Ah, I did misread it but it doesn't matter. I blame semi-comatose state caused by too many Easter goodies. A fighter that relies on multiple attacks is likely to be nerfed, a rogue will be far less affected, a mage likely not at all. So same concept, an enemy that doesn't do as much damage but hits multiple times is nerfed.
I'd have no problem with temporary shields of some kind, I'd just implement it as temp HP.
Wanted to do something interesting for some of my bad guys, and I thought about borrowing Cyberpunk-style armor for a D&D bad guy. Mechanically, armor in Cyberpunk doesn't make you harder to hit, it makes you harder to hurt. Armor's Stopping Power (SP) reduces the damage you take. When damage gets through, it reduces the SP by one. So I figured this is a great time to double-dip.
Mechanically, I'd like to do a wizard with an AC of 20 (using an upgunned mage armor spell that means he can't cast shield). If you hit, you subtract 20 from the damage. If this would reduce the damage to or below zero, nothing happens. If any damage penetrates, it reduces the wizard's AC by 1. The AC is still subtracted from any damage dealt by AoE spells, but also ablated in the same way.
Narratively, we see this as something like ERA, detonating to blunt enemy attacks.
Do we have anything on "average PC damage" that I can use to test how effective this would be against the PCs?
Party composition are a monk (Mercy), barbarian (Bear Totem), rogue (Swashbuckler), sorcerer (Aberrant Mind), and cleric (Twilight). They are all 17th level, all have attack bonuses upward of +14, and all have double feats. However, based on when I plan to drop this guy, I suspect that most of the 8th and 9th level slots will be gone, and they'll probably be around half hp. I plan to drop this mage with an upgraded archmage spell list and three (reskinned) fire giants.
I too missed the part about it just being for a bad guy. It's really powerful, but if that's your intent, then this will certainly make the wizard far more durable.
Against that party, the monk's attacks are basically pushed off the table for most of the fight, though their stun could still be crucial. The rogue's sneak attack will still do some solid damage. The barbarian should still get some damage through, but not a lot. I assume the Twilight cleric will be mostly support. Sorcerer kinda depends on their spell load out - hopefully they took counter spell and can mitigate the damage until the armour is burned through.
So my issue here is that it sends a completely different message to players: "Man, this guy has a lot of hit points!"
What I'm looking for is a "WTF???" reaction that makes them worried.
I too missed the part about it just being for a bad guy. It's really powerful, but if that's your intent, then this will certainly make the wizard far more durable.
Against that party, the monk's attacks are basically pushed off the table for most of the fight, though their stun could still be crucial. The rogue's sneak attack will still do some solid damage. The barbarian should still get some damage through, but not a lot. I assume the Twilight cleric will be mostly support. Sorcerer kinda depends on their spell load out - hopefully they took counter spell and can mitigate the damage until the armour is burned through.
Well, for a normal monk, you'd be right! This particular monk has made some very interesting deals with a variety of mentors to learn forbidden techniques and acquire some interesting magic items, one of which are cesti that give a +3 to attack and damage, a blessing that increases her Martial Arts die one step (so she's rocking a d12), and a blessing that lets her add +1d6 radiant damage to each attack.
So per strike she's looking at (6.5 + 3.5 + 8) = 18 on average - she only needs to do slightly above average damage to start ablating his armor.
The cleric is a little odd - sometimes she likes to play support and sometimes she swings for the fences, so we'll see who shows up.
The sorcerer, funnily enough, has taken no damaging spells (barring cantrips), and no abjuration spells. They're about to have a fun time.
So my issue here is that it sends a completely different message to players: "Man, this guy has a lot of hit points!"
What I'm looking for is a "WTF???" reaction that makes them worried.
The slow blade penetrates the shield.
Any damage over 5 is blocked by a flash of shimmering blue. Completely negating the attack.
Ancient magic though they where invincible, until someone created magic missile. It is why learning the spell is a strong tradition, but the original reason of it's popularity has been long forgotten.
I'm with Oofta on this. You will affect PCs differently based upon their builds. For instance, the monk in my party would never be able to do any damage, because his DPR is divided up into 3-4 attacks each round. But the a few others in the party only get one attack per round and will be fine.
So, you've got to figure out how this will affect your players.
I think the regen temp hit points idea is good mechanically. It doesn't differentiate between if the damage comes from one or many attacks. If you want the 'oh naughty word' reaction, just describe it to them as a magic shield around the mage flashes upon impact, and then appears weaker with subsequent hits in that round. Then on the mage's turn describe a visible charge reneweing the shield etc.
p.s. 5E does have a mechanic for this, it's called Damage Threshold. And is the same as damage reduction but is typically only used for inanimate objects (such as doors and walls)
A fighter that relies on multiple attacks is likely to be nerfed, a rogue will be far less affected, a mage likely not at all. So same concept, an enemy that doesn't do as much damage but hits multiple times is nerfed.
