E.N. Aroury Shields A Cote Arour Sourcebook - Volue II Written by Ada Windsor Additional Material & Editing Table of Contents By The ENWorld Aroury Tea Illustrations Marcio Fiorito, Matthew Cuenca Cover and Layout M Jason Parent and Mark Alexander Clover Art Director &Project Lead Denise Robinson Chapter 1: Shields A History of Shields Statistics Racial Preferences Chapter 2: Shield Variants New Shield Materials New Weapons Craftanship New Special Materials Chapter 3: Fighting & Feats Tricks & Techniques Variant Shields Table Feats Chapter 4: Classes of the Shield Faithwarden Knight Herald Rashield Berserker Shieldage Tower Legionnaire Chapter 5: Shield Magic New Spells Magic Shields Shield Enhanceents Specific Magic Shields New Alcheical Ites Deity of Shields New Doains OGL The ENWorld Aroury Tea (August 05) Peter M. Ball, Mark Alexander Clover, Suburbanknght, Russell Morrissey, Joe Mucchiello, Ryan Nock, M JasonParent, Denise dextra Robinson, David nders, and Ada Windsor d20 Syste and the d20 Syste logo are Tradearks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and are used according to the ters of the d20 Syste Tradeark License version 6.0. A copy of this License can befound at www.wizards.co/d20. Dungeons & Dragons and Wizards of the Coast are Registered Tradearks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in the United States and other countries and are used with Perission. Soe content included herein is derivative of existing Open Gae Content as indicated in the Section 15 of the Open Gae License included at the end of this docuent. All contents, regardless of designation, are 2005 E.N. Publishing. E.N. Publishing logos, product lines, and product titles are Tradearks of E.N. Publishing. This edition of E.N. Aroury: Shields is produced under version 1.0a of the OpenGae License, version 6.0 of the d20 Syste Tradeark License and the current version of the Syste Reference Docuent by perission of Wizards of the Coast, subsequent editions of this product will incorporate the ost current versions of the license, guide, and docuent. 2005 E.N. Publishing Declaration of Open Gae Content and Product Identity: All text on pages 2 through 25 of this docuent are released as Open Gae Content under the Open Gae License version 1.0a. The only text that is not released as Open Gae Content under this declaration are all E.N. Publishing logos, product naes, and product line naes. 1 2 2 3 5 6 8 11 11 12 13 13 14 15 17 17 19 21 23 26 28 28 29 29 30 31 31 31 32
Shields which was soeties covered with etal plates. The edges were reinforced with decorated etal strips, and a wooden reinforcing spine ran down its entire length, broadening out in the iddle to for a boss. It was not until 900 years ago that a new shape of shield arrived: the failiar kite, or Noran shield. This is the elongated triangular shield coonly depicted in the jousting scenes of odern fils. The kite-shaped shield becae a typical shield for ounted troops, since its elongated shape provided good protection for the left side of the body, the area ost vulnerable to lance thrusts. Welcoe to E.N.Aroury, a series of d20 inisourcebooks focusing on particular fors of arour and other protective equipent, and their roles in real-world history and in classic d20 fantasy gaes. Each book concentrates on a single category of protective ites, describing not only the equipent itself, but those who use it, its history, and variations on the thee. Each book in the series is quite rules-intensive and includes any optional rules throughout the text, often in sidebars. Soe of these rules work well independently, but a ajority work best when all the optional rules are applied, as soe detract fro the usefulness or usability of the equipent while others enhance the equipent. A History of Shields Around 500 years ago, the variety of shield designs ultiplied significantly, but they can generally be grouped into three types: those held in the hand, those worn on the ar, and those intended to be placed on the ground and used as shelter (usually for archers). This is roughly the level of developent assued by the standard d20 rules, and by this book. The ter shield is a generic word covering all defensive weapons - usually of wood or etal which are carried either on the ar on in the hand opposite to the one holding the offensive weapon. Shields were in use as long ago as the Bronze Age over an extreely wide area, including Europe and the Middle East. Shields were used by the ancient Egyptians, Suerians, Assyrians, and Persians in a variety of shapes: rectangular, oval, and round. Materials used included leather, leather-covered wood, and wickerwork, often overlaid with decoratively ebossed or engraved thin etal plates. Evidence has been found that several types of shields existed ore than three thousand years ago. Engravings on a 3,600 year old Mycenaean dagger clearly show two types of shields. These were probably ade fro layers of oxhide, Shields are unique in the d20 gae because they can readily be used for both offensive and defensive purposes. A shield-bearing character enjoys better protection than those without shields, but also has the option of using the shield to attack their opponents. With the appropriate feats, they can even take advantage of both the offensive and defensive bonuses at the sae tie. These unique capabilities ake the shield an iportant tool in the successful adventurer s aroury. 2
