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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Dwarf in the Playground
    Join Date
    Feb 2016

    Default Blade Ward Homebrew

    Blade Ward
    Abjuration cantrip
    Casting Time: 1 action
    Range: touch
    Components: V, S
    Duration: 1 round
    You extend your hand and trace a sigil of warding in the air. Until the end of your next turn, the target creature has resistance against bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage dealt by weapon attacks. Any creature who hits the warded creature with a melee weapon attack takes damage of the type dealt by their attack equal to your character level.


    Just making it a touch cantrip adds a lot more use cases, and although the original version technically scales with damage dealt by enemies, I figured adding minor scaling retributive damage makes it a cooler use of your action. The retributive damage is balanced by only working vs melee attacks.

    Is it now worth taking? Abusable?
    Last edited by Sillybird99; 2021-10-08 at 08:01 PM.

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    RogueGuy

    Join Date
    Apr 2014

    Default Re: Blade Ward Homebrew

    This stacks with Armor of Agathys really well. I'd find it well worth taking as a warlock now.

    I'm not sure if it tips over into the point of being abusable. My gut feeling says no, but I think I'd have to see it in action to say for sure.

    Being able to cast it on allies opens up some fun possibilities, too, especially if you've got ways to encourage foes to target those allies with their attacks.

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Yakk's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2006

    Default Re: Blade Ward Homebrew

    You have to think what you want to do with this spell.

    Invent a way for someone to want to do this instead of Flame Bolt or Greenflame Blade in combat.

    Also, try to abuse it. Like, abjuration wizard with armor or agys. How strong does it get?

    The fact it works on someone else is also pretty big.

  4. - Top - End - #4
    Dwarf in the Playground
     
    SamuraiGuy

    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Location
    hamilton
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Blade Ward Homebrew

    Quote Originally Posted by Sillybird99 View Post
    Blade Ward
    Abjuration cantrip
    Casting Time: 1 action
    Range: touch
    Components: V, S
    Duration: 1 round
    You extend your hand and trace a sigil of warding in the air. Until the end of your next turn, the target creature has resistance against bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage dealt by weapon attacks. Any creature who hits the warded creature with a melee weapon attack takes damage of the type dealt by their attack equal to your character level.


    Just making it a touch cantrip adds a lot more use cases, and although the original version technically scales with damage dealt by enemies, I figured adding minor scaling retributive damage makes it a cooler use of your action. The retributive damage is balanced by only working vs melee attacks.

    Is it now worth taking? Abusable?

    IMO, the best way to buff blade ward is making it a bonus action, still lasting a round, but not costing concentration, and then making it a first level spell, though even this seems underpowered idk.

  5. - Top - End - #5
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    HalflingPirate

    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Back home
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Blade Ward Homebrew

    Being able to use it on allies is huge, that'd be more than enough for me. Personally I'd take out the retributive damage, but if you really want to keep it it should definitely be 1/turn only. No armies of goblins slaughtered to a man by attacking a level 9 bard with a cantrip on him.
    Quote Originally Posted by No brains View Post
    See, I remember the days of roleplaying before organisms could even see, let alone use see as a metaphor for comprehension. We could barely comprehend that we could comprehend things. Imagining we were something else was a huge leap forward and really passed the time in between absorbing nutrients.

    Biggest play I ever made: "I want to eat something over there." Anticipated the trope of "being able to move" that you see in all stories these days.

  6. - Top - End - #6
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Yakk's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2006

    Default Re: Blade Ward Homebrew

    Blade Ward
    Abjuration cantrip
    Casting Time: 1 action
    Range: self
    Components: V, S
    Duration: 1 minute (concentration)
    You extend your hand and trace a sigil of warding in the air. It hovers near you and glows until the spell ends. Select a kind of damage (bludgeoning, piercing or slashing). Whenever you take damage of that type, you can expend your reaction to end this spell and gain resistance against the damage done.

    Blade Ward
    Abjuration cantrip
    Casting Time: 1 reaction
    Range: self
    Trigger: You take bludgeoning, piercing or slashing damage
    Components: V, S
    Duration: 1 round (concentration)
    You extend your hand and trace a sigil of warding in the air. You gain resistance to the damage type of the triggering damage until the end of your next turn. On your next turn, you cannot take your action.

    ---

    These both "side-load" the action cost, and restrict it to one type of damage (picked when you cast it).

    The first is one hit only, but you can pre-buff. The second lasts for a turn, but costs you your next turn's action. Both require concentration.

    ---

    Blade Ward
    Abjuration cantrip
    Casting Time: 1 action
    Range: self
    Components: V, S
    Duration: 1 round (concentration)
    You extend your hand and trace a sigil of warding in the air. Until the spell ends, attacks made against you with weapons are at disadvantage, and you have resistance to bludgeoning, slashing and piercing damage.

    ---

    This one is a "super dodge action". Making it require concentration is aimed at avoiding the tactic of putting up a high damage concentration spell, then spanning a super dodge.

  7. - Top - End - #7
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Daemon

    Join Date
    Oct 2017

    Default Re: Blade Ward Homebrew

    I've always ignored the part about the damage having to come from weapon attacks and found it very useful left otherwise as is. No way out but the 3rd story window? Blade Ward and jump.

    BW and Armor of Agathys have been a favorite since launch.

    With the new Bladesinger, BW, Bladesong, and Haste are probably on par with Rage.

  8. - Top - End - #8
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Kane0's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Waterdeep
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Blade Ward Homebrew

    Huh. I just modelled Blade Ward, Resistance and True Strike off of Guidance. Action to touch someone, for the next minute (using concentration) they have a d4 they can spend to reduce damage taken/add to attack roll/ saving throw which ends the spell. Blade Ward and True Strike scale to d6 at level 5, d8 at 11 and d10 at 17.
    Roll for it
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  9. - Top - End - #9
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Yakk's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2006

    Default Re: Blade Ward Homebrew

    d20 rolls and damage rolls don't scale the same.

  10. - Top - End - #10
    Colossus in the Playground
     
    JNAProductions's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    Avatar By Astral Seal!

    Default Re: Blade Ward Homebrew

    Quote Originally Posted by Yakk View Post
    d20 rolls and damage rolls don't scale the same.
    True... But adding +1d10 to a single attack roll by spending an action isn't likely to break anything.
    I have a LOT of Homebrew!

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