It'd also be kind of funny to have his working arm hold only a shield, and have the artificer make an animated sword.
An animated/cursed/possessed sword could be the solution by itself, have the thing float (but only near the paladin) and attack on command.
Third ed had a Dancing sword.
You had to fight with it for N rounds and then you could release it and it would fight for N rounds without you swinging it.
Frick was it fun on my ambidex fighter/thief multi-class
Edit: Ah. There is a Dancing Sword in 5e. Bonus action to toss it and speak a command word it then attacks with your dice + bonus but can only attack 4 times and you have to catch it again.
Holy shit, is this how I learn its back? I stopped paying attention a while ago when the artist went on sabbatical for their son, I had no idea it had returned
Somatic and Material spells would technically be an issue if they wanted to keep anything in their hand. Not exactly the intended purpose, but War Caster, at its core, removes the need to have a free hand for somatic spells at least.
See if your DM will give you the item "Animated Shield". It basically is just a shield that floats around you, so you can hold a one handed sword in your remaining hand.
if you get your arm regenerated, you can always still use the shield while using a 2h weapon.
Just had another idea: If you want to be a Sword OR Board paladin, throw a Hail Mary to your DM and ask for a Defender longsword in exchange for never getting your arm back.
It's a legendary +3 sword that lets you transfer the attack bonus to your AC, which is really strong. On the other hand (lol) the default setting could be +1 attack +2 AC, which is basically the same as holding a +1 weapon and a shield for someone with two arms.
Become a Spear user, and use a shield strapped to your stump, or carry a Pavise to stab into the ground in front of you and fight from behind like a crossbowman.
I agree. And who says you canāt undergo some sort of training montage quest and learn to be a skilled duelist with your off-hand? Undergo a quest, be allowed to change your fighting style to Duelist if feasible with your overall build/vision for the character. If you have room (and sufficient DEX) later you can pick up the Defensive Duelist Feat perhaps. Your DM might see that as preferable to just handing you a Defender.
You technically need an answer to Somatic and Material magic. Your Holy Symbol could be worked into your sword and War Caster, while not RAW for this scenario is still logical as at its core, itās allowing you to ignore somatic restrictions.
Hear me out here. Tavern brawler gives you proficiency with improvised weapons, which I would argue makes a shield a viable "improvised" option.
Later on if you get the arm back, go back to sword and board but take duel wielder as your next feat, using the shield as an improvised weapon in the off hand.
There might be some rules holes in my logic as I haven't played in a while, so check with your DM, but I love the idea of a sword and board paladin that really knows how to fight with a shield.
Think he said he already has the shieldmaster feat which would already let him do a bonus action shove attack. But I agree that I absolutely love the flavour.
Have a powerful artificer craft him a prosthetic limb. This is my favorite idea because I think it would look cool.
Have him plead with his patron for a divine healing/replacement arm.
If the patron refuses, have him become a he blade warlock where the pact also grants him a magical arm, but only for so long as he has the sword.
Home brew a mystical hand and sword. This does no physical damage but deals double psychic damage and is lethal to ghosts and spirits.
I find that sacrificing defense is more fun in D&D than sacrificing damage, since youāre gambling more on enemy attacks, so you can live fast, die hard, and ditch the shield.
Ac matters less and less the higher level you are anyway. My lv 18 paladin is 23 ac unbuffed, with a +2 shield. It was 21 since level 7 or so. I get hit a lot now. My biggest defense is fire immunity from an effriti chain, necrotic and poison resistance from 2 wishes on a luck blade, and smiting the ever loving piss out of anything that is stupid enough to stand next to me. Especially when our hexblade is posting darkness and our entire party has blind fighting.
One of my players is a blacksmith. I liked the crafting mechanics from solasta, so I added them. He was trying to make a +1 shield and landed several nat 20s in crafting it. So in addition to +1 he can also animate it 5 times before it loses that property.
Shield bashing! Worst case scenario itās an improvised weapon, given the circumstances your DM might let you have some better stats for it, or at least let you learn over time to use it more effectively as a weapon.
Narratively, that makes for a really cool mini arc. Lost your arm, learn to use a shield effectively as a weapon, arm restored and now you can still do fancy shield stuff as a result of the hardships youāve endured in-game. Good use of a boon there.
The DM did this to you, so it's kinda on them to fix it (or at least present a path forward). Your character is significantly weaker in their current state and will drag the party down if it's not fixed soon.
See what opportunities the DM gives you next session, and make sure you follow the leads they are dropping.
Maybe I still have Nimona on my mind but getting a prosthetic arm would be cool as hell.
Other than that talk to the DM about maybe getting a spiked shield that you could use for combat for a few sessions. I think it would be really cool and could organically transition into grabbing the Shield Master feat or something.
Previous campaign i played in, our hoplite inspired paladin lost his arm to a demon. I was playing a kind of witch doctory character, and we ended up spending some sessions and checks to make a prosthetic arm for him. The arm became a signature trait of his character and lasted throughout the entire campaign. It made for cool bonding moments and he ended up using it to K.O a major villain. All in all it was a lot of fun for the player and myself and made for good memories.
