D&D 5E Dealing with a Heavily Armored Paladin?

[Valetudo]

Wasnt there almost the exact same thread, except for bladesingers? Stop giving out powerful magic items and rolling for stats if you dont know how to run a montyhaul campaign. If the pallys too strong buff the othe other players and increase the challenges. Use AOEs that still do half damage on a succeed. Have mobs use the help option, alot of mobtypes have pack tactics which give advantage. Ac is everything in 5th, especially as your levels rise.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

A dire rust monster could very well do so if a DM wants to.

Of course that is true, but if we are talking about what can happen if the DM wants it to and is going to change the rules to make it happen... we might as well just skip the intermediate steps and have the DM be upfront and honest about it; "Hey [paladin player], your character doesn't have that plate mail +2 anymore." and be done with it.

 

[Corwin]

My interest is with that cursed +2 armor itself. Please tell me more. I am intrigued.

 

[Uchawi]

Destroy the rest of the party, while the paladin watches? You can only do so much as a single character. As a DM, you will learn over time what combinations creates trouble in regards to magic items, or spells with casting classes.

 

[jgsugden]

#1: He is a hero. He should be able to do heroic things, like withstand the attacks of fearsome monsters. In other words, you do not need to do ANYTHING to remedy this problem because it is not a problem. If your paladin wades through a horde and comes out the other side without a scratch - that is what he is meant to do.

#2: If you use the typical treasure distribution tables in a 5 PC party and assume average rolls, I think you'd expect a paladin to be able to buy platemail around 6th level, buy magical +1 plate soon after (maybe 7th or 8th level - if available for sale) and +2 platemail around level 12 (again, if available). +3 platemail is likely something he'd have to wait until very close to 20th level to buy if he could even find it for sale - which I would never allow in my games outside of very unusual circumstances. If defense is not the priority for the PC, he might have to wait a few extra levels. However, a PC might happen to find platemail +3 as early as 11th level IIRC.

#3: A paladin in platemail with a +3 shield, +3 platemail, bracers of defense, ring of protection and cloak of protection is AC 30. That is the adornment of a paladin of about 20th level that has defense as their primary focus. A storm giant is CR 13 and has a +14 to hit. They need a 16 to hit that paladin - meaning they hit 25% of the time or a little under 45% of the time if they have advantage. Nobody is walking around in this edition and is not getting hit at all. You might wade through the attacks of enemies with little combat skill, but there are foes that will mess you up despite high AC.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Since there's nothing like video-game 'aggro' in D&D, just have enemies bypass the invulnerable juggernaut and beat down his companions. If nothing else, it'll slow him down as he lays on hands to get them back up...

There's no video-game aggro, but there are things that are even better. Off the top of my head.

1.) Grappling.
2.) Compelled Duel spell (bonus action casting time).
3.) Chokepoints. Possibly with caltrops. Mounted Combatant Paladins can block even larger chokepoints w/ their steeds.
4.) Sentinel feat.
5.) Monster psychology--the thing that "aggro" is trying to simulate.

Generally speaking, in any terrain where kiting is not possible, there will be usable chokepoints, and a strong front line coupled with a ranged-heavy back line becomes very valuable. Exceptions exist, and some foes can bypass the front line (especially tool-users w/ missile weapons), but "bypassing the invulnerable juggernaut" only works if the party is not prepared for open terrain combat, or if they get caught in a bad formation.

 

[shoak1]

The downside of armor is that it is only useable in some encounters. In most city and outdoor encounters, he cant be walking around all day in plate. So unless you are using traditional dungeon type encounters all the time, it shouldn't be a problem.

Without time to don his armor every encounter, he's gonna not be so OP compared to DEX based AC dudes.

And the idea that cursed items can't be taken off is ridiculous imo. A person enclosed in plate 24/7 would die of an assortment of ailments within weeks. What about defecation? What about sores from having the armor on all the time? What about sweat not having the normal benefits? Sleep deprivation?

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

#3: A paladin in platemail with a +3 shield, +3 platemail, bracers of defense, ring of protection and cloak of protection is AC 30. That is the adornment of a paladin of about 20th level that has defense as their primary focus. A storm giant is CR 13 and has a +14 to hit. They need a 16 to hit that paladin - meaning they hit 25% of the time or a little under 45% of the time if they have advantage. Nobody is walking around in this edition and is not getting hit at all. You might wade through the attacks of enemies with little combat skill, but there are foes that will mess you up despite high AC.

Just for fun: if that paladin takes the Defensive Duelist feat, he gets an extra +6 to AC. Throw in a few levels of Sorcerer for Quickened Blur, or a Foresight spell from a fellow PC, and now your storm giant has disadvantage to hit. He needs to roll either double 20s for a crit (0.25% chance) or he needs to roll 16+ on his first attack to use up Defensive Duelist, and then 16+ again on the second attack (0.4% chance). Either way, his odds of hitting per turn are on the order of 1%, which in actual play is almost indistinguishable from "not getting hit at all."

 

[steeldragons]

A pack of rust monsters or some black pudding!

Took the words [or monsters] right out of my mouth.

 

[RulesJD]

Just for fun: if that paladin takes the Defensive Duelist feat, he gets an extra +6 to AC. Throw in a few levels of Sorcerer for Quickened Blur, or a Foresight spell from a fellow PC, and now your storm giant has disadvantage to hit. He needs to roll either double 20s for a crit (0.25% chance) or he needs to roll 16+ on his first attack to use up Defensive Duelist, and then 16+ again on the second attack (0.4% chance). Either way, his odds of hitting per turn are on the order of 1%, which in actual play is almost indistinguishable from "not getting hit at all."

Irony that you used Storm Giant.

1. Storm Giant gets +14 Athletics, so it uses both of its attacks to Grapple -> Prone the Paladin. Cancels out the Blur.

2. Storm Giant uses its Lightning Strike, well and thoroughly ruining the Paladin for 54 points of Lightning Damage.

3. Storm Giant casts Levitate on the Paladin (DC 17 spell save is no joke), causing him to flail around helplessly 10ft off the ground.