Can you shoot a bow and wear a shield at the same time?

[Jester David]

Unless it's strapped to your back (which is still likely to make things difficult) NO, it's not possible to carry a shield on one arm and fire a bow and arrow at the same time with any accuracy. All I can say to anyone who disagrees is go give it a try and get back to me.

Just wondering. The subject of the sentence was vague and I just wanted a clarification.
I agree.

 

[Lanliss]

Unless it's strapped to your back (which is still likely to make things difficult) NO, it's not possible to carry a shield on one arm and fire a bow and arrow at the same time with any accuracy. All I can say to anyone who disagrees is go give it a try and get back to me.

Considering it is a game of Magic and Miracles, where Herculean feats of strength happen every day, I do not think it would be unreasonable, as long as it met the previously listed requirements of leaving both hands open. I do not doubt that it is next to impossible in the real world though.

 

[PnPgamer]

No. You should smack him with a trout.

 

[Li Shenron]

I'm in playing D&D game at a comic book store and one of our players is wearing a shield while simultaneously shooting a longbow, but wouldn't that weigh your arm down while you shoot?

Ouch... that kind of question can get you down a long path of useless discussions about "realism".

I can only tell you that in general my ruling on shields has always been "if you use a shield, one of your hands is permanently allocated to it", and thus you cannot use 2-handed weapons including bows and crossbows (except hand crossbows). End of discussion at my table.

 

[delericho]

By raw, no. A bow requires two hands, just like a greatsword.

This. Unless the character has more than two hands, he can't use both a bow and a shield.

by RAW, not even with a handcross you can use a shield, since "Loading a onehanded weapon requires a free hand.".

Surely in that case he can use it, he just can't reload it?

 

[strider13x]

No. You should smack him with a trout.

Salmon would work just as well.

I would say a shield could be "worn" (as in you do not have to drop the item), but you gain no AC benefit on the round the bow was used.

 

[Noctem]

Surely in that case he can use it, he just can't reload it?

Correct. You can fire it but not reload as long as you don't have a free hand. It does allow for things like starting combat, shooting the hand crossbow, dropping it, drawing your melee weapon as part of an attack you make and then continuing along for example.

 

[zaratan]

Surely in that case he can use it, he just can't reload it?

He can carry more than one repeater crossbow too. But if the DM doesn't allow repeater crossbow, he can carry a bag with lot hand crossbows and only shoot one time per round. Shoot, drop, catch another, repeat in the next round.

a hand crossbow weighs 3 lbs, a guy with strength 10 could carry 50, lol.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Riiight. You put even 5 mediaeval crossbows into a sack, loaded and under tension. Now carry it around for a bit, then try reaching in there and grabbing one out in 4 seconds or so ready to use. Bearing in mind that trigger guards and safeties weren't generally around then.

As to the original question: Think of how much strength is required to use a warbow; not just to draw it, but to keep it steady when drawn to aim. Now consider doing that with a weight strapped to your aiming arm and holding the shield handle as well as the bow in your hand.

 

[GMMichael]

Lars Andersen could use a shield and shoot.

Which arm, while we're on the subject, would be wearing said shield? A shield on the drawing arm might slow down your reloading, but let me check my SRD...