I was hoping to build a Tortle that is used as a shield by a different party member. However I have absolutely no idea what complications this would cause during combat or what complications this would cause over all. Any ideas/opinions would be appreciated. I also have not landed on a class that would somehow fit with this so if anyone has any ideas for one that would be appreciated as well!
Cover: Another creature can provide you half cover against attacks from certain angles:
Half Cover
A target with half cover has a +2 bonus to AC and Dexterity saving throws. A target has half cover if an obstacle blocks at least half of its body. The obstacle might be a low wall, a large piece of furniture, a narrow tree trunk, or a creature, whether that creature is an enemy or a friend.
Grappling: Your DM may or may not allow you to grapple an ally without jumping through the hoops of athletics checks. Either way, if you succesfully grapple a creature, you can carry/drag them with you:
Moving a Grappled Creature. When you move, you can drag or carry the grappled creature with you, but your speed is halved, unless the creature is two or more sizes smaller than you.
To carry or drag your grappled tortle ally, you'll need to have sufficient carrying capacity to be able to move at full speed (or, half speed rather). Otherwise you'll be left dragging them with a 5 feet speed, or perhaps unable to move entirely. As RoiPhi mentioned, Tortles are typically quite heavy, so having a very high strength, Powerful Build, and/or the Totem Barbarian's level 6 Bear feature are recommended.
I see now that you are the Tortle in this equation, not the Tortle-user. There's a few more things you can do to make yourself a more useful shield!
First of all, if you can learn Enlarge/Reduce and reduce yourself, you'll be much more portable, dropping your weight to around 56 lbs. As a second level spell, that will require at least 3 levels of wizard or sorcerer, or 5 levels of artificer, or 7 levels of Eldritch Knight or Arcane Trickster.
Fighter (Cavalier) has several features that will help you protect a nearby ally from attacks, letting you shield them actively as well as by virtue of being carried. The Protector fighting style also has an option for using your reaction. Ancestral Guardian Barbarian also has some options.
Withdrawing into your own shell makes you harder to hurt directly, letting you focus on being wielded as a shield. Normally that limits what you can do quite a bit with your action and prevents reactions... but it doesn't require you to give up concentration on a spell that's already been cast. Spirit Guardians, for example, can be put up and left up while you hide in your shell, following you and your wielder. (though, that competes with reducing yourself).
Not sure how to optimize, but fiddling with some of those tools you might be able to design yourself around being carried by an ally and constantly finding yourself in melee range of enemies and within 5 feet of a friend.
So how would you handle damage to the Tortle? A shield normally has infinite damage capacity, but that shouldn't allow anyone used as a tortle shield to become invincible. Perhaps misses that are off by 2 damage the tortle instead? Or would they have to hit to tortles AC?
There's no rule providing that attacks that miss because of the bonus from cover strike and damage that cover, any more than there are rules stating that attacks that miss due to armor strike and damage that armor; attacks simply either hit their target, or they do not. It seems like a reasonable enough houserule that a DM could adopt, but as you say, it creates its own problems and headaches. Were it my table, I wouldn't strike and harm the Tortle with attacks that didn't target the Tortle, but enemies very well might choose to target the Tortle instead of the person carrying them....
...Although keep in mind that a live Tortle, an unconscious one, and a dead Tortle corpse all provide the same half cover to the person carrying it :p
I was hoping to build a Tortle that is used as a shield by a different party member. However I have absolutely no idea what complications this would cause during combat or what complications this would cause over all. Any ideas/opinions would be appreciated. I also have not landed on a class that would somehow fit with this so if anyone has any ideas for one that would be appreciated as well!
I'm not sure if you actually meant be carried around as a shield or just provide cover for other creatures. Fighter, Barbarian, and Paladin all provide abilities that help you to "shield" others. Protection fighting style helps as does the sentinel feat. You can look through any number of "tank" posts to find tips for playing a protector. Clerics offer many support spells that can help in addition to healing spells. Inspiring Leader feat can allow you to give 6 members of your party your charisma modifier + your character level temp HP. Abjuration wizards can use their Projected Ward (Abjuration 6th level) ability to protect their allies.
It all depends on what you had in mind particularly. Something like fighter 1 (defensive fighting style or protection fighting strike, concentration saves, second wind), Paladin 6 (lay on hands, the other fighting style, aura of protection, plus your oath ability at 3, your ASI, and Extra attack and Divine Smite to help you reduce hit points of enemies), Life Cleric X (more efficient heals, spells like Sanctuary, Shield of Faith, and Warding Bond along with Blessed Healer can help you make an ally a damage sponge. You could forgo the fighter level to get the majority of the build up faster, probably starting with cleric until cleric 6, then paladin 6, then cleric the rest. Or just go straight cleric with a hill dwarf, max your wisdom and get your constitution to a safe spot while enjoying the fact that you don't really need your strength at 15 for plate since you're a dwarf. You can focus on feats, including magic initiate druid for shillelagh if you absolutely must have melee and don't want strength and your DM balks at a 1 level dip with druid for the cantrip.
Well I might have a terrible solution, friends: have a buddy that's a Rune Knight and can grow to a large size and just have them lift ya up while they're walloping people (we may have stumbled upon this in a moment of inspiration, they can also slide you into the enemy like a bowling ball, and if you're a drunken monk tortle (inadvisable, but fun for the lols) you can use tipsy sway and jump to your feet and start mercing baddies).
