FrogReaver
As long as i get to be the frog
I often hear that Shield Master is a very good feat because it increases party DPR. This thread is an attempt to quantify this. I understand there are many variables relating to shield master and so I'm not going to propose a one size fits all approach. Instead an attempt will be made to calculate it's effectiveness under various sets of assumptions. In the end we may then be able to objectively make some claims about the feats impact to DPR for a "normal" party. Most probably by being able to tie the party DPR increase to a range. If all goes well that DPR range will be small enough for us to draw some interesting conclusions.
First I would like to list all the variables that affect Shield Master's contribution to party DPR.
1. How often can a character attempt the Shield Master bonus action attack?
Variables include how often a PC is in position to attack a qualifying target with shield master. We will try to estimate this later.
2. How often is the shield master bonus action attack successful at knocking the enemy prone?
Variables include whether the PC gets advantage or expertise on the athletics skill check and whatever athletics or acrobatics score the monster has.
3. How many party members are in a good position to be able to attack the prone enemy before it stands back up?
Not only must you have melee allies. Those melee allies must be in the correct initiative order relative to you and the monster so it doesn't stand up before they get to attack. They must not already have advantage against the creature you proned or another creature they could attack. They also must be in a position on the combat field where they can move to attack the prone enemy without taking OA's or causing other problems for the party (letting enemies through a doorway, etc)
4. How much does having advantage increase the melee characters DPR?
This is highly dependent on the exact character the melee character is playing.
5. How often will proning an enemy hurt a ranged party members damage?
6. How much DPR do such ranged characters typically lose?
I would like to say thank you to anyone that wants to provide some calculations to help answer any of these questions.
First I would like to list all the variables that affect Shield Master's contribution to party DPR.
1. How often can a character attempt the Shield Master bonus action attack?
Variables include how often a PC is in position to attack a qualifying target with shield master. We will try to estimate this later.
2. How often is the shield master bonus action attack successful at knocking the enemy prone?
Variables include whether the PC gets advantage or expertise on the athletics skill check and whatever athletics or acrobatics score the monster has.
3. How many party members are in a good position to be able to attack the prone enemy before it stands back up?
Not only must you have melee allies. Those melee allies must be in the correct initiative order relative to you and the monster so it doesn't stand up before they get to attack. They must not already have advantage against the creature you proned or another creature they could attack. They also must be in a position on the combat field where they can move to attack the prone enemy without taking OA's or causing other problems for the party (letting enemies through a doorway, etc)
4. How much does having advantage increase the melee characters DPR?
This is highly dependent on the exact character the melee character is playing.
5. How often will proning an enemy hurt a ranged party members damage?
6. How much DPR do such ranged characters typically lose?
I would like to say thank you to anyone that wants to provide some calculations to help answer any of these questions.
