As always, thanks for your comments.
Nifft said:
Yay! I feared I was the only one on these boards acquainted with them.

The world presented is 1/3 of the basis for my homebrew world.
Anyway, my final thoughts:
1) D&D already has a mechanic for avoiding damage -- high AC. Don't add a new roll to combat, tie Blocking into AC somehow.
2) Make sure that the Block mechanic is limited to a few times per round, or only against a single opponent per round (like Dodge). It should NOT be an effective tactic against multiple foes.
N
Re 1), I’ve mentioned above the difficulty in creating a “balanced” AC adjustment – it’s not as easy / accurate / precise as you might think. Check up the page a little bit - if you don't understand or disagree with my reasoning in that post, let's discuss!
Re 2), I hate to endanger the good feelings we have regarding the Nifft stories

, but the feat is explicitly limited to once per round, in order to make it not effective against multiple foes, per my original post.
Final thoughts? Are you abandoning me now, Nifft?
Spyritwind said:
1) The discrepancy is more evident at low levels where most campaigns and npc's live, but at higher levels the one with a weapon and a magic shield will start to break even, or even surpass the two handed weapon fighter.
2) If you want to implement a new game mechanic requiring a die roll because you think it adds some thing strategicly to the game that is one thing, but if you are just looking to balance things out more between party members I would just add +1 AC to shields making them slightly more effective.
3) The other consideration is that not all people of the world have a strength of 16-20. Take two 1st or 2nd level fighters with strengths between 10-14 and see if the discrepancy is as great.
Granted, A level 4 fighter with weapon spec., an 18 str and power attack with a gs can unleash hell ... if they hit.
4) Also consider the dodge feat. Any one can take it and it doesn't require a shield to use. In fact ... the great sword wielding character can take it. This thought is off the cuff, but if you want a feat 'shield blocking' perhaps it could allow you to have a +2 AC vs. a single target. It is better than dodge in one respect, but it has draw backs. One, it forces you to use a shield and it doesn't help you climb the feat tree to mobility, spring attack, etc. Just a thought.
A few thoughts here, Spyritwind. I’ve numbered your main points for easy reference.
Re 1), Is that really your experience? In my experience, as a party increases in levels, the attack bonuses of enemies advance faster than the party’s AC. As such, the party gets easier and easier to hit (though they have more HP), and AC matters less. As such, the damage that characters deal while taking the damage becomes more important, making GS even more superior comparatively. Interesting that you’ve had different experiences!
Re 2), a straight AC bump doesn’t capture what I really want to get at. All an AC bonus does is make the LSS against numerous weak foes, where it is already an okay choice, but does little to address the broader concern, which is LSS greater inferiority vs. stronger foes.
Re 3), Believe it or not, lower strength shifts the balance MORE in the GS favor. Why? At baseline (no STR bonus), the GS does 2d6=7+2x power attack. The LSS does d8=4.5(ish)+1x power attack. So, with 0 PA, comparison is 7 to 4.5, and with 5 PA, comparison is 17 to 9.5 – ratios of 1.6x and 1.8x. At an 18 strength with specialization, however, the numbers increase to 2d6+4*1.5+2 = 15 for GS vs. d8+4+2 = 10.5 for LSS. With 5 PA, comparison is 25 to 15.5. These ratios are 1.4x and 1.6x. So, believe it or not, the damage ratio goes MORE in favor of the GS at 10 str vs. 18 str by 0.2x.
Re 4), don’t you have to have a 13 dex to take dodge? If so, not everybody can take it, right?
Wow, thanks for the thoughtfulness in your reply! I appreciate it.
Scion said:
My suggestions:
Change expertise to give +2 ac for each -1 to attack while dual wielding or a weapon and sheild (only if sheild is held, not animated.. hey, if they make animated shields still cause spell failure then I'm not going to let those useing animated shields gain any beanies either)
Expert sheild use (feat): give up one point of ac from your shield bonus (carried/equiped shields only) to gain +1 to attack for the round. Max of 3 points transfered per round.
The first one parallels power attack nicely, although perhaps not quite as useful it is still very nice. Plus, with sword and board the character is probably mainly going for ac anyway. Maybe it will fix most of the problem?
Well, this is like the dodge thing above – doesn’t expertise require a 13 INT? I’m looking to make the STYLE comparatively better – not just make characters with a 13 dex or 13 int better able to use the style. Is this a failure on my part?
Thanks again for the feedback, guys. Keep it coming!