1. Gotcha. The way it was phrased with the PB and other bits led me to believe it was a separate source of AC.
2. With the absence of extra attack or other sources of scaling damage, I think advantage would be appropriate in this case. you could think of it as pinpointing a weakness or something.
3. I don't disagree with having some sort of siege weapon since it is indeed cool and thematic, but you also have to think it simply wont fit in a lot of places. I think a different approach is necessary.
2. My issue with that, is there is already a feature that does what you say. The Crusher feat from TCoE gives advantage on all attacks against a creature until the start of your next turn, but only when you score a critical hit and only when you deal bludgeoning damage. Due to this restriction, it is also unlikely that you would be affecting more than one creature at a time. So, I feel extending such a benefit to affect any creature the Artificer hits with any attack or spell would be way more powerful. I think it should be more powerful than Crusher, but it may be too much as you suggest.
The ability could be changed to a once per turn effect, but then it feels kinda lackluster. A -1 or -2 to AC is weaker than advantage for sure, but I think it is balanced out that with spellcasting you can affect multiple creatures at once. I also think that a reduction to AC is also thematic, in that your attacks are destroying a creature's defense (even if only temporarily) rather than targeting a weak spot.
I think changing it to advantage could work, but I think other aspects of the ability would also have to be changed to dial back the benefit a bit. That being said, I would prefer to find a different avenue, just because I feel granting advantage is something alot of abilities already do and not something I want to repeat.
3. For some reason I thought alot of siege weapons counted as Medium, but I stand corrected. I agree that at their size there would be difficulty in moving them with you, so I think I will scrap the ability for now and come up with something else. I am tempted to have a custom siege weapon you make, but that feels like its steps too much on the toes of Artillerists and Battle Smiths
And that all is absolutely fair, but you also have to remember that -1 or 2 AC is essentially the same as adding +1 or 2 to hit. You add Enhanced Weapon and Fighting Initiate: Archery on top of that and you can't miss, really. Advantage is still strong enough to be a core feature without being too strong. You could also limit it to weapon attacks, but without extra attacks, that may be TOO limited.
The debuff to the enemy's AC isnt something the artificer itself would be meant to benefit from, so stacking it with Enhanced Weapon or Fighting Initiate wont do much for the artificer. The reduction is meant to open up attacks to your party members against that creature. The artificer's attacks wont benefit from it unless they make an attack of opportunity or have multiclassed to pick up an extra attack from somewhere.
I think that having two or three or four monsters with lower AC for a round after you hit them with a spell effect is a strong bonus to the party as a whole.
I think that having advantage on attacks against two or three or four monsters for a round is too strong of a bonus for the party as a whole.
I think that having advantage on attacks against one creature for a round is a decently strong bonus for the party as a whole, but mechanically boring. I also dont want the artificer to be opening up crits for the Paladin or Rogue every time they fight a boss monster.
Perhaps another approach would be to keep Fell Defenses more or less the same, but to give them a second feature, like a small boost to their spellcasting or attacks, to make 5th level as a whole a bit stronger than with Fell Defenses on its own.
1. Gotcha. The way it was phrased with the PB and other bits led me to believe it was a separate source of AC.
2. With the absence of extra attack or other sources of scaling damage, I think advantage would be appropriate in this case. you could think of it as pinpointing a weakness or something.
3. I don't disagree with having some sort of siege weapon since it is indeed cool and thematic, but you also have to think it simply wont fit in a lot of places. I think a different approach is necessary.
2. My issue with that, is there is already a feature that does what you say. The Crusher feat from TCoE gives advantage on all attacks against a creature until the start of your next turn, but only when you score a critical hit and only when you deal bludgeoning damage. Due to this restriction, it is also unlikely that you would be affecting more than one creature at a time. So, I feel extending such a benefit to affect any creature the Artificer hits with any attack or spell would be way more powerful. I think it should be more powerful than Crusher, but it may be too much as you suggest.
The ability could be changed to a once per turn effect, but then it feels kinda lackluster. A -1 or -2 to AC is weaker than advantage for sure, but I think it is balanced out that with spellcasting you can affect multiple creatures at once. I also think that a reduction to AC is also thematic, in that your attacks are destroying a creature's defense (even if only temporarily) rather than targeting a weak spot.
I think changing it to advantage could work, but I think other aspects of the ability would also have to be changed to dial back the benefit a bit. That being said, I would prefer to find a different avenue, just because I feel granting advantage is something alot of abilities already do and not something I want to repeat.
