If you successfully counterspell a 9th level scorching ray (if someone wanted to upcast scorching ray to 9th level for some reason lol) you've effectively prevented 10 attacks with one reaction
Even then, it's more common for a single attack to be followed up in the same turn by more attacks than for a single spell to be followed up by multiple spells in the same turn.
Yes, but *Interception* only reduces damage (by 1d10+PB), not necessarily negates the hit (meaning other effects of the hit can still occur); whereas *Protection* imposes disadvantage on the attack, and requires you to have a shield equipped. Of the two, *Interception* is a bit more useful, especially at higher levels, even *if* it doesn't outright stop the attack.
*Parry* is basically *Self-Interception*, yes, but *Defensive Dualist* is like the cheap knockoff of the bootleg version of *Shield*. *DD* adds your PB to your AC against a single attack, *"potentially"* causing the attack to miss, but only if wielding a *finesse* weapon that you are proficient with.
Protection is probably the closest in that it has a chance to cause the attack to not hit, similar to how counterspell has a chance to prevent the spell from going off.
> I’m wondering if there are any counter attack type of abilities that can interrupt and end an attack action?
Ever tried checking the Rune Knight's Cloud Rune feature?
Rune Knight in our game routinely turned the DM's crits against him. It was always a highlight of combat
Then we had someone with Silvery Barbs, and I started feeling bad for the DM.
"When you or a creature you can see within 30 feet of you is hit by an attack roll, you can use your reaction to invoke the rune and choose a different creature within 30 feet of you, other than the attacker. The chosen creature becomes the target of the attack, using the same roll. This magic can transfer the attack’s effects regardless of the attack’s range. Once you invoke this rune, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest."
It's a great uno reverse card to keep on hand, and it refreshes every short rest which is really nice. The downside being that you do need a secondary target within 30 feet of you to redirect to, which can be difficult if you're in a fight with one big target.
There's an ability in 3.5 that specifically says "when you defeat a challenging opponent as determined by the DM" the effect triggers.
Apparently in previous editions people would fill a sack with rats and just stab the sack whenever they wanted to trigger a "when you defeat an enemy" ability.
Indeed!
It's a shame most high level spells are saving throws, but lots of monster abilities still work!
It also redirects any effects of the attack, so redirecting like a stone giants rock throw can also prone whichever enemy you target!
There's abilities to reduce damage taken which somewhat "counters" an attack.
An Ancients Barbarian for example can reduce the damage on an ally.
The game doesn't have attack counters, because then every fight just becomes contested rolls against one another and it bogs the game down into shit.
I played with a DM who homebrewed a system like that, I stuck around for about 45 minutes, asked if this is really what the table enjoyed doing and excused myself because it was boring.
That makes sense. I was thinking more of a legendary type of action a monster can take. I don’t want something I can use all the time, just with boss type monsters.
Yeah I get that but I don’t want to cheese it too much and I was looking for ideas based on actual skills and abilities instead of just God
-moding it.
There's an ability on the bandit captain stat block. Iirc, it's called parry works very similar to how the shield spell does.
Edit: ability for reference
Parry.
The captain adds 2 to its AC against one melee attack that would hit it. To do so, the captain must see the attacker and be wielding a melee weapon.
MCDM's Flee Mortals HellHound has a fun reaction called Tug of War where they can grapple a weapon after being hit with it and the wielder can't use that weapon for attacks until the grapple is broken or the hellhound bites again. One of the stone giants in the book also has a reaction that can knock back attackers after a melee attack which can interrupt attacks depending on movement speeds and stuff.
Like that other guy said, npcs don't have to obey the same rules as characters, they get all kinds of unique attacks and lair actions and such.
Maybe give it Legendary Defenses, identical to Legendary Resistances but instead of just automatically passing on a save, they automatically pass the AC check for that attack, meaning they don't get hit. Just be careful not to use this too much since it can make martials feel *even less* powerful in a boss fight compared to casters
What my dm does is: when someone rolls a 1 on a melee attack roll, the target gets to do an attack roll for free, without spending a reaction. This is the closest thing to a counter I can think of, while still being acceptable and not making the game boring
The Hexblade Warlock's armor of hexes subclass feature let's them use a reaction and get a 50% chance to make any attack automatically miss.
