D&D 5E An Argument for Why Paladins are the Strongest Class in 5E D&D

[JiffyPopTart]

1. Extra damage from crits is not straightforward as do you smite on the first attack if no crit or wait till the 2nd attack to see if you crit. Your decision point there matters and I never seen it stated.

2. It still doesn't sound like you are adressing my original question as you aren't looking at an average of 1 smite per turn. You are looking at smite only once per turn. Those are 2 different scenarios.

Now we are getting somewhere.

At my table we roll all of our attacks against one target simultaneously to speed the game up. We do not iterate them one at a time forcing a decision to crit at each attack.

My chart assumes you use 1 crit on the best place to put it.

 

[FrogReaver]

Now we are getting somewhere.

At my table we roll all of our attacks against one target simultaneously to speed the game up. We do not iterate them one at a time forcing a decision to crit at each attack.

My chart assumes you use 1 crit on the best place to put it.

Ah. We usually do iterative. Changes things a bit there. You will get to crit smite a lot more your way.

 

[Seramus]

Two overlapping areas of spirit guardians is just an area of spirit guardians. The steed is also +6 to hit instead of the character's +7 bonus at 6th level so if the character hits 60% of the time the steed hits 55% of the time. That's ~17 damage.

The game makes more sense if damage is added together, but the conditions (effects) are not. So the speed reduction wouldn't stack, but the damage should. Otherwise you get bizarre situations like casting necrotic spirit guardians to protect undead from radiant spirit guardians, and simultaneous fireballs only inflicting a single instance of damage.

 

[FrogReaver]

The game makes more sense if damage is added together, but the conditions (effects) are not. So the speed reduction wouldn't stack, but the damage should. Otherwise you get bizarre situations like casting necrotic spirit guardians to protect undead from radiant spirit guardians, and simultaneous fireballs only inflicting a single instance of damage.

IMO. The overlapping conditions point would be what many DM's leverage to rule against it. I'm glad it's working for you though.

 

[Seramus]

IMO. The overlapping conditions point would be what many DM's leverage to rule against it. I'm glad it's working for you though.

Yeah. One of my current parties has two clerics and I have no issue with them overlapping the damage portion. While the spell is quite good, it's still consuming 2x resources. The only thing I would be concerned about with the Find Steed combination is that it is NOT consuming 2x resources.

I also probably wouldn't mind a player doing the Find Steed combination in my own game. A Warhorse only has 19 HP and it makes for a high priority for enemies to break concentration. And I have infinite monsters, so it only matters if other players feel overshadowed by it.

 

[FrogReaver]

Yeah. One of my current parties has two clerics and I have no issue with them overlapping the damage portion. While the spell is quite good, it's still consuming 2x resources. The only thing I would be concerned about with the Find Steed combination is that it is NOT consuming 2x resources.

I also probably wouldn't mind a player doing the Find Steed combination in my own game. A Warhorse only has 19 HP and it makes for a high priority for enemies to break concentration. And I have infinite monsters, so it only matters if other players feel overshadowed by it.

I would feel overshadowed by it

 

[Ashrym]

The game makes more sense if damage is added together, but the conditions (effects) are not. So the speed reduction wouldn't stack, but the damage should. Otherwise you get bizarre situations like casting necrotic spirit guardians to protect undead from radiant spirit guardians, and simultaneous fireballs only inflicting a single instance of damage.

Errata already solved that for you. Whether the damage from spirit guardians is radiant or necrotic depends on which was cast last. The most recent effect applies.

The damage does not stack. This is because stacking is deliberately restricted in the mechanics to prevent unexpectedly powerful combinations as much as possible. Seems WAI because not stacking damage prevents the powerful bard combo in your example.

 

[FrogReaver]

Errata already solved that for you. Whether the damage from spirit guardians is radiant or necrotic depends on which was cast last. The most recent effect applies.

The damage does not stack. This is because stacking is deliberately restricted in the mechanics to prevent unexpectedly powerful combinations as much as possible. Seems WAI because not stacking damage prevents the powerful bard combo in your example.

Does make me feel for a party with 2+ clerics though.

 

[Ashrym]

Does make me feel for a party with 2+ clerics though.

The just need to plan things and work together. By staying distant from each other they can still make a big area both casting the spell.

 

[FrogReaver]

The just need to plan things and work together. By staying distant from each other they can still make a big area both casting the spell.

I would probably allow two separate casts by clerics to stack as me being nice. But other overlaps from it I would leverage the rulings you cited.