Dual-shielding


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Lune wrote:

Ashiel: Question for you. You say that the dual-shielder isn't as damaging as a two weapon weilder. I don't understand how you came to that conclusion for two major reasons:

1. Your base weapon damage on a spiked bashing shield is 2d6. There isn't a weapon that has that high of a base damage that is a one handed weapon in the game.

It's not the weapon damage that matters, compared to Strength modifiers and the like. A 2 hander will be getting somewhere between +4 to +6 damage off the bat, and easily +18 damage by 20th level, from Strength alone. The base damage dice generally only matters for Vital Strike Builds, in which case 2 handers still tend to come out ahead in most cases. However, if you've got both shield spikes, bashing, and so forth, then it's pretty nice.

Quote:
2. As you pointed out your weapons are cheaper to enchant thus more easily able to get higher enhancement bonuses early thus leading to more damage output.

The biggest problem here is that you can't get that feat until 11th level, which means you will probably need at least some weapon enhancement until then.

Quote:
Also I think the enlarged leadened spiked bashing shield would do 4d6 not 3d6, right?

You are correct. I forgot that bashing increases 2 size categories of damage, spiked shield is 1 category, lead blade is 1 category, and enlarged is one category. So that is: 1d6->1d8->2d6->3d6->4d6->6d6...

Ok, I take it back. That's a pretty awesome slam. Given proper specialization, they would definitely be able to keep up in damage numbers with a bit of heavy specialization. >.>

6d6 is an average of 21 damage, and would look pretty sexy on a greater vital strike as well, allowing you to make pretty solid single-strike slams.

Quote:
Nice catch with some of your feat suggestions. Merciless Rush, Spiked Destroyer and Squashed Flat are all great suggestions for various types of builds. What sources are these from? I'm thinking they aren't from Pathfinder materials and may not be as available at the game table for this reason. Still... something to consider if they are. :)

They are. You can find them and their sources on the d20pfsrd.com. I tried to avoid using 3PP feats, but there are some good 3PP feats as well for shield users.


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prototype00 wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9uILn0iCUs

(Double Tiger Head Shield technique)

Also, historical, as pointed out in the other thread.

prototype00

One man's silly is another man's AWESOME!!

This is how i envision my Katar/Light steel shields fighting style. Just with a sIngle long sharp point instead of two. And a little more narrow at the forearm.


Ashiel: Yeap. Thats pretty much how I had it figured.

I also think I need to concede that the Brawler does make a more effective build and definately higher damage output. Expect a build to be posted in the next couple days. Maybe tonight.

Sowde Da'aro: I was thinking dwarf for the build so the shields I had in mind were a bit more stout. Basically, I'm thinking of kite shields like Link uses in the Legend of Zelda games on each side of him. Except with spikes. For a dwarf it would be like a small spiked wall on each side of him that he smack you with. Hard.

Sovereign Court

I know I've had players want to make Dual-Shield wielding fighters since the late 80's... probably due to this oldie but goodie from our youth:

M.U.S.C.L.E.

--interVrocking shields


Oh man! I remember those guys. They came in all different colors and had a buncha different bodies/arms/leg combos. Wow. What a throwback. Thanx for that, King of Vrock.

Sovereign Court

No problemo... anytime I see an idea of dual wielding shields I think of that figure.

--Vrock'em Sock'em Robots


wielding a heavy shield and a Klar could be promising. Maybe even a tower shield, getting the defense from one, and the bashing options from the other.


You seem to be overlooking the Ranger Sword and Board archetype which can take Shield Slam at level 2 without pre-requisites, a whole 4 levels early. Most classes must wait until level 6 to get the free bull rushing goodness; more importantly, the free bull rush from Shield Slam will trip the target if they are bashed into a solid object like a tree or wall, this is not a normal part of bull rush.

Furthermore Ranger will have access to the Shield Master feat at level 6 as a bonus feat, 5 levels earlier than anyone else! This is the best feat for any shield build, you don't even need the TWF feat since you ignore all penalties even the full -6/-10 for not having TWF with two heavy shields.

I made a paladin shield fighter before I realized how early rangers get these feats, so many regrets.


