Spell Redesign: Barkskin — Ash of Creativity

Hey folks! Was feeling tired and lazy today (which is not an excuse not to do things, but would’ve nevertheless been my excuse for not doing things) until I remembered someone on Aaron the Pedantic’s server requesting a redesign of Barkskin. So in my last hour before the day job, I’ll be knocking that out.

WoodFlesh

Barkskin raises your AC to a static modifier, preventing it from falling below 16. Nifty little spell, but it costs concentration (of course it does), doesn’t scale, and does nothing else. Most characters will have an AC of 16 or higher by the time your druid reaches 3rd level, or your ranger reaches 5th. What’s more, there are other spells which don’t require concentration, or stack with AC calculations/other bonuses, most of which are lower level. Given effects which penalize AC have largely been turned around to simply improve the attack bonuses of other creatures, barkskin simply can’t compete with other spells outside of specific circumstances.

The one place barkskin outshines all others is in the protection of companions. While you and and the other player characters of your party often have an AC of 16 or higher by the time you’d even consider taking this spell, many of your animal companions, mounts, retainers, henchmen, hirelings, etc do not. What’s more, the aforementioned plethora of spells typically considered superior to barkskin just can’t provide these NPCs with a 16 AC.

Unfortunately, the longevity of companion NPCs is generally poor enough to discourage their use entirely, and barkskin’s other penalties prevent it from being selected, much less used to this end. Most rangers would rather heal their animal companion with cure wounds rather than give up hunter’s mark for their animal companion to get a 16 AC.

We, of course, can fix this.

Aha! Now this is perfect for protecting quest NPCs, hirelings, or your favorite non-humanoid critters. It only works if your AC is provided by the spell, which actually allows for some funky interactions. Your AC is provided by the highest calculation, followed by bonuses. Using a shield spell is fine, but wearing chainmail would violate the barkskin’s requirement…once it actually got to 14. The way the spell works, you can hedge your bets and use another piece of armor, which takes over once you get down to a certain AC. You won’t get the resistance benefit as many times from the spell, but you might get hit less often if whatever armor you’re using as a backup proves too hard to hit.

It also ensures the ranger’s concentration doesn’t go to waste in my next adjustment!

My Version (Even Better)

I’ve been waiting ages (2 months, excuse my melodrama) to add a mechanic like this. My buddy and first DM Matt wished concentration was a thing you could choose to do, adding some additional effect in exchange for the rather punishing cost it inflicted. This was while brainstorming some number of years ago, of course. Now you can concentrate on the effect, make it better (and likely longer-lasting) while also hedging your bets, and leaving concentration open to other spells until you should reach that point. Of course, it also opens the door to losing your spell even earlier, if you’re not cautious.

I also scaled the spell upwards, improving AC as a baseline (which should have been present in the spell’s original design, how WOTC missed that no-brainer I can only speculate). Finally, I changed the AC penalty to take effect each time you resisted damage, rather than provide blanket protection until the beginning of your next turn. It’s a little more to track, but it’s only fair for a lower level spell.