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Barkskin *Might* Be the Worst Spell Description I've Ever Read
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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 7510298" data-attributes="member: 29398"><p>We're good up to here.</p><p></p><p>The spell's very name would rather strongly suggest otherwise.</p><p></p><p>Which is fine as far as it goes, but last I checked oak trees can't effectively wield shields to improve their defenses, nor can they duck behind a rock. They're also not all that dextrous, unless the wind is strong enough to represent its own hazard. Druids, on the other hand, can wield shields - at least when in normal form - and duck behind rocks, and sometimes have some dexterity going for them as well. Therefore, if your total AC gets to what it is via 13 (armour) + 2 (shield) + 2 (dex) = 17, sheer logic says that because your skin is now that much harder it goes 16 (barkskin) + 2 (shield) + 2* (dex) = 20*.</p><p></p><p>* - though a very good case can be made that the hardening of the skin denies some or all dex benefits to AC</p><p></p><p>So yes, the body is as hard to damage as an oak tree, once you get through these other defenses; which is exactly how it works when one takes the spell's name as an indication of its function (it makes the skin hard) and goes from there. And as the write-up doesn't bother to clarify the intent, going with what retains consistency in the fiction just makes sense.</p><p></p><p>Lan-"I'm surprised something like this made it to print as most of the rest of 5e seems pretty well thought through and-or edited for clarity"-efan</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 7510298, member: 29398"] We're good up to here. The spell's very name would rather strongly suggest otherwise. Which is fine as far as it goes, but last I checked oak trees can't effectively wield shields to improve their defenses, nor can they duck behind a rock. They're also not all that dextrous, unless the wind is strong enough to represent its own hazard. Druids, on the other hand, can wield shields - at least when in normal form - and duck behind rocks, and sometimes have some dexterity going for them as well. Therefore, if your total AC gets to what it is via 13 (armour) + 2 (shield) + 2 (dex) = 17, sheer logic says that because your skin is now that much harder it goes 16 (barkskin) + 2 (shield) + 2* (dex) = 20*. * - though a very good case can be made that the hardening of the skin denies some or all dex benefits to AC So yes, the body is as hard to damage as an oak tree, once you get through these other defenses; which is exactly how it works when one takes the spell's name as an indication of its function (it makes the skin hard) and goes from there. And as the write-up doesn't bother to clarify the intent, going with what retains consistency in the fiction just makes sense. Lan-"I'm surprised something like this made it to print as most of the rest of 5e seems pretty well thought through and-or edited for clarity"-efan [/QUOTE]
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Barkskin *Might* Be the Worst Spell Description I've Ever Read
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