I've been playing d&d for over 23 years. The way that this works is very simple. A. Tortle gets unarmed defense based off of its shell which starts at a "base of 17" you don't add Dex to this modifier to adjust it. However, monks add not only dexterity but wisdom to their modifiers for armor class. Therefore, your armor class would start at 17 and then you would add your wisdom modifier so that it equals whatever your new armor class is. DnD beyond has had a bug with this since it came out. I've been playing monks since they were originally created back in the day. You add your wisdom modifier to the armor class base of 17 and that is your ac. DnD beyond is not correct on everything and has many bugs. I hope this helps with any confusion that people have been having.
I've been playing d&d for over 23 years. The way that this works is very simple. A. Tortle gets unarmed defense based off of its shell which starts at a "base of 17" you don't add Dex to this modifier to adjust it. However, monks add not only dexterity but wisdom to their modifiers for armor class. Therefore, your armor class would start at 17 and then you would add your wisdom modifier so that it equals whatever your new armor class is. DnD beyond has had a bug with this since it came out. I've been playing monks since they were originally created back in the day. You add your wisdom modifier to the armor class base of 17 and that is your ac. DnD beyond is not correct on everything and has many bugs. I hope this helps with any confusion that people have been having.
I don't believe that is correct and every online debate I have read says that different AC calculations are treated separately. Specifically referring to Armor Class rules:
Some spells and class features give you a different way to calculate your AC. If you have multiple features that give you different ways to calculate your AC, you choose which one to use.
Even more to the point is the Monk rules for Unarmored Defense:
Beginning at 1st level, while you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Wisdom modifier.
It doesn't say "From your base + WIS". It is specific that it is 10+DEX+WIS.
As for the bug where dndbeoynd doesn't automatically use the highest calculation based on your character, well that's still on them.
As for the bug where dndbeoynd doesn't automatically use the highest calculation based on your character, well that's still on them.
IIRC the bug with Tortle is that it uses two modifiers to get that AC 17; one forces the character sheet to ignore Dexterity, and the other adds a bonus of +7 to unarmored AC (which is now 10 as a result of the first modifier).
The problem this causes is that a Monk's AC (or a Barbarian's presumably) no longer includes Dexterity either, as these too are both unarmored, so a Monk's Unarmored Defense becomes 10 + WIS, meaning you'd need a Wisdom modifier of at least +8 to beat the Tortle's AC.
It's weird though, because I'm sure there's a modifier that does this correctly, as I used one for the Cave Troll sub-race on my Brute Troll race to give it a minimum AC based on only Constitution. But I'd need to create a copy of it just to find out what I used.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
This whole issue is that DnD only lets you use the natural armor or the unarmored armor so a human has a base of 10 (IE natural armor) and a turtel NA of 17 due to it's shell you get screwed when you use the unarmored ability from monk or barb. because you get one or the other the 3.5 way was better were it was base 10+ na + dex mod + Armor + wis for unarmored defense. because other races had + to there Naturel armor
Confirmed that the "Having more than +8 WIS" thing DOES force it to use Unarmored Defense. Whipped up a Tortle Monk and set his WIIS to 30, Unarmored Defense kicked in and shows AC of 20:
10
Armor(None)
+10
Unarmored Bonus(Unarmored Defense)
So the breakdown of it removing DEX being the source of the issue seems spot-on.
Confirmed that the "Having more than +8 WIS" thing DOES force it to use Unarmored Defense. Whipped up a Tortle Monk and set his WIIS to 30, Unarmored Defense kicked in and shows AC of 20:
10
Armor(None)
+10
Unarmored Bonus(Unarmored Defense)
So the breakdown of it removing DEX being the source of the issue seems spot-on.
Obligatory "It's still broken"
It’s mostly likely a code issue, because it’s not allowing the system to choose between the 2 types.
one being the natural ac of the tortle and the monk/barbarian unarmored ability. I wonder if the same results would be true if barkskin was used as that would be the same principle (or the tattoo (insert name) that has the same effect.
The dev team would test that and would be a simple fix in the back end programming.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
A tortle monk with 18 wisdom and 18 dex is showing 17 armor (coming from natural armor) not 18 from unarmored defense.
