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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FrogReaver" data-source="post: 8788509" data-attributes="member: 6795602">The relevant rules:Shields. A shield is made from wood or metal and is carried in one hand. Wielding a shield increases your Armor Class by 2, You can benefit from only one shield at a time.Don. This is the time it takes to put on armor. You benefit from the armor's AC only if you take the full time to don the suit of armor.Doff. This is the time it takes to take off armor. If you have help, reduce this time by half.The argument -1.  You do not benefit from the shields AC unless it was donned.2.  Wielding a shield increases your AC by 2.3.  We can thus conclude that the only way to benefit from a shields +2 AC is by wielding and donning said shield.4.  That necessitates the question what is the difference between wielding and donning?5.  My contention is that wielding a shield in 5e is done by donning it and to stop wielding a shield in 5e is by doffing it.6.  Therefore, the only way to stop wielding a shield is by doffing it.I really don't understand the notion that the 5e rules support being able to don the shield without wielding it.Fiction and RealismFictionally, one can think of a D&D shield being strapped onto your arm.  Realistically these types of shields were not typically just strapped to your arm because force (to the upper part of the shield for example) can cause them to rotate around the arm and end up out of position, becoming a hindrance more than a benefit.  One would typically strap their arm in so that there was also a handle or strap over the hand to hold on to in order to prevent the rotation of the shield around the arm.Unrealistic Combat RoundsCombat is split up in turn based order.  This means your loadout for attacking could potentially be different than your loadout for offturn defense.  The game recognizes this and puts limitations on your ability to change out equipment.  One such limitation is imposed on shields requiring them an action to equip or unequip.  This is specifically to prevent many non-genre appropriate shenanigans.</blockquote>

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