D&D 5e/Next; Alternate Flanking rule. It depends on your party but especially at higher levels when you have tons of stuff giving you advantage and bonus to attack, I prefer using this because it makes flanking a good thing to do but not too overpowered. Flanking in other editions meant you gained a bonus to hit and combat advantage. A round represents about 6 seconds in the game world. I honestly have no idea how good of an idea this is. Fifth edition only has an optional rule that conveys advantage, but that can be too strong at times (and not strong enough at others, if someone is surrounded by five foes) and involves another dice roll. Mathematically Advantage is equal to about +3.3 bonus. Zizzle. Apr 7, … But in that case then you may have heard your players bring up flanking. We switch back and forth between minis & tokens on a grid and TotM combat so I tried to devise a a Flanking variant that could be executed narratively in TotM play but is not as OP as the DMG variant rule on grids. as a reaction) and is rarely hit, whereas my 18 AC with disadvantage to attacks against him gets hit way more often then not. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. The Wizard has a 19 AC (with some shield spell that increases it to 22?/23? Archer and Mage are at in the back of the cavern chamber, engaging at-range and the Rogue has already advanced forward and has a potential Flanking angle. In addition, Advantage and +2 are hardly equivalent, even in 5e with it's bounded accuracy. There are a number of things working against me, but would anyone else agree that opting to use flanking is essentially house ruling out the monk's defensive ability or am I being crazy and just don't know what I'm doing? Not trying to shoehorn in weird bonuses is one of the reasons we play 5e instead of 3e. If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. This is why I use old-school zone of control rules. My current group started with 4e and Flanking was so ingrained in their thinking that they just assumed it was also the RAW in 5e, rather than a varient rule. Additionally, you can also use a bonus action to disengage, letting you run in, hit some guys, and then run back behind your wizard tank. 5e doesn't need flanking. When two allied creatures are within 5 feet of an enemy creature and one of the allied creatures makes a melee attack against that enemy, the other allied creature can use its reaction to grant advantage on the attack roll (before the roll is made). You can just circle any enemy with no penalties because you only get AoO for stepping outside its range. I also allow a Suppressive Fire Flanking bonus: if two PCs make ranged attacks against the same target in the same round, a 3rd PC may come into melee range and make a Flanking attack (with Advan) without another PC being adjacent to the target (in the same round). Also, flanking seems to be intuitive to players. The site may not work properly if you don't, If you do not update your browser, we suggest you visit, Press J to jump to the feed. Creatures with a reach of 0 feet can’t flank an opponent. Optional Rule: Flanking with Reach - Interactive Spreadsheet ... Flanking 5e Dmg - snetyellow. Personally as a DM I wouldn't allow it however, because the RAI interpretation to me seems to suggest that both sides of the requirements should be creatures and capable of flanking. Not too harsh, not too lenient. The PCs must declare they are making a coordinated attack. We've been playing with flanking in our most recent 5e campaign, and I honestly wish we weren't. Archer goes first and shoots the Bugbear. moment that grants them the option to not be hit or avoid the situation altogether. On the defense, you make a similar check, Dexterity or Strength vs. Well, the disadvantage and the advantage should cancel each other out, giving those flankers just one chance to hit you. Honestly, flanking in 5e is just a bad rule in general. Stabby stab with Advan and Sneak Attack. Other useful information about this game: Should the public display of grotesque mutilation of a body result in punishment? Flanking just adds an extra layer of frustration and headache. It renders a lot of spells and class abilities redundant if everyone has advantage anyway, and I'm not a huge fan of that, but perhaps it would be better with less than 5 players! The Flank would have to be re-set on each turn, being careful to not invite an AoO. A typical combat encounter is a clash between two sides, a flurry of weapon swings, feints, parries, footwork, and spellcasting. Additionally our DM likes to pit us against groups of 7-8+ combatants, which are generally a "deadly" encounters when you put the XP totals to the encounter multiplier chart, which pretty often ends up with our characters being flanked. My First House Rule for DnD Basic (5e) Grappling follows a progression. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. Hey All: I've recently started playing a 5th edition game as the only melee player. Now, I don't plan on changing how I'm running our current campaign at all. I give them a +1 bonus if they're 2 to flank and +2 if they're 3 or more to flank an enemy. Or just inflate enemy ACs by a point or two. The reason flanking doesn't exist is because of the change to opportunity attacks in this edition. Let's say the PCs are engaging a Bugbear and his two pet wolves. If you want to micromanage things like that, then you should play Pathfinder or something like that. Flanking requires deliberate planning and tactical thinking, not just a happy accident. If you can convince your DM that the sword counts as one of Bob's allies, the above ruling would allow both of them to attack with advantage. I can always get more players. A fighter may select Combat Awareness as one of his fighter bonus feats. I actually really love flanking rules. When making a melee attack, you get a +2 flanking bonus if your opponent is threatened by a character or creature friendly to you on the opponent’s opposite border or opposite corner.. If your group is using flanking, consider asking the DM to add in the stricter OA rules as well. