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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Kite Sheilds, Heater Sheilds, Scutums, ect



1Forge
2015-12-03, 02:14 AM
So I homebrew alot to make my perfect homebrew of 5e for any setting (including my sci-fi campaign) most rules are totally fine and I use them. But occasionally i alter things to be more accurate or realistic (which it already does very well)

So the point of this Shields they give a +2 bonus to your AC, this I assume is based slightly off cover rules that say anything that covers about half your body is half cover and gives a +2 to AC also. This makes perfect sense for round shields and heater shields, but for kite shields (real ones not the mini fantasy kind ) and scutums (tower shields) it makes much less sense. Kite shields covered your entire torso and most of your legs, and scutums can cover either all of you or slightly less (depending on size)

I try to maintain a high degree of realism in my games but balance is important to. The kite sheild could be simply given 3/4 cover (+5) and be ok possibly, and the tower shield could either use full cover or 3/4 cover and be ok rule wise. But the issue I'm currently having is that I have balanced bucklers with regular shields but so far I have no reason to use a smaller shield (like a heater shield) when a kite shield would give me an extra 3 points in my AC. I thought maybe i could allow a dex bonus to shields or possibly lower kite shield bonuses by one or two to lower the gap. (another idea is using my durability mechanic but I'm still fixing it so I'ts not awful)

What are your thoughts?

cooldes
2015-12-03, 02:49 AM
so you're asking for a way to have these shields, but still have them be balanced?

ok, so i would advise combining a few things.

1 high cost: These shields being able to give +5 AC and/or 3/4 cover to a players on top of armor, AND being mobile is honestly broken. to show you an example of the costing effects of non magical AC bonuses, lets look at Splint, which gives 17AC and Plate which gives 18 AC. Splint costs 200 gp, While Plate costs 1,500 gp. see the crazy increase for just 1 AC? it's cause having really high AC (18+) in a game where bounded accuracy is a thing(most things capping at 20 on stats) means you move closer and closer to being completely untouchable. with the best armor and a shield, you'd be capped at 20 AC. thus is done on purpose, but if you raise that non-magical cap, things get very easy for the shield wearer, especially if magic becomes involved later. as such, make sure that the Cost you put in for a shield that gives +5 to AC and/or 3/4 cover is costed appropriately.

2 rarity: I'm not saying make the PC's hunt for a shield around the continent, it's even fine to have it sold in every armor shop in a big city. Just be careful not to have every enemy drop one, or make them too abundant. If in a big city every armor shop has one, your PCs may have the idea to sneak in at night and steal it, which is ok. but if the shop sells multiple, your PCs are now rich AND invincible(not good). if every armor shop has one in a big city it's fine, but remember that with such a great item, the shop owner may want to hire night guards, or have a special vault to store it from thieves etc. . it's fine to have every shop owner in a big city to sell one, but small villages may not know how to make such great shields.not saying make the PCs have to go to a big city to get one, but maybe only one person in the village knows how to make it, and he'll need compensation and lots time to craft it.

3 Drawbacks: High weight and Disadvantage on stealth are just a couple things that should definitely be added. i would suggest a str requirement as well.

As you can see, I've left all the numbers up to you. it's your adventure and your item, i don't even know your PCs. so only you know how to make it perfect to fit in for your campaign. hope i helped!
i'd also advise checking out these two shield homebrews from dnd wiki
https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Tower_Shield_(5e_Equipment)
https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Dreadnaught_Shield_(5e_Equipment)
note the appropriate +4 AC shield costing 2,300 gp, and how both have str requirements

1Forge
2015-12-03, 10:07 AM
so you're asking for a way to have these shields, but still have them be balanced?

ok, so i would advise combining a few things.

1 high cost: These shields being able to give +5 AC and/or 3/4 cover to a players on top of armor, AND being mobile is honestly broken. to show you an example of the costing effects of non magical AC bonuses, lets look at Splint, which gives 17AC and Plate which gives 18 AC. Splint costs 200 gp, While Plate costs 1,500 gp. see the crazy increase for just 1 AC? it's cause having really high AC (18+) in a game where bounded accuracy is a thing(most things capping at 20 on stats) means you move closer and closer to being completely untouchable. with the best armor and a shield, you'd be capped at 20 AC. thus is done on purpose, but if you raise that non-magical cap, things get very easy for the shield wearer, especially if magic becomes involved later. as such, make sure that the Cost you put in for a shield that gives +5 to AC and/or 3/4 cover is costed appropriately.