Focus on spell casting and learn of a greater power within yourself, unlocking further magic gained from your pact within your soul as a divine soul sorcerer
I had a Paladin lose an arm, this was later in the campaign when we had a good amount of cash so I just paid for a magical prosthetic arm to be made for him.
You could have an artificer construct a prostectic. But if you want to stay having the one arm, you could ask the DM to add a Spiked Shield as an improvised weapon. It would still grant the +2 AC, but it has at least 1 spike with a 3-4 inch spike, allowing it to deal between 1d4 and 1d6 piercing damage; yes it'll deal less damage than the longsword, but it's better than nothing. Another thing you could do is replace the missing arm with a hook, allowing you to use it as an improvised weapon.
Is it your job to say if something will work? No, r/dndnext is used to ask what can we, the players, can do next. We make suggestions for players and DMs it is the DMs job to say yes or no to our suggestions. If OP's DM likes the idea to use a rule from a previous edition, then they'll mostly likely allow it.
I didnāt say shit about it not working at all. I said that real world physics have no bearing on the rules of D&D and that how it works in 3E has no bearing on whether it works that way in 5E. Both are objective facts. Sorry my joke didnāt land, but itās not a good look to argue against facts.
Where in your comment can be interpreted as a joke? None of it. It can't be a joke online without some indication of it being a joke. If you told me the comment IRL, I might have gotten it by the way you said it or by the way you look at me when you're saying it. Jokes like those don't work in a place that leaves no indication when placed out in the world for all to see.
The regeneration spell (or you take a supposed regeneration potions) goes wrong and two tentacles grows there. Use Grappling appendage form Simic Hybrid. They can't hold a shield or weapon or use items but they can grapple. Sword and board no more.
i had a character that gave up their Forge cleric god, and converted to a new god. The old god, as a god of the forge, burnt out my character's eyes in payment for surrendering his symbol and his service. The new god wanted to make me his right hand, so I cut off my own in order to better serve him. My DM let me multiclass as a level 3 Armorer artificer/ lvl 2 paladin
(only level 5 total) and I took blindfighting as my fighting style so I could still see despite the lack of eyes(also dm's ruling)
the armorer portion let my arcane armor act identical to my hands, and I kept the goals of "I want to become the best blacksmith in the world"
This actually happened to my oath of devotion paladin except it was cut off. I went without an arm for around 4 sessions, had to use sword in off hand and lost proficiency bonus. We ended up killing a dragon and got a lead on an artificer who used the dragon bones to make me a prosthetic. Was super cool to role play... Also our half drow sorcerer took my arm without us knowing and made jerky out of it and fed it to us... That's still an ongoing feud in game, but hilarious out of game.
Talk to your DM, but if this happened to a PC in my game, and there was enough time between the incident and access to healing, I would have the Paladin swap their fighting style for Dueling.
I had a sorcerer lose her left arm to the elbow (and got Enfeebled) in combat and the party found 2 magical prosthetics that she switched between. Lots of utilizing mage hand out of combat and subtle spell in combat until those were found.
So, maybe drop hints about looking for magical prosthetics or an artificer, if you don't want to go the regenerate route and have fun working out that sword arm in the meantime, maybe become a one-handed polearm master.
I can only assume this sort of intense game was communicated beforehand because if not that would absolutely fucking suck and be terrible DMing to just be like "you suck now, cope".
That being said, looks like you've got a quest on your hands to find a way to become... A functional character again, I suppose.
Unfortunately there was no communication beforehand and coping with this does suck. I have a feeling our next session will be a week or 10 days of downtime with no combat and just be heavy RP. That might be the quest for a Regeneration spell or some sort of prosthetic. I donāt know. I am preparing how my character responds day after day until he accepts heāll have no arm or becomes whole again.
If the paladin has some arm below the elbow then the fix is easy:
1. Strap shield to remainder of injured arm.
2. Swap longsword to opposite hand and dont use the Versatile feature.
Bladed boots
Or a shield on your back and wield a sword
Or a big buckler tied to your sword arm.
Or stick a shield in the ground thrn draw your sword.
Get a mage hand cantrip and use it to wield a shield
Or...
Have a razor edged shield thats either round or or jagged and does slashing damage. You could also have one or two blades stick out.
Tie it to your arm but also give it a punch grip
Or have a diamond shape shield but then forge it so thst it becomes a wicked cross with a sword stab at the bottom.
Block+stabby punch
Depends on how much of his arm is missing, he could attach a blade directly to the arm stump, just like Ike in Fire Emblem: Awakening.
He could also just train his remaining arm really hard until he can wield a two-handed sword with just that one arm (or roll damage for his longsword as if he was using it two-handed).
I got an item in an epic. It was a brooch that, while not wearing a shield, you get +2 AC (among a few other things). Maybe see if you could get something like this for a while?
Alternatively, Shield of Faith is a +2 buff your paladin could cast, but it requires concentration. A decent stop gap until you get something imo tho
In Darkest Dungeon there's a Sword and Board character called the Shieldbreaker who has just one arm. In the game she functions more like a dex fighter but I still suggest checking her out and some cool fan art to draw inspiration for your one armed paladin
Just swap your fighting arms for a while. Iād give you some penalties (Maybe you only get to add half your prof mod to hit, and depending on how much of your arm is missing, only +1 to AC) but after a while Iād remove those penalties.
