Do Bugbears' arms literally get longer when it's their turn?Can I attack a Bulette when it's underground?Clarification of Blink Mechanics, or “Should Someone have Punched in my Sandwich?”Do half-elves get the abilities of both their races?Can the Polearm feat plus the Sentinel feat stop someone from reaching you?Are opportunity attacks considered my turn?What happens when it's time to level up and I no longer meet a multiclass prerequisite?Does the bugbear's long-limbed ability apply to melee spell attacks like shocking grasp?Would reach as a racial trait for my homebrew Mutant race be unbalanced?What are the practical Opportunity Attack values for a bugbear, holding a reach weapon, with the Polearm Master feat?At what distance can a bugbear, holding a reach weapon, with the Polearm Master feat, get their Opportunity Attack?

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Do Bugbears' arms literally get longer when it's their turn?


Can I attack a Bulette when it's underground?Clarification of Blink Mechanics, or “Should Someone have Punched in my Sandwich?”Do half-elves get the abilities of both their races?Can the Polearm feat plus the Sentinel feat stop someone from reaching you?Are opportunity attacks considered my turn?What happens when it's time to level up and I no longer meet a multiclass prerequisite?Does the bugbear's long-limbed ability apply to melee spell attacks like shocking grasp?Would reach as a racial trait for my homebrew Mutant race be unbalanced?What are the practical Opportunity Attack values for a bugbear, holding a reach weapon, with the Polearm Master feat?At what distance can a bugbear, holding a reach weapon, with the Polearm Master feat, get their Opportunity Attack?













34












$begingroup$


The Bugbear's Long-Limbed trait (VGtM, p. 119) says:




When you make a melee attack on your turn, your reach for it is 5 feet
greater than normal.




This means that when it is not a Bugbear's turn, his reach is five feet shorter than it is when it is his turn and he's making a melee attack. Does this mean that the bugbear's arms extend out from their bodies like Reed Richards on their turns when they strike out? Could it happen outside of combat when turns aren't being tracked? If not, maybe it's a response to a threatening situation?



Why I care: I want to know if my Bugbear has stretchy arms because it's important to the narrative if such an odd physical feature exists. My GM will want to describe the action in detail.



Answer parameters: Any relevant RAW, Errata or Sage Advice comments either confirming this or explaining why the arm stretchiness isn't a thing, but I'll take designer opinions, too in the absence of official rulings or RAW. If there's any reference in prior editions of D&D to bugbears having arms that physically get longer on their turns than they are when their turns are over, then that would be nice to know, too.










share|improve this question











$endgroup$







  • 4




    $begingroup$
    For what it's worth, I love this question. Definitely a +1 from me. We get very few narrative questions on the stack, and for someone who has given narration and universe consistency quite a bit of thought, I like being able to put my thoughts on somewhere where it might be useful to others as well.
    $endgroup$
    – David Coffron
    8 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    Thank you! I sometimes feel like this sort of question gets punished. Even that my questions in particular get targeted, which is hopefully not the case and I'm just being cranky. Thanks for the vote!
    $endgroup$
    – MarkTO
    7 hours ago















34












$begingroup$


The Bugbear's Long-Limbed trait (VGtM, p. 119) says:




When you make a melee attack on your turn, your reach for it is 5 feet
greater than normal.




This means that when it is not a Bugbear's turn, his reach is five feet shorter than it is when it is his turn and he's making a melee attack. Does this mean that the bugbear's arms extend out from their bodies like Reed Richards on their turns when they strike out? Could it happen outside of combat when turns aren't being tracked? If not, maybe it's a response to a threatening situation?



Why I care: I want to know if my Bugbear has stretchy arms because it's important to the narrative if such an odd physical feature exists. My GM will want to describe the action in detail.



