Paw Ironroot's page

All I seem to find is mixed messages when it comes to this item. I would humbly ask that this could possibly make it into the FAQ and finally put the issue to rest. It's come up in more than a couple games so far I would really like to see closure on the matter.

What damage does a spiked shield do with bashing?
Do they not stack? or do they?

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Here is the FAQ on 3.5 on the matter. There is no FAQ entry for spiked shields and shield bash on the pathfinder FAQ.
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The description of the magical bashing property for shields says it can be added only to light or heavy shields.
Does this exclude shields with shield spikes? That is, can
you have a +2 spiked light shield of bashing?
You can add the bashing property to a spiked shield. If you
do, the damage dealt by the shield bash increases from normal
by 3 steps (2 for the bashing property and 1 for the shield
spikes), and the weapon becomes a martial piercing weapon.
The example +1 spiked light shield of bashing,if made for a
Medium character, would deal 1d8 points of piercing damage
from the bash. (Normally a light shield bash deals 1d3 points of
damage, but the spikes improve that to 1d4 and the bashing
enhancement increases that to 1d8.)

Citation http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/er/20030221a 3.5 FAQ page 51

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END 3.5 FAQ.
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Pathfinder Descriptions

Shield, Heavy; Wooden or Steel: You strap a shield to your forearm and grip it with your hand. A heavy shield is so heavy that you can't use your shield hand for anything else.
Wooden or Steel: Wooden and steel shields offer the same basic protection, though they respond differently to spells and effects.

Shield Bash Attacks: You can bash an opponent with a heavy shield. See “shield, heavy” on Table: Weapons for the damage dealt by a shield bash. Used this way, a heavy shield is a martial bludgeoning weapon. For the purpose of penalties on attack rolls, treat a heavy shield as a one-handed weapon. If you use your shield as a weapon, you lose its AC bonus until your next turn. An enhancement bonus on a shield does not improve the effectiveness of a shield bash made with it, but the shield can be made into a magic weapon in its own right.

Shield Spikes: These spikes turn a shield into a martial piercing weapon and increase the damage dealt by a shield bash as if the shield were designed for a creature one size category larger than you (see “spiked shields” on Table: Weapons). You can't put spikes on a buckler or a tower shield. Otherwise, attacking with a spiked shield is like making a shield bash attack.
An enhancement bonus on a spiked shield does not improve the effectiveness of a shield bash made with it, but a spiked shield can be made into a magic weapon in its own right.

Both are listed as weapons on page 152. The word turn seems to read as a modifier. as a shield is already a weapon. It also says Shield spikes Increase the shield bash damage. It isn't listed as independent from a shield?

Bashing: A shield with this special ability is designed to perform a shield bash. A bashing shield deals damage as if it were a weapon of two size categories larger (a Medium light shield thus deals 1d6 points of damage and a Medium heavy shield deals 1d8 points of damage). The shield acts as a +1 weapon when used to bash. Only light and heavy shields can have this ability.

Can we get some clarification on how it works in Pathfinder?

Thanks-a-million in advance!
-Tig

Hopefully, someone can clear this up for me. I cannot find a clear answer anywhere. @_@

So what is the total cost of a mithral spiked shield? Can they be made from a different material than the actual shield? I recall in 3.5 they could, but the wording in pathfinder has me puzzled. It says Shield Spikes TURN a shield into a martial weapon. It does mention the enchantments for the spikes and the shield itself are different. But nothing about the material.

Shield, heavy steel: 20 gp 15 lbs.
Shield spikes: +10 gp +5 lbs.
Mithral Costs:
Shield +1,000 gp
Other items +500 gp/lb.

Shield Spikes: These spikes turn a shield into a martial piercing weapon and increase the damage dealt by a shield bash as if the shield were designed for a creature one size category larger than you (see “spiked shields” on Table: Weapons). You can't put spikes on a buckler or a tower shield. Otherwise, attacking with a spiked shield is like making a shield bash attack.
An enhancement bonus on a spiked shield does not improve the effectiveness of a shield bash made with it, but a spiked shield can be made into a magic weapon in its own right.

So let's look at armor spikes,

You can have spikes added to your armor, which allow you to deal extra piercing damage (see “spiked armor” on Table: Weapons) on a successful grapple attack. The spikes count as a martial weapon. If you are not proficient with them, you take a –4 penalty on grapple checks when you try to use them. You can also make a regular melee attack (or off-hand attack) with the spikes, and they count as a light weapon in this case. (You can't also make an attack with armor spikes if you have already made an attack with another off-hand weapon, and vice versa.) An enhancement bonus to a suit of armor does not improve the spikes' effectiveness, but the spikes can be made into magic weapons in their own right.

So armor spikes are added to armor. So they can be made out of different materials and priced separately, thus my confusion.