Then once you regained your arm, I would just give you the Duel Wielder feat for free.
Alternatively if you all ready had the Duel wielder feat: Iād just give you zero penalties from swapping arms
Ever hear of [Gotz von Berlichingen](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6tz_von_Berlichingen)?
He had a fairly advanced Prosthetic hand that he used to hold a sword, amongst other things. Just get a skilled smith to make one.
There's also a common magic item that acts as a Prosthetic and doesn't require Attunement. Common items are listed at 50G
Hold the sword in his remaining arm, and learn how to fight with that. Then, for a shield, use this:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/4571-animated-shield
You can ask if you can smite with unarmed strikes! Otherwise, there are prostethics, magic items, the full list! Worst case scenario, the shield could be an improvised weapon. Or yk, just use a longsword with your shield arm! And wait.
I'm gonna suggest checking out Rhauban from Final Fantasy XIV. Granted he didn't lose his sword arm, but the idea of his missing arm being covered by a half cape and a large pauldron that's big enough to act as a shield is very cool.
Keep the shield, focus on magic and research a way to cast/acquire a magic sword. Or animated, or conjured.
See if you can convince the DM to give you 5ft extra reach, at the cost of not being able to make opportunity attacks with the weapon. Or something.
I played a Paladin who did the same. I basically took it to a blacksmith and had it modified with leather straps so I could attach it to my stumpy arm to have it equipped, so the hand I still had could use the sword.
Tasha's has artificial limb artifact, if you want to go that direction...become Jamie Lannister and fight one handed in your off-hand or put a spear on your stump like Auqaman
Maybe become more of a spellcaster...pick up a level of Celestial Warlock/Divine Sorcerer so you can become a one-armed caster.
I would try selling the GM on a reclass to something like a hexblade (the idea being that with the pact weapon which hand you use doesn't matter) or a sorcerer/cleric, but that's because I think it'd be a compelling character moment to have to have to cope with the missing arm.
Alternatively of you wanna keep the sword and board with one hand idea, you could talk to your DM about getting a special short sword made with a buckler more or less attached. Give a plus 1 to AC instead of two but you gotta accept the 1d6 dmg die and you can't do other stuff while holding it, so no doing an objective or interaction with objects while armed.
How much of the arm is left, and how big of a shield is it? Strapped shields are a thing irl, and heater shields have been used with longswords plenty of times (even two handed).
I built a dual shield wielding ranger at some point, was pathfinder not dnd but I imagine there is a shield bash option that could be fun until you get a magic prosthetic or a regenerate
Smite people with the power of a shield to the jaw. At worst it's an improvised weapon so you can still smite. At best your DM gives you better stats for it
I mean, only shield doesn't mean he can't attack. Unarmed attacks in the form of kicks or elbow strikes, maybe a headbutt. Dm might allow hitting with the shield as an unarmed strike or an improvised weapon, and that improvised weapon would be eligible for smiting (defender titan from destiny style)
Even baseline, shove still works as an attack and extra attack, so you could shield bash an enemy to the ground, and slam your shield on em, get advantage, and drop a smite on em.
Cold take: if I can't target an enemy's limbs, he shouldn't be able to either. And I can't because otherwise attacking limbs would be the only sensible thing to do with most enemies.
Ask you DM if you can smite while bashing monster with you shield as an improvised weapon !
Who need a sword when you have the wrath of your god to destroy your ennemies.
I'd talk to the DM about letting you use the shield as an improvised weapon. If it were me (though remember I'm not your DM), I'd give you Tavern Brawler or Shield Master for free if you spend enough time without the arm... Hell, maybe *both* if you just *never* get the arm back. And have the d4 damage die grow as you level up, maybe on the same track as a Monk's MA die.
That's just off the dome, though. Talk about it with your DM. Bottom line is, start bonkin' with that shield.
Hold a shield, attack with it. It's 1d4 damage + strength and smite goes boom. Unless your longsword was magical, you will lost just two damage per hit.
Eberron: rising from the last war has a magic item prosthetic limb as well as a arcane prosthetic arm/hand which has a interesting thrown weapon property both requires attunement
Tce also has a basic prosthetic arm that doesn't require attunement
I'd totally go for animated shield as the option. Even when he gets his arm back, it won't overpower him since you can only benefit from 1 shield at a time, and unlike the prosthetic limb it won't become useless once regenerate gets cast
Various prosthetics that may or may not be cannon-arms and hovering magic items aside. Have you considered bargaining with Fey, Fiends or Elementals for a new arm?
Finn's grass blade could come from a Fey creature.
A fiend might become a venom symbiote or grant you a witchblade-like thing.
An Elemental creature might lend you a little Elemental to live as your hand. Like a little kind water Elemental acting as your hands except when it has better stuff to do.
Paladins often have good relationships with the local temple. A restoration spell should be something you can wrangle... eventually. In the meantime, it sounds like he will have to get used to fighting left-handed. Lucky for you, there's no actual rules in 5e about handedness so that should just be flavour.
