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Challenging a tanky one-trick pony PC
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<blockquote data-quote="CleverNickName" data-source="post: 8934264" data-attributes="member: 50987"><p>Yes, that is true...but it uses their action. And that means they can't use their super-duper-power-combo for that round.</p><p></p><p>Same thing for alchemist's fire. Ever wonder why it's so expensive? It costs as much as a potion of healing, but it does very little damage and can be extinguished easily. Why 50gp for one round's worth of 1d4 damage?</p><p></p><p>Because it takes an Action to extinguish those flames--you can't dispel it, it doesn't wear off, and there's no save throw. And any action that <em>isn't </em>casting a spell or swinging a weapon is a point in favor of the opponents.</p><p></p><p>So let's say they ignore it and soak the damage: now they're taking 1d4 fire damage every round automatically. No big deal, right? That's probably true, until the enemy <em>throws another. </em>Now they are taking 2d4 points of damage per round, and spending their action to extinguish the flames will only stop 1d4's worth...they need to spend <em>two actions </em>to stop taking damage at all. Now the player catches on to the enemy's tactics, and decides to cast <em>protection from energy. </em>One of the enemies can use their reaction to <em>counterspell </em>it, and still has their action available to throw a <em>third</em> flask of alchemist fire (or they could just let it happen, and eat up their concentration.) Now the Human Torch is taking 3d4 fire damage per round...still not a lot, but it's getting harder to ignore and the player is going to start getting concerned. Maybe other members of the party join in to help extinguish the flames (which uses up <em>their </em>actions too!) Or the roasting adventurer can spend the first of several actions to extinguish the flames, removing 1d4's worth of damage per Action, or they can spend their action (and risk another wasted spell slot) trying to cast <em>quench </em>and/or <em>protection from energy </em>again, which they know their opponents might counter and/or dispel. More than that, they know that whatever the party of adventurers decide to do, their opponents will throw <em>another </em>flask of alchemist's fire<em>...</em>and another, and another.</p><p></p><p>In short: there's more than one way to challenge a character. If you can't attack their hit points, attack their resources. And if that doesn't work, attack their action economy.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="CleverNickName, post: 8934264, member: 50987"] Yes, that is true...but it uses their action. And that means they can't use their super-duper-power-combo for that round. Same thing for alchemist's fire. Ever wonder why it's so expensive? It costs as much as a potion of healing, but it does very little damage and can be extinguished easily. Why 50gp for one round's worth of 1d4 damage? Because it takes an Action to extinguish those flames--you can't dispel it, it doesn't wear off, and there's no save throw. And any action that [I]isn't [/I]casting a spell or swinging a weapon is a point in favor of the opponents. So let's say they ignore it and soak the damage: now they're taking 1d4 fire damage every round automatically. No big deal, right? That's probably true, until the enemy [I]throws another. [/I]Now they are taking 2d4 points of damage per round, and spending their action to extinguish the flames will only stop 1d4's worth...they need to spend [I]two actions [/I]to stop taking damage at all. Now the player catches on to the enemy's tactics, and decides to cast [I]protection from energy. [/I]One of the enemies can use their reaction to [I]counterspell [/I]it, and still has their action available to throw a [I]third[/I] flask of alchemist fire (or they could just let it happen, and eat up their concentration.) Now the Human Torch is taking 3d4 fire damage per round...still not a lot, but it's getting harder to ignore and the player is going to start getting concerned. Maybe other members of the party join in to help extinguish the flames (which uses up [I]their [/I]actions too!) Or the roasting adventurer can spend the first of several actions to extinguish the flames, removing 1d4's worth of damage per Action, or they can spend their action (and risk another wasted spell slot) trying to cast [I]quench [/I]and/or [I]protection from energy [/I]again, which they know their opponents might counter and/or dispel. More than that, they know that whatever the party of adventurers decide to do, their opponents will throw [I]another [/I]flask of alchemist's fire[I]...[/I]and another, and another. In short: there's more than one way to challenge a character. If you can't attack their hit points, attack their resources. And if that doesn't work, attack their action economy. [/QUOTE]
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