Pathfinder 1E Missile shield question?

[DarkLord Of DForce]

Hi. Just recently started playing Pathfinder (coming from 4e), and I had a question about the feat
Missile Shield.

I think I've got most nuances of it down pat, but what I was wondering was, since when it's used
it does not cause a "miss", but rather deflects the "hit", does it therefore negate a critical hit?

The wording would seem to imply it does, since it does not deny a hit.

Thanks!

 

[Zil]

Yes, as written it should deflect all of the damage from the attack, including any damage associated with a critical hit.

 

[GMMichael]

Welcome to the Last Great D&D Version (for requiring lots of arithmetic and awkward level scaling)!

Zil has the right answer for you. But I have some deeper advice:

Don't allow Missile Shield, and don't allow Deflect Arrow. If you do, you might as well create Sword Shield and Two-Handed Missile Defense as well - because feats like Missile Shield serve only to undermine the Armor Class system, and alienate characters who aren't using a shield.

One of the great things about d20 System (3rd ed, Pathfinder) is that it sports an open license for anyone to use its content. That resulted in a tidal wave of cool material to use. Unfortunately, that license did not also come with design guidance, so anyone (qualified or not) could write new components that didn't fit well in the original vision of the game.

Sort of like driver's licenses...

 

[DarkLord Of DForce]

Hmm, another question - what about ranged touch attacks? I wouldn't
think it would work against those but does it? Thanks gang.

 

[Ramaster]

Hmm, another question - what about ranged touch attacks? I wouldn't
think it would work against those but does it? Thanks gang.

Actually, there's a separate feat for that:

www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/ray-shield-combat

 

[DarkLord Of DForce]

Ah, okay - see it now. Thanks.

Hmm, another odd thought just crossed my mind. Can you use Missile Shield on your own turn, or does it have to be off turn?

For example, lets say you take a move action and during your move action a monster npc has a readied action, triggering on
your movement, and attacks/hits you. Would MS stop it? (assuming it is a ranged attack, you see it coming, etc).

Thanks again.

 

[Ramaster]

Missile Shield says that it works like Deflect Arrows. DA doesn't take an action, it is just restricted to one per round. So I'll say yes, by RAW and RAI. You just can't deflect another one until the start of the next round

 

[DarkLord Of DForce]

Yet another question...

This came up in a conversation with some other players. Missile Shield says you have to be "aware" of
the attack for it to work. One guy said that therefore, an archer shooting at you from behind would get
around Missile Shield.

I don't believe that it works like that. Ambush, where you are caught flat-footed? Sure. But in the middle
of combat, D&D has always assumed that players are in a combat/defensive stance inside of their 5 foot
square, tensed up, adrenaline flowing, aware of the battlefield around them. Otherwise, how can you get
an opportunity attack against someone behind you?

Any thoughts on this are are appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Ramaster]

There are no "facing" rules in PF. By RAW, you are aware of all the attacks made against you unless otherwise specified (the enemy is hidden from you, for example).

So unless you want to make a house rule, this is how it is played.