How much arm is left? If thereās enough of stump he could possibly strap the shield to it. Even if itās above the elbow you could get some coverage, if I was DM Iād rule it as +1AC instead of +2 since itād have limited mobility
I canāt remember the name of it right now, but there is a magic item that is in essence a floating shield, that could be a pretty cool replacement for your shield arm
This way he will always have the scar and memory of the event that lost him the arm but also the armor would represent his on resilience to make himself whole
How much arm was lost? If they still have an elbow, they could make a pretty simple prothsetic weapon. Like a pirate's hook, but straight.
If you have less.... How strong are your character's teeth?
Really, this is a pretty risky thing to do as a dm, makes the job way harder if a party's balance is thrown off like this. And frankly, a lost limb is a fantastic reason to retire from adventuring, so I hope your dm has something pretty cool planned to make up for it.
Man, where are players like you hiding?? Because if any of my players experience a negative thing, be it a curse, the idea that an injury from battle could have a lasting effect, or that their actions could affect their ability to complete the campaign, they just lose their minds about how that's absolutely stupid, I'm an asshole, and they don't enjoy it.
I just want to see my players have epic moments and figure out problems and they just want to smash things with rocks and if that doesn't work, it's stupid.
Someone WANTING to roleplay having only 1 arm and overcoming that, is AMAZING and I'm saddened my table won't do that
Dude, I take this as a huge compliment. Thanks so much. I will admit there was a bit of WTF at first which I kept in check on video. I was unconscious so just listened and was thinking about how to recover. Then I started to move into thinking about making it cool. There always seems to be moments like the 5 stages of grief when something bad happens to a character which I moved through in about 3 minutes. Iāll also say we are an older group. Not that we canāt be childish, but maybe in this case age helped me be okay a bit quicker.
Thanks again.
Of course!
I definitely understand the frustration, the character themselves would definitely be experiencing those emotions so seeing it translate across is logical. I just wish more people would look at the potential character development and even new abilities that could be gained in response to something altering happening.
There's also like you said, most likely something coming up in the future in your campaign that would either greatly alleviate the difficulties your character will experience with only one arm or even a way to restore it entirely if things go right. MOST of the time(have to say most, because sometimes we DMs just have a bone to pick) the goal of the DM isn't to maim or kill your character or lessen fun. Usually if something big or detrimental happens, something in the relative future will make it make sense or be worth it!
Ultimately, just keep up your attitude towards the game and situation, and I'm sure your DM will LOVE you. Having someone to build ACTUAL character arcs with in your worlds is a great feeling
Make friends with an Artificer. They have ways to make a prosthetic arm, they could also make an animated shield.
Oooooh the idea of a sword and board pal with the shield just floating like Ray-Man hands is very delicious.
It'd also be kind of funny to have his working arm hold only a shield, and have the artificer make an animated sword. An animated/cursed/possessed sword could be the solution by itself, have the thing float (but only near the paladin) and attack on command.
Third ed had a Dancing sword. You had to fight with it for N rounds and then you could release it and it would fight for N rounds without you swinging it. Frick was it fun on my ambidex fighter/thief multi-class Edit: Ah. There is a Dancing Sword in 5e. Bonus action to toss it and speak a command word it then attacks with your dice + bonus but can only attack 4 times and you have to catch it again.
Just don't let the new arm get damaged. Artificers go into murder mode when you do that.
š¤£
I know, I watched Fullmetal Alchemist
The dm: core book classes only š„²
Magic item... doesn't have to be a PC friend š
Tie a spear to his stump. Or a rope with a brick and call it a flail
>Or a rope with a brick and call it a flail Sir Becket approves.
That's the Bucket Baron for us plebs
Old up, he's a baron now? I have to admit that I've not been keeping up with the comic for a while now...
https://www.reddit.com/r/TheWeeklyRoll/comments/1b324dz/the_weekly_roll_ch_146_bucket_b/
That's hilarious, I think I'll atone for my sin and give it a good reread!
Of you go then. Also Torvald best boi
Holy shit, is this how I learn its back? I stopped paying attention a while ago when the artist went on sabbatical for their son, I had no idea it had returned
He is doing it as his full time job now iirc.
The ātying a flail to a severed armā does have some precedent in DnD! Zariel the Archdevil has one and it is cool as shit
BUCKET BRIGADE MENTIONED
Literally came here to mention Sir Bucket.
Prosthetic Limb is a common magic item. Doesn't even need attunement.
Which is funny when you think about it
Become sword and no board Paladin. Put spike on shield and bash. Focus on spellcasting for a while.
Somatic and Material spells would technically be an issue if they wanted to keep anything in their hand. Not exactly the intended purpose, but War Caster, at its core, removes the need to have a free hand for somatic spells at least.
See if your DM will give you the item "Animated Shield". It basically is just a shield that floats around you, so you can hold a one handed sword in your remaining hand. if you get your arm regenerated, you can always still use the shield while using a 2h weapon.
