Can a Beast Master command their stirge companion to use Blood Drain and then Dodge on subsequent turns,...











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I'm trying to optimize the damage done by a ranged Beast Master ranger, and was thinking of choosing the Stirge as a companion.




Blood Drain. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage, and the stirge attaches to the target.




The Stirge will have 12HP (4x my level), 16 AC, +7 attack modifier, and do 7 points of damage per attack (all increasing with level and proficiency). It is not the creature that does most damage per attack, no, but consider the following part of the attack.




While attached, the stirge doesn't attack. Instead, at the start of each of the stirge's turns, the target loses 5 (1d4 + 3) hit points due to blood loss.




Can I command my companion to attack, and on the following turn leave it attached while I attack? This means another 7 auto-hit damage with it, my possible attack, and the stirge doing the Dodge action (per Errata '18 at "Ranger: Ranger's Companion"). The stirge will detach itself after draining 10HP, so I could pull this off every two-turns.



Up to 11th level, when companions can finally take multi-attacks, the Stirge seems a pretty solid companion. After that, probably better companions will exist.










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  • 3




    It's worth noting that, as long as the Stirge has at least 5ft of movement remaining, it can still take advantage multiattack. Attack/attach. detach. attack/attach again.
    – goodguy5
    13 hours ago










  • @goodguy5 That's a great point, I hadn't considered it!
    – BlueMoon93
    12 hours ago






  • 1




    oh! and at level 13 (proficiency +5), it automatically deals 10 damage and therefore detaches at the beginning of its turn. Allowing for two more attacks!
    – goodguy5
    12 hours ago















up vote
13
down vote

favorite
2












I'm trying to optimize the damage done by a ranged Beast Master ranger, and was thinking of choosing the Stirge as a companion.




Blood Drain. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage, and the stirge attaches to the target.




The Stirge will have 12HP (4x my level), 16 AC, +7 attack modifier, and do 7 points of damage per attack (all increasing with level and proficiency). It is not the creature that does most damage per attack, no, but consider the following part of the attack.




While attached, the stirge doesn't attack. Instead, at the start of each of the stirge's turns, the target loses 5 (1d4 + 3) hit points due to blood loss.




Can I command my companion to attack, and on the following turn leave it attached while I attack? This means another 7 auto-hit damage with it, my possible attack, and the stirge doing the Dodge action (per Errata '18 at "Ranger: Ranger's Companion"). The stirge will detach itself after draining 10HP, so I could pull this off every two-turns.



Up to 11th level, when companions can finally take multi-attacks, the Stirge seems a pretty solid companion. After that, probably better companions will exist.










share|improve this question




















  • 3




    It's worth noting that, as long as the Stirge has at least 5ft of movement remaining, it can still take advantage multiattack. Attack/attach. detach. attack/attach again.
    – goodguy5
    13 hours ago










  • @goodguy5 That's a great point, I hadn't considered it!
    – BlueMoon93
    12 hours ago






  • 1




    oh! and at level 13 (proficiency +5), it automatically deals 10 damage and therefore detaches at the beginning of its turn. Allowing for two more attacks!
    – goodguy5
    12 hours ago













up vote
13
down vote

favorite
2









up vote
13
down vote

favorite
2






2





I'm trying to optimize the damage done by a ranged Beast Master ranger, and was thinking of choosing the Stirge as a companion.




Blood Drain. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage, and the stirge attaches to the target.




The Stirge will have 12HP (4x my level), 16 AC, +7 attack modifier, and do 7 points of damage per attack (all increasing with level and proficiency). It is not the creature that does most damage per attack, no, but consider the following part of the attack.




While attached, the stirge doesn't attack. Instead, at the start of each of the stirge's turns, the target loses 5 (1d4 + 3) hit points due to blood loss.




Can I command my companion to attack, and on the following turn leave it attached while I attack? This means another 7 auto-hit damage with it, my possible attack, and the stirge doing the Dodge action (per Errata '18 at "Ranger: Ranger's Companion"). The stirge will detach itself after draining 10HP, so I could pull this off every two-turns.



Up to 11th level, when companions can finally take multi-attacks, the Stirge seems a pretty solid companion. After that, probably better companions will exist.










share|improve this question















I'm trying to optimize the damage done by a ranged Beast Master ranger, and was thinking of choosing the Stirge as a companion.




