Erk
2007-10-22, 10:20 PM
This is a piece to a largish overhaul I've made to my house games. Although quite expansive, the mod doesn't change much of the underlying mechanic of D&D: I want to rebalance some systems, without changing the game itself. I am currently playtesting it, and so far it has been a really good time. Still at low levels, though, so we'll see how it holds up.
An important part of this system is making sure combat classes have enough skill points to enjoy their new skill options. I suggest giving fighters, barbarians, and paladins 2 more SP per level as a minimum. Later I will post my rebalances to those classes... I am still hard at work tweaking them.
Combat move: Intercept
If you are wielding a shield, you may attempt to intercept one attack per round against a target within your threatened space. Doing so requires you to make an Intercept check, equal to a d20 roll plus your shield AC and your base attack bonus. If your roll exceeds the attack roll of the attack you are intercepting, you successfully block the attack with your shield. Intercepting provokes an Attack of Opportunity from any opponent threatening you; further, you may not apply your shield bonus against these AoO.
Intercept can only be used against attacks against which your shield AC applies. Thus, if you have an ability which allows you to apply your shield AC to your touch AC, such as the Shield Ward feat (PHB2 82), you may use Intercept against touch or ranged touch attacks. You cannot intercept something which does not have an attack roll.
Intercept must be declared before the attack roll has been made (it should be declared well in advance, ie. “If that archer fires at Zookie, Barg is going to try to intercept it”).
OPTIONAL: If you like keeping track of stuff, you might allow Intercepts to be done against ranged attacks that pass through the Interceptor's threatened space even if the interceptor is well out of range of the target.
Part 1: Pseudoskills
Many feats (eg. toughness, weapon focus) add a pseudoskill. These normally function as cross-class skills in terms of skill point cost to increase and maximum skill level, and normally do not have a "relevant ability score". Ranks in a pseudoskill grant a static bonus to some character attribute through expertise. With the exception of the Barbarian, who starts with the Damage Mitigation pseudoskill, characters require a particular feat to gain a pseudoskill.
The Skill Focus feat CANNOT be applied to pseudoskills, nor can similar effects which ignore class/cross-class boundaries (even to pseudoskills which are class skills). Exception: Fighters can apply Skill Focus to a pseudoskill if they choose Skill Focus as a fighter bonus feat.
ARTFUL DODGE
Requires: Dodge
Benefit: You are skilled at dodging attacks as long as you are watching for them. Your dodge AC bonus against your designated dodge opponent is equal to the number of ranks you have in this pseudoskill.
Special: This is the only pseudoskill which can be made a class skill by any character, by taking the Improved Dodge feat.
DAMAGE MITIGATION
Requires: Toughness or Barbarian level 1
Benefit: You are skilled at avoiding damage. This effectively increases your HP equal to your ranks in Damage Mitigation
Special: Barbarians gain this pseudoskill for free at level 1.
DUCKING
Requires: Lightning Reflexes
Benefit: You are skilled at getting out of the way of things. This effectively increases your reflex save equal to your ranks in Ducking.
Special: No character may have more than one of the three “save” pseudoskills (Ducking, Physical Control, and Skillful Resistance) unless specially noted as a class feature.
MELEE ARCHERY
Requires: Point Blank Shot
Benefit: You are skilled at making precise shots at close range. Every 2 ranks in this pseudoskill increase your attack and damage at point blank range by 1. You will still provoke an attack of opportunity if you are threatened. These bonuses stack with weapon focus and weapon specialisation.
NOTE: The maximum “point blank” bonus is +3 at ranges between 30 and 15 feet. At 15' and closer this maximum is lifted.
PHYSICAL CONTROL
Requires: Great Fortitude
Benefit: You are skilled at controlling your own body. This effectively increases your fortitude save equal to your ranks in Physical Control.
Special: No character may have more than one of the three “save” pseudoskills (Ducking, Physical Control, and Skillful Resistance) unless specially noted as a class feature.
<SHIELD> MASTERY
Requires: Shield Specialisation
Benefit: You are skilled at wielding the type of shield specified when you take the Shield Specialisation feat. For example, if you specialised in tower shields, you would gain the Tower Shield Mastery pseudoskill. Every 2 ranks in this skill increase your shield AC in your chosen shield by 1.
Using RAW shields: Light shield, heavy shield, or tower shield may be chosen. This pseudoskill is not available for bucklers: Shield Specialisation(buckler) instead grants a static +1 to buckler AC.
Using my shields: Buckler, Small Shield, Large Shield, Body Shield, or tower shield may be chosen. This pseudoskill is not available for bracers: Shield Specialisation(bracer) instead grants a static +1 to bracer AC.
SKILLFUL RESISTANCE
Requires: Iron Will
Benefit: You are skilled at mastering your own mind and driving out outside influence. This effectively increases your will save equal to your ranks in Skillful Resistance.
Special: No character may have more than one of the three “save” pseudoskills (Ducking, Physical Control, and Skillful Resistance) unless specially noted as a class feature.
<WEAPON> EXPERTISE
Requires: Weapon Specialisation
Benefit: You are skilled at inflicting damage with the type of weapon specified by your Weapon Specialisation feat. For example, if you specialised in longswords, you would gain the Longsword Expertise pseudoskill. Every rank in <Weapon> Expertise increases your damage with your specialised weapon by 1.
<WEAPON> PRECISION
Requires: Weapon Focus
Benefit: You are skilled at precise attacks with the type of weapon specified by your Weapon Focus feat. For example, if you focused in longswords, you would gain the Longsword Precision pseudoskill. Every 2 ranks in <Weapon> Precision increase your attack bonus with your focused weapon by 1.
Part 2: New/Modified Feats
This isn't everything I have made, by far, but I am trying to pare this down a bit. When my entire mod is finished I will release much more.
Modified feats:
DODGE
Requires: same as RAW
Benefit: Adds the Artful Dodge pseudoskill as a cross-class skill, and puts 1 ranks into it, which does count towards maximum ranks in the skill.
GREAT FORTITUDE
Requires: same as RAW
Benefit: Adds the Physical Control pseudoskill as a cross-class skill, and puts 2 ranks into it, which do count towards maximum ranks in the skill.
Special: Normally, a character may only have one of the three “save” pseudoskills (Ducking, Physical Control, and Skillful Resistance). If a character already has one of these skills, Great Fortitude grants the normal static +2 bonus to fortitude instead.
IRON WILL
Requires: same as RAW
Benefit: Adds the Skillful Resistance pseudoskill as a cross-class skill, and puts 2 ranks into it, which do count towards maximum ranks in the skill.