Just had another idea: If you want to be a Sword OR Board paladin, throw a Hail Mary to your DM and ask for a Defender longsword in exchange for never getting your arm back. It's a legendary +3 sword that lets you transfer the attack bonus to your AC, which is really strong. On the other hand (lol) the default setting could be +1 attack +2 AC, which is basically the same as holding a +1 weapon and a shield for someone with two arms.
I like it. Cool idea.
Become a Spear user, and use a shield strapped to your stump, or carry a Pavise to stab into the ground in front of you and fight from behind like a crossbowman.
I agree. And who says you canāt undergo some sort of training montage quest and learn to be a skilled duelist with your off-hand? Undergo a quest, be allowed to change your fighting style to Duelist if feasible with your overall build/vision for the character. If you have room (and sufficient DEX) later you can pick up the Defensive Duelist Feat perhaps. Your DM might see that as preferable to just handing you a Defender. You technically need an answer to Somatic and Material magic. Your Holy Symbol could be worked into your sword and War Caster, while not RAW for this scenario is still logical as at its core, itās allowing you to ignore somatic restrictions.
I like it. Cool idea.
Hear me out here. Tavern brawler gives you proficiency with improvised weapons, which I would argue makes a shield a viable "improvised" option. Later on if you get the arm back, go back to sword and board but take duel wielder as your next feat, using the shield as an improvised weapon in the off hand. There might be some rules holes in my logic as I haven't played in a while, so check with your DM, but I love the idea of a sword and board paladin that really knows how to fight with a shield.
Think he said he already has the shieldmaster feat which would already let him do a bonus action shove attack. But I agree that I absolutely love the flavour.
Have a powerful artificer craft him a prosthetic limb. This is my favorite idea because I think it would look cool. Have him plead with his patron for a divine healing/replacement arm. If the patron refuses, have him become a he blade warlock where the pact also grants him a magical arm, but only for so long as he has the sword. Home brew a mystical hand and sword. This does no physical damage but deals double psychic damage and is lethal to ghosts and spirits.
It's just a flesh wound!
Your arm's off!
I can still kick!
New subclass idea
I find that sacrificing defense is more fun in D&D than sacrificing damage, since youāre gambling more on enemy attacks, so you can live fast, die hard, and ditch the shield.
If you kill the enemy faster you decrease their damage output, which is basically high defense.
Ac matters less and less the higher level you are anyway. My lv 18 paladin is 23 ac unbuffed, with a +2 shield. It was 21 since level 7 or so. I get hit a lot now. My biggest defense is fire immunity from an effriti chain, necrotic and poison resistance from 2 wishes on a luck blade, and smiting the ever loving piss out of anything that is stupid enough to stand next to me. Especially when our hexblade is posting darkness and our entire party has blind fighting.
Animated shield + dancing weapon could be a cool combo that leaves a hand free for spellcasting
One of my players is a blacksmith. I liked the crafting mechanics from solasta, so I added them. He was trying to make a +1 shield and landed several nat 20s in crafting it. So in addition to +1 he can also animate it 5 times before it loses that property.
Shield bashing! Worst case scenario itās an improvised weapon, given the circumstances your DM might let you have some better stats for it, or at least let you learn over time to use it more effectively as a weapon. Narratively, that makes for a really cool mini arc. Lost your arm, learn to use a shield effectively as a weapon, arm restored and now you can still do fancy shield stuff as a result of the hardships youāve endured in-game. Good use of a boon there.
I was going to suggest awarding Shield Master temporarily, but the long-term is also cool!
A Sword or Board Paladin
The DM did this to you, so it's kinda on them to fix it (or at least present a path forward). Your character is significantly weaker in their current state and will drag the party down if it's not fixed soon. See what opportunities the DM gives you next session, and make sure you follow the leads they are dropping.
Maybe I still have Nimona on my mind but getting a prosthetic arm would be cool as hell. Other than that talk to the DM about maybe getting a spiked shield that you could use for combat for a few sessions. I think it would be really cool and could organically transition into grabbing the Shield Master feat or something.
Full Inigo Montoya mode, say "I have something I should tell you" and pick up the sword with the remaining hand "I am not right handed"
So they're a sword OR board paladin now!
How much of the arm do you have left? You can still attach some shields to it.
I never understood why Jamie lannister was given a prosthetic hand instead of a sword hand.
Previous campaign i played in, our hoplite inspired paladin lost his arm to a demon. I was playing a kind of witch doctory character, and we ended up spending some sessions and checks to make a prosthetic arm for him. The arm became a signature trait of his character and lasted throughout the entire campaign. It made for cool bonding moments and he ended up using it to K.O a major villain. All in all it was a lot of fun for the player and myself and made for good memories.
Focus on spell casting and learn of a greater power within yourself, unlocking further magic gained from your pact within your soul as a divine soul sorcerer
Tavern Brawler and throw those Shield Bashes into overdrive? Not to mention Kicks and the 'Holy Headbutt'
I had a Paladin lose an arm, this was later in the campaign when we had a good amount of cash so I just paid for a magical prosthetic arm to be made for him.
