Satyrn
First Post
My first thought as a DM is "Just treat it like armor."
D&D 5E Cooper
- Thread starter rgoodbb
- Start date
Hriston
Dungeon Master of Middle-earth (He/him)
I would treat the barrel like a movable mantlet, providing the halfling with total cover. Firing sling-stones would require the halfling to expose 1/4 of himself, as if firing through a loophole, so any attack readied for when the halfling is in this position would be made against 3/4 cover. I would certainly establish an AC and HP for the barrel, as per the DMG, and have opponents try to destroy it when appropriate. Also, any attack that misses the halfling due to the cover afforded by the barrel would be checked against the barrel's AC and damage would be dealt to the barrel accordingly.
JonnyP71
Explorer
My 1st thought as a DM is 'how can we add interesting plot twists?" - like floating down a river under a hail of Orc arrows (oh, that one has been done before
), a village 'roll Halflings down the hill in a barrel' competition, the town impose a 'wood tax' because of a shortage as the local forests have become too dangerous, or the party being stuck in a beer cellar and having to hide...Forget mechanics, for me there'd be no armour, no speed/space restrictions, nothing like that - it would mechanically be nothing more than a wooden backpack.
Satyrn
First Post
My 1st thought as a DM is 'how can we add interesting plot twists?" - like floating down a river under a hail of Orc arrows (oh, that one has been done before
Forget mechanics, for me there'd be no armour, no speed/space restrictions, nothing like that - it would mechanically be nothing more than a wooden backpack.
Well, I was just thinking about the times when he's in the barrel, fighting. How to handle attack rolls against him.
Cover requires extra numbers. Tracking whether he's ducked down or not seems like it would get tedious after a couple of combats. Determining if the barrel gets hit, and tracking it's hp and stats seems like it would get tedious after a couple rounds.
So for that, I think I'd just assign an armor class for "fighting in the barrel" (AC 15 + Dex maybe).
But all the fun stuff would be in play, ad-libbed as the scenario warrants. And I would hope that would be [MENTION=6801229]rgoodbb[/MENTION]'s focus with the barrel.
While I generally like to reward creative solutions to problems, I'd probably call shenanigans on this particular schtick.
The issue I see is that if the halfling is carrying a barrel, it has to be smaller than the halfling. I know he may have the strength to carry it, but encumbrance isn't just weight. At the very least he's moving at half speed and is at disadvantage for, well, just about everything for carrying a barrel he can fit in.
When combat starts, it's an action to detach the barrel, similar to taking off a shield.
Assuming the barrel is big enough hold the halfling, if he can duck down between attacks he may have full cover against most attacks. However, if he does that he doesn't know what's going on around him and it's going to be difficult to know when to pop out to attack so he gets disadvantage on attack rolls.
If the halfling is not ducking down, he's effectively created a new type of armor that he's not proficient in and suffers appropriate penalties.
Opponents could easily target the barrel, with the possibility of the barrel getting knocked over.
If the barrel starts rolling down a hill, it would be incredibly hard to stop.
If you and your group are into the silly anything-goes style of game the answers may be different of course, just letting you know how I would rule.
The issue I see is that if the halfling is carrying a barrel, it has to be smaller than the halfling. I know he may have the strength to carry it, but encumbrance isn't just weight. At the very least he's moving at half speed and is at disadvantage for, well, just about everything for carrying a barrel he can fit in.
When combat starts, it's an action to detach the barrel, similar to taking off a shield.
Assuming the barrel is big enough hold the halfling, if he can duck down between attacks he may have full cover against most attacks. However, if he does that he doesn't know what's going on around him and it's going to be difficult to know when to pop out to attack so he gets disadvantage on attack rolls.
If the halfling is not ducking down, he's effectively created a new type of armor that he's not proficient in and suffers appropriate penalties.
Opponents could easily target the barrel, with the possibility of the barrel getting knocked over.
If the barrel starts rolling down a hill, it would be incredibly hard to stop.
If you and your group are into the silly anything-goes style of game the answers may be different of course, just letting you know how I would rule.
Satyrn
First Post
The Backpack of Kwalish.
A followup post, assuming that you and your group want to embrace the silliness. Because who am I to tell you how to have fun?
Let's say you come up with a "barrel master" feat. I could see the completely-stupid-and-I-would-not-allow benefits:
Roll Out the Barrel: You are adept at utilizing your barrel to knock down foes. By placing the the barrel on the side and stepping on top, you not only gain 10 ft of movement, but if you run into a medium or smaller creature you can attempt to knock them prone. Make a dexterity(acrobatics) check opposed by the targets strength (athletics) or dexterity (acrobatics) check. If you succeed the target is knocked prone and you can continue moving without provoking opportunity attacks. If you fail by 5 or more you fall prone off the barrel and the barrel is irreparably damaged.
Barrel Head: as an expert in all things barrel, you can attempt to put a barrel on your enemy's heads. If the opponent is a humanoid one size larger then you or less, you can make an attack to put a barrel on the creatures head (if it has one). The barrel can be removed with an athletics check DC 10 as a standard action or be physically destroyed.
Barrel Armor: you gain proficiency with using barrels as armor. When using a barrel as armor, you have an AC of 15 and you are immobilized.
Let's say you come up with a "barrel master" feat. I could see the completely-stupid-and-I-would-not-allow benefits:
Roll Out the Barrel: You are adept at utilizing your barrel to knock down foes. By placing the the barrel on the side and stepping on top, you not only gain 10 ft of movement, but if you run into a medium or smaller creature you can attempt to knock them prone. Make a dexterity(acrobatics) check opposed by the targets strength (athletics) or dexterity (acrobatics) check. If you succeed the target is knocked prone and you can continue moving without provoking opportunity attacks. If you fail by 5 or more you fall prone off the barrel and the barrel is irreparably damaged.
Barrel Head: as an expert in all things barrel, you can attempt to put a barrel on your enemy's heads. If the opponent is a humanoid one size larger then you or less, you can make an attack to put a barrel on the creatures head (if it has one). The barrel can be removed with an athletics check DC 10 as a standard action or be physically destroyed.
Barrel Armor: you gain proficiency with using barrels as armor. When using a barrel as armor, you have an AC of 15 and you are immobilized.
Tony Vargas
Legend
Ironically, the 3.0 rules for the tower shield would work fine for hiding in a barrel for cover...
...actually, they might make more sense for that.
...actually, they might make more sense for that.
Except I have a hard time imagining how you could ever dextrously dodge out of the way of any attack while in a barrel. Where are you going to dodge to?
There's a reason "shooting fish in a barrel" is used for simplistic tasks.
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