Answer parameters: Any relevant RAW, Errata or Sage Advice comments either confirming this or explaining why the arm stretchiness isn't a thing, but I'll take designer opinions, too in the absence of official rulings or RAW. If there's any reference in prior editions of D&D to bugbears having arms that physically get longer on their turns than they are when their turns are over, then that would be nice to know, too.










share|improve this question











$endgroup$







  • 4




    $begingroup$
    For what it's worth, I love this question. Definitely a +1 from me. We get very few narrative questions on the stack, and for someone who has given narration and universe consistency quite a bit of thought, I like being able to put my thoughts on somewhere where it might be useful to others as well.
    $endgroup$
    – David Coffron
    8 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    Thank you! I sometimes feel like this sort of question gets punished. Even that my questions in particular get targeted, which is hopefully not the case and I'm just being cranky. Thanks for the vote!
    $endgroup$
    – MarkTO
    7 hours ago













34












34








34


2



$begingroup$


The Bugbear's Long-Limbed trait (VGtM, p. 119) says:




When you make a melee attack on your turn, your reach for it is 5 feet
greater than normal.




This means that when it is not a Bugbear's turn, his reach is five feet shorter than it is when it is his turn and he's making a melee attack. Does this mean that the bugbear's arms extend out from their bodies like Reed Richards on their turns when they strike out? Could it happen outside of combat when turns aren't being tracked? If not, maybe it's a response to a threatening situation?



Why I care: I want to know if my Bugbear has stretchy arms because it's important to the narrative if such an odd physical feature exists. My GM will want to describe the action in detail.



Answer parameters: Any relevant RAW, Errata or Sage Advice comments either confirming this or explaining why the arm stretchiness isn't a thing, but I'll take designer opinions, too in the absence of official rulings or RAW. If there's any reference in prior editions of D&D to bugbears having arms that physically get longer on their turns than they are when their turns are over, then that would be nice to know, too.










share|improve this question











$endgroup$




The Bugbear's Long-Limbed trait (VGtM, p. 119) says:




When you make a melee attack on your turn, your reach for it is 5 feet
greater than normal.




This means that when it is not a Bugbear's turn, his reach is five feet shorter than it is when it is his turn and he's making a melee attack. Does this mean that the bugbear's arms extend out from their bodies like Reed Richards on their turns when they strike out? Could it happen outside of combat when turns aren't being tracked? If not, maybe it's a response to a threatening situation?



Why I care: I want to know if my Bugbear has stretchy arms because it's important to the narrative if such an odd physical feature exists. My GM will want to describe the action in detail.



Answer parameters: Any relevant RAW, Errata or Sage Advice comments either confirming this or explaining why the arm stretchiness isn't a thing, but I'll take designer opinions, too in the absence of official rulings or RAW. If there's any reference in prior editions of D&D to bugbears having arms that physically get longer on their turns than they are when their turns are over, then that would be nice to know, too.







dnd-5e monsters racial-traits






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 7 hours ago









V2Blast

24.2k381152




24.2k381152










asked 9 hours ago









MarkTOMarkTO

4,1171040




4,1171040







  • 4




    $begingroup$
    For what it's worth, I love this question. Definitely a +1 from me. We get very few narrative questions on the stack, and for someone who has given narration and universe consistency quite a bit of thought, I like being able to put my thoughts on somewhere where it might be useful to others as well.
    $endgroup$
    – David Coffron
    8 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    Thank you! I sometimes feel like this sort of question gets punished. Even that my questions in particular get targeted, which is hopefully not the case and I'm just being cranky. Thanks for the vote!
    $endgroup$
    – MarkTO
    7 hours ago












  • 4




    $begingroup$
    For what it's worth, I love this question. Definitely a +1 from me. We get very few narrative questions on the stack, and for someone who has given narration and universe consistency quite a bit of thought, I like being able to put my thoughts on somewhere where it might be useful to others as well.
    $endgroup$
    – David Coffron
    8 hours ago










  • $begingroup$
    Thank you! I sometimes feel like this sort of question gets punished. Even that my questions in particular get targeted, which is hopefully not the case and I'm just being cranky. Thanks for the vote!
    $endgroup$
    – MarkTO
    7 hours ago







4




4




$begingroup$
For what it's worth, I love this question. Definitely a +1 from me. We get very few narrative questions on the stack, and for someone who has given narration and universe consistency quite a bit of thought, I like being able to put my thoughts on somewhere where it might be useful to others as well.
$endgroup$
– David Coffron
8 hours ago




