Level Up (A5E) Question on Small Creatures and Shields

[BIGTAD70]

So I'm confused on how shield categories, character size, and defensive characteristics work together. The book states that a creature one size larger than the shield was designed for treats it as a shield one degree lighter, while a creature once size smaller treats it as a shield as one step heavier.

So if I'm reading this right, for halflings and other small creatures:

Light Shield = Medium
Medium = Heavy
Heavy = Tower

And for large creatures:

Medium = Light
Heavy = Medium
Tower = Heavy

So by this rule, a halfling or gnome would never gain the benefit from a defensive(light) weapon, because no light shields exist for them.

Am I reading this right or is there a rule that I'm missing that scales the sizes of the shields for character size? For example, is there a small light shield or a large tower shield?

 

[Tessarael]

Small creatures can buy a light shield made for their size. There's no mechanical or game balance reason to not permit this, IMHO.

 

[Xathos-]

Small/medium barely makes any impact on the 5e ruleset.

 

[Morrus]

I read that rule differently.

"A creature one size category larger than the shield was designed for treats it as a shield that is one degree lighter, while a creature one size category smaller treats it as a shield that is one degree heavier."

That doesn't mean all light shields are designed for small creatures, medium shields for medium creatures, and heavy shields for large creatures. It means than you can get small, medium, and heavy shields designed for small creatures; small, medium, and heavy shields designed for medium creatures; and small, medium, and heavy shields designed for large ceatures.

So if a small creature is using a medium shield designed for small creatures, it's a medium shield. If it's using a medium shield designed for medium creatures, it treats it as a heavy shield.

The key phrase is 'was designed for'. A heavy shield can be designed for small creatures. For small creatures that's a heavy shield, as it was designed for them. For medium creatures that's a medium shield, as it was designed for small creatures.

 

[Morrus]

Small/medium barely makes any impact on the 5e ruleset.

But it does in the A5E ruleset.