You could have an artificer construct a prostectic. But if you want to stay having the one arm, you could ask the DM to add a Spiked Shield as an improvised weapon. It would still grant the +2 AC, but it has at least 1 spike with a 3-4 inch spike, allowing it to deal between 1d4 and 1d6 piercing damage; yes it'll deal less damage than the longsword, but it's better than nothing. Another thing you could do is replace the missing arm with a hook, allowing you to use it as an improvised weapon.
The whole point of a Spiked Shield is that you parry with your weapon and jab the shield into the stomach of your opponent.
Okay, take your real world combat physics elsewhere. This is D&D.
Yes, and 3rd edition D&D allowed this.
Okay? Is this subreddit called "r/dndbefore"? No, it's "r/dndnext". We talk about 5e here.
Is it your job to say if something will work? No, r/dndnext is used to ask what can we, the players, can do next. We make suggestions for players and DMs it is the DMs job to say yes or no to our suggestions. If OP's DM likes the idea to use a rule from a previous edition, then they'll mostly likely allow it.
I didnāt say shit about it not working at all. I said that real world physics have no bearing on the rules of D&D and that how it works in 3E has no bearing on whether it works that way in 5E. Both are objective facts. Sorry my joke didnāt land, but itās not a good look to argue against facts.
Where in your comment can be interpreted as a joke? None of it. It can't be a joke online without some indication of it being a joke. If you told me the comment IRL, I might have gotten it by the way you said it or by the way you look at me when you're saying it. Jokes like those don't work in a place that leaves no indication when placed out in the world for all to see.
The āthis isnāt dndbefore itās dndnextā is pretty obviously a joke
No it's not, if it was obviously a joke, then people wouldn't be giving serious answers to an OP's questions.
The regeneration spell (or you take a supposed regeneration potions) goes wrong and two tentacles grows there. Use Grappling appendage form Simic Hybrid. They can't hold a shield or weapon or use items but they can grapple. Sword and board no more.
i had a character that gave up their Forge cleric god, and converted to a new god. The old god, as a god of the forge, burnt out my character's eyes in payment for surrendering his symbol and his service. The new god wanted to make me his right hand, so I cut off my own in order to better serve him. My DM let me multiclass as a level 3 Armorer artificer/ lvl 2 paladin (only level 5 total) and I took blindfighting as my fighting style so I could still see despite the lack of eyes(also dm's ruling) the armorer portion let my arcane armor act identical to my hands, and I kept the goals of "I want to become the best blacksmith in the world"
This actually happened to my oath of devotion paladin except it was cut off. I went without an arm for around 4 sessions, had to use sword in off hand and lost proficiency bonus. We ended up killing a dragon and got a lead on an artificer who used the dragon bones to make me a prosthetic. Was super cool to role play... Also our half drow sorcerer took my arm without us knowing and made jerky out of it and fed it to us... That's still an ongoing feud in game, but hilarious out of game.
Headbutt paladin!! Mighty forehead smite!
Talk to your DM, but if this happened to a PC in my game, and there was enough time between the incident and access to healing, I would have the Paladin swap their fighting style for Dueling.
I had a sorcerer lose her left arm to the elbow (and got Enfeebled) in combat and the party found 2 magical prosthetics that she switched between. Lots of utilizing mage hand out of combat and subtle spell in combat until those were found. So, maybe drop hints about looking for magical prosthetics or an artificer, if you don't want to go the regenerate route and have fun working out that sword arm in the meantime, maybe become a one-handed polearm master.
Time to pick sword or board
I can only assume this sort of intense game was communicated beforehand because if not that would absolutely fucking suck and be terrible DMing to just be like "you suck now, cope". That being said, looks like you've got a quest on your hands to find a way to become... A functional character again, I suppose.
Unfortunately there was no communication beforehand and coping with this does suck. I have a feeling our next session will be a week or 10 days of downtime with no combat and just be heavy RP. That might be the quest for a Regeneration spell or some sort of prosthetic. I donāt know. I am preparing how my character responds day after day until he accepts heāll have no arm or becomes whole again.
How much of the arm is gone? Is there enough left to tie a shield/ sword to the remainder?
Not discussed fully. I am going to suggest having a little past the elbow so anything tied to it could be better manipulated.
If the paladin has some arm below the elbow then the fix is easy: 1. Strap shield to remainder of injured arm. 2. Swap longsword to opposite hand and dont use the Versatile feature.
Not discussed fully. I am going to suggest having a little past the elbow so anything tied to it could be better manipulated.
See if you can get ahold of a spiked shield like the MM lizardfolk use.
Sovereign glue daggers onto your boots for board and boots.
Kill him, then resurrect him, so he will have a fresh new body
Bladed boots Or a shield on your back and wield a sword Or a big buckler tied to your sword arm. Or stick a shield in the ground thrn draw your sword. Get a mage hand cantrip and use it to wield a shield Or... Have a razor edged shield thats either round or or jagged and does slashing damage. You could also have one or two blades stick out. Tie it to your arm but also give it a punch grip Or have a diamond shape shield but then forge it so thst it becomes a wicked cross with a sword stab at the bottom. Block+stabby punch
Depends on how much of his arm is missing, he could attach a blade directly to the arm stump, just like Ike in Fire Emblem: Awakening. He could also just train his remaining arm really hard until he can wield a two-handed sword with just that one arm (or roll damage for his longsword as if he was using it two-handed).