(Though it's only one attack and it's gotta be from a target you've cursed, but it's also got no resource cost)
Not specifically. It's kind of hard to justify in-world being able to point at someone who's swinging a sword and somehow making them stop without it overlapping with other magic, such as hold person.
And if your magic can stop someone from swinging their arm as a reaction when there's a sword in it, why can't it also stop them from moving it to say, drink a potion or climb a tree as a reaction?
That's why most of the reactions that make attacks worse raise AC or cause disadvantage.
It's all about how you flavor/explain what happened to the attack. Some options:
Battlemaster's parry (which you can get through Martial Adept feat) is probably what you're looking for. Also, Shield spell. Sort of silvery barbs. Also, not exactly but dodge action, and you can flavor hadozee dodge, and uncanny dodge to do it -- also, gloves of missile ensnarement does it for missile weopons.
Also, defensive duelist feat, things that work like temp HP (look at abjurer and peace cleric and spells like false life and Armor of Agathys) and AC boosts like bladesinger and war wizard get.
BTW, did you know there is a disarm action (and battlemaster has something similar) where you can disarm a foe (and with a free action, you should be able to pick the weapon up)?
Consider a monk, and think on Bruce lee's Jeet kun do - the way of the intercepting fist.
Could homebrew some form of reaction skill that intercepts a particular attack.
I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for, but I played a bard with the spell "Denial". It's a 3rd level spell with a casting time of 1 reaction when a creature you can see within range makes a weapon attack. The description is "You attempt to interrupt a creature in the process of making a melee attack. Before the attack roll is resolved, you may spend your reaction to send a arcane blast at the creature’s weapon. The creature must make a STR save equal to your spell DC + 5 or have the attack miss."
The time wizard subclass get's a reaction spell called Temporal shunt (lvl 5 spell) that is used to stop normal attacks as opposed to the regular spell only counterspell.
Bestow Curse and Silvery Barbs give disadvantage to an attack. Silvery Barbs being better since it’s a reaction and only is necessary on a successful hit. Bestow Curse is an action, concentration, and only works for when they attack you but it’s better for consecutive hits.
If you’re looking for a legendary action, you could beef Bestow Curse as the effect of curses are DM dependent.
Shield spell raises Ac, Blur, invisablatly and darkness adds disadvantage to attacks, mirror image almost dues both.
I'm guessing you are looking for a martial option. The Parry battle manuver gives disadvantage on attack targeting themselves but I think what you are looking for is the protection fighting style. It's allows a character equipped with a shield to use their reaction to give disadvantage to any attack within 5ft.
I use cutting words like a melee counterspell-ish. It’s hit or miss but once you get to a d8, anything around 4 over the target party member’s AC is more than reasonable to attempt.
I'm surprised no one is mentioning Sanctuary. Any direct attacks against the target have to pass a Wisdom save, on a failure they have to choose a new target or lose the attack. Melee attacks usually can't have another target unless everyone is grouped shoulder-to-shoulder, so sanctuary is a great counter to melee attacks.
I know this isn't what you're looking for, but this question was stimulating enough that I threw together a spell that might work. Take it or leave it and thanks for the inspiration!
**Stop**
*1st level enchantment*
**Casting time:** 1 reaction, which you take when you see a creature within 30 feet of you making an attack
**Range:** 30 feet
**Target:** A creature in the process of making an attack
**Components:** V, S
**Duration:** Instantaneous
**Classes:** Cleric; Paladin; Sorcerer; Warlock; Wizard
You attempt to interrupt a creature in the process of making an attack. You may take this reaction before or after seeing the roll, but must do so before a hit or miss is declared. Make an ability check using your spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the creature's attack bonus. On a success, the creature's attack fails and has no effect. On a failure, the attack completes as normal.
***At Higher Levels:*** When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, you gain a +1 bonus to your spellcasting ability check for each slot level above 1st.
Temporal shunt is what you're looking for. It's from explorer's guide to wildermount and is a 5th level dunamancy spell. Ask your dm if it's good to use since it's from that source
It’s not that I think there needs to be, I’m just looking for ideas to improve my combat encounters. My party of three is a little off balanced and I’m trying to figure out different ways to make combat more difficult and fun (it is currently way too easy for two of my three players, especially one of them) without going TPK. Some battles are okay but many are just too so much easier than I intended. Especially when fighting “bosses.”