Special: Normally, a character may only have one of the three “save” pseudoskills (Ducking, Physical Control, and Skillful Resistance). If a character already has one of these skills, Iron Will grants the normal static +2 bonus to willpower instead.
LIGHTNING REFLEXES
Requires: same as RAW
Benefit: Adds the Lightning Reflexes pseudoskill as a cross-class skill, and puts 2 ranks into it, which do count towards maximum ranks in the skill.
Special: Normally, a character may only have one of the three “save” pseudoskills (Ducking, Physical Control, and Skillful Resistance). If a character already has one of these skills, Lightning Reflexes grants the normal static +2 bonus to reflexes instead.
POINT BLANK SHOT
Requires: same as RAW
Benefit: Adds the Melee Archery pseudoskill as a cross-class skill, and puts 2 ranks into it, which do count towards maximum ranks in the skill.
TOUGHNESS
Benefit: Adds the Damage Mitigation pseudoskill as a cross-class skill, and puts 3 ranks into the skill (these DO count towards max skill levels, so a level 1 character with the toughness feat cannot add more skill points towards Toughness).
Special: Barbarians who take the Toughness feat get Damage Mitigation as a class skill, and gain a one-time bonus of +3 to HP.
Toughness may be taken multiple times. After the first time, it grants a one-time bonus of +3 to HP.
WEAPON FOCUS
Requires: same as RAW.
Benefit: Adds the <Weapon> Precision pseudoskill as a cross-class skill, where <Weapon> is the name of the weapon chosen to focus in. Also adds 2 skill ranks in <Weapon> Precision (equivalent to a +1 to attack), which do count towards maximum ranks in the skill.
Special: Weapon Focus may be applied to a spell (eg. A touch spell or a ray) but it must be applied to one particular spell or closely related group of spells, not touch/ray spells as a whole. Examples include “harm” spells, ray of <weakening> necromancy spells, etc. Specialising in “touch spells” is no different from specialising in “melee weapons” and should not be allowed.
GREATER WEAPON FOCUS
Requires: same as RAW.
Benefit: <Weapon> Precision becomes a class skill for fighter levels only, and gets 2 free skill ranks(these doesn't count towards the new increased maximum ranks in the skill). Non-fighter levels still count <Weapon> Precision as a cross-class skill for the purpose of determining maximum rank.
WEAPON SPECIALISATION
Requires: same as RAW.
Benefit: Adds the <Weapon> Expertise pseudoskill as a cross-class skill, where <Weapon> is the name of the weapon chosen to focus in. Also adds 2 skill ranks in <Weapon> Expertise, which do count towards maximum ranks in the skill.
GREATER WEAPON SPECIALISATION
Requires: same as RAW.
Benefit: <Weapon> Expertise becomes a class skill for fighter levels only, and gets 2 free skill ranks (these do count towards the new increased maximum ranks in the skill). Non-fighter levels still count <Weapon> Expertise as a cross-class skill for the purpose of determining maximum rank.
New feats:
IMPROVED DODGE
You're excellent at keeping an eye on the melee, and you can move out of the way of attacks before they've even started coming your way.
Requires: 5 or more ranks in the Artful Dodge pseudoskill.
Benefit: Artful Dodge becomes a class skill. You may apply your full Dodge bonus to AC against a number of opponents equal to your Wisdom bonus or 2, whichever is higher.
Special: A fighter may select Improved Dodge as one of his fighter bonus feats.
IMPROVED INTERCEPT
Your friends are an important asset. You know how to use your shield to protect more than your own hide.
Requires: Shield Specialisation
Benefit: You do not provoke attacks of opportunity when you Intercept. You may attempt to intercept multiple times per round: each subsequent attempt lowers your shield AC by 4 for that attempt. If your shield AC would be 0 or lower you may not intercept anymore. Your shield AC returns to normal at the start of your next round.
Normal: Intercepting (see Combat) provokes an attack of opportunity from anyone threatening you or your target, and you don't get shield AC.
Special: A fighter may select Improved Intercept as one of his fighter bonus feats.
GREATER INTERCEPT
Staying close to you is a boon to anyone on your side. Your shield appears everywhere, almost as if it had a life of its own.
Requires: Shield Specialisation, Improved Intercept
Benefit: Multiple intercepts in a round lower your shield AC by 2 per attempt. If your shield AC would be 0 or lower you may not intercept anymore. Your shield AC returns to normal at the start of your next round.
If someone outside of your intercept threatened space is attacked, you may intercept by using your move for your next round to get there. Every 5' outside of your intercept reach adds a -2 to your intercept check, and you may not move further than your movement rate. Unless you have the Spring Attack feat, this counts as your entire move action for your next round, even if you only use part of your movement.
Normal: with Improved Intercept you provoke an attack of opportunity from anyone threatening your target, and multiple attempts are at -4.
Special: A fighter may select Greater Intercept as one of his fighter bonus feats.
SHIELD SPECIALISATION
Requires: Shield proficiency, Base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: Adds the <Shield> Mastery pseudoskill as a cross-class skill, where <Shield> is the name of the shield chosen to focus in. Also adds 2 skill rank in Shield Mastery, which do count towards maximum ranks in the skill.
Special: A fighter may select Shield Specialisation as one of his fighter bonus feats.
STUNNING SHIELD
It's big! It's flat! It weighs ten kilograms! It's SHIELD! And it just knocked that orc out cold.
Requires: Shield Specialisation, Improved Shield Bash, Base attack bonus +4
Benefit: When making a Shield Bash attack with a shield you have specialised in, you can choose to inflict nonlethal damage at no penalty. This feat cannot be used with shields that have been altered to be more deadly weapons, ie. Spiked, flaming, or otherwise nasty shields. Basic enhancement bonuses to attack are acceptable.
Normal: Inflicting nonlethal damage with any lethal damage weapon confers a -4 penalty to attack.
Special: A fighter may select Stunning Shield as one of his fighter bonus feats.
SWORD AND BOARD EXPERT
The best defense is a good offense, but a good offense still can't stop everything. You know the importance of balancing both, the harmony of a slashing blade and a solid shield.
Requires: Shield Specialisation, Weapon Specialisation, Improved Shield Bash, 6 or more levels in classes with full Bab progression (fighter, barbarian, paladin, etc)
Benefit: When wielding your weapon of choice in one hand and your shield of choice in the other, your <Shield> Mastery bonus to AC increases to 1 per skill rank invested in <Shield> Mastery (effectively doubling it), and you may add your damage from <Weapon> Expertise to your shield damage as a synergy bonus (this damage is nonlethal if you are using the Stunning Shield feat). This applies to all weapons and shields you may have focused in; you do not have to take this feat multiple times to apply to multiple weapon/shield combinations.