Blood Drain. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage, and the stirge attaches to the target.




The Stirge will have 12HP (4x my level), 16 AC, +7 attack modifier, and do 7 points of damage per attack (all increasing with level and proficiency). It is not the creature that does most damage per attack, no, but consider the following part of the attack.




While attached, the stirge doesn't attack. Instead, at the start of each of the stirge's turns, the target loses 5 (1d4 + 3) hit points due to blood loss.




Can I command my companion to attack, and on the following turn leave it attached while I attack? This means another 7 auto-hit damage with it, my possible attack, and the stirge doing the Dodge action (per Errata '18 at "Ranger: Ranger's Companion"). The stirge will detach itself after draining 10HP, so I could pull this off every two-turns.



Up to 11th level, when companions can finally take multi-attacks, the Stirge seems a pretty solid companion. After that, probably better companions will exist.







dnd-5e ranger animal-companions






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share|improve this question













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share|improve this question








edited 58 mins ago









V2Blast

18.2k248114




18.2k248114










asked 13 hours ago









BlueMoon93

11.4k963124




11.4k963124








  • 3




    It's worth noting that, as long as the Stirge has at least 5ft of movement remaining, it can still take advantage multiattack. Attack/attach. detach. attack/attach again.
    – goodguy5
    13 hours ago










  • @goodguy5 That's a great point, I hadn't considered it!
    – BlueMoon93
    12 hours ago






  • 1




    oh! and at level 13 (proficiency +5), it automatically deals 10 damage and therefore detaches at the beginning of its turn. Allowing for two more attacks!
    – goodguy5
    12 hours ago














  • 3




    It's worth noting that, as long as the Stirge has at least 5ft of movement remaining, it can still take advantage multiattack. Attack/attach. detach. attack/attach again.
    – goodguy5
    13 hours ago










  • @goodguy5 That's a great point, I hadn't considered it!
    – BlueMoon93
    12 hours ago






  • 1




    oh! and at level 13 (proficiency +5), it automatically deals 10 damage and therefore detaches at the beginning of its turn. Allowing for two more attacks!
    – goodguy5
    12 hours ago








3




3




It's worth noting that, as long as the Stirge has at least 5ft of movement remaining, it can still take advantage multiattack. Attack/attach. detach. attack/attach again.
– goodguy5
13 hours ago




It's worth noting that, as long as the Stirge has at least 5ft of movement remaining, it can still take advantage multiattack. Attack/attach. detach. attack/attach again.
– goodguy5
13 hours ago












@goodguy5 That's a great point, I hadn't considered it!
– BlueMoon93
12 hours ago




@goodguy5 That's a great point, I hadn't considered it!
– BlueMoon93
12 hours ago




1




1




oh! and at level 13 (proficiency +5), it automatically deals 10 damage and therefore detaches at the beginning of its turn. Allowing for two more attacks!
– goodguy5
12 hours ago




oh! and at level 13 (proficiency +5), it automatically deals 10 damage and therefore detaches at the beginning of its turn. Allowing for two more attacks!
– goodguy5
12 hours ago










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes

















up vote
16
down vote



accepted










Disgusting, but Legal



Other than the very image of a person with a pet vampire-mosquito-bat-thing, I am aware of nothing in the rules that would prohibit your idea.






share|improve this answer

















  • 15




    His name is Fluffly!
    – BlueMoon93
    13 hours ago


















up vote
10
down vote













This works by RAW



Nothing in RAW will prevent you from taking a Stirge as a companion. You would then be able to use your action to command it to attack exactly as you describe. Once attached, it would not require an attack to deal the damage each round. It would then take the Dodge action each round as per the errata.



I would rule that it can't Dodge



This isn't strictly RAW as the Stirge's stat block doesn't indicate it this way but it makes sense and is how I would run it.



I would consider "attached" to be an equivalent condition to the Grappled condition which states:




A grappled creature's speed becomes 0, and it can't benefit from any bonus to its speed.




Now this does contradict the rules as the stirge states:




The stirge can detach itself by spending 5 feet of its movement.




implying that is has movement to spend. However, I would say that it has 0 speed unless it chooses to detach. If you, and more importantly your DM, agree with this premise then it cannot dodge.



In the text for the Dodge action:




You lose this benefit if you are incapacitated or if your speed drops to 0.




