Crazy Question On Shields


log in or register to remove this ad

werk said:
SO to pursue that, could you have a shield with magic spikes instead?

Yep.

Or, rather, what you'd have is an unenhanced masterwork steel small spiked shield that is a +5 flaming, shocking, frost, keen weapon. It would not provide any additional bonus to your AC, however.

EDITED:

Good point, I2K.
 
Last edited:

There is no separation from the spikes and the shield. A spiked shield is a spiked shield. It is not a shield with spikes. This may sound pedantic, but it means that you do not need to spend +300gp on the spikes. It also means that the masterwork enhancement bonus on the shield does not give you +1 on attack rolls on a spiked shield.

Not that if you say that you add masterwork spikes to a masterwork shield, spending 159 for the shield portion and 310 for the spikes portion, the masterwork bonus on the spikes would suddenly become useless because of this quote:

"An enhancement bonus on a spiked shield does not improve the effectiveness of a shield bash made with it, but a spiked shield can be made into a magic weapon in its own right."

Note that the spiked shield can be made into a weapon, not that the spikes can be made into a weapon.
 

Pinotage said:
There's some debate about whether you can even use two shields given that the description states that a shield bash is an 'offhand' attack. [my emphasis - IR]
[mandatory nitpick]The description states no such thing. The description states that you can bash an opponent with a shield, using it as an off-hand weapon. (Not that you can't bash an opponent with a shield, using it as a primary weapon.)[/nitpick]
 

Infiniti2000 said:
There is no separation from the spikes and the shield. A spiked shield is a spiked shield. It is not a shield with spikes. This may sound pedantic, but it means that you do not need to spend +300gp on the spikes. It also means that the masterwork enhancement bonus on the shield does not give you +1 on attack rolls on a spiked shield.

Not that if you say that you add masterwork spikes to a masterwork shield, spending 159 for the shield portion and 310 for the spikes portion, the masterwork bonus on the spikes would suddenly become useless because of this quote:

"An enhancement bonus on a spiked shield does not improve the effectiveness of a shield bash made with it, but a spiked shield can be made into a magic weapon in its own right."

Note that the spiked shield can be made into a weapon, not that the spikes can be made into a weapon.


So, can you take a +5 shield, add spikes to it, and would it still be a +5 to AC, or then a +5 to hit? Also, if it was +5 before.. could you keep it as +5 ac, and add enhanced shield spikes (meaning they're enhanced before being applied to the shield)? For example:

I take my +5 shield to the local mage, along with some masterwork spikes.
Can he make the spikes.. say, +5 defending? Or +2 flaming? Or any such..
And then add it to the shield? So, I'd end up with...

+5 defending spiked heavy steel shield +5? I'm very confused lol.
 

werk said:
That's what I was going to say, aren't the spikes the weapon?

We've always played that they are basically two separate items.

No. The spiked shield is the weapon.

Notice that you quoted from the definition of armor spikes (which are treated separately), not shield spikes.

-Hyp.
 

As long as we're at this......

Let's say you have a Hvy Mithral Shield +5. You add an enhancement bonus as a weapon, say +5, and you add the Defending property -- total weapon enhancement of +6.

This shield could give you a +12 bonus (shield + unnamed) to AC, and cost (1,170gp+25,000gp+72,000gp =) 98,170gp.

Let's futher complicate this by saying the PC with the shield does not have another weapon (or shield) in hand, and has no proficiency (or feats associated) with a shield.

Can such a character benefit from the total +12 AC bonus?
 


And can you take Weapon Focus (Shield) or would you have to take Weapon Focus (Light Shield) and Weapon Focus (Heavy Shield) if you were to have one of each?
 

Hypersmurf said:
Absolutely. He'll take the penalties associated with non-proficiency, but for a mithral shield, that's zero anyway.

-Hyp.

And if he has a weapon on the other hand, would he be taking 2wf penalties? I suppose a related question would be: how does defending armor spikes work?


Hrm. A caster can use a defending weapon, a defending spiked shield, plus defending spiked armor, all at the same time...

Aha. A hydra with a defending necklace of natural weapons. Bloody expensive, but AC will be through the roof.
 
Last edited:

Pets & Sidekicks

Remove ads

Top