FartHeartMaGart
2016-03-17, 04:14 AM
To preface this, we are playing a dark souls inspired campaign and I want to do some spiked armor/shield damage build.
Next, there are a few fairly reasonable homebrew rules to make this a bit more workable and flavorful. Why play this when a naked greatsword guy will do better by half, right?
- spiked shield bashes deal 3 piercing damage, similar to armors to-be features
- having spiked gauntlets makes the tavern brawler feat deal 1d6 damage instead of 1d4 with punches (give that dagger a run for its money)
- this one is less necesary, but better armor class from the spiked armor. Seriously, throw us a bone, you could be a dual welder and get better damage out of your bonus action than the armor, and you'd have higher AC, so turn that spiked armor "made out of hide with metal spikes" into a usable half plate with RIGID, SENSIBLE spines, instead of flacid, bendy ones that won't stay still because they're anchored in flexible hide armor according to the SCAG.
SO, if even a few of those are accepted you're already able to do some pretty cool stuff. No matter what you do, you're doing wee bits of damage and it adds up quick. You can push or prone people. You have decent AC, and youll get a nice amount of temporary health from wildly flailing around with your spiked fist. Add a few feats like shield master, grappler, tavern brawler, and youve got yourself an interesting character
But wait, why would I pick a duergar????? Two reasons
-the sunlight sensitivity can be somewhat mitigated by your reckless attack feature which gives you nice temporary hp, so you aren't RUINED in direct sunlight, and just try and get sunglasses or something anyway
- Enlarge Self and the grappler feat allows you to grapple things like dragons and some giants, and deal an extra d4 damage on each attack. As far as total damage a round, I roughly calculated it and it's not too much lower than a great weapon master greatsword routine from a bear totem, and you're almost as tank with more options
Have fun, grapple people you just proned, and enjoy the cool points of pushing thumbs into eye sockets and headlocking dragons.
Next, there are a few fairly reasonable homebrew rules to make this a bit more workable and flavorful. Why play this when a naked greatsword guy will do better by half, right?
- spiked shield bashes deal 3 piercing damage, similar to armors to-be features
- having spiked gauntlets makes the tavern brawler feat deal 1d6 damage instead of 1d4 with punches (give that dagger a run for its money)
- this one is less necesary, but better armor class from the spiked armor. Seriously, throw us a bone, you could be a dual welder and get better damage out of your bonus action than the armor, and you'd have higher AC, so turn that spiked armor "made out of hide with metal spikes" into a usable half plate with RIGID, SENSIBLE spines, instead of flacid, bendy ones that won't stay still because they're anchored in flexible hide armor according to the SCAG.
SO, if even a few of those are accepted you're already able to do some pretty cool stuff. No matter what you do, you're doing wee bits of damage and it adds up quick. You can push or prone people. You have decent AC, and youll get a nice amount of temporary health from wildly flailing around with your spiked fist. Add a few feats like shield master, grappler, tavern brawler, and youve got yourself an interesting character
But wait, why would I pick a duergar????? Two reasons
-the sunlight sensitivity can be somewhat mitigated by your reckless attack feature which gives you nice temporary hp, so you aren't RUINED in direct sunlight, and just try and get sunglasses or something anyway
- Enlarge Self and the grappler feat allows you to grapple things like dragons and some giants, and deal an extra d4 damage on each attack. As far as total damage a round, I roughly calculated it and it's not too much lower than a great weapon master greatsword routine from a bear totem, and you're almost as tank with more options
Have fun, grapple people you just proned, and enjoy the cool points of pushing thumbs into eye sockets and headlocking dragons.