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jlousivy
2007-01-27, 04:30 PM
would using a shield.... ie: light, heavy, tower
to make those builds more optimal, would adding damage reduction be worth it?
ie:
1/- = light
2/- = heavy
4/- = tower
?
what do you guys think?

edit: and this damage reduction only applies if wielded (ie: no animated shield)

Hurlbut
2007-01-27, 05:28 PM
would using a shield.... ie: light, heavy, tower
to make those builds more optimal, would adding damage reduction be worth it?
ie:
1/- = light
2/- = heavy
4/- = tower
?
what do you guys think?

edit: and this damage reduction only applies if wielded (ie: no animated shield)
Actually they would function better as barriers, granting an AC bonus to AC or a passive defense bonus to AC. If you wanted to apply DR to a defense equipment, the armor is the best one for it.

Matthew
2007-01-27, 06:38 PM
I have to agree. Whilst granting Shields DR does mechanically help, I'm not convinced it is the most consistant answer (also Tower Shields are annoying enough as they are).

Golthur
2007-01-27, 09:31 PM
Yes, if you did this, you'd have to make nearly all forms of cover (like a barrel, for example) act as DR, as well. Not that I haven't done this in other game systems - in fact, in BRP Call of Cthulhu I had a whole chart of armour values (Cthulhu armour is essentially DR) values for common things that investigators might hide behind/in.

However, for d20, shields as AC and armour as DR is more consistent and easier to handle :smile:

I_Got_This_Name
2007-01-27, 09:36 PM
I'd probably do something on the order of doubling the effectiveness of shields (except Bucklers), or even just increasing their AC value by 1, rather than adding DR, so a Light Shield is +2, a Heavy Shield is +3 or +4, and a Tower Shield is +4 or +6.

TheOOB
2007-01-28, 01:07 AM
DR, unlike AC, suffers from dimishing returns, the higher level you are, the less valuable each point of DR is.

Shields are allready pretty good as is, a buckler can allready give a total of +6 to AC(assuming +5 enhancement bonus to AC) which is roughly a 30% chance to avoid any attack that you wouldn't otherwise have (yes i know the math is more complicated then that, I'm lazy right now). The best way to increase a shields power isn't to make the shields better, it's to make 1h weapons better.

Foe example, try this homebrewed feat.

Strong Arm
Your strikes with one-handed weapons are very powerful
Prerequisites: Str 13+, Power Attack, Weapon Focus(any one-handed melee weapon)
Benefit: You may treat a one-handed weapon for which you have the weapon focus feat as a two-handed for the purposes of adding your Strength modifier to damage and the power attack feat even if you wield the weapon in one hand. This feat has no benefit on weapons for which you are using the weapon finesse feat.