Questions tagged [defense]
For questions about defense, the pursuit of preventing harm to one's self or to others.
63 questions
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What defensive option would be ideal for martial characters?
I have been hearing players around me saying that "after lv.10, you should move from AC to missing chances and the stuff that won't let people target you (e.g. total concealment or total cover)&...
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Should Shrinking increase Defensive Roll?
Shrinking states
Add half your Shrinking rank (rounded down) to your active defenses.
Defensive Roll states
You receive a bonus to your Toughness equal to your advantage rank, but it is considered ...
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When you receive a physical attack and Shield Block it, if it deals multiple types of damage, how is damage reduced?
Shield Block states that:
Trigger While you have your shield raised, you would take damage from a physical attack.
You snap your shield in place to ward off a blow. Your shield prevents you from ...
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Multiattack defense vs legendary actions
I have a question about the DnD 5E Ranger Hunter Multiattack Defense feature.
Should you or do you get Multiattack Defense against legendary actions? For example, when you get a bite and two claw ...
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Party Synergies for Melee Rogue with Sentinel
I'm playing a melee rogue (Arcane Trickster). I'm looking to multiply my sneak attack damage by taking the Sentinel feat to increase the odds of getting to make attacks on someone else's turn.
Pro: ...
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In a Conflict, what does it mean to Defend on your turn?
According to the rules for Conflicts:
Next, each character takes a turn in order. On their turn, a character can take one of the four actions. Resolve the action to determine the outcome. The ...
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How to survive level 1 as a wizard?
At level 1, a wizard has a very small amount of hp compared to most classes, and lacks armour proficiencies meaning they must invest in Dexterity as well as constitution to have less AC than most ...
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When summoned creatures are "defending themselves from hostile creatures" on a turn without commands, does this include taking Actions of any type?
The descriptions of many "Conjure ..." spells (e.g. Conjure Animals pp.225 PHB) contains text like this:
If you don't issue any commands to them, they defend themselves from hostile ...
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Does the Defensive Duelist feat work with Psychic Blades from the Soulknife Rogue subclass?
I'm making a Soulknife Rogue and was wondering if the feat Defensive Duelist would work with the Psychic Blades or if I'd need a regular dagger to gain benefit from it.
Defensive Duelist:
When you ...
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Is a College of Valor bard(Lv5)+ Oath of Ancients paladin(Lv15) the best Tank/Support option?
I am playing my first game and I have a level 2 Variant human Paladin, my current stats look like this:
Str:13 (+1)
Dex:10 (+0)
Con:11 (+0)
Int:6 (-2)
Wis:10 (+0)
Cha:12 (+1)
Feat: Lucky
I am aiming ...
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Core Rulebook v2.1 - Damage to a mob of troops
The Core Rulebook for Wrath & Glory 2nd edition explains the rules when battling a mob of troop-level enemies this way:
MOB DAMAGE
Mobs are only made up of Troops, and every individual in a Mob ...
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Using a familiar to deliver a spell attack while both of us are under Sanctuary
Suppose both my familiar and myself have the sanctuary spell on.
Sanctuary states that it ends when the warded creature makes an attack, casts a spell that affects an enemy, or deals damage to another ...
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Rules for intercepting attacks and protecting others
Both the Guardian Ars Magnus and Bodyguard combat module in Dominus Exxet imply that you can intercept an attack directed at other creatures, but I simply cannot find the rules that explain it. I have ...
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If a swashbuckler rolls a nat. 20 on Opportune Parry and Riposte, do they automatically parry attacks even if they do not beat the attack roll?
If a swashbuckler rolls a natural 20 when using Opportune Parry and Riposte, do they automatically parry attacks even if they do not beat the attack roll?
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Maintaining Miss Chance at High Levels (Or Similar Defenses)
From my time spent reading answers here, it seems relatively commonly accepted that in Pathfinder, AC is a weak defense. One claim I've seen put forth is that it's entirely possible to obtain a miss ...
