Ancalagon
Dusty Dragon
Hello
So Xanathar's guide to everything has a very interesting invocation, where, in reaction to some kind of powerful attack, you entomb yourself in ice to resist the damage (you get a ton of temporary HP but are frozen in place etc etc).
Now this is a very cool idea! The basic principle is neat, there is some history behind it (see http://dungeonsdragons.wikia.com/wiki/Levistus ), it reminds me of one of the greatest demon of them all (Mei)... a lot of good things.
However, the execution... never mind the somewhat strange idea that having ice armor makes you *vulnerable* to fire (wouldn't it *protect* you?!?). Or the not exactly clear wording on how long those temporary HP last. That's not my issue.
My issue is the action economy. You are entombed in ice until the end of your next turn... so you lose your turn! So it's not like you avoid the damage via the ice, and then on your turn you get to do something to deal with the source of damage (run away? cast a spell at it? etc etc). Instead you protect yourself and... skip your turn, leaving whatever is the danger source free to act again on its turn - but now you don't have you cool defensive trick anymore.
I'll concede that there are some edge cases where you take a ton of damage once (fall off a cliff, a trap etc) but it's pretty rare no? Am I missing something?
Thanks!
So Xanathar's guide to everything has a very interesting invocation, where, in reaction to some kind of powerful attack, you entomb yourself in ice to resist the damage (you get a ton of temporary HP but are frozen in place etc etc).
Now this is a very cool idea! The basic principle is neat, there is some history behind it (see http://dungeonsdragons.wikia.com/wiki/Levistus ), it reminds me of one of the greatest demon of them all (Mei)... a lot of good things.
However, the execution... never mind the somewhat strange idea that having ice armor makes you *vulnerable* to fire (wouldn't it *protect* you?!?). Or the not exactly clear wording on how long those temporary HP last. That's not my issue.
My issue is the action economy. You are entombed in ice until the end of your next turn... so you lose your turn! So it's not like you avoid the damage via the ice, and then on your turn you get to do something to deal with the source of damage (run away? cast a spell at it? etc etc). Instead you protect yourself and... skip your turn, leaving whatever is the danger source free to act again on its turn - but now you don't have you cool defensive trick anymore.
I'll concede that there are some edge cases where you take a ton of damage once (fall off a cliff, a trap etc) but it's pretty rare no? Am I missing something?
Thanks!