$begingroup$
For what it's worth, I love this question. Definitely a +1 from me. We get very few narrative questions on the stack, and for someone who has given narration and universe consistency quite a bit of thought, I like being able to put my thoughts on somewhere where it might be useful to others as well.
$endgroup$
– David Coffron
8 hours ago












$begingroup$
Thank you! I sometimes feel like this sort of question gets punished. Even that my questions in particular get targeted, which is hopefully not the case and I'm just being cranky. Thanks for the vote!
$endgroup$
– MarkTO
7 hours ago




$begingroup$
Thank you! I sometimes feel like this sort of question gets punished. Even that my questions in particular get targeted, which is hopefully not the case and I'm just being cranky. Thanks for the vote!
$endgroup$
– MarkTO
7 hours ago










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















45












$begingroup$

They probably don't stretch



The name of the feature: "long-limbed" seems to merely be referring to the length of the arms themselves. If stretchiness was an aspect of bugbear physiology, that is something that would probably be mentioned in the description of bugbears either in the Monster Manual or Volo's Guide to Monsters.



Why only on the bugbear's turn then?



To start with, turns are an abstraction for the sake of ease of play, but narratively they can be understood as the aspect of a round where the character has the most control over the fight. Remember that everything that happens in a 6-second round has no particular order in-universe. So all this means is that the bugbear can only leverage their long limbs to attack a creature who is further away during their opportunity to influence that 6-second window.



You can see a similar phenomena with the feature Extra Attack which only activates on the character's turn. When someone else is the driving force of the action, the character is unable to capitalize on this aspect of his/her training. Even if they Ready the Attack action for use on someone else's turn, they only get one attack.



Out of combat



When not in combat (or using turns for some other event), the reach of a creature rarely matters. Instead, arm length itself is what's important (for reaching things). Arm length is something not touched on at all in the game, so it will be up to a conversation with your GM how long a bugbear's long limbs are.



However, it is worth noting that just because a bugbear can attack something twice as far away, does not necessarily mean their arms are twice as long as other medium humanoids. See the note on space below.



Space



From the Basic Rules:




A creature’s space is the area in feet that it effectively controls in combat, not an expression of its physical dimensions.




At any given point in the 6 seconds that make up a round, a creature need not occupy a specific location in the space it controls. Their position ebbs and flows as the battle rages on. It is easily possible that a bugbear's long arms allow it to continue to control that medium sized space without even having to be within that space entirely. With this explanation, the bugbear might just be temporarily ebbing into another space to make the attack and flowing back (when they have the most control over the battle on their turn)






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Accepting because it not only gives a reasonable citation from the rules, but offers an explanation as to why the extra reach would be available only under the very specific circumstances that it is.
    $endgroup$
    – MarkTO
    7 hours ago


















11












$begingroup$

It's up to you as a player/DM



There is no description of how Long-Limbed works in-universe. It just does. As a player or DM, you are entirely free to describe what this looks like at your table as long as you use the existing mechanic of how it works.



That's the joy of roleplay!



The dangers of asking players to narrate abilities



I do want to put a section about the dangers of a DM asking players to narrate abilities. For the sake of roleplay and scene settings, it's a great thing to do. but if they're asking for it because they don't understand why or how something works, then that's a dangerous territory to enter. Magic users aren't generally ask to narrate why their magic works, and martial characters shouldn't be asked why their abilities work, either.



The abilities do what they do, and they can be described narratively. If you want them to do something that isn't explicitly stated as possible, that's going to be up to you and your DM.






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$








  • 3




    $begingroup$
    I'd offer a second +1 if I could for that second section. Definitely very important.
    $endgroup$
    – David Coffron
    8 hours ago










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2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes








2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









45












$begingroup$

They probably don't stretch



The name of the feature: "long-limbed" seems to merely be referring to the length of the arms themselves. If stretchiness was an aspect of bugbear physiology, that is something that would probably be mentioned in the description of bugbears either in the Monster Manual or Volo's Guide to Monsters.



Why only on the bugbear's turn then?