VERY interesting concepts. Dotted for a future build.


Benjamin Robson wrote:

You seem to be overlooking the Ranger Sword and Board archetype which can take Shield Slam at level 2 without pre-requisites, a whole 4 levels early. Most classes must wait until level 6 to get the free bull rushing goodness; more importantly, the free bull rush from Shield Slam will trip the target if they are bashed into a solid object like a tree or wall, this is not a normal part of bull rush.

Furthermore Ranger will have access to the Shield Master feat at level 6 as a bonus feat, 5 levels earlier than anyone else! This is the best feat for any shield build, you don't even need the TWF feat since you ignore all penalties even the full -6/-10 for not having TWF with two heavy shields.

I made a paladin shield fighter before I realized how early rangers get these feats, so many regrets.

Very good points. I especially agree with the ranger sword and board archetype for early feat access.

However, without TWF (and ITWF and GTWF) where are you getting the extra attacks with the off-hand shield?

prototype00


prototype00 wrote:
Benjamin Robson wrote:

Very good points. I especially agree with the ranger sword and board archetype for early feat access.

However, without TWF (and ITWF and GTWF) where are you getting the extra attacks with the off-hand shield?

prototype00

You don't actually need the TWF feat for a second attack, just to reduce the penalties from -6/-10 to -4/-4 or -4/-8 to -2/-2 with light weapons. In the case of shield master you ignore the extra weapon attack penalty. However, yes, you will need to invest in dex/feats to get the extra attack from ITWF and also if you want to use Two-Weapon Fighting earlier than level 6 as a Sword and Board ranger.

You could ignore Improved Shield Bash and TWF and just use one shield for attack the the other for defense. This may not fit what people are looking for when dual-shielding, but it does allow you to use feats for other stuff.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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I certainly love it when folks get into the game and post character builds on these forums. I don't read them as a general rule, since I'm not really into character optimization for the sake of optimizing... but by all means, carry on!

And to Lune (spoilered to try to keep the thread somewhat on track):

Spoiler:
I certainly admire your passion for the rules of the game and your conviction, but building a super-number-crunched character isn't the way to impress me. My mantra is and always has been "The rules exist to serve the story."

When I get work in from a freelancer, I'm far more impressed with their work when they create an NPC with a compelling story that they then augment with a stat block that supports whatever story decisions they've made for that NPC. I'll always prefer the 1st level human fighter with a high-quality backstory to a perfectly optimized 20th level ragelancepounce barbarian.

So, while building an awesome dual-shield character is certainly a fun experiment... to me, that's all it is, if the character doesn't have a compelling story to go along with him. And since dual-shield fighting has no real tradition outside of the game's rules (which gets back to my fundamental dislike of the build), a dual-shield character has a HUGE uphill battle to wage before I'm impressed enough to bother checking out his stats at all.

Now, please don't misinterpret what I've said as, "Character builds don't matter." If the goal of this thread is to build the best, most optimized, most effective dual-shield character, that's fine. But if the goal of the thread is, as you imply in your original post, to convince me that I'm wrong in my opinion about the fighting style... you might wanna hire George R. R. Martin or Stephen King or Lovecraft or Mark Twain or Shakespeare to write a character profile of a dual-shield character first. ;-)

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Lune wrote:
Gorbacz: Please see original post. There is already a thread to call dual-shielding silly. This is a thread for people to actually be constructive.

A post that includes the phrase:

"To annoy (insert the name of ANY poster here on these boards)"

is hardly fostering a constructive environment, by the way. Honestly, I'm surprised it took as long as it did for folks to respond to that element of your original post.

Might want to keep that in mind in the future, I guess.

(In any case, you've accomplished that part of your mission statement, so there's no need to further dwell on attempts to annoy me.)

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Lune wrote:

I wasn't the only one who was annoyed by Paizo staff. If you don't believe me, go read the other thread. And I tried to make it pretty clear that saying I was creating the thread to annoy James was done so tongue and cheek. Once again, Gorbacz, I would like constructive feedback here. If the only reason you are here is to troll a thread and complain then I will again ask you to do so elsewhere.

