D&D 5E Using a shield as an 'improvised weapon' while retaining the AC bonus

[kalani]

Ok here is how it works by RAW.

Shield:

• +2 AC: Attacking with a shield will not remove this bonus by RAW
• Improvised Weapon: 1d4+STR damage, No proficiency to Attack unless you have the Tavern Brawler feat as shields are not like any weapon on the weapon list.
• TWF: You cannot TWF using a shield unless you have the Dual Wielder Feat, as Shields are not a light weapon.
• Dueling: If you attack with a weapon and your shield (as an improvised weapon), you lose the benefit of your Dueling FS. If however, you are armed with a Shield and a free hand, your Improvised Weapon (Shield) deals 1d4+2+STR (as it would gain the benefits of dueling).

A Fighter or Ranger with Tavern Brawler and Dueling makes for an interesting character.

• Shield (Improvised Weapon): Proficiency; 1d4+2+STR damage (av. 4.5); +2 AC;
• Bonus Action: On a hit with your shield, you can make a grapple attempt. You can then keep smashing your target with your shield in subsequent rounds while maintaining the grapple.
• Bonus Action (Variant): Alternatively, if you also have the Shield Master feat, you could attack with your Improvised Weapon (Shield), and shove as a bonus action (hit or miss).

I wouldn't say it is an optimal build, but it certainly is an interesting one.

If your weapon isn't equipped, you would lose your +2 AC bonus, but you could go all Captain America, and use your Shield as an Improvised Thrown Weapon (20/60 range).

 

[Rya.Reisender]

Ok here is how it works by RAW.

Shield:

• +2 AC: Attacking with a shield will not remove this bonus by RAW

• 
  I'd disagree with that part. By RAW when you improvise an object that is not a weapon as a weapon, the rules say it acts similar to the weapon it is improvised as. The shield is no longer a shield, it is a weapon now.

 

[kalani]

It is only a weapon for the duration of your attack, or at most - until the end of your current turn. It still remains a shield however, and unlike other Improvised Weapons - Shields don't resemble any weapon on the weapon list, and as such are untyped.

Being an improvised weapon doesn't replace its existing stats (only its weapon stats are altered). An Improvised Staff (Arcane Focus) for example, remains an Arcane Focus, despite being used as an Improvised Weapon. Same applies with a shield - it doesn't stop being a shield just because you hit someone with it.

For further evidence that attacking with a shield doesn't remove your +2 AC Bonus - I refer you to the Shield Master Feat, which lets you shove (using your shield) as a bonus action. Shove is a special melee attack. If Shield Master (Shove) doesn't remove your AC bonus, why would dealing damage as an Improvised Melee Weapon. The only difference is whether you make a Shove, or a regular attack.

 

[Rya.Reisender]

A feat is an exception to the normal rule.

And how improvised weapons act is left mostly up for the DM to decide. The rules don't dictate anything here. If the DM decides that attacking with a shield is quite similar to attacking with a club then that's totally according to the rules.

 

[Li Shenron]

One of my players thinks that (a) shields should qualify as 'light' improvised weapons, and (b) characters should retain the shield AC bonus while using a shield as a weapon.

From Basic:

Improvised Weapons
- Sometimes characters don’t have their weapons and have to attack with whatever is close at hand. An improvised weapon includes any object you can wield in one or two hands, such as broken glass, a table leg, a
frying pan, a wagon wheel, or a dead goblin.
- In many cases, an improvised weapon is similar to an actual weapon and can be treated as such. For example, a table leg is akin to a club.
- At the DM’s option, a character proficient with a weapon can use a similar object as if it were that weapon and use his or her proficiency bonus.
- An object that bears no resemblance to a weapon deals 1d4 damage (the DM assigns a damage type
appropriate to the object).
- If a character uses a ranged weapon to make a melee attack, or throws a melee weapon that does not have the thrown property, it also deals 1d4 damage. An improvised thrown weapon has a
normal range of 20 feet and a long range of 60 feet.

Two-Weapon Fighting
- When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you’re holding in one hand, you can
use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you’re holding in the other hand. You don’t
add your ability modifier to the damage of the bonus attack, unless that modifier is negative.
- If either weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon, instead of making a melee attack with it.

Shields.
- A shield is made from wood or metal and is carried in one hand. Wielding a shield increases your Armor Class by 2. You can benefit from only one shield at a time.

Light.
- A light weapon is small and easy to handle, making it ideal for use when fighting with two weapons.

-------------

A shield is not a weapon, but can clearly be used as an improvised weapon, since anything can.

"LIGHT" is a weapon property defined by how the weapon works in 2WF. It is not a general property defined by the weight or an object. It is narratively and generically linked to a weapon's size and shape, but the only thing that really determines whether a weapon is light is if it has the LIGHT tag on it in the weapon table. Objects that aren't weapons don't even contemplate the possibility of having this tag, even if used as improvised weapons. Only a generous DM can decide than an object used as an improvised weapon works as "LIGHT" for 2WF, but even an object that is "light in terms of weight" isn't necessarily "LIGHT" for 2WF.

The off-hand attack as bonus action of 2WF is possible exclusively with a "LIGHT" weapon.

Conclusions:

> Without special abilities (e.g. feats) you cannot attack with a shield as part of 2WF.
> You can attack with a shield using your normal attack action, and doing so doesn't make you to lose the AC bonus.

 

[MYV]

> You can attack with a shield using your normal attack action, and doing so doesn't make you to lose the AC bonus.

i agree with most of your post, but i don't get from where you desume this last conclusion

EDIT:
nvm, i was reading it wrong and thought you intended the opposite.
I agree with your conclusions

 

[S'mon]

Conclusions:

> Without special abilities (e.g. feats) you cannot attack with a shield as part of 2WF.
> You can attack with a shield using your normal attack action, and doing so doesn't make you to lose the AC bonus.

This seems reasonably balanced to me, and makes sense in-universe since a shield bash doesn't take very long, but clearly is a heavy STR-based attack, not a finesse attack.

 

[Li Shenron]

i agree with most of your post, but i don't get from where you desume this last conclusion

From nowhere

That last part is the only one which doesn't seem to me specifically covered by the Basic rules, they don't seem to mention specifically whether you keep or lose the shield AC bonus for the round while you are using the shield for attacking.

In general, if the rules don't say that something changes, I think nothing changes...

 

[MYV]

From nowhere

That last part is the only one which doesn't seem to me specifically covered by the Basic rules, they don't seem to mention specifically whether you keep or lose the shield AC bonus for the round while you are using the shield for attacking.

In general, if the rules don't say that something changes, I think nothing changes...

yeah i edited my last post,
was reading it wrong for some reason.
I agree with your interpretation

 

[Yunru]

Shield Master lets you Shove as a bonus action. Shove and an attack are equivalent.
Therefore since you can Shove with your shield without losing your AC bonus I don't see why you can't attack with your shield without losing your AC bonus.