One of my players would like to play a character similar to Darkness from Konosuba. For those not familiar with the anime, the character is a highly masochistic fighter/tank who can't hit the broad side of a barn. From the RP side, I've got no concerns about how the player will handle this in conjunction with the group dynamics. My concern is the implementation of the "can't hit the broad side of the barn" portion of the equation.
Some details:
All players but me are first-timers
player will be playing a paladin
we'll be playing lost mines of phandelver and possibly an extension through the various ice dragon modules
Rest of the party are warlock, rogue, and ranger
The player suggested only being able to hit on a nat-20. Personally, while I think that's funny, I also think it will become problematic long term as it will be frustrating for the rest of the group that the one player can't really contribute to killing the enemy. I think it will likely also become frustrating for the player.
My thinking is that I can give the player disadvantage on all attacks. This is definitely a major penalty to hit, while remaining possible to hit things. Additionally, as a paladin, because smite is triggered on hit they don't risk losing their major mechanic so they can still punch hard when they hit. It'll just be less frequently.
I'm also considering the possible need to balance out this disadvantage with an advantage. With an experienced player, I might just say "well, you want to RP this so take the penalty by itself", but I'm not sure that's the best plan for newbies. Some options I've considered:
Giving him the half damage versus physical damage barbarians get during rage
Given that the party has no barbarians, the first option isn't treading on anyone's toes. But it might be a too-powerful buff especially late-game. On the other hand, the heavy armor master feat will be pretty useful early on, but scales less well into the future.
I'm wondering if anyone has some thoughts on these plans. Thanks!
One of my players would like to play a character similar to Darkness from Konosuba. For those not familiar with the anime, the character is a highly masochistic fighter/tank who can't hit the broad side of a barn. From the RP side, I've got no concerns about how the player will handle this in conjunction with the group dynamics. My concern is the implementation of the "can't hit the broad side of the barn" portion of the equation.
Some details:
All players but me are first-timers
player will be playing a paladin
we'll be playing lost mines of phandelver and possibly an extension through the various ice dragon modules
Rest of the party are warlock, rogue, and ranger
The player suggested only being able to hit on a nat-20. Personally, while I think that's funny, I also think it will become problematic long term as it will be frustrating for the rest of the group that the one player can't really contribute to killing the enemy. I think it will likely also become frustrating for the player.
My thinking is that I can give the player disadvantage on all attacks. This is definitely a major penalty to hit, while remaining possible to hit things. Additionally, as a paladin, because smite is triggered on hit they don't risk losing their major mechanic so they can still punch hard when they hit. It'll just be less frequently.
I'm also considering the possible need to balance out this disadvantage with an advantage. With an experienced player, I might just say "well, you want to RP this so take the penalty by itself", but I'm not sure that's the best plan for newbies. Some options I've considered:
Giving him the half damage versus physical damage barbarians get during rage
Given that the party has no barbarians, the first option isn't treading on anyone's toes. But it might be a too-powerful buff especially late-game. On the other hand, the heavy armor master feat will be pretty useful early on, but scales less well into the future.
I'm wondering if anyone has some thoughts on these plans. Thanks!
The player can take the dodge action for every action instead which gives the enemies disadvantage on everything attacking them basically, and save their attacks for AoOs instead. Fits the rules and won’t throw other players off by wanting their own Homebrew consortiums of odd requests.
A player who can't hit anything, but spends the entire combat time trying, is effectively not part of the combat. After all, enemies can just not attack him, and then all his resistances/damage mitigation is irrelevant.
I'd say that the player probably should just make a defensive-minded paladin. Just focus on beefing up the defense instead of the offense - they'll still hit sometimes, not ridiculously rarely but it won't be their focus. So maybe take defense fighting style (or protection if the rogue is gonna be a melee rogue), take defensive spells, dodge when they're being targeted by a lot of enemies, etc.
My guess is that the player's insistence that they don't want to hit anything is going to go away if they enter a combat and then spend the whole time rolling and missing.
Mechanically make it so Darkness can't add ability scores or proficiency to attack rolls. Still has a chance to hit if the roll is high enough, but that's about it. Maybe let her take the Heavy Armour Master feat for free to compensate.
Also, homebrew a custom magic item. Mask of Vanir. Once per short rest, allow Vanir to take control. This can allow Darkness to add her proper modifiers, plus some extra RP flair.
Edit: the length of time for the mask ability can be up to you (1 minute to 1 hour, probably)
I'd suggest the player create a Variant Human with the feat Great Weapon Mastery and always use it. That will make him miss a lot, but when he hits he'll do a lot.
I'd suggest the player create a Variant Human with the feat Great Weapon Mastery and always use it. That will make him miss a lot, but when he hits he'll do a lot.
