29
votes
Can someone decide to be hit?
The dice need not be rolled
D&D 5e includes a general principle that dice are only rolled if the result of an action is uncertain. The DM is not required to call for a die roll at all, even for ...
- 2,945
29
votes
Accepted
Most effective way of improving survivability for an Ancestral Guardian Barbarian?
Take the Mobile feat
Your goal should be to get into melee, apply your ancestors to the boss, and get away. With the Mobile feat (PHB, p. 168), you won't provoke opportunity attacks from enemies you ...
- 19.3k
29
votes
Accepted
How to survive level 1 as a wizard?
There are many tools you can use, but no guarantees
While there is no surefire way to survive the first level, there are several things you can do to increase the odds:
Defensive Spells The classical ...
- 135k
21
votes
Accepted
Can someone decide to be hit?
A rule in the book for this case is the Advantage rule.
With a character making little to no effort to defend themselves, you create a circumstance where the attacker has advantage.
Sometimes an ...
- 144k
21
votes
How to survive level 1 as a wizard?
Cover
Using cover is important as a ranged combatant, but doubly so for the ever-squishy wizard. Level 1 is a time when enemies with shortbows tend to show up a lot, and wizards tend to attract ...
- 30.6k
18
votes
How does AC scale with character level?
Other answers have explained that AC doesn’t automatically scale, which is true. There is no level component to determining AC.
Instead, AC is a function primarily of five factors:
Dexterity
Armor, ...
- 361k
17
votes
How does AC scale with character level?
By default, AC does not automatically scale with level at all. The only way to increase it is by improving your Dexterity, upgrading your equipment, or using AC-boosting spells, class features, or ...
- 1,108
15
votes
Can a character with the Defensive Duelist feat who never makes an attack with the finesse weapon still gain the benefit of the feat?
Defensive Duelist has nothing to do with you making a melee weapon attack.
The criteria for "activating" Defensive Duelist are spelled out in the first sentence:
When
you are wielding a ...
- 57.2k
15
votes
Using a familiar to deliver a spell attack while both of us are under Sanctuary
Both castings of sanctuary end.
Sanctuary states:
If the warded creature makes an attack, casts a spell that affects an enemy, or deals damage to another creature, this spell ends.
Since you are ...
- 154k
13
votes
Accepted
Can you decide not to use a shield's AC bonus? Dex bonus?
By the rules - probably not, but a DM might allow it as a houserule
The rules say that while you are wielding the shield you automatically get the bonus to your AC. So while you are holding and using ...
- 95.6k
13
votes
Multiattack defense vs legendary actions
Multiattack Defense only helps against legendary actions with multiple attacks
The ranger's Hunter archetype Multiattack Defense feature states:
When a creature hits you with an attack, you gain a +4 ...
- 135k
12
votes
Accepted
When summoned creatures are "defending themselves from hostile creatures" on a turn without commands, does this include taking Actions of any type?
Ask your DM
The rules do not elaborate further what "defend themselves from hostile creatures" entails, defending is not a defined term. For terms that are not defined, we look at the ...
- 135k
12
votes
Party Synergies for Melee Rogue with Sentinel
Disguise Self
Nearly everyone in your party should be able to cast this if they want, not only your team mates, also you. And all of you can look very different from how you are actually armored. The ...
- 135k
11
votes
I need a dice system with a unique behavior and rate of growth (preferably in ANYDICE to verify)
If I understood your question correctly, your actual goal is this:
I am trying to find a system where for every point you increase your defense by above your opponents attack value, you add a ...
- 24.8k
10
votes
Can someone decide to be hit?
No standard rule in D&D 5th edition allows you to decide to be hit.
The rules on attack rolls made against player characters in combat are clear:
When you make an attack, your attack roll ...
- 84.5k
9
votes
Can you Defend against your own action in Fate?
As always, the answer is "fiction first". What did you do? What happened? What are you doing?
If you throw an acid grenade out, for instance, does it make sense that you could then duck behind ...
- 1,548
9
votes
Accepted
What defensive option would be ideal for martial characters?
Attempting to put hard-and-fast ranges on which things are best at which levels is a fool’s errand; there’s too much variety in what a given level “means” for that to be terribly meaningful. You are ...
- 361k
8
votes
Can you decide not to use a shield's AC bonus? Dex bonus?
By RAW: no. A shield you're wielding, as well as your Dex bonus (except special cases like barkskin and Tortles), always apply to your Armor Class.
By reasonable houserule: Yes for shield, no for Dex....
- 8,177
8
votes
Accepted
Rage benefits for someone who doesn’t attack
I have finally gotten around to compiling my own list, so here it is.
Rage Variants
Some versions of rage are more defensive than others, though none of them are particularly mystical or provide non-...
- 361k
8
votes
Is a College of Valor bard(Lv5)+ Oath of Ancients paladin(Lv15) the best Tank/Support option?
You've written:
This campaign was (and is still currently going) very roleplay heavy, so combat hasn't really been of importance so far.
so it seems surprising that you're trying to optimize your ...
- 90.6k
8
votes
Does the Defensive Duelist feat work with Psychic Blades from the Soulknife Rogue subclass?
No, the Psychic Blade is not in your hand when it's not your turn
The important part of the rule is in your quotation, but here it is all by itself:
The blade vanishes immediately after it hits or ...
- 8,421
8
votes
How to survive level 1 as a wizard?
First: Consider Intelligence your main stat. Dexterity and Constitution are your secondary and tertiary stats, not in that order.
Second: Tier 1 MAGES, not just wizards but all mages, should consider ...
- 467
7
votes
Accepted
Can you Defend against your own action in Fate?
While Kyoryu is right to point you to "fiction first", there is also the matter of fun.
In Fate, don’t get too bogged down trying to maintain absolute consistency in the world or adhere to a ...
- 3,286
7
votes
Accepted
Is the Choice of Scale Effects Limited per Roll or per Conflict?
Per-roll application of scale is more in line with the Golden Rule.
It is also consistent with practical implementation in published systems.
The Toolkit is not a rulebook.
The Toolkit's ...
- 53.4k
7
votes
Party Synergies for Melee Rogue with Sentinel
There's the "protection" fighting style
A fighter (or a paladin, or someone with the Fighting Initiate feat) can take the "protection" fighting style, which lets them spend their ...
- 90.6k
6
votes
Accepted
How can I effectively shield block with a tower shield?
Sadly Tower shields do not have many options. Everstand Stance can further raise your hardness. Unfortunately most special materials are disallowed for tower shields except for darkwood, the higher ...
- 572
6
votes
Accepted
Are shields a numerically significant defensive boost?
I had thought there were other already answered questions concerning the benefits of shields, but when I looked, I couldn't find one here, but did find a few on Reddit. However, the bottom line is ...
- 4,769
6
votes
How to survive level 1 as a wizard?
Stay out of direct combat, and be useful to the party so they are content with having to protect you while you learn. And don't go into situations where that doesn't work, eg where area-of-effect or ...
- 431
6
votes
Accepted
In a Conflict, what does it mean to Defend on your turn?
It probably means you get a +2 on your Defend rolls.
If you want, you can forgo your action for the exchange to concentrate on defense. You don't get to do anything proactive, but you do get to roll ...
- 42.2k
6
votes
Accepted
When you receive a physical attack and Shield Block it, if it deals multiple types of damage, how is damage reduced?
Hardness Applies to *All Damage
An item can be broken or destroyed if it takes enough damage. Every item has a Hardness value. Each time an item takes damage, reduce any damage the item takes by its ...
- 16k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible