Hi guys
I have a player (Hunter lvl-3/ sorcerer lvl-1)that has an studded leather+1 and Dexterity 18 that gives him 18AC he uses shield medium so then he can have 20AC, and now he is using Barkskin, so he is having 22AC at this moment, but he is using shield spell for sorcerer to have a 26AC what makes me almost impossible from my creatures to hit him, is this stack possible? How really works barskin+shield and how can make the other player feel like he is a super player almost impossible to kill?
Thank you for all the help you can give me.
Bark skin and shield stack.
Your shield does NOT stack with the spell shield. Both are shield bonuses.
It will say what kind of bonus it is. Pay close attention to these bonuses. Dodge stacks with itself. Nothing else does. So you can't have 2 kinds of shields stack.
Looks like the character should have AC 24 with the Shield spell.
PCScipio wrote: Looks like the character should have AC 24 with the Shield spell. Still 24 for a level 4th Character is a lot of AC? the mages doesn´t have more than 16AC or 17AC, even the fighter has 21AC tops. How can I balance the party?
Wulcrath wrote: PCScipio wrote: Looks like the character should have AC 24 with the Shield spell. Still 24 for a level 4th Character is a lot of AC? the mages doesn´t have more than 16AC or 17AC, even the fighter has 21AC tops. How can I balance the party?
Don't worry about it.
1) As they continue to level, the AC won't matter as much against creatures that are meant to be melee bruisers. Attack bonuses will outscale armor bonuses.
2) Play creatures according to their intelligence. Smart enemies should target softer enemiest first. Smart enemy spell casters will take them down with touch spells, or spells that ignore AC altogether.
|
1 person marked this as a favorite.
|
It is a lot of AC.
But the shield he is wearing to gain +2 is a heavy shield. (No such thing as medium. Buckler, light, heavy, tower.)
You cant use that hand for anything other than to hold the shield. So if he has his weapon out he can not cast anything as both hands are full.
Additionally, he can not cast barkskin. That's a level 2 spell and of he is level 3 hunter he can not cast until level 4.
Additionally, a sorcerer casts advance spells. Shields and armour give a chance to fail arcane spells. Heavy shield and studded leather is 15% and 15%. These stack. So 30% chance for the spell to fail.
Even without the shield, casting a spell will fail on a 1 2 or 3 on a d20 roll every spell cast with somatic components.
Basically, your player has a lot of AC, but between casting when he shouldn't, casting spells he cant even cast, stacking things that do not stack and not rolling to see if his sorcerer spells fail...
If you want balance make him play by the proper rules.
Hunters get access to barkskin at 4th level, so not sure why that’s already in play. There aren’t ‘medium shields’; +2 from shield means heavy? Heavy shield + studded leather gives a 30% Arcane spell failure chance. Shield spell is generally not that practical because it only lasts a minute, so unless you are ambushing someone you need to spend a turn in combat casting it. Also, good chance he’s pushing Medium Load (heavy shield + studded leather = 30 pounds, at str 10 medium load is 34 pounds and he’s probably carrying a weapon), which wouuld limit dex bonus to +3. As above, shield spell and shield equipment dont stack, but barkskin would stack with all the other things mentioned if he can get it. Overall he seems like he’s building for AC, and that isnt out of line. I would imagine such a character struggling to deal damage (+2 BAB at level 4 etc).
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber
Shield spell (+4) + mage armor (+4) + dex (+4) -> AC 22. Here the difference is barkskin which the mage could also make use of as it is a natural ac bonus for another +2 so 24 with that as well.
Of course, the shield spell is min/level, mage armor hour/level, and barkskin 10 min/level. So it's not potential as good as the fighter's permanent 21 ac.
Lelomenia wrote: Hunters get access to barkskin at 4th level, so not sure why that’s already in play. There aren’t ‘medium shields’; +2 from shield means heavy? Heavy shield + studded leather gives a 30% Arcane spell failure chance. Shield spell is generally not that practical because it only lasts a minute, so unless you are ambushing someone you need to spend a turn in combat casting it. Also, good chance he’s pushing Medium Load (heavy shield + studded leather = 30 pounds, at str 10 medium load is 34 pounds and he’s probably carrying a weapon), which wouuld limit dex bonus to +3. As above, shield spell and shield equipment dont stack, but barkskin would stack with all the other things mentioned if he can get it. Overall he seems like he’s building for AC, and that isnt out of line. I would imagine such a character struggling to deal damage (+2 BAB at level 4 etc). Sorry he is 4 level Hunter+ 1 level sorcerer
Agodeshalf wrote: Shield spell (+4) + mage armor (+4) + dex (+4) -> AC 22. Here the difference is barkskin which the mage could also make use of as it is a natural ac bonus for another +2 so 24 with that as well.
Of course, the shield spell is min/level, mage armor hour/level, and barkskin 10 min/level. So it's not potential as good as the fighter's permanent 21 ac.
Sorry he is 4 level Hunter+ 1 level sorcerer
Doesnt change the fact he cant cast the spell with a weapon and shield drawn and must roll or fail the shield spell 30% of the time. And that it doesnt stack with shield (take the better). But at least the level problem is solved.
Wielding a light shield would you to hold your weapon in the shield hand while casting with the other. A heavy shield does ot.
The main reason for a shield is to have a second source of enhanceable AC.
/cevah
You can always modify encounters as well, based on what the encounter needs to be to give your party an appropriately challenging fight (based on how challenging you want the fight to be). If your creatures are primarily melee-based, consider adding an additional creature to future fights, increasing the chance that a hit gets through. Consider effects that can make player characters flatfooted, so that he loses his dex bonus to AC.
Consider adding ranged creatures. If a ranged creature knows there's a caster around, it's not unreasonable that they would ready an action to interrupt their casting, if he's trying to cast shield and barkskin during combat.
If these players are 5th level already, they should be encountering their fair share of casters or other creatures that make armor bonuses pretty irrelevant.
Not to mention that at Hunter 4/Sorc 1, the character only has +3 BAB and has severely limited himself to dealing damage at later levels... If he wants to tank and never hit, let him. If you really want to be able to effect him in melee, use combat maneuvers... Depending on his strength, it looks like his CMD is currently:
10+3Bab+4Dex = 17. So his CMD should be 17+STR, since he's not getting any size, dodge, deflection, or divine/profane bonuses to AC that would apply to his CMD. Sunder his shield. Disarm him. Trip him (-4 to AC). Dirty trick him. There's plenty of effective things to do in melee besides damage.
Recent threads in Rules Questions
|