Note: If using this feat, the GM should not allow Weapon Specialisation or Weapon Focus in shields, or should work out a system for preventing abuse.
Normal: <Shield> Mastery grants +1 to AC for every 2 ranks invested, and <weapon> expertise only applies to the weapon it is designated for.
Special: A fighter may select Sword and Board Expert as one of his fighter bonus feats.
SWORD AND BOARD MASTER
Shields were never meant to stand alone; you embody this fact. An unaccompanied shield is little more than a wooden plank with fancy embossing. Likewise, a weapon without a shield to complement it is half a weapon. By learning the delicate balance of shield and weapon, you prove that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Requires: Agile Shield Fighter (PHB2 74), Sword and Board Expert, 9 or more levels in classes with full Bab progression (fighter, barbarian, paladin, etc)
Benefit: When wielding your weapon of choice in one hand and your shield of choice in the other, you may add your <shield> mastery rank to your weapon's damage in addition to bonuses from <Weapon> Expertise. Further, you may add your <Weapon> Precision bonus to attacks with your shield as well as your main weapon. In effect, your weapon and shield function as a single weapon. This applies to all weapons and shields you may have specialised in; you do not have to take this feat multiple times to apply to multiple weapon/shield combinations.
Combined with Sword and Board expert and Agile Shield Fighter, this results in the following bonuses:
Shield AC: +(shield mastery) ranks
Shield damage: +<weapon> expertise ranks in weapon
Shield attack: +<weapon> precision ranks + shield precision ranks - dual wielding penalty
Weapon damage: +weapon expertise ranks + shield mastery ranks
Weapon attack: +weapon precision ranks - dual wielding penalty
Normal: Shield and weapon pseudoskills do not apply to anything but the weapons and shields they are designated for.
Special: A fighter may select Sword and Board Master as one of his fighter bonus feats.
IMPROVED TOUGHNESS
You wanna make somethin' of it, punk?
Requires: Toughness, CON 13+
Benefit: Increases size of hit die: d4>d6, d6>d8, d8>d10, d10>d12. Non-retroactive, but applies to every class you take thereafter (except Barbarian or any other class with d12 hit dice). If a character with a d12 hit die takes Improved Toughness, they instead gain +1 to hit points every level thereafter.
When you take Improved Toughness, you get a full die of HP for that level, as you would at level 1.
Special: This feat can be taken multiple times. Its effects stack. After 1d12, hitpoints continue to increase by +1 per level.
A fighter may select Improved Toughness as one of his fighter bonus feats.
Part 3: Different shields
Shields in d&d are not well-balanced, nor realistic. Let's revisit them. Following is just analysis of the old shields; skip it if you consider it intuitively obvious that the current shields suck.
The buckler is nothing at all like a real buckler. I am no stickler for realism, but it bothers my that something also known as a "punching shield" in real life is some kind of awkward arm-disc in d&d. I think this shield is silly, and imbalanced: it confers almost no penalty for its AC, and with a few feats a character can dual-wield and still have a shield. I don't care for that: why bother wielding sword-and-board at all, then?
The light shield is virtually useless. Aside from being usable to bash (and intercept, with my rules), there is almost no reason to use this shield. A buckler can do everything it can, and better.
The heavy shield is a decent all-Small Shield, but it is also the best shield most characters would bother using. Stop and think about that: the association of a shield with protection is one of the strongest symbolisms in our culture, and for good reason... yet the highest AC a practical shield offers is +2 in d&d. This is a small mobile wall that you can interpose between any attack, yet a breastplate that covers only the central body offers more than twice the protection.
The tower shield is so penalised it is virtually useless, and its AC is still not good when balanced with its penalties. Cover is great, but that's a pretty specialised use, and the massive penalties imposed for having it available make this shield a very odd choice for most adventurers: the 45-lb weight alone...! And, to add insult to injury, this shield can't be used to Bash, which is the only way of somewhat mitigating the poor balance of Sword-and-Board.
My biggest gripe is that there is no intermediate between Heavy and Tower shield. I also don't like that bucklers match or outdo light shields in every respect but bashing (and intercepting. I do think including intercept rules gives light shields a bit more mileage). In essence, there are two shields in RAW: buckler and heavy. No other shield is really worth looking at. Heavy shields are only worth it at low levels in RAW, although I think introducing more shield combat feats and interception makes them a viable alternative. The problem is that if shield AC is too high at low levels, low-level armoured characters become unhittable. I think this can be helped by allowing AC-boosting Shield Specialisation, but not AC-boosting Armour Specialisation: it is easier to see how one could learn to manoeuvre a shield effectively than to move one's entire metal-cased body.
Without further ado, my suggested shield rebalance:
Stats listed are for the most common type of shield, typically wooden. Different stats for different materials are listed in the detailed entries.
Bracer: cost 15, AC 1, A.Check Pen -1, Spell fail 5%, weight 2 lbs
Buckler: cost 6, AC 1, A.Check Pen -, Spell fail -, weight 1 lb
Simple light melee wpn, Dmg(s) 1d3, Dmg(m) 1d4, Crit x2, Type B
Spiked: Martial light melee wpn, Dmg(s) 1d3, Dmg(m) 1d4, Crit x3, Type P
Small Shield: cost 3, AC 1, A.Check Pen -1, Spell fail 10%
Martial light melee wpn, Dmg(s) 1d2, Dmg(m) 1d3, Crit x2, Type B
Spiked: Martial light melee wpn, Dmg(s) 1d3, Dmg(m) 1d4, Crit x3, Type P
Large Shield: cost 7, AC 2, A.Check Pen -2, Spell fail 15%
Martial light melee wpn, Dmg(s) 1d3, Dmg(m) 1d4, Crit x2, Type B
SpikedMartial light melee wpn, Dmg(s) 1d4, Dmg(m) 1d6, Crit x3, Type B
Body Shield: cost 20, AC 4, Max dex 6*, A.Check Pen -4, Spell fail 25%
Martial heavy melee wpn, Dmg(s) 1d4, Dmg(m) 1d6, Crit x2, Type B
Spiked: Martial heavy melee wpn, Dmg(s) 1d6, Dmg(m) 1d8, Crit x3, Type B
Tower shield: cost 30, AC 6, Max dex 2*, A.Check Pen -8, Spell fail 40%
Martial heavy melee wpn, Dmg(s) 1d4, Dmg(m) 1d6, Crit x2, Type B
Spiked: Exotic heavy melee wpn, Dmg(s) 1d6, Dmg(m) 1d8, Crit x4, Type P
*The Max Dex on Body Shields and tower shields is lower for characters with at least 1 level of Fighter.
