D&D 5E Is there a way to negate critical hits without adamantine armour?

[Duan'duliir]

To be more specific, I mean is there a way for players to negate critical hits against them with out relying on features that allow them to force their opponent to reroll (i.e. the Lucky feat), in the same way as adamantine armour, that is constantly on? The reason I am posing this question is because I am soon to be a Player and my concept requires i have very low health, so critical hits would be devastating. The reason I can't have armour is because the character is going to most likely be a monk.

 

[CapnZapp]

No.

Since power and level is manifested as staying power and hit points more than anything, I would suggest you tweak your concept to not demand actual "few hit points".

Feel free to describe your character as "thin", "frail", "sickly", or whatever without actually thinking you need to match that with low hit points (a small hit die, a low Constitution score).

You need hit points to play the game, that's the simple truth.

D&D is a game of heroes. You can play an old and frail wise man, or a young and thin girl, or a withered half-dead cursed space elf for what I care, but none of these characters need to have few hit points!

Hit points are a measure of heroism, nothing more. Feel free to role-play your character as a coughing wreck, but it would be a mistake to match this with few hp.

 

[TheLoneRanger1979]

Good point. I don't really see HPs as health also. Overall health is a part of them for sure, but the only way a system, any gaming system that incorporates HPs as a game mechanic to actually make sense (has a real world counterpart or enough suspension of disbelief) is to actually consider their pool as how far the character is from being knocked out of combat. So a PC (or NPC for that matter) that is at 50% HPs, is a half way from being put out of action. It doesn't actually mean he/she is half dead. As to what exactly is "how far you are from being knocked out", i hand wave it as an amalgam of total stamina, fitness, health, skill, experience, willpower and sheer luck. It's not perfect, i know, but at least to me it makes much more sense then having your PC take an ax to the head and still fight for 2 more hours...

 

[Warmaster Horus]

Besides HP the only other way to routinely mitigate the risk of critical hits is to ... not get hit. This means making a character that either attacks from range or otherwise lowers their chance of being effectively engaged in combat - darkness/devil's sight, misty step escapes, hiding from a fight, etc. But at the end of the day there is nothing like a nice buffer of HP to keep you going in a fight.

 

[CapnZapp]

Let me add that there's nothing wrong with the idea to play a weak or crippled character.

Plenty of role-playing games feature combat where one good hit kills you, regardless of your health or experience. Such as modern games involving firearms, for example.

Other games feature powerful monsters from another dimension, and again a sharp wit or strong faith becomes a much stronger defense than strong arms or muscled torsos.

In all these cases, better health won't save you, and therefore you become free to choose your health level without taking your survival rate into account.

But D&D is not one of those games.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Best defense is no be there.

 

[abirdcall]

Wouldn't being vulnerable to damage go hand in hand with a low HP character concept?

I would embrace the consequences.

 

[Duan'duliir]

Well, thats a shame. I was really hoping for a way for my monk to not be critted, even if I don't go with a low health score.

 

[Rhenny]

Anything that imposes disadvantage vs. an attack would help.

Light Cleric has Flare.

Maybe begin as a light cleric and switch over to monk.

 

[Rhenny]

By the way, I'm playing a low hit point Tempest Cleric in a campaign. His backstory has him as raised by Elves. He is a duelist (with the duelist feat) and he wields a rapier and shield. He is quite squishy, and for the first few levels he was always trying to avoid too much fighting (he called it wisdom) unless the odds were in his favor. After one of the party members questioned his courage, he started taking more chances, and made vow to stand side-by side with some of the melee PCs.

The duelist feat helped him block a few key attacks even though at low levels it only gives him a +2 AC vs. 1 attack.

With a full party, it is kind of fun being squishy. Each combat is much more exciting, and even though I've been knocked down about 3 or 4 times over the first 4 levels of play, I've always been revived, and the events always add more tension to the game, which we all like.