Helmets: Under-Used but Over-Important

[aramis erak]

Off-topic for the thread but I thought I'd ask the grogs with shield+weapon melee experience:
Question: Assuming a 5 second round what are your thoughts on switching between a fairly static shield-ward position where you are blocking attacks from a particular angle of attack and an active shield-parry attitude where you are using your shield to parry incoming attacks from any possible angle. Also assuming a shield that's suited to both.
1. How quickly could you switch from one to another?
2. Would you allow starting the round with a Ward, then at some point switching to active within the round?
3. Could you just decide to switch from the Ward to an active parry depending on an attack you respond to?
4. Would you allow switching from an active parry attitude to a Ward within the round?

Establishing the terms needed for this:

• Passive use of shield: The shield is held ready, you can see over it, and neither you nor your opponent are southpaws.
• Active Block: the shield stays close to the body; the arm does NOT extend towards the opponent, but merely is moved along the surface of a ovoid (limited due to arm joints and shape). the goal is simply to prevent the weapon from hitting the user by putting it in the way. Some forward extension occurs, but the shield face remains between wielder and attacker.
• Parrying: the shield is extended forward to impact the weapon closer to the wielder, if not hitting the wielder. This does, due to biomechanics, also leave the body unprotected from a wider range of angles.

the switch from passive to active blocking is nearly instant; the question is "can you see the attack."

The switch to parrying is "as fast as one can accelerate the shield, plus the needed think time" - but due to much larger movement, usually a bit slower than an active block.

It's not much different than the decision to attack with the shield. The thing is, if you parry with a shield, you have a much longer recovery time than a block. An attack is just a hair longer still...

For game purposes in a 6 sec (D&D 5E and D&D Cyclopedia standard) combat round, active parrying would require an attack, and would be (quite literally) attacking the weapon or the arm wielding it.
(Yes, it is possible to parry an armed attack without using a weapon in real life... I've done so. It's literally just attacking the wielder's arm. if you screw up, however...)

I have allowed switching occasionally when running D&D, but the switch from passive block or active block to parry has also been "no AC bonus rest of the round"...

That said, the AC bonus really is presuming active blocking, just doing it poorly. And I do use Cyclopedia's Weapon Mastery rules when I run Cyclopedia.

 

[aramis erak]

This thread has me thinking of two house rules for helmets. I'm not going for full-real-life, just enough to add more grit to systems that give a nod to shields but not to helmets:

- Add a hit location die to attack rolls. [snip]

- Helmets provide overall protection (damage reduction or AC), and provide the same amount of penalty on attack and defense rolls.

The second is decent enough an idea. It's simple enough, and it's not that unrealistic, while not breaking the game math, but...
the first point of AC shouldn't actually cost an attack or defense rolls penalty. Nor should it provide a penalty to Notice rolls. That's because it should be for either skullcap "helmets" ala the one in Excalibur, or english doughboys, which go back to the War of the Roses and before, as archer's helmets.
A bascinet or other open faced but ear covering is where most of the head gets covered, and really, only saves and notice should be penalized.
The best helms are closed face, and those impinge attacks, defenses, and notice
Whether or not a fourth level belongs between the open face and great helms is arguable even amongst scholars and reenactors, and would be the visored close fit helms. I'd not include it because it's one step too many.

So, what I'd suggest is:
No helm/hood: -1 AC
Skullcaps, or metal/rigid leathers hats: +0 AC
Open faced helms or Coif: +1 AC, -1 Attacks, -1 saving throws on Dex, -1 Notice
Closed face helms: +2 AC, -2 Attacks, -2 Dex Saves, -2 Notice
Note that many helms have really good visibility, but they all impinge severely upon hearing.