I've been reading the shield bashing threads because I have a cleric who has been going in that direction. Upon reading the threads, it came to my attention that the shield is used as a martial bludgeoning weapon when used in such a manner. Clerics have simple weapon proficiency and are proficient with shields. I read somewhere (but can't remember where) that being proficient with shields only means with using it to gain AC.
My question is can a cleric use a shield to shield bash without taking the -4 for not being skilled in martial bludgeoning or does he need to take the feat?
Also, if the cleric wields a weapon but doesn't use it and only uses the shield bash in a round, does he take the off-hand penalty or is there no penalty because he didn't use his on-hand weapon? The whole off-hand on-hand two weapon fighting thing confuses me. Personally, I think there should be an off-hand penalty even if you have nothing in your on-hand, but all the rules point to no penalty so long as there aren't two weapons being used.
I am a new DM/GM and am learning new things all the time. I appreciate your help.
