Its up to the DM i can see both sides of the story.

1: specifically says it functions like a shield,

2: however, it has no weight and no penalty at all

Basically here is my own thoughts on this little tid-bit. Its not limiting monks movements, it has no weight and no penalty what so ever. In my own eyes, i ask myself how would this hinder a monk? answer is it wouldn't. why? because no limiting factors, reason a monk cant use his abilities in armor is because it LIMITS his mobility, reason a monk cant use a shield and his monk skills is again because it limits his range of motion. So would having a weightless shield REALLY take away his monk powers? answer is no probably not however! doesn't mean he knows how to use it and would use shield as a non-proficient weapon.

First key to D&D is to look at things from a logical stand point, and to me logically speaking as a big martial artist fan in real life, cant see this shield hindering monk that much, i might however impose that he cant flurry while shields active since shield could well get in way of his flurry strikes or give him a negative to hit when doing so unproficient.

just my two sense take it how you will.

I agree. It makes me curious about monks in light leather armor with no ACP either. I wouldn't limit the monk from being able to use the ring, but it does open the door to other things with no ACP.. then again that is why we draw lines.

I don't know if this was covered but you can get a potion of (shield of faith) which has a lesser bonus but the same duration.

(b) Shield of faith

Range : touch

Target: creature touched

Duration 1 min. / level

This spell creates a shimmering, magical field around the target that averts and deflects attacks. The spell grants +2 deflection bonus to AC , with an addtional +1 to the bonus for every six levels you have(up to +5 deflection bonus at 18th level).

cost is minimal and still is good for any level cuz' monks don't get any deflection bonus @ all. IMH

cost is minimal and still is good for any level cuz' monks don't get any deflection bonus @ all. IMH

Yeah but they can get that deflection bonus from a ring of deflection, what the OP is looking for is a shield bonus...

Which is a beast of a different strip and actually harder to come across for the monk.

Fake Healer wrote:

So if you Shield Bash with it does it do force damage?

If someone is falling and you cast wall of force underneath them do they take force damage?

I would say no in both cases... So the shield would do bludgeoning damage as James said.

I would be inclined to say that it's auto-crit auto-confirmed vorpal slashing damage, as walls of force are vertical-only. :)

However, houseruling aside, fall damage is fall damage unless you're falling into a spiked pit or something of the ilk.

I'm running my first campaign and one of the players has a ring of force. He has a lot more DM experience then me, and he is making the argument that the ring of force is a shield that can block spells (like a wall of force). I just want your opinion on this, since I'm only seeing it as a heavy shield (+2ac) that is basically unbreakable, weightless and functional against incorporeal. He feels that it should do more since he payed 8000 gp for it. How would you handle this situation, or is there just something I missed that solves this argument.

I'm running my first campaign and one of the players has a ring of force. He has a lot more DM experience then me, and he is making the argument that the ring of force is a shield that can block spells (like a wall of force). I just want your opinion on this, since I'm only seeing it as a heavy shield (+2ac) that is basically unbreakable, weightless and functional against incorporeal. He feels that it should do more since he payed 8000 gp for it. How would you handle this situation, or is there just something I missed that solves this argument.

The ring of force shield may be a wavy issue when concerning monks, but it definitely does not block any spells. He may be getting confused because the shield SPELL blocks one spell, magic missile, but the Ring of Force Shield is not the shield spell.

So, no, the ring cannot block any spell in any way, shape, or form. I would be willing to say that you could get the shield's AC bonus against incorporeal touch attacks (as it is a force effect).

Thank you. The description of the ring just says that it functions as a shield sized and shaped wall of force spell. I think that's where he is getting the spell blocking effect from, since the wall of force spell blocks spells.

Here's an idea that makes the ring worth while but not overpowered, imo. Change the words heavy shield to tower shield, and change the standard action to plant the shield for total cover to a move action. This way a caster has the +4 ac (like the shield spell), and can get total cover from one direction. It's not to overpowered because it is a free action to dispel the force shield, standard to cast a spell, free to summon force shield, and a move to plant it for full cover. If the caster needs to move, they can leave the shield active for the +4. Plus this way you have the wanted effect of a wall of force, if only from one direction.