Note: Leather shields
Leather is the material of choice for quality shields, though statistics listed are generally for wooden shields. It is in most cases equal to or better than wood, with one exception: longbows, composite bows and heavy crossbows can shoot through a leather shield. The shield grants DR 3/- versus penetrating attacks (any enhancement bonus to the shield increases this DR by 1/- per point of enhancement), and nullifies sneak attack or critical damage.
Note: proficiency conversion for RAW classes
Minimum Bab classes without shield proficiency remain shield-proficiency-less.
Minimum Bab classes with shield proficiency get Bracer and Small Shield.
Medium or Full Bab classes without shield proficiency get Bracer and a choice between Buckler or Small Shield.
Medium Bab classes with shield proficiency get Bracer, Buckler and Small Shield.
Full Bab classes with shield proficiency proficiency get Bracer, Buckler, Small Shield, and Heavy Shield.
Classes with tower shield proficiencies in RAW get Kite and Tower shield proficiencies (and all the others they qualify for).
Bucklers are a simple weapon, and proficiency with the buckler as a weapon is gained automatically along with the shield proficiency. All other shields are martial weapons.
Bracer, Buckler, Round, and Heavy shield proficiencies have no prerequisites. Body Shield proficiency requires Heavy Shield proficiency and a STR of 13+. Tower Shield proficiency requires Body Shield proficiency, Bab 1+, and STR 15+.
Descriptions:
Bracer
Bracers are heavy metal and leather cuffs worn on one arm, sometimes extending up the hand a little. They can be used to parry attacks. Some bracers have wide plates for blocking larger attacks, similar to the RAW buckler. Bracer AC is not cumulative with the AC from any armour that already includes gauntlets.
Bracers cannot be used to shield bash or intercept, nor can they be used in combination with any shield-related feats except shield specialisation: taking Shield Specialisation (bracer) grants a one-time +1 to bracer AC, but does not grant a pseudoskill.
Wielding a weapon with an arm that is wearing a bracer imposes a -4 penalty to attacks made with that arm. This does not apply to two-handed weapons or bows (bracers are designed for use by archers).
Disclaimer: I know this is not what a bracer is actually for, but it is the best I can do to simulate the original buckler.
Buckler
Bucklers are held in the fist and are particularly well-suited to bashing. Bucklers are always made of metal. A buckler's AC is penalised -4 (minimum 0) when used to block ranged or reach attacks.
A buckler is held in such a way that, like a locking gauntlet, the hand holding the buckler can be used for nothing else. Many enterprising adventurers attach a wrist strap, allowing them to drop their buckler and use the hand, then quickly (free action that does not provoke an AoO) rearm the shield. Effectively, this means the buckler imposes no AC or spellcasting penalty, but its shield bonus is not applied to AoO provoked while casting/doing AC-penalised skills.
Small Shield
There are many types of Small Shields; in general these are medium-sized shields that are strapped to the arm and gripped with the hand of that arm. Small Shields are light enough that the grip hand can be released to hold an item; doing so, however, nullifies any bonuses from the Small Shield Mastery pseudoskill. Base shield AC is still applied.
Leather Small Shields weigh 2lbs and impose only a 5% chance of spell failure.
Wooden Small Shields weigh 5lbs.
Steel Small Shields weigh 10lbs, impose a spell failure of 15%, and cost twice as much.
Large Shield
The “heater” shield is shaped like the front of an iron (hence its name), and is the shield most commonly associated with heraldry. Other large-to-medium shields could use the same statistics. The shield straps to the arm and is held in the hand. Like the Small Shield, the hand holding the shield can be released to hold an object; however, with this heavier shield, doing so is so awkward that the shield AC is completely negated by doing so.
Leather Large Shields weigh 5lbs and impose only a 10% chance of spell failure.
Wooden Large Shields weigh 10lbs.
Steel Large Shields weigh 20lbs, impose an Armour Check penalty of 3 and a spell failure of 30%, and cost twice as much.
Body Shield
These shields, and others of their type, go from about shoulder to knee, and are wide at the top and taper off towards the bottom. This allows them to protect the important parts of the wielder but still be light enough to be effectively wielded. Body Shields can grant partial cover (as the RAW tower shield provides full cover: same rules). Body Shields are so large that even when strapped to the back they provide a +1 bonus to AC and an Armour Check penalty of -1. This Armour Check penalty can only be removed by leaving the shield behind somewhere.
--Body Shields grant an extra +1 to shield AC against missile attacks. Combined with the Shield Ward feat (PHB2 82) this applies against ranged touch attacks as well.
--Characters with at least one level of Fighter do not suffer a Max Dexterity penalty when wielding a Body Shield.
Leather Body Shields weigh 10lbs and impose only a 20% chance of spell failure and a -4 Armour Check penalty.
Wooden Body Shields weigh 20lbs.
Steel Body Shields weigh 45lbs and impose an Armour Check penalty of 5 and a spell failure of 50%, as well as a -2 penalty on attacks made with the free hand for wielders with a STR less than 18. These shields cost triple the listed price.
Tower Shield
Tower shields are enormous, capable of fully covering a fighter's body more or less from head to toe. Leather and wooden tower shields are common among military foot soldiers, but adventurers often find them too cumbersome. A tower shield grants a +3 shield AC and Armour Check penalty of -2 even when strapped to the back: it is much like a turtle's shell. This Armour Check penalty can only be removed by leaving the tower shield behind somewhere. Tower shields can be used to shield bash, although they count as a heavy weapon for purposes of determining dual-wield penalties. Tower shields grant a +4 bonus when used as part of a Bull Rush attack. Tower shields can grant cover, as described in the RAW.
--Tower shields grant an extra +2 to shield AC against missile attacks. Combined with the Shield Ward feat (PHB2 82) this applies against ranged touch attacks as well.
--Characters with at least one level of Fighter have a max dexterity of 6, not 2, when wielding a tower shield.
Leather tower shields weigh 15lbs.
Wooden tower shields weigh 45lbs. They impose a -12 Armour Check penalty and 70% chance of spell failure, as well as a -2 penalty on attacks made with the free hand for wielders with a STR less than 18.
Steel tower shields weigh 90lbs or more. Their weight and bulk makes them more of a movable wall; when actually used, these shields typically take both hands, or even two shieldbearers. Wielders with a STR less than 20 cannot even attempt to attack while wielding a steel tower shield, and even with that high of a str, all attacks are at -6. These shields cost five times the listed cost. Spellcasting and using skills which are susceptible to Armour Check penalty are impossible when wielding this shield. Cover from a metal tower shield counts even against most spells.
