Opportunity Attacks: react before the target leaves reach
An Opportunity Attack uses a Reaction and occurs at a specific point in another creature’s departure. Visibility, movement source and available Reaction all matter.
Use it at the table
- Check that you can see the creature and that it is leaving your reach using a listed action or speed.
- Use a Reaction to make one melee attack with a weapon or Unarmed Strike.
- Resolve that attack immediately before the creature leaves reach; check Disengage and teleportation exceptions.
Make the call
A visible enemy walks out of a defender’s reach. The defender has an available Reaction and makes the Opportunity Attack. Where is the enemy for that attack?
The ruling
Still within reach, just before leaving it.
The rule puts the attack immediately before the departure from reach. It is one melee attack paid for with the defender’s Reaction, not a complete Attack action. The stated scenario supplies visibility and ordinary movement; an effect such as Disengage or teleportation changes whether an Opportunity Attack is available.
Watch for this mistake
A trigger is not a free extra Reaction. If the Reaction has already been spent and has not refreshed, this general rule does not supply a replacement.
Ask the table
Can the defender see the departure, does it provoke, and is the Reaction available?
The source rule
SRD 5.2.1, page 185. Read the official PDF.
You can make an Opportunity Attack when a creature that you can see leaves your reach using its action, its Bonus Action, its Reaction, or one of its speeds. To make the Opportunity Attack, take a Reaction to make one melee attack with a weapon or an Unarmed Strike against the provoking creature. The attack occurs right before the creature leaves your reach. See also “Playing the Game” (“Combat”).
Source and reuse
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (“SRD 5.2.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
The explanation, example and table prompt are Table Ready adaptations; source text has been reflowed. This guide and its printable card are available under the same CC BY 4.0 license. Independent reference; no official affiliation. These rules are optional for our system-neutral adventures.