And while I may be new here I am certainly not new to the community or to other boards. ...not that being new should be a problem, right? ;) Thank you for the warm welcome though.

Smilies don't always make things alright, though.

Being new is not a problem.

Not knowing when to apologize, or deliberately posting things to rile folks up (even if you DO try to defuse them with emotes) IS a problem.


prototype00 wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9uILn0iCUs

(Double Tiger Head Shield technique)

Also, historical, as pointed out in the other thread.

prototype00

That my friend kicks ass!


James Jacob wrote:
And since dual-shield fighting has no real tradition outside of the game's rules (which gets back to my fundamental dislike of the build), a dual-shield character has a HUGE uphill battle to wage before I'm impressed enough to bother checking out his stats at all.

Except for the centuries old Chinese Martial Art?

prototype00


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Honey Badger wrote:
prototype00 wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9uILn0iCUs

(Double Tiger Head Shield technique)

Also, historical, as pointed out in the other thread.

prototype00

That my friend kicks ass!

Whats even more kick ass is that the shields apparently weighed 20 lbs apiece. Thats about (slightly more than) heavy steel shield weight. That dude is dual wielding heavy steel shields.

prototype00

Paizo Employee Creative Director

prototype00 wrote:
James Jacob wrote:
And since dual-shield fighting has no real tradition outside of the game's rules (which gets back to my fundamental dislike of the build), a dual-shield character has a HUGE uphill battle to wage before I'm impressed enough to bother checking out his stats at all.

Except for the centuries old Chinese Martial Art?

prototype00

That, and any other obscure traditions I'm not aware of. Which was why I posted on the other thread; to ask if such traditions existed in the first place.


I think there are plenty of possibilities to give a character a class background that makes dual-shield fighting good.

First of all, shields are not really weapons, even with spikes.
So any good aligned, peace loving hippie will like it.
I can imagine many orders or befief systems that are not allowed to wield weapons, but have a need of those and so take shields ...
Or maybe weapons are not allowed to everyone, imagine a dual-shield paladin with mercyful shields, who doesnt kill enemies.
Or its a monastic tradition.

Look at the kama, it was a sickle and used as a weapons because it was one of a few allowed to monks and peasants.

Only tower shields should not be dual wielded i think.


Here's Sowde's background.
"whatever works" (Sowde's fav saying)
Sowde was born the third son to a wealthy and prominent weapon/armorsmith. When he was born his father was already old, (48) and by the time Sowde turned 13 he was dead. From then on his older brothers raised him, or tried to.
In father's Will he left the family business to his older brothers, leaving only a little money and advice for the grieving kid, "Do something good with your life. "
For the next couple of years he ran in the city with some of the local street toughs, fell into trouble with the law and was given a choice (because of his name): work in the mines like his buddies, or fight in the Arenea for five years. He chose the Fighting Pits.

(This city's Areana is unlike most movie Arenas; nobody dies, well some do but if you can afford a Resurrection spell you live agaIn. Most of the fighters in The Pits are there willingly, fighting for fame and gold. And the roar of the croud. Some are adventuers in town and want to win some cash and most are regulars like Sowde who call it home.
In the years sence then he has continually bet on himself (and he now wins far more then he loses) using his brothers as a standin, he has amassed a small fortune. He used that money to buy out some then almost all his brothers compediters, thus making his brothers more money. All the time using surrigets. He then branched out to buy the coal and iron mineing companeies.
By the time he was 25 he was worth more then a million in gold.
Sowdes only wish was to make his father proud.

He is currently using two oridginal weapons, a pair of kartar-shields. They were made by sowde's father before he died.
+3 wounding spellstoring (vampirc touch) Kater/+3 bashing Spell resisiant (15) light steel shield (in his right hand).
(in his left) +3 Guardian defending Katar/+3 Invulnerabale (DR 5/magic) Moderate Fortification (50%) light steel shield.


Wasn't there a vilain in Goldorack, like some sort of heavily armored mutant armadillo, that fought with two round shields? The picture of it still lurks in my mind after all these years and reading your post on two-shields fighting brought up the memories.