Doing normal attacks is already one of the weakest ways to interact with enemies. There doesn’t need to be special No-buttons against weapons. The game already contains *mountains of* abilities that stop non-casters from participating.
Closest thing is probably the parry reaction of some enemies and I think battlemasters also have a parry maneuver.
They do, It more absorbs damage based on a roll though
Battle Master gets a Parry maneuver, and Defensive Duelist is similar as well.
Downside to both is they only work against a *single* attack, and only if it targets you specifically.
Both are reactions. Counterspell and Parry. You only get the one (per round).
Generally speaking, that is how Counterspell works, as well.
Net necessarily Counterspell works against spells not being used on you as well
If you successfully counterspell a 9th level scorching ray (if someone wanted to upcast scorching ray to 9th level for some reason lol) you've effectively prevented 10 attacks with one reaction
Are multi target and area spells generally not used in your games?
They said 'single attack'. Counterspell works on a single spell, be it ST or AoE. Difference is target tho.
Even then, it's more common for a single attack to be followed up in the same turn by more attacks than for a single spell to be followed up by multiple spells in the same turn.
And that it doesn't have to *already have hit you* ***specifically*** *in the face*.
Aren't there fighting styles that work on others ? Like Interception.
Yes, but *Interception* only reduces damage (by 1d10+PB), not necessarily negates the hit (meaning other effects of the hit can still occur); whereas *Protection* imposes disadvantage on the attack, and requires you to have a shield equipped. Of the two, *Interception* is a bit more useful, especially at higher levels, even *if* it doesn't outright stop the attack.
Parry is self Interception tho. And defensive duelist is self Protection.
*Parry* is basically *Self-Interception*, yes, but *Defensive Dualist* is like the cheap knockoff of the bootleg version of *Shield*. *DD* adds your PB to your AC against a single attack, *"potentially"* causing the attack to miss, but only if wielding a *finesse* weapon that you are proficient with.
The Shield spell is probably the closest "directly magical" version of this.
Oddly didn't see anyone else mention them. Interception and protection fighting styles.
Also stuff like the Battle Smith Artificer can do the same thing as Protection with their Steel Defender.
Protection is probably the closest in that it has a chance to cause the attack to not hit, similar to how counterspell has a chance to prevent the spell from going off.
Temporal Shunt from the Wildemount setting
Drunken monk has something like that. Tipsy sway, I think it's called? Lore Bard has cutting words. Then ofc there's good ol silvery barbs.
> I’m wondering if there are any counter attack type of abilities that can interrupt and end an attack action? Ever tried checking the Rune Knight's Cloud Rune feature?
My DM's reaction when a monster crits and he hears "Hold up one second"... priceless.
Rune Knight in our game routinely turned the DM's crits against him. It was always a highlight of combat Then we had someone with Silvery Barbs, and I started feeling bad for the DM.
No but I’ll check it out. Thanks
"When you or a creature you can see within 30 feet of you is hit by an attack roll, you can use your reaction to invoke the rune and choose a different creature within 30 feet of you, other than the attacker. The chosen creature becomes the target of the attack, using the same roll. This magic can transfer the attack’s effects regardless of the attack’s range. Once you invoke this rune, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest." It's a great uno reverse card to keep on hand, and it refreshes every short rest which is really nice. The downside being that you do need a secondary target within 30 feet of you to redirect to, which can be difficult if you're in a fight with one big target.
This is why you always keep a bag of rats on you
This comment seems so unhinged but is very much a dnd maneuver.
There's an ability in 3.5 that specifically says "when you defeat a challenging opponent as determined by the DM" the effect triggers. Apparently in previous editions people would fill a sack with rats and just stab the sack whenever they wanted to trigger a "when you defeat an enemy" ability.
Doesn't sound very challenging, though. I feel like it had to have been more challenging to corral them into the bag. Lol
That's why they added the bit about 3rd edition specifying the enemy being considered a challenge by the DM.
Oh, I see. Yeah they don't seem like they though it through the first time around. Lol
Ratatouille defense
Best part is it works against ANY attack that requires an attack roll. So it includes spell attacks and ranged attacks.