3. For some reason I thought alot of siege weapons counted as Medium, but I stand corrected. I agree that at their size there would be difficulty in moving them with you, so I think I will scrap the ability for now and come up with something else. I am tempted to have a custom siege weapon you make, but that feels like its steps too much on the toes of Artillerists and Battle Smiths
And that all is absolutely fair, but you also have to remember that -1 or 2 AC is essentially the same as adding +1 or 2 to hit. You add Enhanced Weapon and Fighting Initiate: Archery on top of that and you can't miss, really. Advantage is still strong enough to be a core feature without being too strong. You could also limit it to weapon attacks, but without extra attacks, that may be TOO limited.
The debuff to the enemy's AC isnt something the artificer itself would be meant to benefit from, so stacking it with Enhanced Weapon or Fighting Initiate wont do much for the artificer. The reduction is meant to open up attacks to your party members against that creature. The artificer's attacks wont benefit from it unless they make an attack of opportunity or have multiclassed to pick up an extra attack from somewhere.
I think that having two or three or four monsters with lower AC for a round after you hit them with a spell effect is a strong bonus to the party as a whole.
I think that having advantage on attacks against two or three or four monsters for a round is too strong of a bonus for the party as a whole.
I think that having advantage on attacks against one creature for a round is a decently strong bonus for the party as a whole, but mechanically boring. I also dont want the artificer to be opening up crits for the Paladin or Rogue every time they fight a boss monster.
My bad on that one, for some reason I got it in my head that it was a permanent debuff. Regardless, my argument stays. The stacking bonuses is too strong and advantage is the next best thing if you are deadset on that sort of mechanic. Advantage may be a bit stronger at the start, but should stay steady if the CR is of an appropriate level. With a numerical bonus like you want, even if it is not the Artificer making the attack, the other party members can still break it relatively easily.
And the whole feature concept is boring, but I was trying not to bring that up since I have a subclass pretty much dedicated to a similar idea.
That said, you have absolutely no reason to listen to a word I say and do your own thing. If you like it and think it's fine, go right ahead.
Regarding adding something else at 5th level, since you gave it heavy armor, perhaps add something related to that? Silly idea that just popped up is mimic a Tortle's shell as an active ability? Armor puffs up or something.
If the OP is still interested, my version is more or less done now as well. Checks all the boxes for me, and may do so for you. For anyone else interested, I can post it elsewhere because I finally realized we pretty much hijacked the thread to discuss ideas. Sorry. Got a little excited.
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The debuff to the enemy's AC isnt something the artificer itself would be meant to benefit from, so stacking it with Enhanced Weapon or Fighting Initiate wont do much for the artificer. The reduction is meant to open up attacks to your party members against that creature. The artificer's attacks wont benefit from it unless they make an attack of opportunity or have multiclassed to pick up an extra attack from somewhere.
I think that having two or three or four monsters with lower AC for a round after you hit them with a spell effect is a strong bonus to the party as a whole.
I think that having advantage on attacks against two or three or four monsters for a round is too strong of a bonus for the party as a whole.
I think that having advantage on attacks against one creature for a round is a decently strong bonus for the party as a whole, but mechanically boring. I also dont want the artificer to be opening up crits for the Paladin or Rogue every time they fight a boss monster.
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Perhaps another approach would be to keep Fell Defenses more or less the same, but to give them a second feature, like a small boost to their spellcasting or attacks, to make 5th level as a whole a bit stronger than with Fell Defenses on its own.
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
My bad on that one, for some reason I got it in my head that it was a permanent debuff. Regardless, my argument stays. The stacking bonuses is too strong and advantage is the next best thing if you are deadset on that sort of mechanic. Advantage may be a bit stronger at the start, but should stay steady if the CR is of an appropriate level. With a numerical bonus like you want, even if it is not the Artificer making the attack, the other party members can still break it relatively easily.
And the whole feature concept is boring, but I was trying not to bring that up since I have a subclass pretty much dedicated to a similar idea.
That said, you have absolutely no reason to listen to a word I say and do your own thing. If you like it and think it's fine, go right ahead.
Regarding adding something else at 5th level, since you gave it heavy armor, perhaps add something related to that? Silly idea that just popped up is mimic a Tortle's shell as an active ability? Armor puffs up or something.
If the OP is still interested, my version is more or less done now as well. Checks all the boxes for me, and may do so for you. For anyone else interested, I can post it elsewhere because I finally realized we pretty much hijacked the thread to discuss ideas. Sorry. Got a little excited.