Shield Cloak

[apesamongus]

I know there is a mundane item that functions something like this, but I'm thinking more of an enchantment that can be added to any cloak...

Cloakshield - +1 bonus
A cloakshield enchantment can be added to a cloak to allow it to be wielded as a shield. A wearer with a free hand can gain a shield bonus from his cloak. The wearer must be proficient in shields to gain this benefit, but suffers none of the other drawbacks of using a shield. The cloak provides no natural shield bonus, so must be enchanted with an enhancement bonus to be effective.

It seems fine to me at +1, but it does break the general rule that an item must have a +1 enhancement before plus equivalent abilities are added - and adding a plus enhancement before this enchantment doesn't seem appropriate. I also thought of making it a flat +4000GP, but I like the idea of a plus equivalent making it more expensive than an actual shield with the same bonus would be. I'm also considering a +2 equivalence since this is essentially a potential AC bonus that some character types just wouldn't get at all or would only get with temporary spells.

 

[Thanee]

Technically, you could just enchant a cloak with a shield bonus, I guess, and say - for flavor reasons -, that the cloak has to be held in hand to utilize the bonus, which would work just like what you say minus the requirement for being proficient with shields, which doesn't make a difference, anyways, since without any armor check penalty, there is no need for proficiency, as it has no effect whatsoever if you are not proficient then.

Bye
Thanee

 

[apesamongus]

You know, I really thought I posted this in House Rules, but I guess I messed up. But, to get it on topic for this forum...

Does what you suggest actually work? I mean, usually, you don't enchant something with a shield bonus, you enchant it with an enhancement bonus to it's already existing shield bonus. I suppose you could use the
AC bonus (other)1 Bonus squared x 2,500 gp
line, but that seems like a stretch given that it lists potential bonus types and shield isn't one or them. Although, that would solve my issue of wanting it to be more expensive (2.5X as much) than a comperable normal shield.
Is there any official example of an item enchanted with a shield bonus like this?

 

[Daermon]

Honestly?

This is just completely wonky.

I mean, it's a cloak that can be used as a shield, right? Well, that's cool, especially for a swashbuckling campaign. But I don't think it's +2 cool or anything like that.

Why not just make it a specialized kind of weighted cloak? Or a Feat?

Something like :

Shield Cloak +1 AC Weight 3 lbs Cost +50/75 gp

Or:

Cloak Shield
Prerequisites: Shield Proficiency
As long as you are not wearing a shield or carrying anything in your off-hand, you may use your cloak as a shield. The cloak acts in all ways as a buckler appropriate to your size, but otherwise confers no other benefits. Once you have learned this feat, you may increase your cloak's AC bonus using magic, provided the cloak is at least masterwork quality.

Special: A fighter may take Cloak Shield as one of his bonus feats.

 

[Thanee]

Is there any official example of an item enchanted with a shield bonus like this?

Well, bracers of armor and force shield ring would be close enough, I guess, both do not enhance a physical armor or shield and rather provide the armor/shield bonus as is.

Shield bonus is missing in the table, but should obviously be priced just like an armor bonus.

Bye
Thanee

 

[apesamongus]

Honestly?

This is just completely wonky.

I mean, it's a cloak that can be used as a shield, right? Well, that's cool, especially for a swashbuckling campaign. But I don't think it's +2 cool or anything like that.

Why not just make it a specialized kind of weighted cloak? Or a Feat?

Something like :

Shield Cloak +1 AC Weight 3 lbs Cost +50/75 gp

Well, there is a cloak like that, but it counts as actually using a shield, so it would interfere with class abilities that forbid shields. You say yourself that it's swashbuckling, which is what I was thinking, but the item actually would mess with a duelist's canny defense ability, and that's one of the classes most likely tyo buckle a swash.

That's actually what made me look for a magic version, so it would balance the added utility of not counting as wearing a shield. That's what the actual power is, not that it looks like a cloak, but that you're basically using a shield when you wouldn't normally be able to. That'a actually a significant advantage for several classes (potentially an extra 5 AC for a monk, for instance)

Of course, all that assumes that a force ring causes the same problems - which is how I read the description - otherwise, there is no need, and this item is just a different flavor on that item.

 

[apesamongus]

Shield bonus is missing in the table, but should obviously be priced just like an armor bonus.

Look at the force ring pricing again, the cost of a shield bonus is over double what the armor bonus from the bracers costs (8500 for +2 shield vs 4000 for +2 bracers). Really, the bracers are priced as an item with a natural armor bonus of 0 and adding an enhancement bonus, just like enchanting normal clothing is priced. While the shield bonus for the ring is something else entirely (hard to tell given that it's only available as a +2).

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

The Gnomish Battle Cloak from Races of Stone gives a +1 shield bonus to AC. It's an exotic shield, but your DM will probably let you use the suggested rule of swapping tower shield proficiency for it (if you've got that, of course).

 

[apesamongus]

The Gnomish Battle Cloak from Races of Stone gives a +1 shield bonus to AC. It's an exotic shield, but your DM will probably let you use the suggested rule of swapping tower shield proficiency for it (if you've got that, of course).

Yea, that's the one I don't want to use, because it sucks for duelists.

 

[Thanee]

Look at the force ring pricing again, the cost of a shield bonus is over double what the armor bonus from the bracers costs (8500 for +2 shield vs 4000 for +2 bracers). Really, the bracers are priced as an item with a natural armor bonus of 0 and adding an enhancement bonus, just like enchanting normal clothing is priced. While the shield bonus for the ring is something else entirely (hard to tell given that it's only available as a +2).

Yes, that's the problem with the force shield ring, you really don't know what exactly you are paying for there.

They really should have included pricing reasons with every non-standard cost item...

Could be, that what you said, the "enchanting normal clothing" only works with armor bonus, but in general I think of armor and shield bonus as pretty equal in terms of cost.

Speaking of power... try comparing the +X swashbuckling cloak to a +X mithril buckler. Both have no penalties and do not (technically) require any proficiency, the buckler even has a one higher shield bonus (for a 1,165 gp higher cost, which is fairly cheap, once you go higher than +1).

Bye
Thanee