An important part of this system is making sure combat classes have enough skill points to enjoy their new skill options. I suggest giving fighters, barbarians, and paladins 2 more SP per level as a minimum. Later I will post my rebalances to those classes... I am still hard at work tweaking them.
Combat move: Intercept
If you are wielding a shield, you may attempt to intercept one attack per round against a target within your threatened space. Doing so requires you to make an Intercept check, equal to a d20 roll plus your shield AC and your base attack bonus. If your roll exceeds the attack roll of the attack you are intercepting, you successfully block the attack with your shield. Intercepting provokes an Attack of Opportunity from any opponent threatening you; further, you may not apply your shield bonus against these AoO.
Intercept can only be used against attacks against which your shield AC applies. Thus, if you have an ability which allows you to apply your shield AC to your touch AC, such as the Shield Ward feat (PHB2 82), you may use Intercept against touch or ranged touch attacks. You cannot intercept something which does not have an attack roll.
Intercept must be declared before the attack roll has been made (it should be declared well in advance, ie. “If that archer fires at Zookie, Barg is going to try to intercept it”).
OPTIONAL: If you like keeping track of stuff, you might allow Intercepts to be done against ranged attacks that pass through the Interceptor's threatened space even if the interceptor is well out of range of the target.
Part 1: Pseudoskills
Many feats (eg. toughness, weapon focus) add a pseudoskill. These normally function as cross-class skills in terms of skill point cost to increase and maximum skill level, and normally do not have a "relevant ability score". Ranks in a pseudoskill grant a static bonus to some character attribute through expertise. With the exception of the Barbarian, who starts with the Damage Mitigation pseudoskill, characters require a particular feat to gain a pseudoskill.
The Skill Focus feat CANNOT be applied to pseudoskills, nor can similar effects which ignore class/cross-class boundaries (even to pseudoskills which are class skills). Exception: Fighters can apply Skill Focus to a pseudoskill if they choose Skill Focus as a fighter bonus feat.
ARTFUL DODGE
Requires: Dodge
Benefit: You are skilled at dodging attacks as long as you are watching for them. Your dodge AC bonus against your designated dodge opponent is equal to the number of ranks you have in this pseudoskill.
Special: This is the only pseudoskill which can be made a class skill by any character, by taking the Improved Dodge feat.
DAMAGE MITIGATION
Requires: Toughness or Barbarian level 1
Benefit: You are skilled at avoiding damage. This effectively increases your HP equal to your ranks in Damage Mitigation
Special: Barbarians gain this pseudoskill for free at level 1.
DUCKING
Requires: Lightning Reflexes
Benefit: You are skilled at getting out of the way of things. This effectively increases your reflex save equal to your ranks in Ducking.
Special: No character may have more than one of the three “save” pseudoskills (Ducking, Physical Control, and Skillful Resistance) unless specially noted as a class feature.
MELEE ARCHERY
Requires: Point Blank Shot
Benefit: You are skilled at making precise shots at close range. Every 2 ranks in this pseudoskill increase your attack and damage at point blank range by 1. You will still provoke an attack of opportunity if you are threatened. These bonuses stack with weapon focus and weapon specialisation.
NOTE: The maximum “point blank” bonus is +3 at ranges between 30 and 15 feet. At 15' and closer this maximum is lifted.
PHYSICAL CONTROL
Requires: Great Fortitude
Benefit: You are skilled at controlling your own body. This effectively increases your fortitude save equal to your ranks in Physical Control.
Special: No character may have more than one of the three “save” pseudoskills (Ducking, Physical Control, and Skillful Resistance) unless specially noted as a class feature.
<SHIELD> MASTERY
Requires: Shield Specialisation
Benefit: You are skilled at wielding the type of shield specified when you take the Shield Specialisation feat. For example, if you specialised in tower shields, you would gain the Tower Shield Mastery pseudoskill. Every 2 ranks in this skill increase your shield AC in your chosen shield by 1.
Using RAW shields: Light shield, heavy shield, or tower shield may be chosen. This pseudoskill is not available for bucklers: Shield Specialisation(buckler) instead grants a static +1 to buckler AC.
Using my shields: Buckler, Small Shield, Large Shield, Body Shield, or tower shield may be chosen. This pseudoskill is not available for bracers: Shield Specialisation(bracer) instead grants a static +1 to bracer AC.
SKILLFUL RESISTANCE
Requires: Iron Will
Benefit: You are skilled at mastering your own mind and driving out outside influence. This effectively increases your will save equal to your ranks in Skillful Resistance.
Special: No character may have more than one of the three “save” pseudoskills (Ducking, Physical Control, and Skillful Resistance) unless specially noted as a class feature.
<WEAPON> EXPERTISE
Requires: Weapon Specialisation
Benefit: You are skilled at inflicting damage with the type of weapon specified by your Weapon Specialisation feat. For example, if you specialised in longswords, you would gain the Longsword Expertise pseudoskill. Every rank in <Weapon> Expertise increases your damage with your specialised weapon by 1.
<WEAPON> PRECISION
Requires: Weapon Focus
Benefit: You are skilled at precise attacks with the type of weapon specified by your Weapon Focus feat. For example, if you focused in longswords, you would gain the Longsword Precision pseudoskill. Every 2 ranks in <Weapon> Precision increase your attack bonus with your focused weapon by 1.
Part 2: New/Modified Feats
This isn't everything I have made, by far, but I am trying to pare this down a bit. When my entire mod is finished I will release much more.
Modified feats:
DODGE
Requires: same as RAW
Benefit: Adds the Artful Dodge pseudoskill as a cross-class skill, and puts 1 ranks into it, which does count towards maximum ranks in the skill.
GREAT FORTITUDE
Requires: same as RAW
Benefit: Adds the Physical Control pseudoskill as a cross-class skill, and puts 2 ranks into it, which do count towards maximum ranks in the skill.
Special: Normally, a character may only have one of the three “save” pseudoskills (Ducking, Physical Control, and Skillful Resistance). If a character already has one of these skills, Great Fortitude grants the normal static +2 bonus to fortitude instead.
IRON WILL
Requires: same as RAW
Benefit: Adds the Skillful Resistance pseudoskill as a cross-class skill, and puts 2 ranks into it, which do count towards maximum ranks in the skill.
Special: Normally, a character may only have one of the three “save” pseudoskills (Ducking, Physical Control, and Skillful Resistance). If a character already has one of these skills, Iron Will grants the normal static +2 bonus to willpower instead.
