Can a College of Swords bard use a Blade Flourish option on an opportunity attack provoked by their own Dissonant Whispers spell?

Question

Consider this scenario: a College of Swords bard uses dissonant whispers on a creature within 5 feet of him while he is holding a melee weapon. The creature fails the save and has to immediately use its reaction to move away. In my understanding, this movement provokes opportunity attacks. So:

Would the caster also be entitled to an opportunity attack?
If so, would he be able to augment his opportunity attack with a blade flourish?

Related: Can I trigger an Opportunity Attack by forcing an opponent to move out of my reach? — Rubiksmoose, Mar 22 '19 at 14:16

score 17 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 22 '19 at 13:56

17

Two questions here really, but:

1) Yes.

Even though opportunity attacks do not occur for forced movement, the rule for this actually says:

You do not provoke an opportunity attack when you teleport or when something moves you without using your movement, action or reaction.

Dissonant Whispers however is a bit of an oddball, as it forces the target to: "use its reaction, if available, to move".

So the target is using its own reaction to move and is thus eligible for opportunity attacks.

2) No

You use a blade flourish on your turn as part of the Attack action. An opportunity provides you with an attack (lower-case 'a'), but it is not your Attack action (upper-case 'A').

answered Mar 22 '19 at 13:56

PJRZ

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Support for first part in this sage advice – Sdjz Mar 22 '19 at 13:57
Are the rules consistent about capitalizing "Attack" when it is the action as opposed to any old swing of a sword? I have said this myself and seen it said too but am actually unsure. – Captain Man Mar 22 '19 at 15:40
@CaptainMan See What does upper-case-A-Attack action vs. lower-case-a-attack mean? for more information on those questions. (tl;dr, yes they are consistent) – Rubiksmoose Mar 22 '19 at 15:46
@Captain Man. They do seem consistent here. E.g, The basic rules of "Actions in Combat" (PHB, pg192) says "The most common action to take in combat is the Attack action, .... With this action you make one melee or ranged attack...." – PJRZ Mar 22 '19 at 15:46
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@CaptainMan The rules generally use the phrase "the Attack action" when that's what's meant. For example, a 5th-level fighter's Extra Attack applies "whenever you take the Attack action on your turn". The capitalization is less reliable. – Mark Wells Mar 22 '19 at 15:53

score 11 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 16 '20 at 10:23

1. Yes, the caster gets an Opportunity Attack

Since the creature is using its reaction to move away, that movement provokes an Opportunity Attack from an creature whose reach it leaves.

You do not provoke an opportunity attack when you teleport or when something moves you without using your movement, action or reaction.

In case there was any doubt, Crawford has unofficially supported this ruling in a tweet.

If it leaves the caster's then they provoke from them as well and they can use a reaction to take the attack against them.

You can see Can I trigger an Opportunity Attack by forcing an opponent to move out of my reach? for more examples and discussion about forced movement provoking OAs.

2. No, you cannot use Blade flourish on the Opportunity Attack

Blade Flourish (XGtE, p. 15) only works when you take the Attack action:

Whenever you take the Attack action on your turn [...]

The bard did not take the Attack action this round, they took the Cast a Spell action instead. An opportunity attack is an attack, but it is made outside of an Attack action, so it will not trigger the Blade Flourish ability.

See What does upper-case-A-Attack action vs. lower-case-a-attack mean? for more information on the distinction between the two.

score 6 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 22 '19 at 14:05

Two parter...

1. Yes, you get an Opportunity Attack

Assuming you have not already used your Reaction in this round. Normally, you do not when a creature is forced to move (via shove, thunderer wave, force wave, etx.), but Dissonant Whispers is different in that the movement is by the creature's Reaction; mandatory, but under the creature's control.

2. No, you didn't use an Attack action for your turn.

Per the feature, "Whenever you take the Attack action on your turn..." You did not take the Attack (big A) action this turn, you took the "Cast a spell" action this turn so Blade Flourish doesn't come into play.