I think in Kalamar there is a feat that gives you a bonus to your cover, it's treated as one step higher I think. I also think in S&F there is a feat that gives you a bonus to attack when attacking someone with cover, what is that bonus? I think it's +2. If you had both feats you could use a tower shield to provide you with a +7 cover bonus and only take -2 to your attacks. Anyone try this? Not a bad strategy I'd think although using 2 feats stinks.