-Jelly

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Jellyfulfish wrote:

Wasn't there a vilain in Goldorack, like some sort of heavily armored mutant armadillo, that fought with two round shields? The picture of it still lurks in my mind after all these years and reading your post on two-shields fighting brought up the memories.

-Jelly

Wait, wasn't that Armored Armadillo from Mega Man X?


And then Sowde encountered a t-rex within the arena, and having spent all his money on super-duper-spiked-shields, was eaten alive and had no money at all left for a resurrection spell.

The End.

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

I've only been browsing the thread since I read the other one. One of the more basic mechanical things I was wondering about was how to get the other shield on without a free hand and how to use items (basically, you can't), get them off etc?

So a dual shield wielder can't cast or use the majority of magic items (potions, scroll, wands, rods, staves, ??% of wondrous items), must be buffed before having his shields put on him by someone else (ruining a bunch of short duration bonuses that he may otherwise get) or the other person has to be willing to stand behind him constantly to buff and heal him, which leads me to the point that he can't heal himself (no potions and even paladins require a free hand). Even if you make stats that look cool, they wouldn't be playable long term. Or short term if the GM realizes that you can't switch damage type so they send a zombie horde after you.

A lot of people get pissed when someone requests realism in fantasy RPGs, since there are magic users around. They forget that what makes the magic users awesome is that the fighters can't do that. Fighting with two shields begins to break the suspension of disbelief (also called jumping the shark or 'that episode that I stopped watching').

Better idea, Shield/gauntlet. Could have a lot of fun with that.
-X


the shield hand is usualy the free one anyway, as w/ a light shield you can let go to cast or LOH and then regrip as a free action. This is how Sword and Board Paladins work.


James Jacobs wrote:

Smilies don't always make things alright, though.

Being new is not a problem.

Not knowing when to apologize, or deliberately posting things to rile folks up (even if you DO try to defuse them with emotes) IS a problem.

Dude seriously. You shat on someone's parade, for no reason, and some people took umbrage because they thought you were speaking in an official capacity. It is obvious that Lune wrote that comment as a joke. But if you want to get upset about it that is your prerogative.

artofcheatery

Its actually not that hard to take on or off a shield with just one hand. I've done it on many occasions. Mechanics wise its a move action. If he's got to heal he can drop one and munch a potion or ....


Detect Magic wrote:

And then Sowde encountered a t-rex within the arena, and having spent all his money on super-duper-spiked-shields, was eaten alive and had no money at all left for a resurrection spell.

The End.

I truly LOL long and hard at this!

(did you get the part of him being a mulit-millionare?)
And no i would never play him ecept as an NPC. Oh he owns the Arena too...


Detect Magic wrote:

And then Sowde encountered a t-rex within the arena, and having spent all his money on super-duper-spiked-shields, was eaten alive and had no money at all left for a resurrection spell.

The End.

Sowde obviously shield bashes that T Rex to unconciousness. It's not any more silly than killing it with a sword, spear or axe. Dinosaurs are big. Heck, monks can punch the lights out of a Rex. Why is the shield the weird choice?

Artofcheatery wrote:
A lot of people get pissed when someone requests realism in fantasy RPGs, since there are magic users around. They forget that what makes the magic users awesome is that the fighters can't do that. Fighting with two shields begins to break the suspension of disbelief (also called jumping the shark or 'that episode that I stopped watching').

C'mon people. unrealistic? At first level a normal melee character can have 16 str and 16 dex, without magic. That is an olympic weightilifting gymnast. With those scores he can juggle dumbbells and spring from a handstand into a triple backwards somersault. At high levels with magic items, your atributes can reach the high twenties, even thirties. That is superhero stuff. Enough to juggle half a dozen anvils and spring from a one handed handstand into a triple backwards somersault, while wearing full plate.

Just because fighters can't bend reality doesn't mean they can't pull impossible feats. They have the scores and the training. You just have to stop thinking they're mundane when they are heroes.

Also if you guys had read the other thread you would know that exist, not one, but two real life martial arts that use dual shielding. A type of Kung Fu and a type of Muai Thay.


Sowde Da'aro wrote:
...(did you get the part of him being a mulit-millionare?)... Oh he owns the Arena too...

