| killamangawa |
2) Since they do have a critical specialization, are they meant to be also "weapons"? On the weapon table i can see attacks made with a shield ( shield bash )or eventually attached weapons ( Spikes and Boss ), but not the shield itself ( maybe because since it is allowed to be modded, its damage can change in terms of dice and type, but still no answer here ).
Your answer may be found on Page 277 of the CRB under the section "Attacking with a Shield", it states:
A shield can be used as a martial weapon for attacks, using the statistics listed for a shield bash on Table 6–7: Melee Weapons (page 280). The shield bash is an option only for shields that weren’t designed to be used as weapons. A shield can’t have runes added to it. You can also buy and attach a shield boss or shield spikes to a shield to make it a more practical weapon. These can be found on Table 6–7. These work like other weapons and can even be etched with runes."
By this reading, I can conclude that a shield can be used as a weapon and is a weapon for the purpose of utilizing the Shield Bash maneuver, as long as it DOES NOT have a weapon attached to it (shield spike or shield boss). Once you attach a shield spike or shield boss to a shield, then the shield can no longer be used with the Shield Bash manuever, since it is now designed to be a weapon, and thus, can be used as a weapon just like any other weapon listed in the CBR. As long as a shield has a shield spike or shield boss attached to it, it can be used with the Double Slice