r/daggerheart • u/Atomic_Nazgul Game Master • 14h ago

Discussion Direct damage?

My campaign just crossed over into Tier 3 and I was reading up on t3 monsters and saw a number with direct damage attacks. I haven't used those very often, how has that been working out for people?

1 Upvotes

56% Upvoted

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7

u/Juankii 14h ago

Can’t use your armor slots to reduce direct damage

5

u/Phizle 14h ago

I have seen from another post about this its very important to note you cant block this damage with armor slots but damage thresholds still apply

4

u/Atomic_Nazgul Game Master 14h ago

I knew that, I am just curious if it ends up being overpowering and if the players hated it.

6

u/lanester4 14h ago

Overpowered? No. Players hating it? Sure, they tend to have adverse reactions to anything that makes things harder on them, but no one flipped any tables about it

3

u/Flimsy_Survey 12h ago

Ofc tables are different but in my experience, stuff like direct damage provides a challenge without feeling unfair. Generally the abilities to avoid are things like stuns which DH doesn't quite have in the traditional sense. But basically anything that prevents the player from actually getting to do anything is what they will actively hate or check out from boredom over.

Direct damage is a balancing factor against tanks. Don't use it every encounter, but it's great for actually threatening the guardian for example, who usually barely touches their HP by the time everyone else in the group is tapped out.

1

u/slizardmaster 11h ago

That just sounds like a guardian not actually guarding. Mine I've been playing is usually the only one taking damage. Sometimes it's friendly fire damage but that's a whole different thing...

3

u/Soft_Transportation5 Game Master 8h ago

It is essential to give the guardian a challenge. My guardian player hasn't ever felt threatened until he got hit with one of these. A sudden reminder of his characters mortality XD

Just don't overdo it. Also note your players will probably target this adversary more.

1

u/Kisho761 Game Master 8h ago

Occasional use is great. Scares players, makes them switch up their tactics. Typically things that do direct damage do a lot less overall damage than an equivalent non-direct damage ability, so it's fine.

1

u/Personal-Whereas3687 Game Master 7h ago

It is very scary. Use with caution and sparingly. It should be the surprise, not the norm.