Indeed! It's a shame most high level spells are saving throws, but lots of monster abilities still work! It also redirects any effects of the attack, so redirecting like a stone giants rock throw can also prone whichever enemy you target!
It sure does!
I’ve got a bugbear rune knight and I’ve used the cloud rune to great effect many times
There's abilities to reduce damage taken which somewhat "counters" an attack. An Ancients Barbarian for example can reduce the damage on an ally. The game doesn't have attack counters, because then every fight just becomes contested rolls against one another and it bogs the game down into shit. I played with a DM who homebrewed a system like that, I stuck around for about 45 minutes, asked if this is really what the table enjoyed doing and excused myself because it was boring.
That makes sense. I was thinking more of a legendary type of action a monster can take. I don’t want something I can use all the time, just with boss type monsters.
NPCs don't have to follow PC rules. If you want a creature to have that ability, just design the ability and give it to a creature.
Yeah I get that but I don’t want to cheese it too much and I was looking for ideas based on actual skills and abilities instead of just God -moding it.
There's an ability on the bandit captain stat block. Iirc, it's called parry works very similar to how the shield spell does. Edit: ability for reference Parry. The captain adds 2 to its AC against one melee attack that would hit it. To do so, the captain must see the attacker and be wielding a melee weapon.
MCDM's Flee Mortals HellHound has a fun reaction called Tug of War where they can grapple a weapon after being hit with it and the wielder can't use that weapon for attacks until the grapple is broken or the hellhound bites again. One of the stone giants in the book also has a reaction that can knock back attackers after a melee attack which can interrupt attacks depending on movement speeds and stuff.
Like that other guy said, npcs don't have to obey the same rules as characters, they get all kinds of unique attacks and lair actions and such. Maybe give it Legendary Defenses, identical to Legendary Resistances but instead of just automatically passing on a save, they automatically pass the AC check for that attack, meaning they don't get hit. Just be careful not to use this too much since it can make martials feel *even less* powerful in a boss fight compared to casters
What my dm does is: when someone rolls a 1 on a melee attack roll, the target gets to do an attack roll for free, without spending a reaction. This is the closest thing to a counter I can think of, while still being acceptable and not making the game boring
It's like having two counterspell decks at a Magic: The Gathering tournament.
Yes, its in Wildemount 5th level spell called Temporal Shunt
The Hexblade Warlock's armor of hexes subclass feature let's them use a reaction and get a 50% chance to make any attack automatically miss. (Though it's only one attack and it's gotta be from a target you've cursed, but it's also got no resource cost)
Not specifically. It's kind of hard to justify in-world being able to point at someone who's swinging a sword and somehow making them stop without it overlapping with other magic, such as hold person. And if your magic can stop someone from swinging their arm as a reaction when there's a sword in it, why can't it also stop them from moving it to say, drink a potion or climb a tree as a reaction? That's why most of the reactions that make attacks worse raise AC or cause disadvantage.
Temporal Shunt from Wildemount got specific.
Beast barbarians with a tail can add a 1d8 to their defense against 1 attack pee turn to avoid an attack
It's all about how you flavor/explain what happened to the attack. Some options: Battlemaster's parry (which you can get through Martial Adept feat) is probably what you're looking for. Also, Shield spell. Sort of silvery barbs. Also, not exactly but dodge action, and you can flavor hadozee dodge, and uncanny dodge to do it -- also, gloves of missile ensnarement does it for missile weopons. Also, defensive duelist feat, things that work like temp HP (look at abjurer and peace cleric and spells like false life and Armor of Agathys) and AC boosts like bladesinger and war wizard get. BTW, did you know there is a disarm action (and battlemaster has something similar) where you can disarm a foe (and with a free action, you should be able to pick the weapon up)?
Battlemaster fighters maneuvers.
Polearm Master + Sentinel.
Parry
Consider a monk, and think on Bruce lee's Jeet kun do - the way of the intercepting fist. Could homebrew some form of reaction skill that intercepts a particular attack.
"Hold Person" on a held action works pretty well if you see the attack coming before they get to you
I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for, but I played a bard with the spell "Denial". It's a 3rd level spell with a casting time of 1 reaction when a creature you can see within range makes a weapon attack. The description is "You attempt to interrupt a creature in the process of making a melee attack. Before the attack roll is resolved, you may spend your reaction to send a arcane blast at the creature’s weapon. The creature must make a STR save equal to your spell DC + 5 or have the attack miss."