LIGHTNING REFLEXES
Requires: same as RAW
Benefit: Adds the Lightning Reflexes pseudoskill as a cross-class skill, and puts 2 ranks into it, which do count towards maximum ranks in the skill.
Special: Normally, a character may only have one of the three “save” pseudoskills (Ducking, Physical Control, and Skillful Resistance). If a character already has one of these skills, Lightning Reflexes grants the normal static +2 bonus to reflexes instead.
POINT BLANK SHOT
Requires: same as RAW
Benefit: Adds the Melee Archery pseudoskill as a cross-class skill, and puts 2 ranks into it, which do count towards maximum ranks in the skill.
TOUGHNESS
Benefit: Adds the Damage Mitigation pseudoskill as a cross-class skill, and puts 3 ranks into the skill (these DO count towards max skill levels, so a level 1 character with the toughness feat cannot add more skill points towards Toughness).
Special: Barbarians who take the Toughness feat get Damage Mitigation as a class skill, and gain a one-time bonus of +3 to HP.
Toughness may be taken multiple times. After the first time, it grants a one-time bonus of +3 to HP.
WEAPON FOCUS
Requires: same as RAW.
Benefit: Adds the <Weapon> Precision pseudoskill as a cross-class skill, where <Weapon> is the name of the weapon chosen to focus in. Also adds 2 skill ranks in <Weapon> Precision (equivalent to a +1 to attack), which do count towards maximum ranks in the skill.
Special: Weapon Focus may be applied to a spell (eg. A touch spell or a ray) but it must be applied to one particular spell or closely related group of spells, not touch/ray spells as a whole. Examples include “harm” spells, ray of <weakening> necromancy spells, etc. Specialising in “touch spells” is no different from specialising in “melee weapons” and should not be allowed.
GREATER WEAPON FOCUS
Requires: same as RAW.
Benefit: <Weapon> Precision becomes a class skill for fighter levels only, and gets 2 free skill ranks(these doesn't count towards the new increased maximum ranks in the skill). Non-fighter levels still count <Weapon> Precision as a cross-class skill for the purpose of determining maximum rank.
WEAPON SPECIALISATION
Requires: same as RAW.
Benefit: Adds the <Weapon> Expertise pseudoskill as a cross-class skill, where <Weapon> is the name of the weapon chosen to focus in. Also adds 2 skill ranks in <Weapon> Expertise, which do count towards maximum ranks in the skill.
GREATER WEAPON SPECIALISATION
Requires: same as RAW.
Benefit: <Weapon> Expertise becomes a class skill for fighter levels only, and gets 2 free skill ranks (these do count towards the new increased maximum ranks in the skill). Non-fighter levels still count <Weapon> Expertise as a cross-class skill for the purpose of determining maximum rank.
New feats:
IMPROVED DODGE
You're excellent at keeping an eye on the melee, and you can move out of the way of attacks before they've even started coming your way.
Requires: 5 or more ranks in the Artful Dodge pseudoskill.
Benefit: Artful Dodge becomes a class skill. You may apply your full Dodge bonus to AC against a number of opponents equal to your Wisdom bonus or 2, whichever is higher.
Special: A fighter may select Improved Dodge as one of his fighter bonus feats.
IMPROVED INTERCEPT
Your friends are an important asset. You know how to use your shield to protect more than your own hide.
Requires: Shield Specialisation
Benefit: You do not provoke attacks of opportunity when you Intercept. You may attempt to intercept multiple times per round: each subsequent attempt lowers your shield AC by 4 for that attempt. If your shield AC would be 0 or lower you may not intercept anymore. Your shield AC returns to normal at the start of your next round.
Normal: Intercepting (see Combat) provokes an attack of opportunity from anyone threatening you or your target, and you don't get shield AC.
Special: A fighter may select Improved Intercept as one of his fighter bonus feats.
GREATER INTERCEPT
Staying close to you is a boon to anyone on your side. Your shield appears everywhere, almost as if it had a life of its own.
Requires: Shield Specialisation, Improved Intercept
Benefit: Multiple intercepts in a round lower your shield AC by 2 per attempt. If your shield AC would be 0 or lower you may not intercept anymore. Your shield AC returns to normal at the start of your next round.
If someone outside of your intercept threatened space is attacked, you may intercept by using your move for your next round to get there. Every 5' outside of your intercept reach adds a -2 to your intercept check, and you may not move further than your movement rate. Unless you have the Spring Attack feat, this counts as your entire move action for your next round, even if you only use part of your movement.
Normal: with Improved Intercept you provoke an attack of opportunity from anyone threatening your target, and multiple attempts are at -4.
Special: A fighter may select Greater Intercept as one of his fighter bonus feats.
SHIELD SPECIALISATION
Requires: Shield proficiency, Base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: Adds the <Shield> Mastery pseudoskill as a cross-class skill, where <Shield> is the name of the shield chosen to focus in. Also adds 2 skill rank in Shield Mastery, which do count towards maximum ranks in the skill.
Special: A fighter may select Shield Specialisation as one of his fighter bonus feats.
STUNNING SHIELD
It's big! It's flat! It weighs ten kilograms! It's SHIELD! And it just knocked that orc out cold.
Requires: Shield Specialisation, Improved Shield Bash, Base attack bonus +4
Benefit: When making a Shield Bash attack with a shield you have specialised in, you can choose to inflict nonlethal damage at no penalty. This feat cannot be used with shields that have been altered to be more deadly weapons, ie. Spiked, flaming, or otherwise nasty shields. Basic enhancement bonuses to attack are acceptable.
Normal: Inflicting nonlethal damage with any lethal damage weapon confers a -4 penalty to attack.
Special: A fighter may select Stunning Shield as one of his fighter bonus feats.
SWORD AND BOARD EXPERT
The best defense is a good offense, but a good offense still can't stop everything. You know the importance of balancing both, the harmony of a slashing blade and a solid shield.
Requires: Shield Specialisation, Weapon Specialisation, Improved Shield Bash, 6 or more levels in classes with full Bab progression (fighter, barbarian, paladin, etc)
Benefit: When wielding your weapon of choice in one hand and your shield of choice in the other, your <Shield> Mastery bonus to AC increases to 1 per skill rank invested in <Shield> Mastery (effectively doubling it), and you may add your damage from <Weapon> Expertise to your shield damage as a synergy bonus (this damage is nonlethal if you are using the Stunning Shield feat). This applies to all weapons and shields you may have focused in; you do not have to take this feat multiple times to apply to multiple weapon/shield combinations.