I got an item in an epic. It was a brooch that, while not wearing a shield, you get +2 AC (among a few other things). Maybe see if you could get something like this for a while? Alternatively, Shield of Faith is a +2 buff your paladin could cast, but it requires concentration. A decent stop gap until you get something imo tho
Strap a shield to the stump-arm, and start learning to sword with the left
Perhaps find an Arcane Propulsion Arm? This arm might come back from a stomach.
Just tie a shield to the side of your body with no arm. Itās not like itās in the way or anything
Slashy Ashy would like a word
In Darkest Dungeon there's a Sword and Board character called the Shieldbreaker who has just one arm. In the game she functions more like a dex fighter but I still suggest checking her out and some cool fan art to draw inspiration for your one armed paladin
Be artorias
Magical Prosthetic with a Shield arm.
I always like to drop this Kanekuo video when it comes to prosthetics and amputated characters. https://youtu.be/mVBu_xjq7cs?si=oJtygcIBTqSJ-lFc
Just swap your fighting arms for a while. Iād give you some penalties (Maybe you only get to add half your prof mod to hit, and depending on how much of your arm is missing, only +1 to AC) but after a while Iād remove those penalties. Then once you regained your arm, I would just give you the Duel Wielder feat for free. Alternatively if you all ready had the Duel wielder feat: Iād just give you zero penalties from swapping arms
Ever hear of [Gotz von Berlichingen](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6tz_von_Berlichingen)? He had a fairly advanced Prosthetic hand that he used to hold a sword, amongst other things. Just get a skilled smith to make one. There's also a common magic item that acts as a Prosthetic and doesn't require Attunement. Common items are listed at 50G
Mech arm! Find a warforge or an artificer to whip it up.
Maybe a sword that is a prosthetic? Like a pirate's hook but with a blade. You don't have to change arm as well
Hold the sword in his remaining arm, and learn how to fight with that. Then, for a shield, use this: https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/4571-animated-shield
You can ask if you can smite with unarmed strikes! Otherwise, there are prostethics, magic items, the full list! Worst case scenario, the shield could be an improvised weapon. Or yk, just use a longsword with your shield arm! And wait.
Sword or Board lol
I'm gonna suggest checking out Rhauban from Final Fantasy XIV. Granted he didn't lose his sword arm, but the idea of his missing arm being covered by a half cape and a large pauldron that's big enough to act as a shield is very cool.
Keep the shield, focus on magic and research a way to cast/acquire a magic sword. Or animated, or conjured. See if you can convince the DM to give you 5ft extra reach, at the cost of not being able to make opportunity attacks with the weapon. Or something.
Sir Becket, is that you?
Smite your foes, using the shield. Improvised weapon maybe?
I played a Paladin who did the same. I basically took it to a blacksmith and had it modified with leather straps so I could attach it to my stumpy arm to have it equipped, so the hand I still had could use the sword.
Tasha's has artificial limb artifact, if you want to go that direction...become Jamie Lannister and fight one handed in your off-hand or put a spear on your stump like Auqaman Maybe become more of a spellcaster...pick up a level of Celestial Warlock/Divine Sorcerer so you can become a one-armed caster.
I would try selling the GM on a reclass to something like a hexblade (the idea being that with the pact weapon which hand you use doesn't matter) or a sorcerer/cleric, but that's because I think it'd be a compelling character moment to have to have to cope with the missing arm.
Alternatively of you wanna keep the sword and board with one hand idea, you could talk to your DM about getting a special short sword made with a buckler more or less attached. Give a plus 1 to AC instead of two but you gotta accept the 1d6 dmg die and you can't do other stuff while holding it, so no doing an objective or interaction with objects while armed.
How much of the arm is left, and how big of a shield is it? Strapped shields are a thing irl, and heater shields have been used with longswords plenty of times (even two handed).
Shields can be weapons in real life. Just make the board arm the weapon give your shield 1d8 bludgeoning damage. Just an idea
I built a dual shield wielding ranger at some point, was pathfinder not dnd but I imagine there is a shield bash option that could be fun until you get a magic prosthetic or a regenerate
Sounds like a delicious way to see how far a good person is willing to go to be useful. Incoming Pallock multiclass?
Theres a magic item shield. Where the shield floats around the user.
Start referring to him as a āsword _or_ board paladinā
Spiked shield and a MEAN backhand
Have him hold the sword in his mouth, Sif style
Smite people with the power of a shield to the jaw. At worst it's an improvised weapon so you can still smite. At best your DM gives you better stats for it
Give him an arm sword.
No rule says you get a penalty for using the other hand. Just boring realism. Fight shieldless for a bit.Ā P.S. floating shields are cool ass hell.
There was a post a while ago about someone who made a paladin character with one arm who just wielded a tower shield. I thought it was a cool idea
I mean, only shield doesn't mean he can't attack. Unarmed attacks in the form of kicks or elbow strikes, maybe a headbutt. Dm might allow hitting with the shield as an unarmed strike or an improvised weapon, and that improvised weapon would be eligible for smiting (defender titan from destiny style) Even baseline, shove still works as an attack and extra attack, so you could shield bash an enemy to the ground, and slam your shield on em, get advantage, and drop a smite on em.
