Creating an item

[JoeBuk724]

I wanted to create an item for my players and just wanted some feed back on it. It’s a reflect shield. The way i have it atm is if a attack spell misses the wielder due to a higher AC then it reflects the spell back at its caster at half dmg.
I’d have the wielder make a ranged attack against the caster to see if it hits but im not entirely sure if it should be a regular dex based attack or if i should use their spell casting ability. I plan on letting them choose which one of them actually gets to use it. They’re all Lv 4 atm.

[Willie the Duck]

It's an odd mechanic (mixing hit rolls for the initial attack with half-damage effects for the rebuff), but I don't see any specific problem that it causes. Just to clarify, 'if a attack spell misses the wielder due to a higher AC' means if the shield AC (2, unless it also has a +) makes the difference? So 2 rolls on the d20 will cause a back-reflection for half damage, right? That's a little fiddly, but certain keeps the power level down near what I imagine one would want for 4th level characters.

[Waterdeep Merch]

Maybe alter the Tarrasque's Reflective Carapace?

Take away the 1-5 immunity, let them roll a d6 when they're the target of a line spell, spell attack roll, or magic missile. If they get a 6, the caster becomes the target as though they rolled against themselves.

It's good, even great. But this way it's deliberately built so that you can't really stack AC to take better advantage of it to make spells either trivial or close to it.

Assuming this is for a lower level character, you can upgrade it later to improve the odds of it activating: a 5 or 6 as a Tier 3 item, and a full 4-6 for a Tier 4 legendary shield.

EDIT: The reason I'd dis-attach this effect from AC is because what it's going to do to both the player and you in the long run. A smart player would see this and try to get the highest AC they possibly can to make good use of it to ignore all such spells. As a DM, you'll see this and, consciously or not, stop targeting the wielder with spells like that in the first place because it's become a 'waste of time'. And if you don't, you ultimately trivialize such encounters because the enemies wind up killing themselves.

It's preferable to make such a powerful effect impossible to modify to such a level, since it prevents this cycle from starting in the first place.

[Quoz]

I would have it trigger only if the spell misses by the margin of the shield's AC bonus. So on an AC of 20 with 2 of that from the shield, it would trigger on 18 or 19 AC. (Yes, they can manipulate that a little with reactions like Shield or other AC boosts. If they do, good for them.)

This will keep the effect going about 1 time in 10, which feels about right. If I'm reading this correctly it also only applies to attack roll spells not saving throws, so it is powerful but not game breaking.

Given that there is already a low chance of going off, and it takes a reaction, I would be generous with the stat used for the attack roll. Let them use their own casting stat or dex, whichever is better.

[JoeBuk724]

Thank you all for the feedback and ideas! I like the idea of modifying the Tarrasque's reflective carapace. So taking some of your ideas this is how i currently have it.

If the user fully blocks an attack spell (saving for half dmg spells don't count) they can use their reaction to roll a d6, 1-5 nothing happens, on a 6 the shield will absorb some of the dmg and channel it back at the original caster. The user makes a ranged attack against the original caster (using their casting or dex modifier). On a hit the user rolls for dmg (instead of it being half the spells dmg). The damage type will be the same as the spell being absorbed/channeled. Does 1d6+2 for dmg sound reasonable?

[Imbalance]

Check out how the spectator does it:

https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/45673/do-targets-of-spell-reflection-get-a-saving-throw

[Bjarkmundur]

Shield of Deflection
This magical shield has 1d4+1 charges which it regains at dawn.
When wielding this shield it protects you from harmful blasts and projectiles.
If you are subjected to a ranged attack, or an effect that allows you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you can use your reaction to deflect the incoming attack or effect. Choose one creature within 15 feet of you and resolve the attack as if the creature was the intended target of the attack.

I tried phrasing it so that if the effect was DEX-save based you'd take half damage and the new target would take half damage on a failed safe and no damage on a successful save. It just played better in my head that way, but was hard to put in writing.

Nice, easy and simple. Tweak to suit.

[Contrast]

I would probably have taken inspiration from the parry ability a number of NPCs have:

When targeted by a spell attack the PC can use their reaction to raise their AC by 2. If this causes the attack to miss...etc.

I'm not really a fan of the spell reflection bit because it seems a little fiddly to me but that's up to you. Personally I'd prefer deflecting spells to charge up some other feature.

You're gonna have to decide how this works for things like Bigbys Hand or Spiritual Weapon.

[JoeBuk724]

Thanks for the ideas! I really like idea of an item that allows you to remove yourself as the target of a spell and swap with someone else.

My original inspiration for the shield was a shield that batted the spell back at the caster, kinda like in Zleda OoT when Gannondorf and Link bat that energy ball back and forth. Thanks to you guys I've changed it up quite a bit. Now i picture a spell hitting the shield and spreading across it, as it reaches the edges of the shield it begins getting channeled back toward the center, gathering there and then fires back at the caster.

I have decided to give it charges and simple it up a bit. If a projectile style attack spell is fully blocked by the wielder they may use their reaction to channel part of the spell back at the original caster 1d6+2 dmg (dmg type is the same as the spell being absorbed/channeled).

My next game is tomorrow, thanks to all your help and feedback I feel like it's ready for play. Thanks everyone!