Note: If using this feat, the GM should not allow Weapon Specialisation or Weapon Focus in shields, or should work out a system for preventing abuse.
Normal: <Shield> Mastery grants +1 to AC for every 2 ranks invested, and <weapon> expertise only applies to the weapon it is designated for.
Special: A fighter may select Sword and Board Expert as one of his fighter bonus feats.
SWORD AND BOARD MASTER
Shields were never meant to stand alone; you embody this fact. An unaccompanied shield is little more than a wooden plank with fancy embossing. Likewise, a weapon without a shield to complement it is half a weapon. By learning the delicate balance of shield and weapon, you prove that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Requires: Agile Shield Fighter (PHB2 74), Sword and Board Expert, 9 or more levels in classes with full Bab progression (fighter, barbarian, paladin, etc)
Benefit: When wielding your weapon of choice in one hand and your shield of choice in the other, you may add your <shield> mastery rank to your weapon's damage in addition to bonuses from <Weapon> Expertise. Further, you may add your <Weapon> Precision bonus to attacks with your shield as well as your main weapon. In effect, your weapon and shield function as a single weapon. This applies to all weapons and shields you may have specialised in; you do not have to take this feat multiple times to apply to multiple weapon/shield combinations.
Combined with Sword and Board expert and Agile Shield Fighter, this results in the following bonuses:
Shield AC: +(shield mastery) ranks
Shield damage: +<weapon> expertise ranks in weapon
Shield attack: +<weapon> precision ranks + shield precision ranks - dual wielding penalty
Weapon damage: +weapon expertise ranks + shield mastery ranks
Weapon attack: +weapon precision ranks - dual wielding penalty
Normal: Shield and weapon pseudoskills do not apply to anything but the weapons and shields they are designated for.
Special: A fighter may select Sword and Board Master as one of his fighter bonus feats.
IMPROVED TOUGHNESS
You wanna make somethin' of it, punk?
Requires: Toughness, CON 13+
Benefit: Increases size of hit die: d4>d6, d6>d8, d8>d10, d10>d12. Non-retroactive, but applies to every class you take thereafter (except Barbarian or any other class with d12 hit dice). If a character with a d12 hit die takes Improved Toughness, they instead gain +1 to hit points every level thereafter.
When you take Improved Toughness, you get a full die of HP for that level, as you would at level 1.
Special: This feat can be taken multiple times. Its effects stack. After 1d12, hitpoints continue to increase by +1 per level.
A fighter may select Improved Toughness as one of his fighter bonus feats.
Part 3: Different shields
Shields in d&d are not well-balanced, nor realistic. Let's revisit them. Following is just analysis of the old shields; skip it if you consider it intuitively obvious that the current shields suck.
The buckler is nothing at all like a real buckler. I am no stickler for realism, but it bothers my that something also known as a "punching shield" in real life is some kind of awkward arm-disc in d&d. I think this shield is silly, and imbalanced: it confers almost no penalty for its AC, and with a few feats a character can dual-wield and still have a shield. I don't care for that: why bother wielding sword-and-board at all, then?
The light shield is virtually useless. Aside from being usable to bash (and intercept, with my rules), there is almost no reason to use this shield. A buckler can do everything it can, and better.
The heavy shield is a decent all-Small Shield, but it is also the best shield most characters would bother using. Stop and think about that: the association of a shield with protection is one of the strongest symbolisms in our culture, and for good reason... yet the highest AC a practical shield offers is +2 in d&d. This is a small mobile wall that you can interpose between any attack, yet a breastplate that covers only the central body offers more than twice the protection.
The tower shield is so penalised it is virtually useless, and its AC is still not good when balanced with its penalties. Cover is great, but that's a pretty specialised use, and the massive penalties imposed for having it available make this shield a very odd choice for most adventurers: the 45-lb weight alone...! And, to add insult to injury, this shield can't be used to Bash, which is the only way of somewhat mitigating the poor balance of Sword-and-Board.
My biggest gripe is that there is no intermediate between Heavy and Tower shield. I also don't like that bucklers match or outdo light shields in every respect but bashing (and intercepting. I do think including intercept rules gives light shields a bit more mileage). In essence, there are two shields in RAW: buckler and heavy. No other shield is really worth looking at. Heavy shields are only worth it at low levels in RAW, although I think introducing more shield combat feats and interception makes them a viable alternative. The problem is that if shield AC is too high at low levels, low-level armoured characters become unhittable. I think this can be helped by allowing AC-boosting Shield Specialisation, but not AC-boosting Armour Specialisation: it is easier to see how one could learn to manoeuvre a shield effectively than to move one's entire metal-cased body.
Without further ado, my suggested shield rebalance:
Stats listed are for the most common type of shield, typically wooden. Different stats for different materials are listed in the detailed entries.
Bracer: cost 15, AC 1, A.Check Pen -1, Spell fail 5%, weight 2 lbs
Buckler: cost 6, AC 1, A.Check Pen -, Spell fail -, weight 1 lb
Simple light melee wpn, Dmg(s) 1d3, Dmg(m) 1d4, Crit x2, Type B
Spiked: Martial light melee wpn, Dmg(s) 1d3, Dmg(m) 1d4, Crit x3, Type P
Small Shield: cost 3, AC 1, A.Check Pen -1, Spell fail 10%
Martial light melee wpn, Dmg(s) 1d2, Dmg(m) 1d3, Crit x2, Type B
Spiked: Martial light melee wpn, Dmg(s) 1d3, Dmg(m) 1d4, Crit x3, Type P
Large Shield: cost 7, AC 2, A.Check Pen -2, Spell fail 15%
Martial light melee wpn, Dmg(s) 1d3, Dmg(m) 1d4, Crit x2, Type B
SpikedMartial light melee wpn, Dmg(s) 1d4, Dmg(m) 1d6, Crit x3, Type B
Body Shield: cost 20, AC 4, Max dex 6*, A.Check Pen -4, Spell fail 25%
Martial heavy melee wpn, Dmg(s) 1d4, Dmg(m) 1d6, Crit x2, Type B
Spiked: Martial heavy melee wpn, Dmg(s) 1d6, Dmg(m) 1d8, Crit x3, Type B
Tower shield: cost 30, AC 6, Max dex 2*, A.Check Pen -8, Spell fail 40%
Martial heavy melee wpn, Dmg(s) 1d4, Dmg(m) 1d6, Crit x2, Type B
Spiked: Exotic heavy melee wpn, Dmg(s) 1d6, Dmg(m) 1d8, Crit x4, Type P
*The Max Dex on Body Shields and tower shields is lower for characters with at least 1 level of Fighter.
