tower shields

[Geiger Counter]

Sorry if I sound like a newb but what are the advantages of wielding a tower shield?

[Telonius]

It's generally best against ranged combatants, or to use for tactical movement. If you have a tower shield, you can use it to get total cover. That means melee and ranged people (typically) can't attack you at all. So, for example, if there are archers on either side of the ridge waiting to pincushion you, you could use the shield to bypass them altogether. (Kind of like the old Roman "turtle" formation).

If you have a low Dex bonus, an Animated tower shield can significantly boost your AC without forcing you to attack one-handed. (Do note that you'd still take the -2 penalty to attacks).

[CockroachTeaParty]

Use it as a replacement door! A portable small bridge! Fix potholes temporarily! Emergency raft! Get a bunch and make a cool fort (no girls allowed)! Taunt treants with it, and maybe they'll get so cross they'll make a mistake! Cast Fabricate on it to turn it into a table, or perhaps a small barrel? Make one out of livewood, and convince a dryad to live inside it! Convenient emergency anti-jinx mechanism (knock on it)! Cast Shrink Item on it, swallow it, then walk into an Anti-Magic Field!

[Narren]

Use it as a replacement door! A portable small bridge! Fix potholes temporarily! Emergency raft! Get a bunch and make a cool fort (no girls allowed)! Taunt treants with it, and maybe they'll get so cross they'll make a mistake! Cast Fabricate on it to turn it into a table, or perhaps a small barrel? Make one out of livewood, and convince a dryad to live inside it! Convenient emergency anti-jinx mechanism (knock on it)! Cast Shrink Item on it, swallow it, then walk into an Anti-Magic Field!

One of my players wanted to use a fallen enemies tower shield as a sled to make a quick getaway. I wasn't sure if it would really work, but I thought it was creative so I went with it.

[Hyfigh]

One of my players wanted to use a fallen enemies tower shield as a sled to make a quick getaway. I wasn't sure if it would really work, but I thought it was creative so I went with it.

The movie Willow springs to mind...

[ericgrau]

Historically dead soldiers were carried on their tower shields like a stretcher. Except for a bit of wax to speed it up it should do as well as a worn snowboard. It might come to a stop faster on level ground that's all. Sure, why not, sled away.

The tower shield is mostly good for tactical fighting from the total cover against ranged weapons and area spells. It's also a free partial combat expertise without the feat. Statistically the extra 2 AC is an advantage over the -2 AB whenever (your AB + AC) > (monster AB + AC). For example if you're heavily armored and he needed to roll a 17 to hit you (4 out of 20), now he needs a 19 (2 out of 20). Meanwhile if your AB is also high maybe you needed a 10 to hit (11 out of 20) without one and now you need a 12 (9 out of 20) with one. His hits got cut in half while you only lost a little.

If OTOH you also fight extra high CR melee with crazy high AB and no ranged attacks it's less useful.

[Geiger Counter]

I don't exactly understand how a character holding a tower shield as full cover is unable to attack.

[sonofzeal]

Having fought against people wielding huge shields....

A big shield does not make someone impossible to attack, but it can make it inordinately difficult and an exercise in frustration. Your best chance to hit them is when they attack themselves, as they can't effectively strike while protecting their full body; at very least, the striking arm becomes vulnerable. There are certain weapon combinations and styles that will get past a shield no problem (dual shortswords held underhanded are my favorite for this), but those are rare.

As such, I don't mind a "total cover" rule in D&D. If you aren't attacking, you can make yourself virtually impossible to attack from that side. As soon as you're attacking, you can be counterattacked. The abstraction, while imperfect, works well enough for me.