Thursday, April 25, 2013

Armor And Shields Revisited


Rather than including shields as part of a character's Armor Class, they can be used to deflect a number of successful attacks, depending on the size of the shield.  The table, above, provides the various types of armor available in the game.  When an attacker makes a successful attack, the defender can attempt to use his shield to deflect the blow.  There is a 50% chance that a shield deflection attempt will be successful.


The number of opportunities to deflect attacks is related to the size of the shield.  A player can try to use their Buckler to deflect a maximum of one attack per combat round.  A Round shield can be used to deflect attacks twice per combat round, and so on.  Of course, the shield can only be used in this way if the attack comes from the front or side, and the character is not surprised.

Changing shields to work, as described above, makes the shield a much more powerful addition to a character's equipment.
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9 comments:

  1. Clovis CithogApril 25, 2013 at 5:29 PM

    good to see you posting again 8-0

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  2. Aaron E. SteeleApril 25, 2013 at 5:39 PM

    Thanks, I see you've been quite busy of late!

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  3. ScrivenerBApril 25, 2013 at 7:12 PM

    That makes them really, really useful. You might want to incorporate some sort of shield destruction rule to compensate. Say if you're rolling a d10 for success, on '1' a metal shield is destroyed in deflecting the blow, wooden ones on a 1 or 2?

    Of course if they're consumable it calls into question the whole idea of magical ones.

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  4. Aaron E. SteeleApril 25, 2013 at 10:08 PM

    Good idea, or you could use different dice for different shield sizes, d8 for buckler, d10 for round, d12 for knight and d20 for tower. This sounds a little like akrasias shields shall be splintered rule.

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  5. Aaron E. SteeleApril 25, 2013 at 10:18 PM

    Sorry, that rule is actually trollsmyths. Doh.

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  6. Roger G-SApril 26, 2013 at 2:25 AM

    That's the Runequest parry solution - the drawback being it adds another die roll to combat.

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  7. Andy BartlettApril 26, 2013 at 7:37 AM

    And, of course, the RQ parry solution gives shields HP, to be worn away until the thing is just a few shards of wood dangling from a leather strap.

    However, this is a bit different, as it creates two ways of avoiding being hit, with AC and parry essentially doing the same thing. RQ armour doesn't stop you being hit,it reduces damage, while RQ shields stop you being hit (plus, using armour is an unskilled, passive task, while shield use is a skill) - so I think that there is a greater justification for an extra roll in RQ.

    That said, I like 'shields may be splintered' as I treat it pretty much like a very specific Saving Throw.

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  8. AnonymousApril 29, 2013 at 7:32 PM

    I like it.

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  9. UnknownMay 1, 2013 at 3:57 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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