You said it yourself, he had run ins with the law before. After his five years were up, things only got worse. With all that money, he didn't know what to do with himself. There were the drugs, the women, and the gambling. The man was out of control. He even bought a t-rex! It trashed the city a couple times over. Well, that and the giant moth he just had to have! After all the expenses of fixing the city back up, and all the fines from the authorities... he was outta cash before too long.

Sort of explains the incident of his death. He was so hung over from the night before, out gambling and partaking in the company of the ladies, that he stumbled into the arena, accidentally tripping the wire and letting loose the t-rex (again, not one of his best ideas).

He was eaten alive. His precious shields (thrice pawned, by the way) nowhere in sight. Dude was a goner.

Had his dad hugged him more often, maybe he would have been less inclined towards self-destruction, worked past his daddy-issues, and led a more fiscally-responsible life style. Instead, he was broke and couldn't afford that resurrection spell.

Cheers~


James: If you didn't want to detract from the thread you could have just made it a private message rather than making 3 posts that in no way are constructive and detract from the topic. But since you wanted to share in public forum I will respond in kind.

James wrote:
I certainly admire your passion for the rules of the game and your conviction, but building a super-number-crunched character isn't the way to impress me. My mantra is and always has been "The rules exist to serve the story."

I'm not trying to impress you. And whether that is your mantra or not you need to accept that not everyone enjoys playing the game the same way as you. I, for one agree with the mantra. I just believe that in this scenario the rules serve to tell the story of a character who fights effectively with two shields.

James wrote:
And since dual-shield fighting has no real tradition outside of the game's rules...

See.... what I see here is you plugging your ears and going "LALALALA!" because it has been pointed out that dual shield fighting does have a place in real world tradition. Regardless of whether or not it has a place in real world tradition or not that has no bearing on the conversation for several reasons. This is a fantasy game in a fantasy setting. It doesn't even have to be Golarion. It could be any homebrew setting. How would you even know if there is a tradition of dual-shielding in someone else's homebrew setting?

James wrote:
...before I'm impressed enough to bother checking out his stats at all.

...not trying to impress you.

James wrote:

"To annoy (insert the name of ANY poster here on these boards)"

is hardly fostering a constructive environment, by the way. Honestly, I'm surprised it took as long as it did for folks to respond to that element of your original post.

Might want to keep that in mind in the future, I guess.

(In any case, you've accomplished that part of your mission statement, so there's no need to further dwell on attempts to annoy me.)

I'm sorry you took this so seriously... especially considering the smiley I put right after that statement. I think to most people I would think that would put a flag up that it is tongue and cheek. I guess that was not how you chose to react. It is clear that you are annoyed but I think that started LONG before I got involved. In the original post you were annoyed of the idea of dual shielding before I even posted. I wasn't even the first person to point out that your annoyance wasn't appropriate. I'm not sure why you are directing all of your anger at me, honestly.

James wrote:
Not knowing when to apologize, or deliberately posting things to rile folks up (even if you DO try to defuse them with emotes) IS a problem.
Quote:


What is it you would like me to apologize for, James?

Here is one thing I would like to apologize to everyone for: that for whatever reason what was meant as a thread to actually post constructive ways to build a character both thematically and mechanically has, once again, turned into a debate. I specifically created this thread to try to avoid that.

James: for this reason I would like to ask that if you have any concern with me if you would please take it to a private message with me. I'm extending an olive branch. I think we got off to a bad start and I really don't think your a bad guy. I think your intentions on this single topic may have been misinterpreted (possibly even by me?) but that does not speak to your character. However, to avoid the way that you are reacting to this idea and save face for everyone involved I'm offering what I think might be a better solution.

...actually, I'm looking at the options of this board and it seems to be lacking the means of any form of private message? If it is there it is cleverly concealed. Is there any way of sharing my email address with someone here other than posting it for everyone to see?


Sowde: that is an interesting approach at a back story. I like it. I will eventually get around here to posting my idea and a build for it.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Lune wrote:

Here is one thing I would like to apologize to everyone for: that for whatever reason what was meant as a thread to actually post constructive ways to build a character both thematically and mechanically has, once again, turned into a debate. I specifically created this thread to try to avoid that.

