Why do ranged touch attacks bypass shields?

[reapersaurus]

For something like Enervation, why would interposing a magic shield NOT help you?
I thought the whole purpose of a shield was to block attacks.

Why are ranged touch attacks so damned easy to hit people with, regardless of whether they have a shield to block it?

I really hope they fix the "ranged touch attack" spells in 3.5E - they might as well have no save in most situations.

 

[X.plosion]

Well the whole idea behind ranged touch is that all it has to do it touch you. It bypasses armor and sheilds like they werent there, so effectivly it hits the arm behind the sheild. If you have a big problem with this, force sheilds are available, and i know the DM's ive had in the past had these able to block certain ranged touch attacks.

 

[Hypersmurf]

If you have a big problem with this, force sheilds are available, and i know the DM's ive had in the past had these able to block certain ranged touch attacks.

Strictly speaking, they should only block "incorporeal touch" attacks, which are not the same as "touch" attacks.

-Hyp.

 

[X.plosion]

True, while only incorperal touch attacks should be blocked, the DM can alter the rules as they see fit, and in this case they just thought it was a good idea to have them block ranged touch.

 

[X.plosion]

True, while only incorperal touch attacks should be blocked, the DM can alter the rules as they see fit, and in this case they just thought it was a good idea to have them block ranged touch.

 

[X.plosion]

hmm, seems to have posted the same messege twice, Ooops

 

[Destil]

There were some house rules on the HR forum a while back by Eric Noah who proposed making shields provide a cover bonus to AC rather than an armor bonus. Might be worth looking into,
reapersaurus.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I've also made some rules for shields providing a cover bonus - mine are on my website below.

 

[reapersaurus]

I like the single change of Eric's suggestions better, Plane, but thanks for referring to yours.
You also used DR for armor, and therefore? had to increase the AC of a Large shield to +7?
That is a bit much for my tastes, but I like how you specified that the pluses of magical shields add to the cover bonus.
It seems logical, and the way it should be to ME.

On a tangent: Does anyone else think ranged touch spells can be overly powerful? (actually, should be another thread, but...)

 

[Destil]

On a tangent: Does anyone else think ranged touch spells can be overly powerful? (actually, should be another thread, but...)

Assuming you mean unbalanced, not really. Given that the only other real option is auto-hit (Magic Missile should be ranged touch, but swacred cows and all). They can be very powerful, though I wish there were more in the core rules (particuarly energy missiles) and that they benifited a bit more from certian feats (don't think there's on that rapid shot affects, for instance).