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Im making an NPC spellcaster that will kind of center around Bigby's hand and telekinesis spells, and I was wondering if you could use Bigby's hand to fly. Could you grapple yourself for a quick getaway and just fly? I know this isnt particularly efficient when the fly spell exists but i think its pretty cool. Anything RAW stopping this?

Ayebrow
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    Does this answer your question: "Can Bigby's Hand move creatures that are Grappled into the air?" – Exempt-Medic Mar 24 '22 at 17:03
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    It might be splitting hairs but I'm not sure the linked answer is a full duplicate. This questions has two components - can the caster target themselves with Bigby's Hand, and can Bigby's Hand be used to fly a grappled creature around. The linked question answers the flying part thoroughly, but does not confirm that the Grasping Hand ability can self target. – IronWilliam Mar 24 '22 at 18:19
  • @IronWilliam I see what you're saying there; however, I'm not sure there's anything about Bigby's hand that points to it not being able to grapple the caster. If there's something about the spell that makes that case different from any other grapple, I could see these being separate – Exempt-Medic Mar 24 '22 at 18:22
  • Well, the Interposing Hand option wouldn't make much sense targeting the caster. And as you mentioned below, there's some non-obvious nuance to self targeting when the question ask for RAW and pointing out that you need to fail your own grapple check is relevant to this use of the spell. – IronWilliam Mar 24 '22 at 18:24
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    @Exempt-Medic I’m voting to reopen. Bigby’s Hand’s uses aren’t limited to the special grappling/interposing/fist/forceful rules listed in the spell; it can also do ordinary hand-things (lifting, manipulating), which is why it has Strength and Dexterity scores. This question can be answered without reference to grappling. – Marq Mar 25 '22 at 06:28

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Yes

The Grasping Hand section of Bigby's Hand reads. "The hand attempts to grapple a Huge or smaller creature within 5 feet of it." If the caster is a creature within 5 feet of the hand, nothing prevents them from grappling themselves with it. Then, as answered in "Can Bigby's Hand move creatures that are Grappled into the air?", you can fly yourself around. Just don't use the crushing action!

There is one catch, if you are dealing strictly with RAW. As answered in Is it possible to fail an ability check on purpose?, there is no RAW way to simply accept a grapple. This would be an unusually strict reading of the rules, but it's worth keeping in mind.

IronWilliam
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  • Let us continue this discussion in chat. – Exempt-Medic Mar 24 '22 at 19:59
  • I asked this specific question here. By RAW, the player has roll the dice. – MivaScott Mar 24 '22 at 23:25
  • I'd also recommend adding/moving(?) your answer to the dupe target to let it compete against the others. – NotArch Mar 24 '22 at 23:57
  • Remember that Bigby’s Hand can just pick things up, including the caster; it’s Large and has a Strength of 26. You don’t need to use the grapple rules. – Marq Mar 25 '22 at 06:22
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    By very strict RAW, I'm not so sure it can 'just pick things up'. It has a Strength that is uses for three of the four listed abilities, but it doesn't have text like Mage Hand where it suggests general use. The closest is saying that "it moves at your command, mimicking the movements of your own hand." but it doesn't give any sort of action requirement to use the hand for other purposes, only a bonus action to perform one of the listed uses. – IronWilliam Mar 25 '22 at 06:30
  • See my answer to this question; I think the presence of a Dexterity score also indicates that the hand isn’t limited to the actions listed. – Marq Mar 25 '22 at 06:38
  • If a player says “I mimic picking up that boulder, causing my Bigby’s hand to actually pick it up”, is there any RAW reason for that not to work? What else is the “mimicking the movements of your own hand” text supposed to mean? – Marq Mar 25 '22 at 06:47
  • I agree with allowing broad use, and that how I would run the spell. But when the question is asking about RAW specifically I tend towards more conservative answers dealing with what the system explicitly allows. A particularly rigid wargaming-type DM could rule that line of text is merely the mechanism the caster uses to achieve the listed effects, not that it truly allows full freedom of use. – IronWilliam Mar 25 '22 at 06:54
  • Sounds like this could be better debated by providing another answer to this question (if it were to be reopened), or in another question. – Marq Mar 25 '22 at 07:30
  • @Marq Even if the hand can pick things up (and I would think that it can), creatures cannot just be picked up. Grappling is how this is done. Otherwise, any creature could pick up any other creature without a grappling check as well. It is not possible to lift, grapple, move, or toss a creature without an ability check being made – Exempt-Medic Mar 25 '22 at 10:36
  • @Exempt-Medic So I can’t pick up a willing, cooperative friend without them being forced to oppose my “grapple”? Where is that in the rules? – Marq Mar 25 '22 at 10:52
  • @Marq Some examples, perhaps: "Can you shove a friendly creature?" and "Can you grapple-drag someone out of a grapple?". Especially relevant is that if you could just carry somebody, then you could carry them out of a grapple extremely easily. That all said, we clearly disagree here and I suggest you ask this as its own question, probably without mentioning Bigby's hand at all. It is interesting and I'll ask it if you dont want to. Regardless, our arguments would be better placed in answers than in comments – Exempt-Medic Mar 25 '22 at 11:46
  • @Marq And, for what it's worth, there's this answer talking about how picking up an unconscious creature requires a grapple check. Meanwhile, the following has a highly-upvoted answer supporting your stance, at least somewhat: "How do I grapple/drag an unconscious ally? Does he make a contested check against mine?" – Exempt-Medic Mar 25 '22 at 11:57
  • FWIW, my discussion with Exempt-Medic and illustro in the linked chat above prompted me to post an answer to Can a player choose to fail a spell's ability check contest? where for Bigby's Hand I argue essentially the same point as the above-cited answer to How do I grapple/drag an unconscious ally? Does he make a contested check against mine? – Kirt Mar 25 '22 at 15:48
  • @Exempt-Medic I think there are at least two (related) questions here: “What can Bigby’s Hand do besides the four listed actions?”, and “How can I lift and carry a willing creature?”. – Marq Mar 25 '22 at 17:39