James: for this reason I would like to ask that if you have any concern with me if you would please take it to a private message with me. I'm extending an olive branch. I think we got off to a bad start and I really don't think your a bad guy. I think your intentions on this single topic may have been misinterpreted (possibly even by me?) but that does not speak to your character. However, to avoid the way that you are reacting to this idea and save face for everyone involved I'm offering what I think might be a better solution.

...actually, I'm looking at the options of this board and it seems to be lacking the means of any form of private message? If it is there it is cleverly concealed. Is there any way of sharing my email address with someone here other than posting it for everyone to see?

There is no Private Message system on these boards, but I'd rather finish this problem up in public anyway, since that's where it started, and since I really think that it CAN get resolved quickly and publicly.

Honestly, I think what it all boils down to is miscommunication. Which is what's behind the majority of internet disagreements (or real-world ones, for that matter). I do try to be thick-skinned about posts on the boards, but now and then, they tend to have convergences when things in multiple threads get under my skin all at once, and in that case it only takes one person in the wrong place at the right time to be the proverbial camel-back-breaking straw. I'm not TRYING to be a jerk about this topic at all, and the fact that whenever I try to smooth things out things get worse makes me think that the miscommunication is even greater than I thought.

In other words, your post just caught me at the exact wrong time. And for not realizing that and for posting overly defensive replies that weren't warranted, I apologize.

In any event, olive branch accepted! All water under the bridge now, so no hard feelings!

(If you... or anyone else for that matter... wants to drop me a personal email about this or any other subject, in any case... I can be reached at james.jacobs@paizo.com.)

Lantern Lodge

oh yay, another dual wielding build. what about the following?

support options for damage dealers that use stats other than strength to fuel thier damage. whether dexterity with light weapons or wisdom with guns and crossbows?

scaling viable support options for martials who want some of the nice universe defying toys of casters without having to multiclass. like new uses of skills that aren't resource taxed, or feats that mimic some of that barbarian love. like a spell sunder like, or a prerequisite light feat that gives pounce or flight.


JJ: I didn't really think your position was all that out there. You're allowed to think that dual shield wielding is a bit weird and silly. That's because it is. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist in the real world, but it does mean the game your in charge of is less likely to have explicit support for it.

That also doesn't mean that there isn't accidental support for it. Having an explicit rule disallowing it would actually be weird and strange so I'm glad it isn't there.

Although I must say that someone should at some point clear up that a dual shield user doesn't get away without needing the TWF feat just by picking up the shield master feat.


So we have established that dual-shielding is a viable option?
I would go with the brawler myself.
Here's another question: if you had two large shields and the "shield" spell would your shield AC be +8?


nope. Shield bonuses don't stack.


Shield bonuses to AC do not stack. Your shield provides a shield bonus. The shield spell provides a shield bonus. Whichever provided the highest AC bonus would be the only one in effect, although you would still benefit from the other advantages from the shield spell like immunity to magic missiles.


So the main reason why i wanted two shields in the first place is moot.


I'll make an attempt at writing a backstory, James. I have a decent writing ability, not contract-worthy but not to shabby either. I'll try and post it in a couple of days.

Since this is a community project, if nobody minds, it's going to be a klar (which is basically just a reflavored spiked light steel shield, for those who don't know) and a heavy steel shield. Probably place him around level 2 or three by the ideas in my head. And then anyone can take him from there.


Sowde Da'aro wrote:
So the main reason why i wanted two shields in the first place is moot.

I was actually going to point out at some point that your weapons probably don't work the way you think they do. They're cool to imagine, but game rules dictate otherwise. That's another reason why you don't see anyone taking two shields ;)


Matt Stich wrote:
Sowde Da'aro wrote:
So the main reason why i wanted two shields in the first place is moot.
I was actually going to point out at some point that your weapons probably don't work the way you think they do. They're cool to imagine, but game rules dictate otherwise. That's another reason why you don't see anyone taking two shields ;)

Sad sigh


Klars somewhat look cooler though.

Grand Lodge

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Double Klar wielding is just filled with awesome.


Sowde Da'aro wrote:
So the main reason why i wanted two shields in the first place is moot.