Therefore, the stirge will simply do nothing each turn. Without disadvantage on their attack, it's quite possible your target will simply kill the stirge on their turn.






share|improve this answer



















  • 2




    While I don't think it's unreasonable to houserule that an attached stirge has their speed dropped to zero, that isn't actually in their stat block and may not be applicable to OP whose DM may not be using that houserule - especially if they're just using the raw stat block.
    – NautArch
    13 hours ago








  • 5




    @NautArch it does state that is must spend 5 feet of movement to detach. So I guess that invalidates my argument since it has movement to spend.
    – linksassin
    13 hours ago










  • "doesn't attack" seems like it might include "doesn't get an action" which might also prevent dodging.
    – Ben Barden
    11 hours ago










  • @BenBarden That's not how it is worded so I wouldn't make that assumption. attack =/= action and it's dangerous to start making that assumption.
    – linksassin
    11 hours ago










  • @linksassin yeah... but the phrasing implies that the blood loss is instead of an attack, which at least implies that it might be somehow consuming the stirge's action to make it happen (just as the attack would normally). It at least has more support than "it can't dodge because it has no move" does.
    – Ben Barden
    11 hours ago











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2 Answers
2






active

oldest

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2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes








up vote
16
down vote



accepted










Disgusting, but Legal



Other than the very image of a person with a pet vampire-mosquito-bat-thing, I am aware of nothing in the rules that would prohibit your idea.






share|improve this answer

















  • 15




    His name is Fluffly!
    – BlueMoon93
    13 hours ago















up vote
16
down vote



accepted










Disgusting, but Legal



Other than the very image of a person with a pet vampire-mosquito-bat-thing, I am aware of nothing in the rules that would prohibit your idea.






share|improve this answer

















  • 15




    His name is Fluffly!
    – BlueMoon93
    13 hours ago













up vote
16
down vote



accepted







up vote
16
down vote



accepted






Disgusting, but Legal



Other than the very image of a person with a pet vampire-mosquito-bat-thing, I am aware of nothing in the rules that would prohibit your idea.






share|improve this answer












Disgusting, but Legal



Other than the very image of a person with a pet vampire-mosquito-bat-thing, I am aware of nothing in the rules that would prohibit your idea.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 13 hours ago









T.J.L.

27.4k386146




27.4k386146








  • 15




    His name is Fluffly!
    – BlueMoon93
    13 hours ago














  • 15




    His name is Fluffly!
    – BlueMoon93
    13 hours ago








15




15




His name is Fluffly!
– BlueMoon93
13 hours ago




His name is Fluffly!
– BlueMoon93
13 hours ago












up vote
10
down vote













This works by RAW



Nothing in RAW will prevent you from taking a Stirge as a companion. You would then be able to use your action to command it to attack exactly as you describe. Once attached, it would not require an attack to deal the damage each round. It would then take the Dodge action each round as per the errata.



I would rule that it can't Dodge



This isn't strictly RAW as the Stirge's stat block doesn't indicate it this way but it makes sense and is how I would run it.



I would consider "attached" to be an equivalent condition to the Grappled condition which states:




A grappled creature's speed becomes 0, and it can't benefit from any bonus to its speed.




Now this does contradict the rules as the stirge states:




The stirge can detach itself by spending 5 feet of its movement.




implying that is has movement to spend. However, I would say that it has 0 speed unless it chooses to detach. If you, and more importantly your DM, agree with this premise then it cannot dodge.



In the text for the Dodge action:




You lose this benefit if you are incapacitated or if your speed drops to 0.




Therefore, the stirge will simply do nothing each turn. Without disadvantage on their attack, it's quite possible your target will simply kill the stirge on their turn.






share|improve this answer



















  • 2




    While I don't think it's unreasonable to houserule that an attached stirge has their speed dropped to zero, that isn't actually in their stat block and may not be applicable to OP whose DM may not be using that houserule - especially if they're just using the raw stat block.
    – NautArch
    13 hours ago








  • 5




    @NautArch it does state that is must spend 5 feet of movement to detach. So I guess that invalidates my argument since it has movement to spend.
    – linksassin
    13 hours ago










  • "doesn't attack" seems like it might include "doesn't get an action" which might also prevent dodging.
    – Ben Barden
    11 hours ago










  • @BenBarden That's not how it is worded so I wouldn't make that assumption. attack =/= action and it's dangerous to start making that assumption.
    – linksassin
    11 hours ago










  • @linksassin yeah... but the phrasing implies that the blood loss is instead of an attack, which at least implies that it might be somehow consuming the stirge's action to make it happen (just as the attack would normally). It at least has more support than "it can't dodge because it has no move" does.
    – Ben Barden
    11 hours ago















up vote
10
down vote













This works by RAW



Nothing in RAW will prevent you from taking a Stirge as a companion. You would then be able to use your action to command it to attack exactly as you describe. Once attached, it would not require an attack to deal the damage each round. It would then take the Dodge action each round as per the errata.