To start with, turns are an abstraction for the sake of ease of play, but narratively they can be understood as the aspect of a round where the character has the most control over the fight. Remember that everything that happens in a 6-second round has no particular order in-universe. So all this means is that the bugbear can only leverage their long limbs to attack a creature who is further away during their opportunity to influence that 6-second window.



You can see a similar phenomena with the feature Extra Attack which only activates on the character's turn. When someone else is the driving force of the action, the character is unable to capitalize on this aspect of his/her training. Even if they Ready the Attack action for use on someone else's turn, they only get one attack.



Out of combat



When not in combat (or using turns for some other event), the reach of a creature rarely matters. Instead, arm length itself is what's important (for reaching things). Arm length is something not touched on at all in the game, so it will be up to a conversation with your GM how long a bugbear's long limbs are.



However, it is worth noting that just because a bugbear can attack something twice as far away, does not necessarily mean their arms are twice as long as other medium humanoids. See the note on space below.



Space



From the Basic Rules:




A creature’s space is the area in feet that it effectively controls in combat, not an expression of its physical dimensions.




At any given point in the 6 seconds that make up a round, a creature need not occupy a specific location in the space it controls. Their position ebbs and flows as the battle rages on. It is easily possible that a bugbear's long arms allow it to continue to control that medium sized space without even having to be within that space entirely. With this explanation, the bugbear might just be temporarily ebbing into another space to make the attack and flowing back (when they have the most control over the battle on their turn)






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Accepting because it not only gives a reasonable citation from the rules, but offers an explanation as to why the extra reach would be available only under the very specific circumstances that it is.
    $endgroup$
    – MarkTO
    7 hours ago















45












$begingroup$

They probably don't stretch



The name of the feature: "long-limbed" seems to merely be referring to the length of the arms themselves. If stretchiness was an aspect of bugbear physiology, that is something that would probably be mentioned in the description of bugbears either in the Monster Manual or Volo's Guide to Monsters.



Why only on the bugbear's turn then?



To start with, turns are an abstraction for the sake of ease of play, but narratively they can be understood as the aspect of a round where the character has the most control over the fight. Remember that everything that happens in a 6-second round has no particular order in-universe. So all this means is that the bugbear can only leverage their long limbs to attack a creature who is further away during their opportunity to influence that 6-second window.



You can see a similar phenomena with the feature Extra Attack which only activates on the character's turn. When someone else is the driving force of the action, the character is unable to capitalize on this aspect of his/her training. Even if they Ready the Attack action for use on someone else's turn, they only get one attack.



Out of combat



When not in combat (or using turns for some other event), the reach of a creature rarely matters. Instead, arm length itself is what's important (for reaching things). Arm length is something not touched on at all in the game, so it will be up to a conversation with your GM how long a bugbear's long limbs are.



However, it is worth noting that just because a bugbear can attack something twice as far away, does not necessarily mean their arms are twice as long as other medium humanoids. See the note on space below.



Space



From the Basic Rules:




A creature’s space is the area in feet that it effectively controls in combat, not an expression of its physical dimensions.




At any given point in the 6 seconds that make up a round, a creature need not occupy a specific location in the space it controls. Their position ebbs and flows as the battle rages on. It is easily possible that a bugbear's long arms allow it to continue to control that medium sized space without even having to be within that space entirely. With this explanation, the bugbear might just be temporarily ebbing into another space to make the attack and flowing back (when they have the most control over the battle on their turn)






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Accepting because it not only gives a reasonable citation from the rules, but offers an explanation as to why the extra reach would be available only under the very specific circumstances that it is.
    $endgroup$
    – MarkTO
    7 hours ago













45












45








45





$begingroup$

They probably don't stretch



The name of the feature: "long-limbed" seems to merely be referring to the length of the arms themselves. If stretchiness was an aspect of bugbear physiology, that is something that would probably be mentioned in the description of bugbears either in the Monster Manual or Volo's Guide to Monsters.



Why only on the bugbear's turn then?



