D&D 5E Buckler SHIELD, Weapons e Armos REMOVED

[aramis erak]

Nope, the buckler was never used for Archers , that is a fantasy and D&D concept not a historical one. The buckler was held by your hand, never strapped to your forearm. Do google search for buckler, for a real view of what a buckler really was.

Not entirely accurate. There are buckler sized shields with straps.

The buckler was often buckled on. Just not buckled to the arm. Many archers, and later, many fencers, carried one buckled to the belt. The buckle in question was on a strap which was fed through the handle.

Likewise, there is a shield traditionally used by archers from roman times onward: The Pavise. A tower shield with a kickstand. It was set, then used as a blind to fire from. Typically, it's about 4.5' to 5' tall...

Illustrations of Archers firing from behind pavises are on the Bayeux tapestry.

The problem is we don't know whether the couple of artifacts showing pre-classical earlier archers with small shields on the arm were artistic license or accurate, and the two illustrations I've seen were on pottery. Now, the greeks certainly had good imaginations, and put lots of fantasy art on their pottery.

And, it's possible with a small two-strap shield, with the hand strap close to an edge, to physically handle a bow in a manner which would allow shooting it. (My bow was stolen 3 moves ago, some 10 years ago, otherwise I'd dig out my targe and snap a photo.) The targe is also sometimes strapped to the forearm, to enable a stable hand on the dirk, as shown at http://dirkdance.tripod.com/id4.html; you can see that the knuckles are clear of the targe.

 

[Bupp]

If I were to put the buckler back into the game I'd only give it a +1 to AC as opposed to the +2 shields get, based on it's smaller size.

 

[Leatherhead]

Someone who uses a hand crossbow can also use a shield.

 

[Cannyjiggit]

Bucklers were primarily used in one hand to protect the other hand/arm whilst making a strike with a weapon and in conjunction with the weapon to make a sturdy block. During a combat, the closest part to the enemy (and therefore the easiest part for him to hit) is usually your striking hand.

The earliest reliable manuscripts we know of are called the I33 system which all depict and describe the techniques involved ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Armouries_Ms._I.33 ). Archers may have carried a buckler to switch to when they needed to fight hand to hand but it would probably be carried on a belt strap and used when needed rather than kept on the arm whilst trying to fire a bow. The buckler was also useful to be carried around town and with the right techniques was a second weapon to strike with (usually after a block and closing the distance whilst maintaining a bind with the opponents weapon).

The common misconception of bucklers being "worn" on the arm comes from larger shields requiring an arm strap to support the weight of the shield and therefore working backwards to all shields types being worn on the arm. If the shield is small/light enough then it is far more effective wielded with a "punch grip" than simply strapped to the arm like a piece of armour. Bucklers generally range from around 9" diameter to about 18" with different people preferring a different size. The smaller ones are more maneuverable and allow for much faster strikes with the weapon but require more precision and skill, the larger ones protect a larger area but require more work and time to work the weapon around them. My personal preference is for around 12" possibly rising to around 15". Beyond about 18-20", it becomes more of a shield that has to be used separate to the weapon and at that point its more about protecting a large area of the body rather than targetting the protection for the point being struck (again though, smaller shields are more maneuverable and aim to change where they are protecting to make up for protecting a smaller area). As the shield size increases, so does the weight and at some point it becomes easier to add a strap for the arm to bear the weight rather than the wrist.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

If I were to put the buckler back into the game I'd only give it a +1 to AC as opposed to the +2 shields get, based on it's smaller size.

Instead of making it armor, I would handle it as a defensive weapon. Simple, but non light. Defensive property would add +1 to AC while holding it.

The advantage of such a buckler over a shield: does not cost an action to ready, but can easily be drawn as a defensive option for a bow user, who wants to switch to a one handed weapon, like a rapier (rapier + buckler).
It would also be a great option for a user of a versatile weapon, easily allowing to switch between two handed use and single handed use, depending on situation.
Also a nice option for the two weapon fighter after taking the two weapon fighting feat.

 

[Dausuul]

Instead of making it armor, I would handle it as a defensive weapon. Simple, but non light. Defensive property would add +1 to AC while holding it.

The advantage of such a buckler over a shield: does not cost an action to ready, but can easily be drawn as a defensive option for a bow user, who wants to switch to a one handed weapon, like a rapier (rapier + buckler).
It would also be a great option for a user of a versatile weapon, easily allowing to switch between two handed use and single handed use, depending on situation.
Also a nice option for the two weapon fighter after taking the two weapon fighting feat.

I would say that the buckler grants +1 AC, and when an opponent hits you with an attack, you can use your reaction to "punch block" with the buckler for an additional +2 AC against that attack. (The punch block bonus might need to be adjusted, that would take some testing.) If you have the Defensive Duelist feat, you can combine the punch block with a parry, so you add your Dex bonus plus 2 instead of just your Dex bonus.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

If you do the punch block thing, I would maybe remove the +1 default AC bonus and mabye increase the punchblock to +3. Otherwise it is most probably better in many cases than the normal shield.

 

[Dausuul]

If you do the punch block thing, I would maybe remove the +1 default AC bonus and mabye increase the punchblock to +3. Otherwise it is most probably better in many cases than the normal shield.

The tradeoff versus a normal shield is that the buckler gives you a net +1 AC against one attack per round at the cost of expending your reaction, and a net -1 AC against all other attacks. I wouldn't take that over a normal shield most of the time.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Overall, the +1/+3 bonus when needed should be as good as the +2 all time option.