aripockily

[Chance] Shield - Shield of Fortune

Added 2023-04-24 14:02:01 +0000 UTC

Followers of a deity of luck imbue their implements with concentrated fortune, forcing increasingly favorable outcomes by allowing for increasingly dangerous risk, mitigated only by a nudge of fate.

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Shield of Fortune
Shield, rare (requires attunement)

While you wield this shield, when you or an ally within 5 feet of you is hit by a weapon attack, you can use your reaction to attempt to block the attack. The attacked creature rolls a d8 and adds it to its AC, potentially turning the hit into a miss. However, if the attack still hits, the attack becomes a critical hit. A creature reduced to 0 hit points this way immediately fails one death saving throw.

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DESIGN COMMENTARY

"Spin! That! Wheel!!!"

Wheel-spinning chance games are so popular, and their bulky form can only really translate to a buckler shield. This shield is in some ways a counterpart to the Two-Hand Buster, except for the defending creature. What fun!

As for the balance, this can be compared to other +1/2/3 shields, which are already considered powerful for what they can do. At minimum, this shield is a reaction-based +1 shield (since your minimum d8 roll is 1), and a +1 shield is considered uncommon. Players will likely prefer to chance a roll for +2 to +3, since the chances of failure is only 37.5%, rendering it comparable to other +2 shields. To offset this potential failure, the wielder gains an alternative benefit to block hits for allies.

If you consider this shield a +4.5 shield because that's the average roll of d8, you must also remember that the fail condition is double damage taken. For each hit you successfully block, you'd take a nearly equal amount of double damage hits.