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How does defense work? [closed]
I'm new to D&D and I want to make a new character, he is a warlock with 11 hp and 13 armor class. What should I do when I get attacked? Damage - defense?
I don't have the books, I'm using D&D ...
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Can a character with the Defensive Duelist feat who never makes an attack with the finesse weapon still gain the benefit of the feat?
The description of the Defensive Duelist feat says (PHB, p. 165):
When you are wielding a finesse weapon with which you are proficient and another creature hits you with a melee attack, you can use ...
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What is the effect of being prone in the Ubiquity RPG system?
In the Ubiquity RPG system (used for Hollow Earth Expedition and other games), the action “Stand Up” reads:
Falling down is easy; it is getting up that is hard. Your character can fall prone as a ...
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Rage benefits for someone who doesn’t attack
I’ve had in mind a character built around defensive and supernatural effects from rage, who doesn’t attack.
Towards this end, I’m using druidic avenger to actually get rage. I’ll take both Blazing ...
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How does AC scale with character level?
In D&D 3.5, I know that base attack bonus scales with level. How does AC increase over levels to meet it? I know saves do, so there should be some kind of AC thing? Is it done more with HP, or is ...
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Are shields a numerically significant defensive boost?
We have had a number of questions about the function of Shield Block, and some of the answers have me questioning the viability of shields.
Considering the need to purchase shields, use an action to ...
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Who takes damage when Shield Warden is used?
The Champion feat Shield Warden allows a character to use their reaction to shield an ally. The feat says:
... When you have a shield raised, you can use your Shield Block reaction when an attack ...
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How can I effectively shield block with a tower shield?
I am a champion with a shield ally and a tower shield. Shield ally adds +2 to my shield's hardness and 50% HP and BT. So a normal tower shield in my hands has a hardness of 7 and 30 HP.
I want to be ...
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How to calculate the damage taken when using Shield Block?
How do you calculate the damage a PC takes when using shield block? The Shield Block feat allows you to reduce the damage from an incoming attack when you have your shield raised. The feat says (CRB, ...
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Can the Sidestep feat be used to avoid attacks?
The sidestep feat states the following:
Once per round, when you make an attack of opportunity, you may take a 5- foot step after you attack. This 5-foot step doesn't count against your limit of ...
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Multiple Full Defense Actions in the same Combat Turn?
The "Full Defense" Interrupt Action allows a character to decrease their Initiative Score by 10, and the add their Willpower to their defense rolls for the remainder of the Combat Turn. However, the ...
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How do I avoid opportunity attacks as a spell caster? (Without wasting an action on Disengage or multiclassing?) [closed]
I'm used to playing the classes that run up and hit things and am trying to branch out.
I'm building a level nine Sorcerer/Warlock multiclass In D&D 5e from scratch in a strictly no homebrew ...
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Can you block an attack that an ally is trying to make?
My dragonborn friend keeps (accidentally) downing half the party with his poisonous Breath Weapon.
I'd like to know if I can block his poisonous breath so that the party doesn't go down anymore due ...
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Which spells are currently available to safeguard a fixed location?
After reading this question on how to safeguard an inanimate item, and thinking back on this question of mine, which was closed as too broad, I still think a list of spells that allow creating a very ...
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Is the Choice of Scale Effects Limited per Roll or per Conflict?
System Toolkit page 67 offers the Scale mechanics for attacks and defences between different-sized opponents, groups etc. However, I'm not sure how to interpret inner 'or' (i.e. the 'or' within each ...
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Consequences/Downsides of Allowing Ranged Defence (Dodge) with Fight?
The House Rule Proposed
I'm intent on making the following rule addition/change in my campaigns:
In addition to parries and blocks in mêlée combat, the Fight skill also covers training in dodging ...
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How to Interpret Defending Others vs. Shoot Attacks?
A situation occurred in which the party needed to defend a 'sitting duck' in the form of a small robot against ranged enemy attacks. There was the consideration for party members to take the bullets ...