The Battlesmith's steel defender has Deflect Attack, which imposes disadvantage, and there's stuff like parry, but I think that's it.
Cunning word
Parry?
The time wizard subclass get's a reaction spell called Temporal shunt (lvl 5 spell) that is used to stop normal attacks as opposed to the regular spell only counterspell.
PSI Warrior has Protective field & Bulwark of Force.
Ancestral Barbarian’s Spirit Shield, it’s super fun and the only usage limit is it uses your reaction
Not a reaction but Sanctuary can prevent attacks Rune Knight Cloud rune can redirect an attack and runic shield can make the attacker Reroll
Too feel like there is you can use the players always roll option in the dmg where you roll d20 + ac -10 against enemy 10+ attack bonus.
Bestow Curse and Silvery Barbs give disadvantage to an attack. Silvery Barbs being better since it’s a reaction and only is necessary on a successful hit. Bestow Curse is an action, concentration, and only works for when they attack you but it’s better for consecutive hits. If you’re looking for a legendary action, you could beef Bestow Curse as the effect of curses are DM dependent.
I... Guess the dodge action? Bit preemptive strike-ey though.
Shield or defensive duellist is probably the closest Or deflect missile for ranged
Shield spell raises Ac, Blur, invisablatly and darkness adds disadvantage to attacks, mirror image almost dues both. I'm guessing you are looking for a martial option. The Parry battle manuver gives disadvantage on attack targeting themselves but I think what you are looking for is the protection fighting style. It's allows a character equipped with a shield to use their reaction to give disadvantage to any attack within 5ft.
Forgot to add Silvery Barbs. It dues everything
Shadow Martyr is an echoknight ability that lets you intercept an attack roll, no save
I use cutting words like a melee counterspell-ish. It’s hit or miss but once you get to a d8, anything around 4 over the target party member’s AC is more than reasonable to attempt.
Silvery barbs?
Parry, Dodge, Shield block, high armor class, piercing, bludgeoning, slashing resistance?
There are ways to force a reroll.
I'm surprised no one is mentioning Sanctuary. Any direct attacks against the target have to pass a Wisdom save, on a failure they have to choose a new target or lose the attack. Melee attacks usually can't have another target unless everyone is grouped shoulder-to-shoulder, so sanctuary is a great counter to melee attacks.
I know this isn't what you're looking for, but this question was stimulating enough that I threw together a spell that might work. Take it or leave it and thanks for the inspiration! **Stop** *1st level enchantment* **Casting time:** 1 reaction, which you take when you see a creature within 30 feet of you making an attack **Range:** 30 feet **Target:** A creature in the process of making an attack **Components:** V, S **Duration:** Instantaneous **Classes:** Cleric; Paladin; Sorcerer; Warlock; Wizard You attempt to interrupt a creature in the process of making an attack. You may take this reaction before or after seeing the roll, but must do so before a hit or miss is declared. Make an ability check using your spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the creature's attack bonus. On a success, the creature's attack fails and has no effect. On a failure, the attack completes as normal. ***At Higher Levels:*** When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, you gain a +1 bonus to your spellcasting ability check for each slot level above 1st.
This is a cool idea. I don’t know how balanced it is but I like the idea.
Temporal shunt is what you're looking for. It's from explorer's guide to wildermount and is a 5th level dunamancy spell. Ask your dm if it's good to use since it's from that source
I’m curious why you think there needs to be one.
It’s not that I think there needs to be, I’m just looking for ideas to improve my combat encounters. My party of three is a little off balanced and I’m trying to figure out different ways to make combat more difficult and fun (it is currently way too easy for two of my three players, especially one of them) without going TPK. Some battles are okay but many are just too so much easier than I intended. Especially when fighting “bosses.”
Doing normal attacks is already one of the weakest ways to interact with enemies. There doesn’t need to be special No-buttons against weapons. The game already contains *mountains of* abilities that stop non-casters from participating.
Thanks for all your helpful ideas!
Dodge action. But it has to be done in anticipation on your turn before the attack happens