Talk:Ancient Guardian (5e Equipment)

RAW Problems & Other Things

When looking at the Rules as Written for how temporary hit points work, getting more temp hp while you already has some only allows you to choose between which set of temporary hit points you want to keep. As such, this item probably doesn't work as intended with you not being able to really regain temp hp.

As for other problems, the main other one would be that the item shouldn't have differing effects in or out of combat and should instead always have consistent properties(mentioning that an effect is different "in combat" has a number of issues, a few being that you may fire a weapon, take damage to the shield, or do something before you enter combat and say an item only has an effect "during combat". Would you or would you not gain the "in combat" effects? Plus, there is also no real distinction between when you are in or out of combat in 5e(there isn't a real term for "being in combat" because effects should have the same effect regardless of circumstance) and rolling initiative doesn't always mean there will be combat as it could be used in other tense situations, or in times a turn or 2 before/after actual combat, or you could still act in turn order because your party is fighting elsewhere and you are not "in combat", ect.)

Besides that, the final other issue would be that the item regaining temp hp far too quickly(the ring of regen for example regains 1d6 + 1 hit points every 10 min and that only works when you have lost hp).

A solution to the issue of temp hp not stacking is to have the shield itself have a "protection pool" of some sort that reduces the damage you take. Here is an example of how the effect could be revised work on the item:

Protection Pool. While attuned to the Ancient Guardian a bubble of protective force is continually projected around the wearer at all times. The wearer's AC becomes 10 as long as this item has points left in this protection pool. This protection pool holds up to 100 points and 1 point is regained every minute.

When this item has points left in the protection pool and you take damage, points in the pool are lost first, then temporary hit points, then hit points.

Finally, although I have mainly just outlined the item's issues so far, the majority of the item is actual is great shape. You have already completed all of the hard parts of making a sentient/cursed item already and the flavor is on point, so good job with that. Also, I want to know what you think of the proposed revision to how the item could work and also if you have any questions in general. --Blobby383b (talk) 23:54, 9 January 2020 (MST)

This item was mainly born out of my perception that temporary hit points felt and acted suspiciously like some sort of magical Star Wars shield. You are correct that the split between its functionality within and without of a mythical "combat" state poses problems due to the vagueness of that term. I threw that in mainly because I felt that the generator would be in some sense trying to exert more work to regenerate its shield more quickly while in a state of being actively attacked.

I think one way to word it better for its current incarnation would be instead of regenerating THP, it would instead Set THP to the current value + 5 or something. As is, the relatively absurd regenerative capabilities are intended to make the Guardian be able to fully regenerate in between encounters, as it becomes dead weight for a fair while if its shield is broken.

I will try out something similar to your Protection Pool idea, and then see if it improves the item after looking at it with the benefit of a fresh pair of eyes. Endermage77 (talk) 00:58, 10 January 2020 (MST)

I do feel that having the item use the shield point pool is probably better than setting temporary hit point to a certain amount as that is both finicky and would have interactions with other sources of temporary hit points which wouldn't make too much sense.

With the new changes too, the item does look a lot better, however it still has some confusing things and minor other issues. For example, the recovery of shield points during a short and long rests is, I assume, in addition to the normal recovery? But that isn't clear at a glance. Regardless though, a magic item shouldn't do things on a short or long rest as a magical item is enchanted and recovers its powers at its own rate. Instead of saying an item's property at a short or long rest for example, you would say after 1 hour or use of a property is recovered after dawn. You can find more info covering this topic and a bunch of other stuff on the Charges and Regaining Powers section of the Equipment Design (5e Guideline).

Besides that, the last thing is that the shield point regain might still a bit too high and 2 points per minutes could be more reasonable. I am not sure though without trying out the item. Either way, rolling for regain is fun, but really slow and probably not needed.--Blobby383b (talk) 10:41, 10 January 2020 (MST)

The default regeneration for the item is 3. The dice rolls are included within parentheses rather than the other way around, so as to offer a player the option to attempt to roll for a better regeneration than average. This part is not essential to the item though, so I think I will remove it.

As for the dependencies upon the wearer completing rests, this is intended to represent some level of symbiosis between item and player. However, if it is a problem, I can replace it with something to the effect of the item gaining these periodic regenerations if it spends that time while having taken no damage. Endermage77 (talk) 11:19, 10 January 2020 (MST)

I do get the idea of having some sort of symbiosis between a pc and a potential item they have attuned to. Especially in the case of sentient items. In almost every case though, a magic items power is entirely independent from the user as the item itself should have no real connection to the user. I believe the only thing that partially except to this rule is the artificer because they both create their own magic items and these magic items are tied to their powers and if they die their items would stop working. With that said, even their items recover charges at dawn instead of on the artificers short/long rest and the only rule for magic items that is broken is that a few items get better as they level up.--Blobby383b (talk) 11:50, 10 January 2020 (MST)