so in my campaign i have two players who are both artificers and both of them are battle smiths, so they jokingly said there steel defenders will one day have a feature to combine in battle like some kind of power ranger zord and honestly i want to make this happen for them, but with the already complex nature of a steel defenders stats im not sure how to go about this and still make it balanced, any ideas or suggestions?
I think this is a fun request that would need two different sets of considerations:
What is the impact on the Steel Defender stats?
What is the impact on the action economy rules (any non-dodge action requires a bonus action from the owner).
As far as the stat block goes I'd keep it simple:
Bump the Hit Points to be 2 + highest INT mod + 5 times highest artificer level.
Let each contributing character add +1 to the Ability Score of their choosing.
Make the Force-Empowered Rend a 1d10 + PB force damage attack.
Impact on the action economy? Only one character per round can give a command (via bonus action). That way either of them can do it, but it doesn't gain extra actions.
OR
Allow the first one to issue a bonus action command, and the second to issue a Full Action command. That's consuming a significant item on the action economy and letting them both have fun.
I'd also see what they have in mind and see how much rule of cool you can throw in.
This is a fun idea and I don't think it would be that hard to pull off.
Going from two constructs to one will naturally reduce their action economy and battle field control so that gives you room to play with. I'd double the HP, and give them two Force-Empowered Rend attacks per turn. This doesn't change anything from an overall HP/Damage perspective. I'd make it a Large Construct (consider giiving them an extra 1d4 damage per turn for being large), but remove the Repair ability in this form. This removes any questions over who's repair was used when they separate. In it's place, put something fun for a special attack. Maybe give it a range or reach attack since it normally doesn't have one. Something like 4d10 fire in a 20' line, or 5d10+PB range 120. You could make a sigle use mega attack, (maybe at the cost of some health), like running tackle where they charge in and do 10d6 force damage and knock a creature prone. I'd make the form only last 1 min, and either recharage after short rest or a limited amount per day (2 or 3?). I'd make it an action to combine. This further reduces their action economy which will help offset any fun damage bonus you give them. When the construct splits, divide the HP by 2 rounded down. If the HP happens to be 1, they both need to be revived per the normal process. The harder question to answer is at what level would they be able to do this and do they get all the cool abilities right away or do they grow as they level? Once you give it to them, it would be really hard to take it back.
You could also consider upping the damage power a lot at the cost of concentration for both players. This would be more complex but maybe a fun addition at a really high levels. Also, make sure the players know that you might need to adjust things as you go for balance reasons. There's a lot you can potentially do with this so just be creative and don't be afraid to re-adjust things if you don't have the balance right.
This seems like an after the current campaign idea to me. In the wrap up you narrate that they've succeeded. Maybe use the Mecha vs. Kaiju rules and you'll have your next campaign ready to go. Or at least a backup for when not everyone shows up.
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so in my campaign i have two players who are both artificers and both of them are battle smiths, so they jokingly said there steel defenders will one day have a feature to combine in battle like some kind of power ranger zord and honestly i want to make this happen for them, but with the already complex nature of a steel defenders stats im not sure how to go about this and still make it balanced, any ideas or suggestions?
I think this is a fun request that would need two different sets of considerations:
As far as the stat block goes I'd keep it simple:
Impact on the action economy? Only one character per round can give a command (via bonus action). That way either of them can do it, but it doesn't gain extra actions.
OR
Allow the first one to issue a bonus action command, and the second to issue a Full Action command. That's consuming a significant item on the action economy and letting them both have fun.
I'd also see what they have in mind and see how much rule of cool you can throw in.
This is a fun idea and I don't think it would be that hard to pull off.
Going from two constructs to one will naturally reduce their action economy and battle field control so that gives you room to play with. I'd double the HP, and give them two Force-Empowered Rend attacks per turn. This doesn't change anything from an overall HP/Damage perspective. I'd make it a Large Construct (consider giiving them an extra 1d4 damage per turn for being large), but remove the Repair ability in this form. This removes any questions over who's repair was used when they separate. In it's place, put something fun for a special attack. Maybe give it a range or reach attack since it normally doesn't have one. Something like 4d10 fire in a 20' line, or 5d10+PB range 120. You could make a sigle use mega attack, (maybe at the cost of some health), like running tackle where they charge in and do 10d6 force damage and knock a creature prone. I'd make the form only last 1 min, and either recharage after short rest or a limited amount per day (2 or 3?). I'd make it an action to combine. This further reduces their action economy which will help offset any fun damage bonus you give them. When the construct splits, divide the HP by 2 rounded down. If the HP happens to be 1, they both need to be revived per the normal process. The harder question to answer is at what level would they be able to do this and do they get all the cool abilities right away or do they grow as they level? Once you give it to them, it would be really hard to take it back.
You could also consider upping the damage power a lot at the cost of concentration for both players. This would be more complex but maybe a fun addition at a really high levels. Also, make sure the players know that you might need to adjust things as you go for balance reasons. There's a lot you can potentially do with this so just be creative and don't be afraid to re-adjust things if you don't have the balance right.
Good luck!
This seems like an after the current campaign idea to me. In the wrap up you narrate that they've succeeded. Maybe use the Mecha vs. Kaiju rules and you'll have your next campaign ready to go. Or at least a backup for when not everyone shows up.