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Only a creature or character that threatens the defender can help an attacker get a flanking bonus. One way to modify how a class feels is to change how it uses its spells. Adding flanking as an additional mechanic just messes things up. With that in mind, here’s my variant rule for flanking. So only the 2nd PC (or if the situation is reversed, 2nd enemy) is going to get Advantage on attack. My GM has decided to use the optional flanking causes advantage rules and I am taking a bunch of hits. Also, the 2nd ranged attack is just a standard attack. Flanking removing the effects of spells feats and items is a boon in my opinion. Big changes from 3.x (and possibly 4e? Advantage/disadvantage is the equivalent of +/- 5 on a roll. The only exception to the rule that you can't flank with a ranged weapon is the case where you threaten squares with a ... get a +2 flanking bonus to hit on melee attacks only, and never on ranged attacks. Yeah bud, go ahead and give me an ultimatum. The order of turns is determined at the beginning of a combat encounter, when everyone rolls initiative. In fact, the line itself doesn't even imply the second part: it's just that nothing else in the rules does give ranged attacks a flanking bonus to hit, so you can't get one. Press J to jump to the feed. 2nd Player gets into (or remains in) Flanking position and attacks (with Advan). You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. Fair facing house rules for 5e - Role-playing Games Stack ... 5e Flanking Dmg - hcrenew. Whether your opponents' disadvantage is negated or your opponents are given advantage from standard it's still the same bonus. I don't know the odds, cause I'm terrible at mathing, but it seems that the monk should be hit much less then the wizard given the high AC and disadvantage. Post: "5e Flanking House Rule Concept" specifically for the game Dungeons & Dragons Online. The penalty to notice things in or beyond your rear area is -5. Echo Knight Flanking (& Other echo based shenanigans ... Flanking: A Side View – ThinkDM. Also, if you've played with the flanking variant I'd love to hear if you liked or disliked the rule as it stood naturally in the DMG. It does not meet the Flanking criteria and does not get Advan (unless some other condition would normally grant it). Mar 5, 2017 Category Icon Basic Rules This section contains the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rules and the rules in the SRD, released as part of the Open Gaming License. However, if I used flanking, I'd use the advantage rule. Barbarian goes next and splits Wolf 1 in twain. Things have changed with flanking 5E, however. During a round, each participant in a battle takes a turn. The thing is that I find flanking is so easy to achieve in some parties that players always have advantage, so it makes all the effects of spells, feats or items that give you advantage useless as you have advantage 3/4 of the time already thanks to flanking. Only the 3rd attack, the Rogue's melee attack made from a different angle of attack grants the Flanking Bonus. But flanking was such a huge part of the tactics of earlier editions I thought, surely, it must be a part of combat in 5e. I'd stick with the advantage over +2 though. I can think of a few things that might be problematic, but if anyone can shed some light on whether this is a good fix or not it'd be appreciated. Trying to find a version that suits well. By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. Certain monsters have the "pack tactics" feature which gives them advantage to attack a target when an ally is within 5' of them. Sneak Attack and Flanking Ruling. level 2 what am I missing here? There are no flanking rules as of yet. This was an essential aspect of the gameplay of Rogues and melee classes during 3rd, 3.5, and 4th edition. By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. Dive in and start playing today! I agree, it's really annoying. When I DM I tend to make encounters with fewer but stronger enemies so flanking is often at the advantage of players. dave2008 Legend. Rogues get this on their Sneak Attack, too. Thanks all. I feel like at the point where someone threatens to leave the group if they don't get their way, they should just leave then and there anyway. Remember that even a +2 is gonna be meh for most enemies, but could be lethal to players (since player AC isn't as easy or quick to increase). Exception: If a flanker takes up more than 1 square, it gets the flanking bonus if any square it occupies counts for flanking. In 4 out of 5 groups, we use flanking not because we decided to use flanking, but because players assume there's flanking. If for some reason, 1st Player feels like he cannot do any, or much damage against the target, but the other Flanking set-up conditions are satisfied, he may use the Help action to distract the target which would allow the Flank attack with Advan for 2nd PC in the same round. Rules Questions: Search Thread Search this Thread: Darbius Maximus : May 19, 2017, 12:56 am: Both Read as Written and Read as Intended, creatures immune to flanking are completely exempt from any advantages or effects regarding or incurred by flanking correct? Your group is using flanking, I 'd use the optional rule: flanking reach..., select the forum that you want to micromanage things like that then., flanking seems to be re-set on each turn, being careful not. Their characters to learn the rest of the change to opportunity attacks this... At best I would be using a class feels is to change how it uses its spells is bound be!, and 4th Edition enemy ACs by a point or two, which advantage... 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