Restrained vs. Grappled 5e: Movement, Attacks, and Escapes

When a creature gets pinned in place, I look up the condition before picking up the dice. A fighter holding someone and a wizard catching them in web both stop movement, but the person caught in the web is also easier to hit. This guide uses the 2014 D&D 5e rules for its main examples.

Restrained vs. Grappled 5e Quick Answer

In 2014 D&D 5e, both conditions set your speed to 0 and prevent speed bonuses from helping. Restrained also gives your attack rolls and Dexterity saving throws disadvantage and gives attackers advantage against you. To escape either condition, check the rule that imposed it. 2014 Grappled and Restrained conditions

Effect from the condition itself	Grappled in 2014	Restrained in 2014
Your speed	0, with speed bonuses blocked	0, with speed bonuses blocked
Your attack rolls	Roll as usual	Disadvantage
Attack rolls against you	Roll as usual	Advantage
Your Dexterity saving throws	Roll as usual	Disadvantage
Your actions and reactions	Available	Available

The last row assumes you have only the listed condition. A creature’s attack or a spell can impose additional effects that affect what you can do. Official 2014 clarification on grappling and spellcasting

Does Grappling a Creature Restrain It?

A successful ordinary 2014 grapple applies Grappled. For example, a fighter uses a free hand to grab a creature within reach. The attempt replaces one attack from the Attack action. Against an active target, the fighter’s Strength (Athletics) check must beat the target’s choice of Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics). On success, the target stays in place and can still attack normally if the grapple is its only condition. 2014 grappling rules

A special ability can apply both conditions. The optional 2014 Grappler feat, for example, lets you spend an action trying to pin a creature you already grapple. If the additional grapple check succeeds, both of you are restrained until that grapple ends. Other features can give their own combination of conditions and release rules. 2014 Grappler feat

What if the Grappled Creature Is Also Prone?

Apply both conditions. A prone creature with speed 0 can’t stand, and nearby attackers can get advantage from Prone. That advantage comes from the target’s position. An attacker more than 5 feet away instead has disadvantage from Prone, so consider where your allies are before spending an attack on a shove. Prone · Shove

Can You Attack or Cast a Spell While Restrained?

You can make attacks with disadvantage and cast spells if you meet their casting requirements. The disadvantage applies to weapon and spell attack rolls. If you cast a spell such as sacred flame, the target rolls its own save as usual. Your condition penalizes your Dexterity saves. It leaves your spell save DC alone. Sacred Flame · 2014 spellcasting

For example, an archer caught in a web makes bow attacks with disadvantage. Enemies have advantage on attacks against that archer, and the archer also has disadvantage on a Dexterity save against fireball. If the archer were only grappled in a 2014 game, any disadvantage on a bow attack would need another source, such as a hostile creature within 5 feet that can see the archer and is free of the incapacitated condition. Ranged combat · 2014 advantage and disadvantage

How Do You Escape a Grapple or Restraint?

Escaping an Ordinary 2014 Grapple

The grappled creature can spend its action to contest the grappler’s Strength (Athletics) check with Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics). A tie leaves the grapple in place. The grappler can also release the target freely, and the hold ends if the grappler becomes incapacitated or the target is moved outside its reach. For a monster’s special hold, check its stat block for an escape DC or another procedure. 2014 grappling · 2014 contests

Escaping a Restraining Effect

Read the spell, attack, or hazard for its ending conditions. The 2014 web spell, for example, lets a restrained creature spend its action on a Strength check against the caster’s spell save DC. If the DC is 14 and you roll 11 with a +2 Strength modifier, your total of 13 fails. Restrained imposes disadvantage on Dexterity saves and attack rolls, so you roll this Strength check normally unless another effect applies. Web

If a creature is both held by an enemy and caught in web, escaping the grapple ends the hold. The webs still restrain it until the spell’s release conditions are met. Track the source of each effect so you know whether the creature can move after breaking free. 2014 conditions and their durations

2014 vs. 2024 Rules

The 2024 rules give Grappled an additional attack penalty. A grappled creature has disadvantage on attacks against targets other than its grappler. Restrained still gives disadvantage on the creature’s attacks and Dexterity saves, and advantage to attacks against it. If both conditions apply, Restrained can impose disadvantage even on attacks against the grappler. 2024 Grappled · 2024 Restrained

Ordinary grapple	2014	2024
Start the hold	The attacker contests the target’s Athletics or Acrobatics with Athletics.	The grapple option of an Unarmed Strike makes the target choose a Strength or Dexterity save. The DC is 8 + the grappler’s Strength modifier + proficiency bonus.
Attempt to escape	The target spends an action on an Athletics or Acrobatics contest.	The target spends an action on an Athletics or Acrobatics check against the escape DC.

For example, a 2024 grappler with +3 Strength and a +2 proficiency bonus sets DC 13. Starting the grapple calls for the target’s save against 13. Escaping on a later turn calls for the target’s check against 13. 2024 Unarmed Strike and Grappling · 2024 escape rules

Restrained and Grappled FAQ

Can you teleport out of a grapple?

Yes, if you can use the teleport effect and your destination takes you outside the hold’s reach. For restraint from a different source, check that effect’s wording. Moving out of the area of web ends its restraint, while a restraint with a different ending condition may travel with you. 2014 Grappled condition · Web

Does either condition end concentration?

You can keep concentrating while grappled or restrained. If the same attack deals damage, resolve the usual Constitution save. If an additional effect incapacitates you, concentration ends. Concentration