2 rarity: I'm not saying make the PC's hunt for a shield around the continent, it's even fine to have it sold in every armor shop in a big city. Just be careful not to have every enemy drop one, or make them too abundant. If in a big city every armor shop has one, your PCs may have the idea to sneak in at night and steal it, which is ok. but if the shop sells multiple, your PCs are now rich AND invincible(not good). if every armor shop has one in a big city it's fine, but remember that with such a great item, the shop owner may want to hire night guards, or have a special vault to store it from thieves etc. . it's fine to have every shop owner in a big city to sell one, but small villages may not know how to make such great shields.not saying make the PCs have to go to a big city to get one, but maybe only one person in the village knows how to make it, and he'll need compensation and lots time to craft it.

3 Drawbacks: High weight and Disadvantage on stealth are just a couple things that should definitely be added. i would suggest a str requirement as well.

As you can see, I've left all the numbers up to you. it's your adventure and your item, i don't even know your PCs. so only you know how to make it perfect to fit in for your campaign. hope i helped!
i'd also advise checking out these two shield homebrews from dnd wiki
https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Tower_Shield_(5e_Equipment)
https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Dreadnaught_Shield_(5e_Equipment)
note the appropriate +4 AC shield costing 2,300 gp, and how both have str requirements

ok you made some good arguments. It makes sense to make it a bit harder to aquire than a regular sheild (I could say it was very recently developed) the cost is a little high for my game so I may lower that, but I could argue that the curve for the kite sheild is what makes it so expensive. +4 is fine I was thinking of doing that anyway :P one idea I also hope to impliment is durability because kite shields and scutums were much thinner.

also the link does not work for me I'll try later with a different PC.

cooldes
2015-12-03, 10:23 AM
ok you made some good arguments. It makes sense to make it a bit harder to aquire than a regular sheild (I could say it was very recently developed) the cost is a little high for my game so I may lower that, but I could argue that the curve for the kite sheild is what makes it so expensive. +4 is fine I was thinking of doing that anyway :P one idea I also hope to impliment is durability because kite shields and scutums were much thinner.

also the link does not work for me I'll try later with a different PC.

Oh, it's ok, the link was just to show that one shield had a Str requirement of 17 to use it, while the other shield was really high costed. they both also impose disadvantage on stealth & weigh around 20 pounds each.

and it's definitely OK to have the amount of gold lowered to fit your campaign, but please try not to make such a thing too abundant.

durability is also a really great way i haven't thought of to help balancing, nice idea

1Forge
2015-12-03, 11:12 AM
Oh, it's ok, the link was just to show that one shield had a Str requirement of 17 to use it, while the other shield was really high costed. they both also impose disadvantage on stealth & weigh around 20 pounds each.

and it's definitely OK to have the amount of gold lowered to fit your campaign, but please try not to make such a thing too abundant.

durability is also a really great way i haven't thought of to help balancing, nice idea

I probably wouldn't say 20 lbs that's a little heavy considering how most shields actually weighed. But yes a steath disadvantage makes total sense. As for durability the idea is that the bigger shields were bigger but much thinner than smaller shields so durability might be much higher for regular shields encouraging them for convenience and cost efficiency (you see the shields were pretty cheap but repairs were not)

1Forge
2015-12-03, 11:56 AM
I just thought what if kite shields gave disadvantage on acrobatics checks? Scutums could too and be considered heavy (because scutums actually were pretty hefty) so maybe scutums would take from your overall speed while kite shields are just a bit bulky? What are your thoughts?

Also I'm reversing what the wiki did a bit, I've chose to give kite shields +3 (ot maybe +4) and tower shields +4 (or +5) and as for ranged cover you can hide behind a tower shield to receive full cover as long as you don't move.