Statistics The ain categories of shields in the core d20 rules are described below. Bucklers: The sallest and lightest type of shield is the buckler, the basic structure of which consists of a strong iron plate - round, square or occasionally trapezoidal - fitted on the inside with a strap designed to loop over the ar. The ri is often reinforced with a strip of riveted etal. Light and Heavy Shields: These two categories are siilar in basic design, though they differ in size and weight. They can be of any shapes - round, oval, or kite - but regardless of shape they share two iportant characteristics. First, the surface of these shields tends to be concave toward the defender s body. That is, the edges curl slightly forwards of the centre. This deflects the force of an opponent s blows into the centre of the shield, rather than allowing the to glance off and possibly strike the defender. Second, they are fitted on the inside with two straps, called enares. The wearer passes his ar through the first strap (which can be adjusted with a buckle) and grips the second strap with his hand. On all but the ost rudientary shields, the inside is also lined with cloth and leather in order to give the ar soe protection against the ipact of eney s blows. Such shields were often eblazoned with heraldic devices to identify the user. These devices were either painted onto the shield itself, or stitched into a cloth and leather covering which protected the shield fro daage and could be coparatively cheaply replaced. Tower Shields: This is a large wooden shield, nearly as tall as its bearer and often at least as wide as his shoulders. Unlike the light and heavy shields, the tower shield is usually concave away fro the body, with the edges curling back fro the centre. This is because the shield is so large that any deflected blow would not risk striking the defender. This shape tends to reduce the ipact of the attacker s blows on the defender s ar. Tower shields are generally rectangular in their basic shape, though the top and botto are often rounded. The surface of these shields is often covered by a cloth or leather sleeve, and they are soeties reinforced with iron bands. Like the light and heavy shield, the tower shield has two straps on the back: one for the ar and one for the hand. By the nature of their design, each shield is clearly intended to be worn on the user s off-hand ar, covering the body while the priary hand is used to strike with a light or one-handed weapon. With the exception of the buckler, however, ost shields are large and cubersoe enough that carrying the in this fashion for long periods of tie can be very uncofortable. For that reason, light and heavy shields often have a third strap, running across the shield near the top. This strap allowed the shield to be hung over the shoulder or over a saddle ount, or the strap could be loosened enough to slip it over the owner s neck, such that the shield hung down across his back. Due to its greater size, the tower shield could not be carried hung on a shoulder or a saddle ount, but any did have two etal chains near the top of the inside of the shield. A soldier could slip his ars though each of these straps and carry the shield over his back. When carried like this, the shield would often clear the ground by only a few inches. Optional Rule: Priitive Shields If you want to odel an earlier level of shield developent than is assued by the standard d20 rules, you can do so by aking the following changes: Reove the buckler Increase the arour check penalty of light and heavy shields by 1, and that of tower shields by 2. Increase the arcane spell failure percentage of all shields by 10% Renae steel shields to bronze shields and reduce their hardness to 8 (all etal weapons and arour should have their hardness siilarly reduced) If these ore priitive shields are the only kind available in your capaign, then their costs can reain unchanged. If these ore priitive designs are available in addition to those with the standard statistics (for instance, if your capaign has an advanced culture interacting with a ore priitive one) then you should either reduce the price of the priitive versions to two-thirds that of noral, or increase the price of the standard versions by one-half, depending on which versions are ore coon in your capaign. 3
