First post here. :) Wanted to reach out to the community for a quick ruling regarding an interaction that came up in our campaign last night. I currently play a Level 5 Monk and was attacked by a homebrew creature with a Claw attack which dealt a portion of its damage as Bludgeoning and Acid damage.
When attempting to use my Deflect Attack class feature, my DM ruled that I would only be able to deflect the Bludgeoning portion of the damage and would need to sustain the full Acid damage. I reasoned that because the verbiage of the feature uses the phrase "includesBPS damage" that it would cover the case of multiple damage types as long as some part was BPS to actually deflect away. I felt this was further reinforced by the feature's language of "reducing the attack's total damage".
The Wizard of our party reasoned since Monks get Deflect Energy later in class progression it was reasonable that right now only the BPS portion would be deflected. I've struggled to find official guidance on this ruling in Sage Advice and other sources which leads me to reaching out to clarify here.
So, for an attack which dealt Bludgeoning and Acid damage (as a single attack), which option is correct for attempting to reduce the damage via the Monk's Deflect Attack feature?
Option #1: Both the Bludgeoning and the Acid damage may be reduced. Option #2: Only the Bludgeoning portion of the damage may be reduced. Option #3: None of the damage may be reduced.
Thanks so much for your assistance with this! Wishing everyone many crits against their foes!
Level 3: Deflect Attacks
When an attack roll hits you and its damage includes Bludgeoning, Piercing, or Slashing damage, you can take a Reaction to reduce the attack’s total damage against you. The reduction equals 1d10 plus your Dexterity modifier and Monk level.
If you reduce the damage to 0, you can expend 1 Focus Point to redirect some of the attack’s force. If you do so, choose a creature you can see within 5 feet of yourself if the attack was a melee attack or a creature you can see within 60 feet of yourself that isn’t behind Total Cover if the attack was a ranged attack. That creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take damage equal to two rolls of your Martial Arts die plus your Dexterity modifier. The damage is the same type dealt by the attack.
Level 13: Deflect Energy
You can now use your Deflect Attacks feature against attacks that deal any damage type, not just Bludgeoning, Piercing, or Slashing.
I agree with jl8e, if any of the damage is bps, you get to reduce all of it. The level 13 power comes into play when you have attacks that are pure elemental damage. Someone casts fire bolt at you, for example. Up through level 12, you can’t do anything about it, but at 13, now you can deflect it, too.
As always, keep in mind that this uses your reaction, so you can only deflect one attack per round, so if the enemy has multiattack, or you’re attacked by multiple enemies, you’re taking full damage from the second and following hits. (And then you have no reaction left for an opportunity attack if they run away.) And it only applies to attacks, meaning there must be an attack roll. If you make a saving throw, it’s not considered an attack, and can not be deflected.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hello all!
First post here. :) Wanted to reach out to the community for a quick ruling regarding an interaction that came up in our campaign last night. I currently play a Level 5 Monk and was attacked by a homebrew creature with a Claw attack which dealt a portion of its damage as Bludgeoning and Acid damage.
When attempting to use my Deflect Attack class feature, my DM ruled that I would only be able to deflect the Bludgeoning portion of the damage and would need to sustain the full Acid damage. I reasoned that because the verbiage of the feature uses the phrase "includes BPS damage" that it would cover the case of multiple damage types as long as some part was BPS to actually deflect away. I felt this was further reinforced by the feature's language of "reducing the attack's total damage".
The Wizard of our party reasoned since Monks get Deflect Energy later in class progression it was reasonable that right now only the BPS portion would be deflected. I've struggled to find official guidance on this ruling in Sage Advice and other sources which leads me to reaching out to clarify here.
So, for an attack which dealt Bludgeoning and Acid damage (as a single attack), which option is correct for attempting to reduce the damage via the Monk's Deflect Attack feature?
Option #1: Both the Bludgeoning and the Acid damage may be reduced.
Option #2: Only the Bludgeoning portion of the damage may be reduced.
Option #3: None of the damage may be reduced.
Thanks so much for your assistance with this! Wishing everyone many crits against their foes!
As written, as long as the attack qualifies by containing one of the physical damage types, you can redirect all the damage of that attack.
Your DM, however, can house-rule it otherwise at the table.
I agree with jl8e, if any of the damage is bps, you get to reduce all of it.
The level 13 power comes into play when you have attacks that are pure elemental damage. Someone casts fire bolt at you, for example. Up through level 12, you can’t do anything about it, but at 13, now you can deflect it, too.
As always, keep in mind that this uses your reaction, so you can only deflect one attack per round, so if the enemy has multiattack, or you’re attacked by multiple enemies, you’re taking full damage from the second and following hits. (And then you have no reaction left for an opportunity attack if they run away.) And it only applies to attacks, meaning there must be an attack roll. If you make a saving throw, it’s not considered an attack, and can not be deflected.