Hi. We've had an interesting question pop up regarding the use of the shield spell. Last night, this happened:
Scene: Sorcerer is in the center square of a map. To the north, south, east and west he has opponents. That leaves NW, NE, SW, SE spaces open. He has shield spell running, oriented along the east-west axis to protect him from the opponent in the north space.
It's his turn and he decides to run for it. Using a free action, he reorients the sheild diagonally along the NW-SE line. In his current position, that would protect him from the opponents to the north and east. He runs SW. Now, since he is only running away, the space he starts on (the center space) is considered not threatened, so no AOO. He is now on the SW space. The shield is still oriented on the NW-SE line, so now, in addition to protecting him from the attackers on the North and East space, he is also protected from the attackers on West and South. (You may have to draw this one out).
Now, according to sage advise, (and the PHb), the shield spell provides enough cover that your opponents cannot take an AOO if the shield protects you from them. So, the sorcerer can continue his run without fear of taking an AOO from any of his opponents. He continues to move SW and gets back 30' at which time he casts Ice Storm and kills all four of his opponents.
Two questions. First, does this assessment seem correct? Second, does this seem excessive for a first level spell? The shield spell lasts 1 min/level (basically the entire battle), protects against AOO's, adds 7 to your AC, protects from magic missile and can be oriented in any direction the caster wants. Wow. We've been thinking of getting rid of the protection against AOO's. Have any of you done this? How did it work out?
Thanks...
Scene: Sorcerer is in the center square of a map. To the north, south, east and west he has opponents. That leaves NW, NE, SW, SE spaces open. He has shield spell running, oriented along the east-west axis to protect him from the opponent in the north space.
It's his turn and he decides to run for it. Using a free action, he reorients the sheild diagonally along the NW-SE line. In his current position, that would protect him from the opponents to the north and east. He runs SW. Now, since he is only running away, the space he starts on (the center space) is considered not threatened, so no AOO. He is now on the SW space. The shield is still oriented on the NW-SE line, so now, in addition to protecting him from the attackers on the North and East space, he is also protected from the attackers on West and South. (You may have to draw this one out).
Now, according to sage advise, (and the PHb), the shield spell provides enough cover that your opponents cannot take an AOO if the shield protects you from them. So, the sorcerer can continue his run without fear of taking an AOO from any of his opponents. He continues to move SW and gets back 30' at which time he casts Ice Storm and kills all four of his opponents.
Two questions. First, does this assessment seem correct? Second, does this seem excessive for a first level spell? The shield spell lasts 1 min/level (basically the entire battle), protects against AOO's, adds 7 to your AC, protects from magic missile and can be oriented in any direction the caster wants. Wow. We've been thinking of getting rid of the protection against AOO's. Have any of you done this? How did it work out?
Thanks...