Table 1-1: Shields - Static Inforation Type of Shield AC Bonus Max Dex Bonus Arour Check Penalty Arcane Spell Failure Crit Range Hardness Buckler +1 - -1 5 % N/A N/A 10 Light Steel +1 - -1 5 % 20/x2 N/A 10 Light Wooden +1 - -1 5 % 20/x2 N/A 5 Heavy Steel +2 - -2 15 % 20/x2 N/A 5 Heavy Wooden +2 - -2 15 % 20/x2 N/A 10 Tower +4 +2-10 50 % N/A N/A 5 Table 1-2: Shields - Cost and Weight Size Buckler Light Steel Light Wooden Heavy Steel Heavy Wooden Tower Spikes Tiny or saller Sall Mediu Large Huge Gargantuan Colossal 75 sp 0.5 lb. 15 gp 2.5 lb. 15 gp 5 lb. 30 gp 10 lb. 60 gp 25 lb. 120 gp 40 lb. 240 gp 60 lb. 45 sp 0.6 lb. 9 gp 3 lb. 9 gp 6 lb. 18 gp 12 lb. 36 gp 30 lb. 72 gp 48 lb. 144 gp 72 lb. Table 1-3: Shields - Hit Points 15 sp 0.5 lb. 3 gp 2.5 lb. 3 gp 5 lb. 6 gp 10 lb. 12 gp 25 lb. 24 gp 40 lb. 48 gp 60 lb. 10 gp 1.5 lb. 20 gp 7.5 lb. 20 gp 15 lb. 40 gp 30 lb. 80 gp 75 lb. 160 gp 120 lb. 320 gp 180 lb. 35 sp 1 lb. 7 gp 5 lb. 7 gp 10 lb. 14 gp 20 lb. 28 gp 50 lb. 56 gp 80 lb. 112 gp 120 lb. 15 gp 4.5 lb. 30 gp 22.5 lb. 30 gp 45 lb. 60 gp 90 lb. 120 gp 225 lb. 240 gp 360 lb. 480 gp 540 lb. Size Buckler Light Steel Light Wooden Heavy Steel Heavy Wooden Tower Tiny or saller 1 2 1 5 1 5 Sall 2 5 3 10 3 10 Mediu 5 10 7 20 7 20 Large 10 20 15 40 15 40 Huge 20 40 30 80 30 80 Gargantuan 40 80 60 160 60 160 Colossal 80 160 120 320 120 320 Table 1-4: Shields - Shield Bash Daage +5 gp +0.5 lb. +10 gp +2.5 lb. +10 gp +5 lb. +20 gp +10 lb. +40 gp +25 lb. +80 gp +40 lb. +160 gp +60 lb. Size Light Light Spiked Heavy Heavy Spiked Type (No Spikes) Type (Spiked) Tiny or saller 1 1d2 1d2 1d3 Bludgeoning Piercing Sall 1d2 1d3 1d3 1d4 Bludgeoning Piercing Mediu 1d3 1d4 1d4 1d6 Bludgeoning Piercing Large 1d4 1d6 1d6 1d8 Bludgeoning Piercing Huge 1d6 1d8 1d8 2d6 Bludgeoning Piercing Gargantuan 1d8 2d6 2d6 3d6 Bludgeoning Piercing Colossal 2d6 3d6 3d6 4d6 Bludgeoning Piercing 4
Racial Preferences In a typical d20 capaign, shields are likely to be such an established and prevalent for of arour that the atter of who first developed the is never even considered, let alone known. Many races ight be candidates: the dwarves with their affinity for aroursithing, the elves with their ancient culture and preference for speed and agility in cobat, or the huans with their instinct for whatever will bring the an advantage. They could even be the product of the warlike nature and crude technology used by the goblinoids. Optional Rule: Inapropriately Sized Shields Whereas arour can only be used by a creature of the appropriate size, a creature can ake use of any shield they are physically capable of carrying, although not as effectively as they can use a shield of the appropriate size. A creature can use a shield that is one or ore size categories saller than it. For each size category the shield is saller than the creature, the shield s effective AC bonus is reduced by 1. All other statistics for the shield (including the penalty to attack rolls for the tower shield) are the sae as noral for a shield of that size and type. Whatever their origins, in the current era shields are ore associated with soe races than with others. Most dwarven fighters carry shields, for instance, usually coud with an axe, pick or haer. Elves often cobine the use of a shield with light arour in order to take advantage of their speed and agility in cobat. Hobgoblins and lizardfolk also ake coon use of the shield, the forer because it suits their ilitaristic outlook, and the latter because shields are easier to craft and aintain in their swapland hoes than arour would be. Huans, as is usually the case, have any different opinions on the atter. Soe huans swear by the shield, while others disdain its use. However, shields are often a popular for of defence for those who cannot afford the cost of the better fors of arour, whatever their race ay be. Shields are an inexpensive for of protection, particularly if one is willing to ake use of a wooden shield or the even cheaper hide and wicker alternatives (refer to New Shield Materials, page 8). Just as there are races that coonly use the shield, there are also those who alost never eploy it. Orcs and the various giant races, with their strong predilection for two-handed weapons, tend to avoid the use of shields in favour of axiising the strength of their blows with twohanded weapons. Indeed, great physical strength tends to be a coon trait of the races that avoid the use of the shield. 5 A creature can also use shields that are one or ore size categories larger than it. The statistics for the shield (including the penalty to attack rolls for the tower shield) are the sae as noral for a shield of that size and type, except that, for each size category larger the shield is larger than the character, the character suffers the following penalties: Arour check penalty increases by 1 Arcane spell failure chance increases by 10% The character s attack rolls suffer a -1 penalty Optional Rule: Shields as Back Protection As noted, any warriors choose to keep their shield strapped over their back when they do not expect to use it in the near future. Soe warriors also do this as a for of cheap back protection, hoping that the shield will knock aside any blow fro behind. If a character is flanked while wearing a heavy shield or tower shield on his back, he gains a +1 shield bonus to AC against the flanking characters, due to the protection the shield offers. Magical enhanceents to the shield s noral AC bonus do not apply, and the flanking characters still receive the usual +2 bonus to attack rolls for flanking their target.
