Quote Originally Posted by icefractal View Post
You know it occurs to me that if you take "tower shields provided total cover to themselves" as given (as needed to foil senses that could detect a small wooden/metal wall), then a person behind a tower shield is also a nigh-unbreakable barrier. Can't disintegrate it, for instance, because no LoE, nor use any other attack or effect that requires that, which is most of them.
Effects that would normally target a person with total cover from a tower shield can instead target the tower shield. However, that requires that the caster/effect creator knows that the tower shield is there.

As an attended object, I think the tower shield should be protected by the stealth character's immunities for the most part. Otherwise Darkstalker would be entirely useless against Blindsight, for example, as they could just use it to spot your clothes and gear instead of you.

If we take for granted that even attended objects can be seen with special senses, however, there are only a few effects that can detect nonmagical objects:
  • Blindsense
  • Blindsight
  • Clearsight
  • Dreamsight (pierces ethereal invisibility)
  • Total Vision (Ethergaunt, Fiend Folio)
  • Touchsight
  • Treasure Scent
  • True seeing
By being incorporeal, not using ethereal invisibility, and not having our shield made out of currency-metals, we avoid all but Clearsight, Total Vision, and True Seeing.

Clearsight/True Seeing would negate the +20 hide bonus from being invisible, but not otherwise help in finding our hiding character. God Blooded of Vecna may protect the tower shield against True Seeing (by the same logic that Darkstalker doesn't stop working if you aren't completely naked), but I'm less convinced of Clearsight. Fortunately, it's a class ability normally only accessible to dragons of 26HD or more, and it doesn't actually auto-foil our hide check, although it is a big bonus to that dragon's spot.

Total Vision just detects all objects with no provision for being attended or unattended, so we just have to stay away. :/