TOPIC: Paladin Guard vs Dwarf Fighter Taunt

We were talking last night about one of the rooms with our Paladin who is guarding the Fighter and Dwarf Fighter.

Dwarf fighter taunts - the GM says the taunts over rides the Paladin's guard and the monster directly attacks the Dwarf Fighter as if there was no guard. There were some discussions but it didn't really matter to us, the creature was dead next round. However, I have never heard that taunt overrides guard, I checked the DM guide and nothing there reflects that taunt overrides guard. This was a first heard for us. Therefore, my question is:

Does taunting override the Paladin's guard and the person that is being guarded can be directly attacked?

After all the years of playing we were a little confused by this situation.

It's in the players handbook, not the DM guide

Usually the Pali willl guard the weaker ones and not the stronger ones. First I’ve heard of this situation.

I think the Pali should have been hit instead .

Pali guard doesn't cause the monster to attack the Pali the Pali intercepts the melee attack if the attack isn't melee and they have some other option then the pali couldn't guard the dwarf. Otherwise the Pali is able to intercept the attack.

James J Krot wrote: Pali guard doesn't cause the monster to attack the Pali the Pali intercepts the melee attack if the attack isn't melee and they have some other option then the pali couldn't guard the dwarf. Otherwise the Pali is able to intercept the attack.

Yes we know that. The question was the the taunt from the dwarf fighter over rides the Pali's guard?

Based on the feedback it is in the Player's Handbook! Thanks!

As guarding the weaker classes - the Fighter and Dwarf Fighter AC are LOW but they hit like trucks (+26 - 30 to hit and +27 - 32) and since they have low AC the DM ALWAYS attacks them first only to find out that the Pali has a 59 AC.

Cheers,
Ed

For reference, now that I'm on a real computer, PHB, page 14, 17, and 21:

If a paladin is guarding a character that uses taunt,
taunt overrides guard. I.e., the taunted attack is not
redirected to the paladin.

That's surprising, I would have ruled differently, and in fact I think I did in Grind at GenCon. Now I know.

Had a combat dm rule taunt resulted in no restribution damage if you were hit. That was a new one for me.

edwin wrote: Had a combat dm rule taunt resulted in no retribution damage if you were hit. That was a new one for me.

I'm fairly sure that isn't correct given the number of builds built specifically around it.

Officially Speaking: Taunt does not negate RD.

It irks me when DMs/coaches just make 💩 up.

Druegar wrote: Officially Speaking: Taunt does not negate RD.

It irks me when DMs/coaches just make 💩 up.

Thank you for the clarification.

One build that I am consider running each year is RoSP Bard, crown of expertise, ring of spell storing, carter's tome and casting Taunt during the run. The build would also have a low ac and high hit points with 20+ retribution damage.

edwin wrote:

Druegar wrote: Officially Speaking: Taunt does not negate RD.

It irks me when DMs/coaches just make 💩 up.

Thank you for the clarification.

One build that I am consider running each year is RoSP Bard, crown of expertise, ring of spell storing, carter's tome and casting Taunt during the run. The build would also have a low ac and high hit points with 20+ retribution damage.

I ran that exact build on our GT run. It was a blast, despite never getting attacked because we were one shotting monsters.