To start with, turns are an abstraction for the sake of ease of play, but narratively they can be understood as the aspect of a round where the character has the most control over the fight. Remember that everything that happens in a 6-second round has no particular order in-universe. So all this means is that the bugbear can only leverage their long limbs to attack a creature who is further away during their opportunity to influence that 6-second window.



You can see a similar phenomena with the feature Extra Attack which only activates on the character's turn. When someone else is the driving force of the action, the character is unable to capitalize on this aspect of his/her training. Even if they Ready the Attack action for use on someone else's turn, they only get one attack.



Out of combat



When not in combat (or using turns for some other event), the reach of a creature rarely matters. Instead, arm length itself is what's important (for reaching things). Arm length is something not touched on at all in the game, so it will be up to a conversation with your GM how long a bugbear's long limbs are.



However, it is worth noting that just because a bugbear can attack something twice as far away, does not necessarily mean their arms are twice as long as other medium humanoids. See the note on space below.



Space



From the Basic Rules:




A creature’s space is the area in feet that it effectively controls in combat, not an expression of its physical dimensions.




At any given point in the 6 seconds that make up a round, a creature need not occupy a specific location in the space it controls. Their position ebbs and flows as the battle rages on. It is easily possible that a bugbear's long arms allow it to continue to control that medium sized space without even having to be within that space entirely. With this explanation, the bugbear might just be temporarily ebbing into another space to make the attack and flowing back (when they have the most control over the battle on their turn)






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$



They probably don't stretch



The name of the feature: "long-limbed" seems to merely be referring to the length of the arms themselves. If stretchiness was an aspect of bugbear physiology, that is something that would probably be mentioned in the description of bugbears either in the Monster Manual or Volo's Guide to Monsters.



Why only on the bugbear's turn then?



To start with, turns are an abstraction for the sake of ease of play, but narratively they can be understood as the aspect of a round where the character has the most control over the fight. Remember that everything that happens in a 6-second round has no particular order in-universe. So all this means is that the bugbear can only leverage their long limbs to attack a creature who is further away during their opportunity to influence that 6-second window.



You can see a similar phenomena with the feature Extra Attack which only activates on the character's turn. When someone else is the driving force of the action, the character is unable to capitalize on this aspect of his/her training. Even if they Ready the Attack action for use on someone else's turn, they only get one attack.



Out of combat



When not in combat (or using turns for some other event), the reach of a creature rarely matters. Instead, arm length itself is what's important (for reaching things). Arm length is something not touched on at all in the game, so it will be up to a conversation with your GM how long a bugbear's long limbs are.



However, it is worth noting that just because a bugbear can attack something twice as far away, does not necessarily mean their arms are twice as long as other medium humanoids. See the note on space below.



Space



From the Basic Rules:




A creature’s space is the area in feet that it effectively controls in combat, not an expression of its physical dimensions.




At any given point in the 6 seconds that make up a round, a creature need not occupy a specific location in the space it controls. Their position ebbs and flows as the battle rages on. It is easily possible that a bugbear's long arms allow it to continue to control that medium sized space without even having to be within that space entirely. With this explanation, the bugbear might just be temporarily ebbing into another space to make the attack and flowing back (when they have the most control over the battle on their turn)







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 7 hours ago

























answered 9 hours ago









David CoffronDavid Coffron

37.3k3129261




37.3k3129261







  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Accepting because it not only gives a reasonable citation from the rules, but offers an explanation as to why the extra reach would be available only under the very specific circumstances that it is.
    $endgroup$
    – MarkTO
    7 hours ago












  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Accepting because it not only gives a reasonable citation from the rules, but offers an explanation as to why the extra reach would be available only under the very specific circumstances that it is.
    $endgroup$
    – MarkTO
    7 hours ago







1




1




$begingroup$
Accepting because it not only gives a reasonable citation from the rules, but offers an explanation as to why the extra reach would be available only under the very specific circumstances that it is.
$endgroup$
– MarkTO
7 hours ago




$begingroup$
Accepting because it not only gives a reasonable citation from the rules, but offers an explanation as to why the extra reach would be available only under the very specific circumstances that it is.
$endgroup$
– MarkTO
7 hours ago













11












$begingroup$

It's up to you as a player/DM



There is no description of how Long-Limbed works in-universe. It just does. As a player or DM, you are entirely free to describe what this looks like at your table as long as you use the existing mechanic of how it works.