Possibly when the tortle updates mentioned here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/d-d-beyond-general/bugs-support/79279-tortles-natural-armour-only-increases-ac-to-16
happened it broke this?
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
ModeratorHi! Thanks for pointing that out. I was able to verify this on a test character and have passed this along to the team.
Homebrew Rules || Homebrew FAQ || Snippet Codes || Tooltips
DDB Guides & FAQs, Class Guides, Character Builds, Game Guides, Useful Websites, and WOTC Resources
This still appears to be broken:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/ColtsFan76/characters/46062317
yup, still broken
Made a Tortle Barbarian, Unarmored defense with 18 Dex/18 Con results in 17 AC, not 18. Kind of silly that this is still broken...
Just started on my character, and it's still broken
I've been playing d&d for over 23 years. The way that this works is very simple. A. Tortle gets unarmed defense based off of its shell which starts at a "base of 17" you don't add Dex to this modifier to adjust it. However, monks add not only dexterity but wisdom to their modifiers for armor class. Therefore, your armor class would start at 17 and then you would add your wisdom modifier so that it equals whatever your new armor class is. DnD beyond has had a bug with this since it came out. I've been playing monks since they were originally created back in the day. You add your wisdom modifier to the armor class base of 17 and that is your ac. DnD beyond is not correct on everything and has many bugs. I hope this helps with any confusion that people have been having.
I don't believe that is correct and every online debate I have read says that different AC calculations are treated separately. Specifically referring to Armor Class rules:
Even more to the point is the Monk rules for Unarmored Defense:
It doesn't say "From your base + WIS". It is specific that it is 10+DEX+WIS.
As for the bug where dndbeoynd doesn't automatically use the highest calculation based on your character, well that's still on them.
How to: Replace DEX in AC | Jump & Suffocation stats | Spell & class effect buff system | Wild Shape effect system | Tool Proficiencies as Custom Skills | Spells at higher levels explained | Superior Fighting/Martial Adept Fix | Snippet Codes Explored - Subclasses | Snippet Math Theory | Homebrew Weapons Explained
My: FEATS | MAGIC ITEMS | MONSTERS | SUBCLASSES Artificer Specialist: Weaveblade
Dndbeyond images not loading WORKAROUND FIXED!!! (TY Jay_Lane for original instructions)
IIRC the bug with Tortle is that it uses two modifiers to get that AC 17; one forces the character sheet to ignore Dexterity, and the other adds a bonus of +7 to unarmored AC (which is now 10 as a result of the first modifier).
The problem this causes is that a Monk's AC (or a Barbarian's presumably) no longer includes Dexterity either, as these too are both unarmored, so a Monk's Unarmored Defense becomes 10 + WIS, meaning you'd need a Wisdom modifier of at least +8 to beat the Tortle's AC.
It's weird though, because I'm sure there's a modifier that does this correctly, as I used one for the Cave Troll sub-race on my Brute Troll race to give it a minimum AC based on only Constitution. But I'd need to create a copy of it just to find out what I used.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
This whole issue is that DnD only lets you use the natural armor or the unarmored armor so a human has a base of 10 (IE natural armor) and a turtel NA of 17 due to it's shell you get screwed when you use the unarmored ability from monk or barb. because you get one or the other the 3.5 way was better were it was base 10+ na + dex mod + Armor + wis for unarmored defense. because other races had + to there Naturel armor
Confirmed that the "Having more than +8 WIS" thing DOES force it to use Unarmored Defense. Whipped up a Tortle Monk and set his WIIS to 30, Unarmored Defense kicked in and shows AC of 20:
So the breakdown of it removing DEX being the source of the issue seems spot-on.
Obligatory "It's still broken"
It’s mostly likely a code issue, because it’s not allowing the system to choose between the 2 types.
one being the natural ac of the tortle and the monk/barbarian unarmored ability.
I wonder if the same results would be true if barkskin was used as that would be the same principle (or the tattoo (insert name) that has the same effect.
The dev team would test that and would be a simple fix in the back end programming.