Calling All Experts: Shield Bash and Dual Shields?

[Caliban]

An interisting note tho. I have friends In the SCA and friends who used to be in the SCA and they have told me that the sword and board (shield) method is the most popular method of fighting. I haven't heard of any SCA fighter using 2 shields.

That's because in the real world, a shield lack of reach (as compared to a sword) is a real hindrance, and in the real world carrying a bulky shield on each arm would cause them to interfere with each other, or cause your arms to tire rapidly as you would have to continually hold them apart.

In real life, the close in protection of the shield, combined with the striking distance of the sword is much more effective.

This is also why in the real world, a dagger/rapier combo tends to be more flexible and effective than a paired rapier combo, because it allows you to easily strike at range and in close quarters.

The 3e rules simply don't reflect the minor nuances of real world combat techniques on that level, and thus combat styles that are almost never used in the real world can be more effective, and more common within the game.

(In the real world you would also have to deal with questions such as: How do I go to the bathroom or scratch my nose when I have a shield strapped to each arm. And how do I strap the second shield to my arm when my other hand is occupied with a shield? Do you get a hireling to follow you around and take care of these things for you? )

 

[Saeviomagy]

Doesn't the movie "the seven samurai" have a dual-shield wielding character in it? Whatever movie he was from, I thought it was pretty cool...

As for being a laughingstock... at first, yes. When he's made a name for himself, probably not - in fact his uniqueness will only add to his legend.