I would rule that it can't Dodge



This isn't strictly RAW as the Stirge's stat block doesn't indicate it this way but it makes sense and is how I would run it.



I would consider "attached" to be an equivalent condition to the Grappled condition which states:




A grappled creature's speed becomes 0, and it can't benefit from any bonus to its speed.




Now this does contradict the rules as the stirge states:




The stirge can detach itself by spending 5 feet of its movement.




implying that is has movement to spend. However, I would say that it has 0 speed unless it chooses to detach. If you, and more importantly your DM, agree with this premise then it cannot dodge.



In the text for the Dodge action:




You lose this benefit if you are incapacitated or if your speed drops to 0.




Therefore, the stirge will simply do nothing each turn. Without disadvantage on their attack, it's quite possible your target will simply kill the stirge on their turn.






share|improve this answer



















  • 2




    While I don't think it's unreasonable to houserule that an attached stirge has their speed dropped to zero, that isn't actually in their stat block and may not be applicable to OP whose DM may not be using that houserule - especially if they're just using the raw stat block.
    – NautArch
    13 hours ago








  • 5




    @NautArch it does state that is must spend 5 feet of movement to detach. So I guess that invalidates my argument since it has movement to spend.
    – linksassin
    13 hours ago










  • "doesn't attack" seems like it might include "doesn't get an action" which might also prevent dodging.
    – Ben Barden
    11 hours ago










  • @BenBarden That's not how it is worded so I wouldn't make that assumption. attack =/= action and it's dangerous to start making that assumption.
    – linksassin
    11 hours ago










  • @linksassin yeah... but the phrasing implies that the blood loss is instead of an attack, which at least implies that it might be somehow consuming the stirge's action to make it happen (just as the attack would normally). It at least has more support than "it can't dodge because it has no move" does.
    – Ben Barden
    11 hours ago













up vote
10
down vote










up vote
10
down vote









This works by RAW



Nothing in RAW will prevent you from taking a Stirge as a companion. You would then be able to use your action to command it to attack exactly as you describe. Once attached, it would not require an attack to deal the damage each round. It would then take the Dodge action each round as per the errata.



I would rule that it can't Dodge



This isn't strictly RAW as the Stirge's stat block doesn't indicate it this way but it makes sense and is how I would run it.



I would consider "attached" to be an equivalent condition to the Grappled condition which states:




A grappled creature's speed becomes 0, and it can't benefit from any bonus to its speed.




Now this does contradict the rules as the stirge states:




The stirge can detach itself by spending 5 feet of its movement.




implying that is has movement to spend. However, I would say that it has 0 speed unless it chooses to detach. If you, and more importantly your DM, agree with this premise then it cannot dodge.



In the text for the Dodge action:




You lose this benefit if you are incapacitated or if your speed drops to 0.




Therefore, the stirge will simply do nothing each turn. Without disadvantage on their attack, it's quite possible your target will simply kill the stirge on their turn.






share|improve this answer














This works by RAW



Nothing in RAW will prevent you from taking a Stirge as a companion. You would then be able to use your action to command it to attack exactly as you describe. Once attached, it would not require an attack to deal the damage each round. It would then take the Dodge action each round as per the errata.



I would rule that it can't Dodge



This isn't strictly RAW as the Stirge's stat block doesn't indicate it this way but it makes sense and is how I would run it.



I would consider "attached" to be an equivalent condition to the Grappled condition which states:




A grappled creature's speed becomes 0, and it can't benefit from any bonus to its speed.




Now this does contradict the rules as the stirge states:




The stirge can detach itself by spending 5 feet of its movement.




implying that is has movement to spend. However, I would say that it has 0 speed unless it chooses to detach. If you, and more importantly your DM, agree with this premise then it cannot dodge.



