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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 318663" data-attributes="member: 99">Thanks for your continued support, reapersaurus.  I'm well aware that this guy is not going to be the nastiest combat machine to ever roll down the pike.  When I talk about being a "powergamer", I mean in the sense that once I pick a certain speciality for a character, I look for ways to make him very good at what he does.We have a smaller than average party (as per usual) with only three characters so it is important that this guy be able to be flexible in what role he fills.  Flexibility is (ironically) his speciality.  He will be able to fight passably well but I'll leave the worst of that to the Paladin.  He will principally be the party cleric with perhaps a slightly greater emphasis on buffing (since he'll want to buff himself to be a better fighter) than usual.  He will be the party woodsman too, able to track and find water and shelter with his Wilderness Lore skill.  He will also be the designated guard for the party Wizard, who last I heard was going with a 10 Dex.  I'm hoping the Bull Rush effect from my shield bashes will be able to keep the bad guys at bay while the Wizard casts spells or otherwise flees beyond reach of the enemy.When it comes to fighting, I have lots of options.  I can bash with both shields or keep one in reserve for defense.  I can raise or lower my AC slightly depending on whether I bash with the large or small shield.  Once I get Shield Charge (at 3rd level) I will have the option to open the combat with a charge and perhaps get another charge or two in later, so long as I don't leave the Wizard's cheese out in the wind.But the good thing is that the character is not totally married to the "shield fighting" style.  Obviously, first pick of magic weapons should go to our party Paladin but if I find a juicy mace or sword or axe (remember I'm proficient in martial weapons since I started life as a Ranger), I can use a weapon in one hand and a shield in the other.  Two Weapon Fighting still lets me bash if I want to (albiet at a rather low AC).As I rise in level and get access to better spells (Brambles at 4th and Spikes at 6th), my shields will become better weapons and I will have other spells to raise my combat efficacy.  In short, I'm excited about playing the character because he will be very versitile.  But his personality should be no less interesting and the campaign premise should offer lots of great roleplaying opportunities.Now, one final rules question:One can "ready" or "loose" a shield as a MEA.  In fact, both are listed as the type of actions one can take for free during a normal move if you have at least a +1 BAB (which I won't until 2nd level).  What exactly do the terms "ready" and "loose" mean to you?  Here's what I think I can do:I am fighting a bad guy using both my shields.  20 feet away is our party Wizard.  He gets hit with an enemy crossbow bolt and goes down like a sack of potatoes (I virtually guarantee this will happen in the early days of this campaign).  I want to go heal the wizard.So I break contact with my foe (drawing an AoO, but dem's da breaks) and move over to the fallen Wizard.  As I move, I "loose" my shield (to me, this means I take it off my arm but I still have it on my person).  Upon arrival at the Wizard, I have a free hand and cast Cure Light Wounds.  The Wizard's eyes flutter open and he knows that he will live to cower at the rear for another day.On my next turn, I want to re-engage the bad guy I was fighting before (let's assume that he's right where I left him).  I move 20' back to him and as I go, I "ready" the same shield that I previously "loosed" and by the time I arrive at the bad guy, I can bash him with that shield if I want to.Is that the same interpretation that you guys have?</blockquote>

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