That's the joy of roleplay!



The dangers of asking players to narrate abilities



I do want to put a section about the dangers of a DM asking players to narrate abilities. For the sake of roleplay and scene settings, it's a great thing to do. but if they're asking for it because they don't understand why or how something works, then that's a dangerous territory to enter. Magic users aren't generally ask to narrate why their magic works, and martial characters shouldn't be asked why their abilities work, either.



The abilities do what they do, and they can be described narratively. If you want them to do something that isn't explicitly stated as possible, that's going to be up to you and your DM.






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$








  • 3




    $begingroup$
    I'd offer a second +1 if I could for that second section. Definitely very important.
    $endgroup$
    – David Coffron
    8 hours ago















11












$begingroup$

It's up to you as a player/DM



There is no description of how Long-Limbed works in-universe. It just does. As a player or DM, you are entirely free to describe what this looks like at your table as long as you use the existing mechanic of how it works.



That's the joy of roleplay!



The dangers of asking players to narrate abilities



I do want to put a section about the dangers of a DM asking players to narrate abilities. For the sake of roleplay and scene settings, it's a great thing to do. but if they're asking for it because they don't understand why or how something works, then that's a dangerous territory to enter. Magic users aren't generally ask to narrate why their magic works, and martial characters shouldn't be asked why their abilities work, either.



The abilities do what they do, and they can be described narratively. If you want them to do something that isn't explicitly stated as possible, that's going to be up to you and your DM.






share|improve this answer











$endgroup$








  • 3




    $begingroup$
    I'd offer a second +1 if I could for that second section. Definitely very important.
    $endgroup$
    – David Coffron
    8 hours ago













11












11








11





$begingroup$

It's up to you as a player/DM



There is no description of how Long-Limbed works in-universe. It just does. As a player or DM, you are entirely free to describe what this looks like at your table as long as you use the existing mechanic of how it works.



That's the joy of roleplay!



The dangers of asking players to narrate abilities



I do want to put a section about the dangers of a DM asking players to narrate abilities. For the sake of roleplay and scene settings, it's a great thing to do. but if they're asking for it because they don't understand why or how something works, then that's a dangerous territory to enter. Magic users aren't generally ask to narrate why their magic works, and martial characters shouldn't be asked why their abilities work, either.



The abilities do what they do, and they can be described narratively. If you want them to do something that isn't explicitly stated as possible, that's going to be up to you and your DM.






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$endgroup$



It's up to you as a player/DM



There is no description of how Long-Limbed works in-universe. It just does. As a player or DM, you are entirely free to describe what this looks like at your table as long as you use the existing mechanic of how it works.



That's the joy of roleplay!



The dangers of asking players to narrate abilities



I do want to put a section about the dangers of a DM asking players to narrate abilities. For the sake of roleplay and scene settings, it's a great thing to do. but if they're asking for it because they don't understand why or how something works, then that's a dangerous territory to enter. Magic users aren't generally ask to narrate why their magic works, and martial characters shouldn't be asked why their abilities work, either.



The abilities do what they do, and they can be described narratively. If you want them to do something that isn't explicitly stated as possible, that's going to be up to you and your DM.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 8 hours ago

























answered 9 hours ago









NautArchNautArch

59.1k8211394




59.1k8211394







  • 3




    $begingroup$
    I'd offer a second +1 if I could for that second section. Definitely very important.
    $endgroup$
    – David Coffron
    8 hours ago












  • 3




    $begingroup$
    I'd offer a second +1 if I could for that second section. Definitely very important.
    $endgroup$
    – David Coffron
    8 hours ago







3




3




$begingroup$
I'd offer a second +1 if I could for that second section. Definitely very important.
$endgroup$
– David Coffron
8 hours ago




$begingroup$
I'd offer a second +1 if I could for that second section. Definitely very important.
$endgroup$
– David Coffron
8 hours ago

















draft saved

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