Note: Leather shields
Leather is the material of choice for quality shields, though statistics listed are generally for wooden shields. It is in most cases equal to or better than wood, with one exception: longbows, composite bows and heavy crossbows can shoot through a leather shield. The shield grants DR 3/- versus penetrating attacks (any enhancement bonus to the shield increases this DR by 1/- per point of enhancement), and nullifies sneak attack or critical damage.
Note: proficiency conversion for RAW classes
Minimum Bab classes without shield proficiency remain shield-proficiency-less.
Minimum Bab classes with shield proficiency get Bracer and Small Shield.
Medium or Full Bab classes without shield proficiency get Bracer and a choice between Buckler or Small Shield.
Medium Bab classes with shield proficiency get Bracer, Buckler and Small Shield.
Full Bab classes with shield proficiency proficiency get Bracer, Buckler, Small Shield, and Heavy Shield.
Classes with tower shield proficiencies in RAW get Kite and Tower shield proficiencies (and all the others they qualify for).
Bucklers are a simple weapon, and proficiency with the buckler as a weapon is gained automatically along with the shield proficiency. All other shields are martial weapons.
Bracer, Buckler, Round, and Heavy shield proficiencies have no prerequisites. Body Shield proficiency requires Heavy Shield proficiency and a STR of 13+. Tower Shield proficiency requires Body Shield proficiency, Bab 1+, and STR 15+.
Descriptions:
Bracer
Bracers are heavy metal and leather cuffs worn on one arm, sometimes extending up the hand a little. They can be used to parry attacks. Some bracers have wide plates for blocking larger attacks, similar to the RAW buckler. Bracer AC is not cumulative with the AC from any armour that already includes gauntlets.
Bracers cannot be used to shield bash or intercept, nor can they be used in combination with any shield-related feats except shield specialisation: taking Shield Specialisation (bracer) grants a one-time +1 to bracer AC, but does not grant a pseudoskill.
Wielding a weapon with an arm that is wearing a bracer imposes a -4 penalty to attacks made with that arm. This does not apply to two-handed weapons or bows (bracers are designed for use by archers).
Disclaimer: I know this is not what a bracer is actually for, but it is the best I can do to simulate the original buckler.
Buckler
Bucklers are held in the fist and are particularly well-suited to bashing. Bucklers are always made of metal. A buckler's AC is penalised -4 (minimum 0) when used to block ranged or reach attacks.
A buckler is held in such a way that, like a locking gauntlet, the hand holding the buckler can be used for nothing else. Many enterprising adventurers attach a wrist strap, allowing them to drop their buckler and use the hand, then quickly (free action that does not provoke an AoO) rearm the shield. Effectively, this means the buckler imposes no AC or spellcasting penalty, but its shield bonus is not applied to AoO provoked while casting/doing AC-penalised skills.
Small Shield
There are many types of Small Shields; in general these are medium-sized shields that are strapped to the arm and gripped with the hand of that arm. Small Shields are light enough that the grip hand can be released to hold an item; doing so, however, nullifies any bonuses from the Small Shield Mastery pseudoskill. Base shield AC is still applied.
Leather Small Shields weigh 2lbs and impose only a 5% chance of spell failure.
Wooden Small Shields weigh 5lbs.
Steel Small Shields weigh 10lbs, impose a spell failure of 15%, and cost twice as much.
Large Shield
The “heater” shield is shaped like the front of an iron (hence its name), and is the shield most commonly associated with heraldry. Other large-to-medium shields could use the same statistics. The shield straps to the arm and is held in the hand. Like the Small Shield, the hand holding the shield can be released to hold an object; however, with this heavier shield, doing so is so awkward that the shield AC is completely negated by doing so.
Leather Large Shields weigh 5lbs and impose only a 10% chance of spell failure.
Wooden Large Shields weigh 10lbs.
Steel Large Shields weigh 20lbs, impose an Armour Check penalty of 3 and a spell failure of 30%, and cost twice as much.
Body Shield
These shields, and others of their type, go from about shoulder to knee, and are wide at the top and taper off towards the bottom. This allows them to protect the important parts of the wielder but still be light enough to be effectively wielded. Body Shields can grant partial cover (as the RAW tower shield provides full cover: same rules). Body Shields are so large that even when strapped to the back they provide a +1 bonus to AC and an Armour Check penalty of -1. This Armour Check penalty can only be removed by leaving the shield behind somewhere.
--Body Shields grant an extra +1 to shield AC against missile attacks. Combined with the Shield Ward feat (PHB2 82) this applies against ranged touch attacks as well.
--Characters with at least one level of Fighter do not suffer a Max Dexterity penalty when wielding a Body Shield.
Leather Body Shields weigh 10lbs and impose only a 20% chance of spell failure and a -4 Armour Check penalty.
Wooden Body Shields weigh 20lbs.
Steel Body Shields weigh 45lbs and impose an Armour Check penalty of 5 and a spell failure of 50%, as well as a -2 penalty on attacks made with the free hand for wielders with a STR less than 18. These shields cost triple the listed price.
Tower Shield
Tower shields are enormous, capable of fully covering a fighter's body more or less from head to toe. Leather and wooden tower shields are common among military foot soldiers, but adventurers often find them too cumbersome. A tower shield grants a +3 shield AC and Armour Check penalty of -2 even when strapped to the back: it is much like a turtle's shell. This Armour Check penalty can only be removed by leaving the tower shield behind somewhere. Tower shields can be used to shield bash, although they count as a heavy weapon for purposes of determining dual-wield penalties. Tower shields grant a +4 bonus when used as part of a Bull Rush attack. Tower shields can grant cover, as described in the RAW.
--Tower shields grant an extra +2 to shield AC against missile attacks. Combined with the Shield Ward feat (PHB2 82) this applies against ranged touch attacks as well.
--Characters with at least one level of Fighter have a max dexterity of 6, not 2, when wielding a tower shield.
Leather tower shields weigh 15lbs.
Wooden tower shields weigh 45lbs. They impose a -12 Armour Check penalty and 70% chance of spell failure, as well as a -2 penalty on attacks made with the free hand for wielders with a STR less than 18.
Steel tower shields weigh 90lbs or more. Their weight and bulk makes them more of a movable wall; when actually used, these shields typically take both hands, or even two shieldbearers. Wielders with a STR less than 20 cannot even attempt to attack while wielding a steel tower shield, and even with that high of a str, all attacks are at -6. These shields cost five times the listed cost. Spellcasting and using skills which are susceptible to Armour Check penalty are impossible when wielding this shield. Cover from a metal tower shield counts even against most spells.