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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Li Shenron" data-source="post: 6921352" data-attributes="member: 1465">Partial cover helps against effects that use an attack roll or require a Dex saving throws.Total cover simply makes you non-targettable, a spell's area of effects does not extend beyond total cover.You can get total cover from an obstacle that you can be completely behind, but it is not guaranteed. Don't think that just because you can dock and shrink behind a shield or a tree trunk, that this gives you the rights to declare so and pretend you have total cover. You are still in combat, where everything happens simultaneously, so it's always up to the DM to decide if you have the time and circumstances for such a large benefit from a minimal opportunity. If you're the DM and the player asks for it, just make him think what it would mean... how long does it take to really duck properly behind an obstacle so that not even an inch of you is visible, and what does it mean in terms of your posture: are you still capable of defending yourself if someone attacks you in the meantime? Are you truly able to get up and back to full-effective fighting in no time?In addition, from the game rules point of view consider that in past editions there were shields specifically designed to provide cover (tower shields), which means that regular shields are not supposed to technically grant cover. All their benefits are already accounted for in their AC bonus. This is how shields are supposed to work in combat, where everybody is moving around and you have to defend yourself from all directions. Then if you want to use a shield out of combat to cover yourself, the DM has to figure something out. You can also decide to do something like that in combat, but personally I'd tell you that you are willingly giving up the rules of combat for a round or two, so you'll have to pay for it in some other way (perhaps you cannot take any other action until you spend one to get out of docking, and while docking you have AC 0 from other sides because you're not defending yourself).</blockquote>

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