Shield of missile attraction question.

[Aussiehams]

G'day all.

If I had a shield of missile attraction and was taking the dodge action, and an enemy made a ranged weapon attack at the PC next to me, would they attack with disadvantage?

[NNescio]

G'day all.

If I had a shield of missile attraction and was taking the dodge action, and an enemy made a ranged weapon attack at the PC next to me, would they attack with disadvantage?

Yes, provided you can see the attacker (and if you aren't incapacitated or have your speed dropped to 0). And that you have attuned to the shield, causing it to curse you.

The curse on the shield causes ranged weapon attacks (made against targets within 10 ft of you) to retarget you. The attack roll is therefore made against you, and disadvantage applies as per Dodge.

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Also — in case you want to attune to other items — there's a cheesy trick you can use to break attunement to the shield without losing the curse. Just stay at least 100 ft away from the shield for 24 hours (or have someone else attune to the shield, or die and be raised [just not with True Rez]).

It's a RAW oversight though, and very much against the spirit of the curse (more so since you're using it to your advantage), so some DMs might not allow it.

[sithlordnergal]

They would, but if you really wanna have fun, you should make a Fighter/Monk, and give them the Shield of Missile Attraction. The only thing Monks lose by raw when they wear armor is their Unarmored Defense, Martial Arts, and Unarmored Movement. You still get things like Ki, Flurry of Blows, Stunning Strike, and your subclass abilities. The biggest thing you lose out on is the unarmed strike damage, but in exchange you can not only force enemies to target you while you're dodging with the shield, but you can deflect the attack if they somehow hit. You don't need a free hand to deflect it, you only need the free hand to catch it.

[NNescio]

They would, but if you really wanna have fun, you should make a Fighter/Monk, and give them the Shield of Missile Attraction. The only thing Monks lose by raw when they wear armor is their Unarmored Defense, Martial Arts, and Unarmored Movement. You still get things like Ki, Flurry of Blows, Stunning Strike, and your subclass abilities. The biggest thing you lose out on is the unarmed strike damage, but in exchange you can not only force enemies to target you while you're dodging with the shield, but you can deflect the attack if they somehow hit. You don't need a free hand to deflect it, you only need the free hand to catch it.

You don't need to wield the shield to 'benefit' from the curse. Heck, you don't even need it on your person (after you have been cursed).

If you want to benefit from resistance from ranged weapon attacks, you can just hold the shield without wielding/wearing it. Like, upside-down or sideways or whatever, and maybe 'pinching' it by the edge for good measure (to make it unambiguously clear that you aren't wielding it). You only need to hold the shield to benefit from the resistance part.

A single-classed Monk can do any of the above without losing access to any class features.

[sithlordnergal]

You don't need to wield the shield to 'benefit' from the curse. Heck, you don't even need it on your person (after you have been cursed).

If you want to benefit from resistance from ranged weapon attacks, you can just hold the shield without wielding/wearing it. Like, upside-down or sideways or whatever, and maybe 'pinching' it by the edge for good measure (to make it unambiguously clear that you aren't wielding it). You only need to hold the shield to benefit from the resistance part.

A single-classed Monk can do any of the above without losing access to any class features.

...you're absolutely right