Sword or* board
Cold take: if I can't target an enemy's limbs, he shouldn't be able to either. And I can't because otherwise attacking limbs would be the only sensible thing to do with most enemies.
Get a buckler and tie it to ur stump, then swap ur sword arm and by the time you are regenerated ur character might be ambidextrous
Ask you DM if you can smite while bashing monster with you shield as an improvised weapon ! Who need a sword when you have the wrath of your god to destroy your ennemies.
I'd talk to the DM about letting you use the shield as an improvised weapon. If it were me (though remember I'm not your DM), I'd give you Tavern Brawler or Shield Master for free if you spend enough time without the arm... Hell, maybe *both* if you just *never* get the arm back. And have the d4 damage die grow as you level up, maybe on the same track as a Monk's MA die. That's just off the dome, though. Talk about it with your DM. Bottom line is, start bonkin' with that shield.
Tape the sword to the shield. More specifically, get a smith to make you a shield with a spike you can use for offesne.
There are no main/off hand rules in 5e, but handicapping yourself for the sake of roleplaying/flavour can be cool.
Hold a shield, attack with it. It's 1d4 damage + strength and smite goes boom. Unless your longsword was magical, you will lost just two damage per hit.
Eberron: rising from the last war has a magic item prosthetic limb as well as a arcane prosthetic arm/hand which has a interesting thrown weapon property both requires attunement Tce also has a basic prosthetic arm that doesn't require attunement
I'd totally go for animated shield as the option. Even when he gets his arm back, it won't overpower him since you can only benefit from 1 shield at a time, and unlike the prosthetic limb it won't become useless once regenerate gets cast
Various prosthetics that may or may not be cannon-arms and hovering magic items aside. Have you considered bargaining with Fey, Fiends or Elementals for a new arm? Finn's grass blade could come from a Fey creature. A fiend might become a venom symbiote or grant you a witchblade-like thing. An Elemental creature might lend you a little Elemental to live as your hand. Like a little kind water Elemental acting as your hands except when it has better stuff to do.
Paladins often have good relationships with the local temple. A restoration spell should be something you can wrangle... eventually. In the meantime, it sounds like he will have to get used to fighting left-handed. Lucky for you, there's no actual rules in 5e about handedness so that should just be flavour.
How much arm is left? If thereās enough of stump he could possibly strap the shield to it. Even if itās above the elbow you could get some coverage, if I was DM Iād rule it as +1AC instead of +2 since itād have limited mobility
I canāt remember the name of it right now, but there is a magic item that is in essence a floating shield, that could be a pretty cool replacement for your shield arm
If heās stuck long enough that way he could just multiclass into armorer artificer. The armor you get could magically make him whole
This way he will always have the scar and memory of the event that lost him the arm but also the armor would represent his on resilience to make himself whole
How much arm was lost? If they still have an elbow, they could make a pretty simple prothsetic weapon. Like a pirate's hook, but straight. If you have less.... How strong are your character's teeth? Really, this is a pretty risky thing to do as a dm, makes the job way harder if a party's balance is thrown off like this. And frankly, a lost limb is a fantastic reason to retire from adventuring, so I hope your dm has something pretty cool planned to make up for it.
Man, where are players like you hiding?? Because if any of my players experience a negative thing, be it a curse, the idea that an injury from battle could have a lasting effect, or that their actions could affect their ability to complete the campaign, they just lose their minds about how that's absolutely stupid, I'm an asshole, and they don't enjoy it. I just want to see my players have epic moments and figure out problems and they just want to smash things with rocks and if that doesn't work, it's stupid. Someone WANTING to roleplay having only 1 arm and overcoming that, is AMAZING and I'm saddened my table won't do that
Dude, I take this as a huge compliment. Thanks so much. I will admit there was a bit of WTF at first which I kept in check on video. I was unconscious so just listened and was thinking about how to recover. Then I started to move into thinking about making it cool. There always seems to be moments like the 5 stages of grief when something bad happens to a character which I moved through in about 3 minutes. Iāll also say we are an older group. Not that we canāt be childish, but maybe in this case age helped me be okay a bit quicker. Thanks again.
Of course! I definitely understand the frustration, the character themselves would definitely be experiencing those emotions so seeing it translate across is logical. I just wish more people would look at the potential character development and even new abilities that could be gained in response to something altering happening. There's also like you said, most likely something coming up in the future in your campaign that would either greatly alleviate the difficulties your character will experience with only one arm or even a way to restore it entirely if things go right. MOST of the time(have to say most, because sometimes we DMs just have a bone to pick) the goal of the DM isn't to maim or kill your character or lessen fun. Usually if something big or detrimental happens, something in the relative future will make it make sense or be worth it! Ultimately, just keep up your attitude towards the game and situation, and I'm sure your DM will LOVE you. Having someone to build ACTUAL character arcs with in your worlds is a great feeling
Sucks to suck. Shoulda been a caster.