In the text for the Dodge action:




You lose this benefit if you are incapacitated or if your speed drops to 0.




Therefore, the stirge will simply do nothing each turn. Without disadvantage on their attack, it's quite possible your target will simply kill the stirge on their turn.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 58 mins ago









V2Blast

18.2k248114




18.2k248114










answered 13 hours ago









linksassin

3,5931738




3,5931738








  • 2




    While I don't think it's unreasonable to houserule that an attached stirge has their speed dropped to zero, that isn't actually in their stat block and may not be applicable to OP whose DM may not be using that houserule - especially if they're just using the raw stat block.
    – NautArch
    13 hours ago








  • 5




    @NautArch it does state that is must spend 5 feet of movement to detach. So I guess that invalidates my argument since it has movement to spend.
    – linksassin
    13 hours ago










  • "doesn't attack" seems like it might include "doesn't get an action" which might also prevent dodging.
    – Ben Barden
    11 hours ago










  • @BenBarden That's not how it is worded so I wouldn't make that assumption. attack =/= action and it's dangerous to start making that assumption.
    – linksassin
    11 hours ago










  • @linksassin yeah... but the phrasing implies that the blood loss is instead of an attack, which at least implies that it might be somehow consuming the stirge's action to make it happen (just as the attack would normally). It at least has more support than "it can't dodge because it has no move" does.
    – Ben Barden
    11 hours ago














  • 2




    While I don't think it's unreasonable to houserule that an attached stirge has their speed dropped to zero, that isn't actually in their stat block and may not be applicable to OP whose DM may not be using that houserule - especially if they're just using the raw stat block.
    – NautArch
    13 hours ago








  • 5




    @NautArch it does state that is must spend 5 feet of movement to detach. So I guess that invalidates my argument since it has movement to spend.
    – linksassin
    13 hours ago










  • "doesn't attack" seems like it might include "doesn't get an action" which might also prevent dodging.
    – Ben Barden
    11 hours ago










  • @BenBarden That's not how it is worded so I wouldn't make that assumption. attack =/= action and it's dangerous to start making that assumption.
    – linksassin
    11 hours ago










  • @linksassin yeah... but the phrasing implies that the blood loss is instead of an attack, which at least implies that it might be somehow consuming the stirge's action to make it happen (just as the attack would normally). It at least has more support than "it can't dodge because it has no move" does.
    – Ben Barden
    11 hours ago








2




2




While I don't think it's unreasonable to houserule that an attached stirge has their speed dropped to zero, that isn't actually in their stat block and may not be applicable to OP whose DM may not be using that houserule - especially if they're just using the raw stat block.
– NautArch
13 hours ago






While I don't think it's unreasonable to houserule that an attached stirge has their speed dropped to zero, that isn't actually in their stat block and may not be applicable to OP whose DM may not be using that houserule - especially if they're just using the raw stat block.
– NautArch
13 hours ago






5




5




@NautArch it does state that is must spend 5 feet of movement to detach. So I guess that invalidates my argument since it has movement to spend.
– linksassin
13 hours ago




@NautArch it does state that is must spend 5 feet of movement to detach. So I guess that invalidates my argument since it has movement to spend.
– linksassin
13 hours ago












"doesn't attack" seems like it might include "doesn't get an action" which might also prevent dodging.
– Ben Barden
11 hours ago




"doesn't attack" seems like it might include "doesn't get an action" which might also prevent dodging.
– Ben Barden
11 hours ago












@BenBarden That's not how it is worded so I wouldn't make that assumption. attack =/= action and it's dangerous to start making that assumption.
– linksassin
11 hours ago




@BenBarden That's not how it is worded so I wouldn't make that assumption. attack =/= action and it's dangerous to start making that assumption.
– linksassin
11 hours ago












@linksassin yeah... but the phrasing implies that the blood loss is instead of an attack, which at least implies that it might be somehow consuming the stirge's action to make it happen (just as the attack would normally). It at least has more support than "it can't dodge because it has no move" does.
– Ben Barden
11 hours ago




@linksassin yeah... but the phrasing implies that the blood loss is instead of an attack, which at least implies that it might be somehow consuming the stirge's action to make it happen (just as the attack would normally). It at least has more support than "it can't dodge because it has no move" does.
– Ben Barden
11 hours ago


















 

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