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Can a defender defend against any number of attacks?
In non-group combat the defender rolls a defend roll against the attacker's attack. So far pretty basic and clear. Now our group was wondering what happens if multiple, say 3, attackers all go for one ...
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Blocking and parrying with two weapons
I've been mastering a game of MERP where my PCs didn't take much care about protecting themselves and attacked at full force each round, only subtracting the Defensive Bonus from their shields from ...
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Most effective way of improving survivability for an Ancestral Guardian Barbarian?
The Path of the Ancestral Guardian Barbarian (Xanathar's Guide to Everything, p. 9-10) is an extremely powerful barbarian. It pretty much makes your allies invulnerable against an enemy boss.
But it ...
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I need a dice system with a unique behavior and rate of growth (preferably in ANYDICE to verify) [closed]
I am looking for a defense system where the probability of hitting is proportional to the inverse of a quadratic polynomial with respect to defense. I don't care about attack scaling yet.
If you ...
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Can someone decide to be hit?
In this question, I asked about whether a character could willingly not use their shield or Dex bonus on certain attacks due to wanting to be hit. This raises the greater question-
Can someone decide ...
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Can you decide not to use a shield's AC bonus? Dex bonus?
Let's say that there is a combat. There's is one player character and two enemies- one melee and one ranged. The player character has Armor of Agathys (or some other spell) and wants the melee ...
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What is Intelligence vs. Reflex for in a Power when I'm already attacking AC?
If I am already rolling to beat the creature's Armour Class, where does the Intelligence vs. Reflex check come into play, in (let's say) the move Fire Burst?
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Can you Defend against your own action in Fate?
In Fate Accelerated can you Defend against something your own character did? For example can you reduce the damage of an Attack that damages everyone (including yourself) in a zone.
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When does Fighting Defensively activate?
Let's say that I'm about to fight some monster. We both roll Initiative, and the monster wins. It can reach me and hit me on its turn. Can I declare that I'm Fighting Defensively right away (and incur ...
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How to make a tavern defensible quickly? [closed]
I have a group that is about to run into a small village that has already been repeatedly attacked. The few survivors are nearly exhausted, and can barely go on defending themselves. There will be 2 ...
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How do I protect my squishy friends from ranged attackers?
I'm playing in a 13th Age campaign as a tank.
She's a Fighter built to deal moderate damage, but have lots of hit points and good PD/AC.
I have the ability that gives enemies −4 to disengage, and I ...
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Is there any way to defend with magic in DFRPG? [duplicate]
I feel like I am missing something obvious.
Evocation/Channeling can be used for a great deal of fun effects on your turn.
But what about when you need to make a defend roll against an enemy? As far ...
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When can you interpose yourself in the path of an attack?
I'm interested in the mechanics of heroically throwing yourself in front of a shooting attack against an ally. (As distinct from, say, a prolonged period of actively defending an ally from multiple ...
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What is Armor Class used for?
I have never understood or found any answer to how to use your AC. Is it something the GM have to keep in mind all the time to reduce or add damage to specific players based on how high their AC is, ...
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Does a barbarian's unarmored defense count when flat footed?
A flat footed character loses their dexterity bonus to their AC.
Is a Barbarian's Unarmored Defense still considered if caught flat footed?
Perhaps just the Con bonus?
Help?
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Fate Core incongruence in Action's outcomes?
I'm new in Fate, and I'm amazed by the game style and mechanics.
Nevertheless, reading the manual, I think I've found 3 mechanical incongruences.
Speaking about the Four Actions and their outcomes, in ...
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Improving AC and reflex defences in 4e
I have built a very squishy level 1 leader (dragonborn cleric or warpriest) with 16 AC and 10 reflex and was wondering about the best ways to improve these defences without changing their stats. ...
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How does defending on behalf of others work in Fate Core?
There's actually multiple answers to that question in Fate Core and The Fate System Toolkit, but they seem a bit contradictory. I'd like your help to sort them out.
Note: I know characters can ...
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