D&D 5E Shields

[Falling Icicle]

But not on swimming? What about climbing, crawling and jumping?

That would make more sense, but I was just following the existing armor format.

 

[Bluenose]

But not on swimming? What about climbing, crawling and jumping?

Shields float (unless they're all-metal, which is only the case for small ones). They're quite a nice bouyancy aid. Maybe they should give advantage when swimming.

Climbing is a different matter, as they use one of your hands> I can only see climbing with the shield slung on your back. Crawling - I can imagine a technique that might work, but haven't tested it. Jumping is probably affected by the weight and probably balance problems. Which makes me think that Balance (if it's a separate skill) would also be affected by having a shield ready.

 

[Gorgoroth]

Even if your right arm is carrying something substantially heavier than your left, you can still compensate...have you never ridden a bike with a 24 in your hand?

ahh good times

I didn't realize about the wooden shield part, that's a good reason to use them I guess. I would totally house rule that if I were DMing. Secret boon to druids! although to be fair, druids would probably just turn into a fish if they're about to drown (unless they're out of wild shapes)

 

[sheadunne]

Personally I would like shields to do something different than armor, since using a shield is active rather than passive (like armor). I'm not sure what that would be, but a +1 or +2 AC bonus has never sat right with me.

Attacking with a shield can be very effective, at least if you're a Spartan (Sparta!). They made good use of their shields. I'm on the fence about the give up Shield AC to attack. If the damage is too low or the penalties are too high, why bother with the attack. Shouldn't there also be bonuses to Bull Rush someone with a large shield?

Anyway, I'd like something more dynamic with shields.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Shields should grant +10 movement when surfing them down stairs.

Just sayin'.

 

[DogBackward]

Personally I would like shields to do something different than armor, since using a shield is active rather than passive (like armor). I'm not sure what that would be, but a +1 or +2 AC bonus has never sat right with me.

Well... yes and no. Shields are used very actively by people who really know how to use them... as in, people who take the feats to gain special benefits with the shield. But a shield is also a large chunk of material sitting between you and your enemy. So even if you don't know exactly where to put it, it's still blocking some attacks and limiting which parts of you your enemy can strike.

I think the current method works well for this: those who aren't specialized just hold the shield like a lump of mobile cover, so it grants a small bonus to AC. People who have truly trained to make the best use of a shield spend feats to gain better abilities to use with shields. Works just fine.

 

[Blackwarder]

Considering that we already got parry in the game, how about we make shields an active mechanic, either DR or AC boost for X number of attacks, I'm leaning more toward DR than AC boost.

So a buckler will let you subtract 1d4 points of damage from one attacks, a medium shield will let you subtract 2d4 from two attacks and a tower shield will let you subtract 3d4 from all frontal attacks.
attacking with a shield will negate its bonus for the next round.

That way, combat menuveres such as sunder or disarm become more valuable, also this system will add two more AC brackets for armors (since the +1 and +2 from shields will no longer be in game) so a full on plate will have 20 AC

The fighter will get this on top of his own parry mechanic.

Comments?

Warder

 

[Kobold Stew]

This feels like a needless complication, once we accept that Hit Points are only an abstraction.

 

[Gorgoroth]

I dunno, the fighter shield maneuver, Interposing shield, is great fun and makes the fighter class seem cool to play. I think it makes shields way cooler than just a numerical, "always on" bonus. One way they could deal with shields is that if you attack with it, you get only +1 AC from it that round, but the damage should be poor like 1d4, spikes just change the damage from blunt to piercing that's it. Then again, a magic shield used to slam things should benefit from the magic bonus on attack rolls as well as parry rolls.

I really prefer a +1 weapon boosts the damage die and gives +1 to hit as well. That would make attacking with a magic spiked shield back to being 1d6, same as a shortsword. I'll make a poll about it.