I’m going to focus on DCC for the most part, as that’s what I am running, but any of this can be adapted to a 5th edition game as-is.
The Basics
Well, first off,
in Dungeon Crawl Classics, a shield grants a +1 AC, and takes a hand to use. Simple right?
Well, you can add to that very easily by adding one or two lines of equipment
to your campaign. Here are a few ideas…
A tower shield
might be available, a large square shield that reaches from shoulder to
knee. You could offer it at a slightly
higher cost (let’s say 30 gp), and grant it +2 AC, but have the wielder suffer
a a -4 armor check penalty and a -1d penalty to initiative (a d16 in most
cases).
A spiked shield
is mentioned in the Dwarf class entry, allowing that might cost a little more
(20 gp) and allow a 1d4 piercing attack with a second action or two weapon fighting
(for halflings or anyone with a Dex of 16 or higher).
Remember that it
also mentions in the Dwarf class entry that a shield bash is allowed as a free
extra action, but there’s no reason any class wielding a shield can’t do a
shield bash. Fighting skeletons? A bludgeoning 1d3 shield bash might be more
effective than that 1d6 handaxe…
Narrative Options
Outside of the
base rules, your DM might allow an extra bonus from a narrative description by
a player. “My character forgoes their attack,
and covers the wounded wizard with his shield” might have the Judge grant the
other PC a +1 to AC, for example.
And of course, Mighty
Deeds by Warriors or Dwarves can grant a higher AC bonus – examples in the Core
Rulebook allow for a +1 to AC for one round with a Deed roll of 3+, shield
walls that grant +1 to +3 for the Warrior and up to four allies, and a Judge
might allow more defensive effects creatively described by the player.
And of course,
you can always ‘Quest For It’ to improve your abilities with a shield – perhaps the travelling knight, Sir Theledas
of the Sable Stag can train your Warrior to have an extra +1 whenever wielding
a shield, but first there’s this small matter of his missing brother …
Special Materials
Without being an
actual magic item, your campaign might allow well-crafted shields to reduce the
armor check penalty from -1 to 0 at cost triple the normal price. Or you might allow adamantine shields to also
grant a +1 to AC (I have an article on such things for my game here.
House Rules
For as long as I
have played DCC, I’ve known about the ‘Shields Will Be Splintered!’ allowing
you to sacrifice your shield to reduce a hit by one die of damage. A generous Judge might allow a well-crafted
shield to reduce a hit by two dice of damage …
As well, if you
allow spell duels with Wizards and Clerics, why not extemporaneously allow a
Shield Duel by a Warrior or Dwarf? If
they proclaim they want to sacrifice an upcoming action die to block a shot, have
the monster and the Warrior roll competitive attack rolls – for every point the
defender beats the attacker by, increase their AC versus this attack by +1 …
but if the attacker beats the defender in the roll-off, grant them an automatic
critical hit against the defender, with +1 to the critical hit roll for every
+1 they beat the defender by. This is a
dramatic re-imagining of how Harnmaster deals with the Block maneuver…
Conclusion
So, as a Judge/GM/DN,
you can go with the straight-out-of-the-box +1 to AC, or you can give your
players options. Especially if one of
the players at your table asks, ‘why aren’t shields better?’.
Got some other ideas, house rules, or thoughts on how to use shields in DCC or other d20 RPG systems? Drop me a note to archadethered@gmail.com.
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