Shield Variants Many efforts have been ade to iprove the effectiveness of the shield, both in ters of the protection it offers and in its use as a weapon. Herein we cover soe of the ost coon or notorious designs and noteworthy variations on the thee. In general, use of these shields to defend yourself is covered by the shield proficiency, while using a shield to shield bash requires a artial weapon proficiency. A note will be ade wherever a different requireent applies for either attacking or defence. On the shores of a distant chain of islands can be found a breed of giant tortoise. These creatures eerge fro the egg with shells that are already close to a foot across, and can conceivably grow to be as tall as a bull elephant - and far wider. Little can threaten these assive beasts, but one of their few predators are native tribes of the area, who hunt the tortoises for their shells. A great shell shield is a tower shield, constructed fro a single, whole shell of one of these creatures. A ediu-sized exa of one of these shields is close to six feet long and three feet wide. Whereas ost tower shields are only slightly concave, a great shell shield has a uch ore pronounced curve, and is usually about half as deep as it is wide. Discus Shield Great Shell Shield This light steel shield is circular in shape, with a diaeter designed to be just an inch or two greater than the length of its user s forear. Though concave in the anner of ost light shields, with the edges curling away fro the body, the discus shield is noticeably thicker at the centre than at the edges. Most shields are of unifor thickness, to prevent weak spots. Discus shields ust always be forged of a high-quality alloy in order to prevent such weak spots fro foring. The reason for the discus shield s unusual design is that the ri of the shield has been deliberately tepered into a sharp, cutting blade. This allows the user of the shield to slash at opponents with the edge, rather than battering the. In fact, due to its thin, forward-swept edges, the discus shield is not well-suited for bashing attacks. A desperate character can even throw the discus shield, if they wish. The shield ust be reoved fro the character s ar in order to attept this. Reoving the shield is a ove action that provokes an attack of opportunity. Any tie a character rolls a 1 on their attack roll to throw a discus shield, or to slash at a foe, they suffer 1d4 points of slashing daage as they cut theselves with the ri. Shield Cost AC Bonus Max Dex Bonus: Range Weight Discus Shield 12 gp Arcane Spell Failure +1 Arour Check Penalty Shield Bash Daage 10 ft. Shield Bash Critical 6 lb. Shield Bash Daage Type 5% -1 1d4 19-20/x2 Slashing 6 In addition to being tougher than the wood of a typical tower shield, the great shell shield can also be used as a akeshift coracle or canoe, capable of carrying one character of the sae size category as the shield, plus an aount of gear equal to the weight of the shield itself. Thus a great shell shield sized for a ediu sized character could carry that sae character and up to 50 lb. of her gear, if used as a canoe. The coracle can be paddled at approxiately one ile per hour. Use of the great shell shield is covered by the tower shield proficiency. A druid with the tower shield proficiency can use a great shell shield without consequences to her class bilities, as it is not a etal shield. Shield Great Shell Shield Cost 90 gp AC Bonus +4 Max Dex Bonus: +2 Range Weight 50 lb. Arcane Spell Failure 50 % Arour Check Penalty -10 Shield Bash Daage/Critical/Type n/a