Shield spell when grappling

[0-hr]

We had a gnomish wizard get grappled by a troll last night and hit a snag when I tried to figure out what good (if any) the wizard's shield spell would be after the troll had closed.

For shield spells, we put a little marker on the side (or corner) of the square to denote the plane of protection. Since the troll was technically in the square with the wizard, none of her attacks went through that plane, and so I rules that the shield spell was pretty much useless.

Though the gnome is dead and buried at this point, I'm curious to know if that ruling was correct by the book.

 

[Antikinesis]

How I see it...

The shield spell doesn't have any range affects other than "personal". The invisible floating disc in front of the character isn't necessarily 2.5 feet away, and a grappled player still gets the bonus from a "normal" (non-magical) shield.

If'n it was me, I would have ruled that the invisible floating disc was still hovering around between the grappling combatants, intercepting attacks from the troll (assuming the gnome oriented the shield in that direction).

Just my 2 cents worth.

-AK

 

[AuraSeer]

I'd agree with the original ruling, that the Shield does not protect. Since it's a cover bonus, I visualize the disc as being a foot or two from the character; if it were very close to his body, it'd be armor.

IMO the spell wouldn't protect against anything in the same square, whether that happens because of a grapple, a bull rush, or melee with a belligerent pixie. The rules say nothing about it, though, so I could see an argument for either way.

 

[Stalker0]

I also think your ruling was right Ki, shield is powerful enough as is it, no reason it should help against grappling. However, I would say it helps against the touch attack to start the grapple, if its oriented right.

 

[bertman4]

I'd agree with the original ruling, that the Shield does not protect. Since it's a cover bonus, I visualize the disc as being a foot or two from the character; if it were very close to his body, it'd be armor.

So a character flat up against a wall hiding from the orc on the other side of the wall has armor bonus? How far from you shouldn't figure into the equation for cover bonus. Just how much of your body is completely shielded from the attack.

Bertman