Recently on Discord a disagreement came up with regards to Whirling Throw and its interaction with Forced Movement Rules (specifically with the capacity to throw people into dangerous situations, like pits or bonfires).
To recap, Whirling Throw says you throw a target 10 ft. + 5 ft x Str Modifier. The feat does not mention that it follows Forced Movement rules (such as seen in the text of Guiding Riposte or Guiding Finish), and it does not call the movement a Shove. It's a "throw."
Now this raises the question: Can you throw someone off a cliff with Whirling Throw. One school of thought says "no." The case for "no" is that anything that moves you against your will is Forced Movement. A Forced Movement effect must say it can move you into dangerous situations. Whirling Throw doesn't say that, therefore you can't throw someone off a cliff.
On the other side of the coin, most other forced movement effects either reference the Shove or Drag action, or has an explicit clause that mentions the ability obeys forced movement. The argument further observes that a "throw" is more similar to a shove--the person that your moving has no control of their momentum. All of this together, along with some common sense interpretations of the word "throw" would suggest that you could, in fact, throw someone off a cliff (much like you could Shove them off a cliff).
Now, I clearly have a horse in this race, but I want to know what other people think. I'm generally in favor of making things fun for the players, but I also like seeking community consensus (since it's often the only precedent we have). I'm also hoping that this conversation will earn a clarification from the developers--either to clarify that throwing someone is a "Reposition," a "Shove" or something that follows its own rules entirely (and what those rules might be).
The Forced Movement rules never actually mention Shove. They say pushed or pulled. Whirlwind Throw pretty clearly falls into that category. Throwing someone in such a method definitely involves pulling.
Things like Guiding Repost, where you "move" the enemy by essentially leading them where you want, without physically forcing them to move, are where you would be unable to send them over a cliff.
If a 18 STR monk uses Whirling Throw on a creature who is 10' away from a cliff and the Monk successfully used Whirling Throw they would throw the target 30' in the direction they choose. So yes they could be thrown over a cliff but the target would still get a chance to use the Grab an Edge Reaction since the trigger is You fall from or PAST an edge or handhold.
If a 18 STR monk uses Whirling Throw on a creature who is 10' away from a cliff and the Monk successfully used Whirling Throw they would throw the target 30' in the direction they choose. So yes they could be thrown over a cliff but the target would still get a chance to use the Grab an Edge Reaction since the trigger is You fall from or PAST an edge or handhold.
I disagree. They aren't falling until they get to the end of the throw. By that time, they are too far away from the handhold. Falling past a handhold would be like, you are falling 100 feet down a cliff face, and 30 feet into the fall, there is a handhold you can grab.
If a 18 STR monk uses Whirling Throw on a creature who is 10' away from a cliff and the Monk successfully used Whirling Throw they would throw the target 30' in the direction they choose. So yes they could be thrown over a cliff but the target would still get a chance to use the Grab an Edge Reaction since the trigger is You fall from or PAST an edge or handhold.I disagree. They aren't falling until they get to the end of the throw. By that time, they are too far away from the handhold. Falling past a handhold would be like, you are falling 100 feet down a cliff face, and 30 feet into the fall, there is a handhold you can grab.
Thus each table is going to have a different rulings on said example above.
The heroic nature of the game warrants granting a save (at least when no attack roll is involved).
For victims with their hands full, this aids very little. :)