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I was hoping to build a Tortle that is used as a shield by a different party member. However I have absolutely no idea what complications this would cause during combat or what complications this would cause over all. Any ideas/opinions would be appreciated. I also have not landed on a class that would somehow fit with this so if anyone has any ideas for one that would be appreciated as well!
I'm not 100% sure what you mean.
• Size. Tortle adults stand 5 to 6 feet tall and average 450 pounds.
So... check with your DM to house rule this? There's no way I would allow my players to fight normally with a 450lbs shield.
There are two sections of the rules in PHB Chapter 9 relevant to what you're asking: Cover, and Grappling. Also implicated is PHB Chapter 7-Using Ability Scores (Strength).
Cover: Another creature can provide you half cover against attacks from certain angles:
Grappling: Your DM may or may not allow you to grapple an ally without jumping through the hoops of athletics checks. Either way, if you succesfully grapple a creature, you can carry/drag them with you:
To carry or drag your grappled tortle ally, you'll need to have sufficient carrying capacity to be able to move at full speed (or, half speed rather). Otherwise you'll be left dragging them with a 5 feet speed, or perhaps unable to move entirely. As RoiPhi mentioned, Tortles are typically quite heavy, so having a very high strength, Powerful Build, and/or the Totem Barbarian's level 6 Bear feature are recommended.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
I see now that you are the Tortle in this equation, not the Tortle-user. There's a few more things you can do to make yourself a more useful shield!
First of all, if you can learn Enlarge/Reduce and reduce yourself, you'll be much more portable, dropping your weight to around 56 lbs. As a second level spell, that will require at least 3 levels of wizard or sorcerer, or 5 levels of artificer, or 7 levels of Eldritch Knight or Arcane Trickster.
Fighter (Cavalier) has several features that will help you protect a nearby ally from attacks, letting you shield them actively as well as by virtue of being carried. The Protector fighting style also has an option for using your reaction. Ancestral Guardian Barbarian also has some options.
Withdrawing into your own shell makes you harder to hurt directly, letting you focus on being wielded as a shield. Normally that limits what you can do quite a bit with your action and prevents reactions... but it doesn't require you to give up concentration on a spell that's already been cast. Spirit Guardians, for example, can be put up and left up while you hide in your shell, following you and your wielder. (though, that competes with reducing yourself).
Not sure how to optimize, but fiddling with some of those tools you might be able to design yourself around being carried by an ally and constantly finding yourself in melee range of enemies and within 5 feet of a friend.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
So how would you handle damage to the Tortle? A shield normally has infinite damage capacity, but that shouldn't allow anyone used as a tortle shield to become invincible. Perhaps misses that are off by 2 damage the tortle instead? Or would they have to hit to tortles AC?
This seems problematic.... :)
There's no rule providing that attacks that miss because of the bonus from cover strike and damage that cover, any more than there are rules stating that attacks that miss due to armor strike and damage that armor; attacks simply either hit their target, or they do not. It seems like a reasonable enough houserule that a DM could adopt, but as you say, it creates its own problems and headaches. Were it my table, I wouldn't strike and harm the Tortle with attacks that didn't target the Tortle, but enemies very well might choose to target the Tortle instead of the person carrying them....
...Although keep in mind that a live Tortle, an unconscious one, and a dead Tortle corpse all provide the same half cover to the person carrying it :p
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
I'm not sure if you actually meant be carried around as a shield or just provide cover for other creatures. Fighter, Barbarian, and Paladin all provide abilities that help you to "shield" others. Protection fighting style helps as does the sentinel feat. You can look through any number of "tank" posts to find tips for playing a protector. Clerics offer many support spells that can help in addition to healing spells. Inspiring Leader feat can allow you to give 6 members of your party your charisma modifier + your character level temp HP. Abjuration wizards can use their Projected Ward (Abjuration 6th level) ability to protect their allies.
It all depends on what you had in mind particularly. Something like fighter 1 (defensive fighting style or protection fighting strike, concentration saves, second wind), Paladin 6 (lay on hands, the other fighting style, aura of protection, plus your oath ability at 3, your ASI, and Extra attack and Divine Smite to help you reduce hit points of enemies), Life Cleric X (more efficient heals, spells like Sanctuary, Shield of Faith, and Warding Bond along with Blessed Healer can help you make an ally a damage sponge. You could forgo the fighter level to get the majority of the build up faster, probably starting with cleric until cleric 6, then paladin 6, then cleric the rest. Or just go straight cleric with a hill dwarf, max your wisdom and get your constitution to a safe spot while enjoying the fact that you don't really need your strength at 15 for plate since you're a dwarf. You can focus on feats, including magic initiate druid for shillelagh if you absolutely must have melee and don't want strength and your DM balks at a 1 level dip with druid for the cantrip.
I just assumed OP meant they retreat into their shell. While their friend uses them as cover. Like a shield.
not actually carrying the tortle.
Blank
Well I might have a terrible solution, friends: have a buddy that's a Rune Knight and can grow to a large size and just have them lift ya up while they're walloping people (we may have stumbled upon this in a moment of inspiration, they can also slide you into the enemy like a bowling ball, and if you're a drunken monk tortle (inadvisable, but fun for the lols) you can use tipsy sway and jump to your feet and start mercing baddies).