"does not imply that you "must" wield it or that you "automatically" wield it. You do not wield a ring, you wear a ring."
So it can create a shield like force which you can choose not to wield?
Here we disagree. I think you automatically wield it. It's magic. You think it creates it as a free action and then it takes donning it or reaadying it. I think it is authomitaclly donned and readied.
Since RAW could go either way, we are both right and we are both wrong.
Since RAW could go either way, we are both right and we are both wrong.
Quite ;)
I had missed the AoO aspect of it before, but since free actions can only happen on your turn, that makes sense.
That quotation from 3.5 brings up another question asked in this thread.. can you shield bash with a ring of force shield?
There it seems like a clear no, but I'm inclined to say yes. If you can shield bash with the Force Shield then why can't you take an AoO with it?
Very confusing.
1d4+Strength isn't terribly overpowered. Then you would lose the AC bonus until your next turn.
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Does the shield of force created by the ring of force shield (DMG 232) require a free hand to use, or can I use it when wielding two weapons or a two-handed weapon?The item is silent on the issue, so the Sage believes it appropriate to assume that the ring’s shield functions just like a normal heavy shield (except for the lack of armor check penalty or arcane spell failure chance). Thus, it requires a free hand to gain the shield’s benefit.
Of course, a character wielding a weapon in that hand could activate the ring after making his attacks for the round (thus gaining its benefit while enemies attack) and deactivate it at the start of his next turn (allowing attacks with that hand). While you wouldn’t be able to use the shield hand to make attacks of opportunity while the shield was active, you’d otherwise be nearly as effectively protected as if the shield were active continuously.
I had missed the AoO aspect of it before, but since free actions can only happen on your turn, that makes sense.
FarmerBob for the thread win for digging up still applicable old rulings. :)
That quotation from 3.5 brings up another question asked in this thread.. can you shield bash with a ring of force shield?
There it seems like a clear no, but I'm inclined to say yes. If you can shield bash with the Force Shield then why can't you take an AoO with it?
Very confusing.
I read the detail about the AoO to mean that you couldn't take an AoO with a two-handed weapon while using a Ring of Force since your off-hand was occupied. I don't see any reason why you couldn't shield bash with it though.
One thing that just occurred to me is that TWF doesn't work well with a Ring of Force. To take advantage of TWF, you need to full attack. If you had been running the Ring of Force going into the round, your hand is empty to start.
Drawing a weapon is a move action, or can be done in conjunction with a normal move (5' step doesn't cut it). With either choice, you can't full attack, so no benefit. If you have the Quick Draw feat, you can get around this.
However, to activate the ring at the end of the round, you need a free hand again. You can either drop the weapon as free action (which requires a move action to pick up later), or sheath it as a move action (in which case you couldn't have full-attacked this round).
Ring of Force isn't useful for melee types, unless you fight with a two-handed weapon.
Edit: Unless, of course, you plan to attack with your shield as your offhand weapon, in which case there are probably better options anyway.
FarmerBob for the thread win for digging up still applicable old rulings. :)
Glad to help!
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One thing that just occurred to me is that TWF doesn't work well with a Ring of Force. To take advantage of TWF, you need to full attack. If you had been running the Ring of Force going into the round, your hand is empty to start.
Drawing a weapon is a move action, or can be done in conjunction with a normal move (5' step doesn't cut it). With either choice, you can't full attack, so no benefit. If you have the Quick Draw feat, you can get around this.
However, to activate the ring at the end of the round, you need a free hand again. You can either drop the weapon as free action (which requires a move action to pick up later), or sheath it as a move action (in which case you couldn't have full-attacked this round).
Ring of Force isn't useful for melee types, unless you fight with a two-handed weapon.
Edit: Unless, of course, you plan to attack with your shield as your offhand weapon, in which case there are probably better options anyway.
...OR you can do like my halfling rogue3/sorcerer4/arcanetrickster10 and use a Ring of Force and Glove of Storing combo! :)
M= main hand
O= off hand
Start round: M = longsword; O = force shield ON
Free Action: deactivate force shield
Free Action: retrieve short sword from glove of storing
Full Attack with longsword and short sword TWF
Free Action: short sword goes in glove of storing
Free Action: reactivate force shield.
End of round: M = longsword; O = force shield ON
Voila! :)
...OR you can do like my halfling rogue3/sorcerer4/arcanetrickster10 and use a Ring of Force and Glove of Storing combo! :)
Voila! :)
Lol. I knew when I wrote that, someone would have a way around the problem. :-).
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Does the shield of force created by the ring of force shield (DMG 232) require a free hand to use, or can I use it when wielding two weapons or a two-handed weapon?The item is silent on the issue, so the Sage believes it appropriate to assume that the ring’s shield functions just like a normal heavy shield (except for the lack of armor check penalty or arcane spell failure chance). Thus, it requires a free hand to gain the shield’s benefit.
Of course, a character wielding a weapon in that hand could activate the ring after making his attacks for the round (thus gaining its benefit while enemies attack) and deactivate it at the start of his next turn (allowing attacks with that hand). While you wouldn’t be able to use the shield hand to make attacks of opportunity while the shield was active, you’d otherwise be nearly as effectively protected as if the shield were active continuously.
This is more or less what I suggested earlier on and I still think is the simplest most logical way to run it. It is also consistent with the Valeros build.
Empty off hand - You can activate and deactivate it to have a free hand during your turn.
Two Weapon Fighting or using a wand - You can use the ring hand as a shield when it's not your turn.
Two Handed Weapon - You need a hand to 'wield' the shield and both hands to wield your weapon so you cannot make attacks of opportunity with the two handed weapon while gaining the benefits of the shield... you might be able to make attacks of opportunity with a shield bash though.
To be honest the item is vaguely enough written that it's hard to really pin down exactly what it does. I could also see it argued that you can only gain the benefit if you have a free hand which would require dropping your off hand weapon.
And I gloat.