A player who can't hit anything, but spends the entire combat time trying, is effectively not part of the combat. After all, enemies can just not attack him, and then all his resistances/damage mitigation is irrelevant.
I'd say that the player probably should just make a defensive-minded paladin. Just focus on beefing up the defense instead of the offense - they'll still hit sometimes, not ridiculously rarely but it won't be their focus. So maybe take defense fighting style (or protection if the rogue is gonna be a melee rogue), take defensive spells, dodge when they're being targeted by a lot of enemies, etc.
My guess is that the player's insistence that they don't want to hit anything is going to go away if they enter a combat and then spend the whole time rolling and missing.
I would combine these 2 ideas.... with my original statement. Have the “Darkness” paladin cast sanctuary on their allies so they don’t get attacked in some situations. Take the dodge action themselves. And when they do the AoO, do it GWM style with the -5 to hit.
Make a homebrew version of a Defender weapon, only instead of it being a +3 weapon that can be reduced to boost AC, it goes in the opposite direction. As in, it's a -3 to hit weapon, but gives +3 to AC. When the player starts moving it to zero/zero on a consistent basis, you'll know they've gotten frustrated with not hitting things. (One of your concerns)
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One of my players would like to play a character similar to Darkness from Konosuba. For those not familiar with the anime, the character is a highly masochistic fighter/tank who can't hit the broad side of a barn. From the RP side, I've got no concerns about how the player will handle this in conjunction with the group dynamics. My concern is the implementation of the "can't hit the broad side of the barn" portion of the equation.
Some details:
The player suggested only being able to hit on a nat-20. Personally, while I think that's funny, I also think it will become problematic long term as it will be frustrating for the rest of the group that the one player can't really contribute to killing the enemy. I think it will likely also become frustrating for the player.
My thinking is that I can give the player disadvantage on all attacks. This is definitely a major penalty to hit, while remaining possible to hit things. Additionally, as a paladin, because smite is triggered on hit they don't risk losing their major mechanic so they can still punch hard when they hit. It'll just be less frequently.
I'm also considering the possible need to balance out this disadvantage with an advantage. With an experienced player, I might just say "well, you want to RP this so take the penalty by itself", but I'm not sure that's the best plan for newbies. Some options I've considered:
Given that the party has no barbarians, the first option isn't treading on anyone's toes. But it might be a too-powerful buff especially late-game. On the other hand, the heavy armor master feat will be pretty useful early on, but scales less well into the future.
I'm wondering if anyone has some thoughts on these plans. Thanks!
The player can take the dodge action for every action instead which gives the enemies disadvantage on everything attacking them basically, and save their attacks for AoOs instead. Fits the rules and won’t throw other players off by wanting their own Homebrew consortiums of odd requests.
Watch me on twitch
A player who can't hit anything, but spends the entire combat time trying, is effectively not part of the combat. After all, enemies can just not attack him, and then all his resistances/damage mitigation is irrelevant.
I'd say that the player probably should just make a defensive-minded paladin. Just focus on beefing up the defense instead of the offense - they'll still hit sometimes, not ridiculously rarely but it won't be their focus. So maybe take defense fighting style (or protection if the rogue is gonna be a melee rogue), take defensive spells, dodge when they're being targeted by a lot of enemies, etc.
My guess is that the player's insistence that they don't want to hit anything is going to go away if they enter a combat and then spend the whole time rolling and missing.
Mechanically make it so Darkness can't add ability scores or proficiency to attack rolls. Still has a chance to hit if the roll is high enough, but that's about it. Maybe let her take the Heavy Armour Master feat for free to compensate.
Also, homebrew a custom magic item. Mask of Vanir. Once per short rest, allow Vanir to take control. This can allow Darkness to add her proper modifiers, plus some extra RP flair.
Edit: the length of time for the mask ability can be up to you (1 minute to 1 hour, probably)
I'd suggest the player create a Variant Human with the feat Great Weapon Mastery and always use it. That will make him miss a lot, but when he hits he'll do a lot.
I would combine these 2 ideas.... with my original statement. Have the “Darkness” paladin cast sanctuary on their allies so they don’t get attacked in some situations. Take the dodge action themselves. And when they do the AoO, do it GWM style with the -5 to hit.
Watch me on twitch
Appreciate the thoughts folks!
Make a homebrew version of a Defender weapon, only instead of it being a +3 weapon that can be reduced to boost AC, it goes in the opposite direction. As in, it's a -3 to hit weapon, but gives +3 to AC. When the player starts moving it to zero/zero on a consistent basis, you'll know they've gotten frustrated with not hitting things. (One of your concerns)