D&D 5E Shadow step out of a grapple?

[robus]

So the monk in my party was grappled by an Otyugh tentacle and announced that as they were fighting in dim light he was going to shadow step out of the grapple. This struck me as a bit slick and I was going to still ask for a dex roll to break the grapple before shadow stepping. But as shadow step is described as teleportation it actually seems fine by the rules to simple step out of the grapple.

I know I've gotten into trouble before with shadow step so I sided with monk. But I'm curious as to opinions here. Was that the right call?

 

[iserith]

You made the right call here.

 

[schnee]

Absolutely. It's an ability, not a spell, so there's nothing I can see that you need to do extra like a Concentration check or whatever. It just happens.

 

[guachi]

Had a PC misty step out of a similar tentacle-type grapple. I assumed he would have when I made the encounter.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I know I've gotten into trouble before with shadow step so I sided with monk. But I'm curious as to opinions here. Was that the right call?

In certain prior editions there'd've been no 'call,' it'd've been clear, or there'd've been a consensus on what The RAW called for. In 5e you make the call, and it stands, debatable as it might naturally be.
In this instance, IMHO, you made the right call, and for the right reason.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I played a shadow monk in our HotDQ/RoT campaign, and I kept shadow stepping out of the grasp of the vampire spawn. Really came in handy, so yeah. You made the right call. It's teleportation. Like whenever anyone tries to grapple Nightcrawler. Poof! Gone.

 

[iserith]

I played a shadow monk in our HotDQ/RoT campaign, and I kept shadow stepping out of the grasp of the vampire spawn. Really came in handy, so yeah. You made the right call. It's teleportation. Like whenever anyone tries to grapple Nightcrawler. Poof! Gone.

Stupid vampires. If they had just grappled you and dragged you out into the sunlight, you wouldn't have been able to bamf out of their grasp.

Villains are so dumb.

 

[Kobold Stew]

What's cool is that someone holding a torch nearby will prevent the ability from working. That creates a cool cinematic feel, = win.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Stupid vampires. If they had just grappled you and dragged you out into the sunlight, you wouldn't have been able to bamf out of their grasp.

Villains are so dumb.

LOL. Funny enough, the barbarian grappled them, and threw them out of their tower. Into the light.

And I'm sure someone will say, "pulling me into the light wouldn't have done anything if I could still see the shadows.", missing the joke

What's cool is that someone holding a torch nearby will prevent the ability from working. That creates a cool cinematic feel, = win.

Mmmmmm, torches aren't that bright, and give off lots of shadows only 10ft away. I think you'd need a much brighter light source, and nothing to block the light casting a shadow for that to work.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Mmmmmm, torches aren't that bright, and give off lots of shadows only 10ft away. I think you'd need a much brighter light source, and nothing to block the light casting a shadow for that to work.

I think they are birth enough: torches give bright light for 20' (PHB 153).