Buckler Shield Bonus & Archers

[Nyarlathotep]

I've searched and found a few threads that talked about this, but I didn't see a clear consesus on it, so allow me to ask:

Does an archer wearing a buckler shield and wielding a longbow lose the shield bonus when making attacks?

Buckler: This small metal shield is worn strapped to your forearm. You can use a bow or crossbow without penalty while carrying it. You can also use your shield arm to wield a weapon (whether you are using an off-hand weapon or using your off hand to help wield a two-handed weapon), but you take a –1 penalty on attack rolls while doing so. This penalty stacks with those that may apply for fighting with your off hand and for fighting with two weapons. In any case, if you use a weapon in your off hand, you don’t get the buckler’s AC bonus for the rest of the round.

The last line says that if an archer, with a bow & buckler, would lose the shield bonus when an attack action is taken, until the beginning of the archer's next turn.

The second sentence states that it can be used with a bow/crossbow without penalty. (The arguement against this seems to be that this is in regards to the "... -1 penalty on attack rolls...").

So what do you think? Does the archer keep or lose the shield bonus when attacking with the bow?

Thanks!

 

[Peter Gibbons]

Does an archer wearing a buckler shield and wielding a longbow lose the shield bonus when making attacks?

Yes.

You can carry (not use) a buckler while using a bow or crossbow without penalty.

You can carry (not use) a buckler while wielding a weapon in the same hand, but you take a -1 penalty on attack rolls.

In either case, you do not get the buckler's AC bonus (because you're not using it, you're just carrying it).

The advantage of the buckler is that you don't have to spend a move action to "loose a shield" in order to use that hand to hold something else.