10 Most Frustrating Spells For Dungeon Masters
5. Shield
One huge downside of being a spellcaster is a paltry armor class. Simply put, if you aren't taking specific feats to help with this, you wind up being exceptionally easy to hit with lower hit points than virtually anyone else in the game. Attacking the wizard or sorcerer is a cause for extreme concern, because players know they're living on borrowed time.
As such, its almost impossible to create one of these characters without taking the Shied spell. With a simple reaction, the defense of a spellcaster is increased by 5 with only a first-level spell. All that planning and moving of forces to get at the heavy magic user at the back is negated when their armor winds up rivaling the burly Fighter in front wearing plate mail.
Its low cost and duration (the rest of an entire round of combat) means that one of the glaring vulnerabilities of a class is made inconsequential by this ability. Ask any set of Dungeon Masters and they'll be sure to regale you of the innumerable times in which they nearly laid a Wizard low, only to be foiled by this simple spell over and over again.