Deflect Missiles for a Friend?

[GriffinRider]

So, just tossing this out there to see if anyone has toyed with the idea...could a monk deflect (catch, or throw back) a missile aimed at some one else? Like, I don't know, if the monk won initiative, and the other person was an ally, standing within 5 feet...? Just wondering if other players have tried this, and whether it worked, and how the argument with the DM went. Haven't tried to get away with it yet but it struck me as curious that if a being could perceive a projectile coming at him or herself and had the reflexes and skill to make a grab at it, why couldn't the same abilities be brought to bear on a missile aimed at some one close by? I'm not trying to subtly expand on the monk's abilities...well, maybe a little. I thought it could make for a dramatic in-game moment if an ally was in trouble and had an arrow incoming that could finish him or her off. Thoughts?

[stoutstien]

Work well with nets

[Man_Over_Game]

Could be done in the right circumstances, even using semi-official rules.

Few things of note:

Creatures, including allies, count as 1/2 cover from all sides. This means that someone trying to shoot past your Monk has a -2 penalty to hit.

There are variant rules that state that an attack that misses due to cover can instead hit that cover (as long as the attack roll hits the new target's AC). So, for example, boss goes to shoot the Paladin (20 AC) with an attack roll of 21. Normally he'd hit, but he actually misses due to the Monk acting as cover (-2 to hit). Because the Monk was acting as cover, the attack is now rolled against the Monk, who is hit (having only a 16 AC).

What you COULD do is grant a feat that states that you count as 3/4 cover for attacks meant for allies, and you provide 1/2 cover for allies within 5 feet of you. Call it Guardian, or some sh**. With Deflect Missiles, this means that you could add AC to attacks against your allies, and then take those attacks in their stead (then using Deflect Missiles to mitigate the damage).

[JackPhoenix]

Could be done by RAW, though it's not without price.

There's a cursed magic item, Shield of Missile Attraction. The curse is as follow: "This shield is cursed. Attuning to it curses you until you are targeted by the Remove Curse spell or similar magic. Removing the shield fails to end the curse on you. Whenever a ranged weapon attack is made against a target within 10 feet of you, the curse causes you to become the target instead."

You don't need to wield the shield to suffer the curse, you only have to attune to it. And you don't need to be proficient with it to be attuned, so if the monk finds the shield, attune to it, and throws it away to prevent it from interfering with monk abilities, the curse will stick to him. You can't turn the effect of without breaking the curse, but you can even end the attunement to the shield, and the curse will still affect you.

[nickl_2000]

This is an extremely weak argument, but it's worth a shot.

1) Unarmored Defense says you can't be wielding a shield
2) Shield of Missile Attraction requires attunement and you be holding the shield
3) Monk can attune to the shield of missile attraction and hold it without wielding it.
4) Get resistance on damage from ranged attacks and all ranged attacks within 10 feet of you attack you instead.
5) Profit!


(or like JackPheonix said above, get it then toss it and remain cursed)

Now, if someone tried this at a table I was DMing, I would likely throw dice at them and tell them no, but hey maybe you will get lucky.

[Damon_Tor]

A major drawback of the cursed shield: it applies to all ranged attacks against any creatures within 10 feet of you. So if youre mixing it up in melee then your own allies' ranged attacks will retarget you.

Not a problem with every teamcomp, but something to keep in mind.

[Slayn82]

You are making this sound like an overpowered item capable of shutting down a lot of warlock EB build. Since they don't usually have item attack bonuses. Then you just armor up and have your allies use save or damage cantrips. You may even combine it with invisibility and cover for extra tanking capability.

[JackPhoenix]

You are making this sound like an overpowered item capable of shutting down a lot of warlock EB build. Since they don't usually have item attack bonuses. Then you just armor up and have your allies use save or damage cantrips. You may even combine it with invisibility and cover for extra tanking capability.

It does nothing to warlocks. EB is a spell.