You can use only one maneuver per attack, but this simply means that you can't both Parry and Riposte a single enemy attack (never mind that it's logically impossible for the conditions for both attacks to be met at the same time); you also can't perform both a Menacing Attack and Lunging Attack (and Precision, etc.) on a single swing of your weapon.

Nothing prevents you from using one maneuver in response to the attack by enemy A, then moving to enemy B and using another maneuver on your attack against enemy B. This is also true if you have the Extra Attack feature and can make multiple attacks as part of your Attack action; Jeremy Crawford confirms this here:

can a battle master use a maneuver every attack role or only once every attack action? Thank you for your help!

A Battle Master can use 1 maneuver per attack (not only 1 per action).

This is also true of the attack you make as part of the Charger feat (if you meet the necessary requirements), or of any other attack you might be able to make. It's essentially one maneuver per attack roll, not per Attack action.

Note, however, that Riposte itself involves responding to a missed enemy attack by making your own attack against the enemy. Regarding the possibility of using another maneuver on your attack from Riposte, Jeremy Crawford said this:

Hi guys can a fighter use 2 maneuvers - Riposte on enemy's attack & Pushing Attack on his attack? i.e 1/attack

The intent is no more than 1 maneuver associated with any attack. Riposte is in a gray area, but I would say no.

Related Topic