Not quite. It's very nice to be able to sport multiple types of defensive enhancements at once. While the AC bonus doesn't stack, it can be convenient to get your AC bonuses on one shield while grabbing stuff like fortification, arrow deflection, etc.

For example...

+1 Heavy Bashing Spiked Shield of Light Fortification (+3 shield), enhanced as a weapon for a +1 merciful spiked shield (+2 weapon) as your main weapon.

Meanwhile you have a +3 heavy shield (+3 shield) in your other hand, enhanced as a weapon to be a +1 defending spiked shield, as your off-hand weapon.

You get the fortification from the 1st shield, the offensive ability from the 1st shield, the AC bonus from the 2nd shield, and the Defending quality from the 2nd Shield (which makes it a good target for the greater magic weapon spell).

It's kind of like being able to hold 2 weapons + 2 shields at once. That might sound really amazing, but it's not OP like it sounds. It does allow you to pull some cute tricks though.


As soon as I have had some sufficient sleep... I shall return with a fully fleshed out character background to the best of my ability. Due to some mild depression putting my creativity in a fuzzy lull it won't be that great, but I'll do my best. Though if I do get really into it I'll have to do my best not to write up a novella about it.... Wish me luck pro dual-shieldies!


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Generally I always figured that beyond aesthetics and mechanical capability, the equipment a character wields generally shouldn't require an overly drawn out backstory. I mean, how much do I need to devote to my character's backstory to say that I picked up a sword and that led to the path that I'm at now? I mean, exactly why does one need to come up with a detailed story as to why some guy decided that covering his butt with one shield while slamming people with the shield spikes of another was a good idea?

Am I the only one that thinks that there are bigger fish to fry when it comes to backstories? As a GM, I personally look for motivations, family histories, friends, enemies, relatives, a couple of plot hooks, and so forth. I'd be very disappointed with a background that was essentially "I hit real good", which I don't see as much different from "I hit real good...with a shield!".

EDIT: To be a bit more specific, I would expect about as much attention devoted to it as would be devoted to any fighting style. It's a feature of a character, but shouldn't be an emphasis. For an example...

Let's use Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII who has a really big sword, that is described in the manual as being too large for most people to even lift, but he can wield it with ease.

  • Grew up in a small rural town and wanted to make something of himself so he dreamed of going to the city and becoming a war hero.
  • His mother was over protective, his father was presumably not around. His childhood friend was Tifa (a fellow PC), and he got into fights a lot around town as a child. Everyone found him hot headed.
  • He went off to the city, leaving a promise and a friend behind, and went on to join the army. Instead of being a war hero, he never managed to climb the ranks. He was placed in the same team as two other war heroes, Zack and Sepiroth who were members of the elite SOLDIER division.
  • When he returned to his home, he never took off his uniform or mask because he was ashamed he didn't achieve his dream, much to his regret.
  • After discovering a bizarre experiment going on as a government conspiracy, the squad leader Sephiroth went mad and burned his town to the ground. His superior and friend Zach couldn't stop him.
  • He grabbed Zach's giant sword, but wasn't a member of SOLDIER and hadn't be augmented, and was quickly overpowered by Sepiroth, who impaled him on his sword, but lost his footing and Cloud managed to throw him into the mako stream below before succumbing to his wounds.
  • Cloud and Zack were collected by the government, placed in a labratory and experimented on. Injected with JENOVA cells and showered with MAKO energy, in an attempt to create better bio-soldiers. Cloud was considered a failure by the scientist in charge and wasn't even given a research-ID number.
  • Despite being trapped in glass jars most of the time, Cloud communicates with Zack by scratching marks into the glass with his fingernails. The two plot a plan to escape, and eventually bust out.
  • They are pursued by the government and Zack is killed not long before they reach the beginning of the campaign. Cloud being half-doped up on all manner of experimental nastiness, and half-insane from the continued horrors he was subjected to, takes Zack's weapon and suffers a delusion where his mind rejects reality and makes up an entirely different set of circumstances.
  • He finds his old friend Tifa again, as part of an organization against the government's tyranny, and she manages to convince him to stay with them, which ultimately leads through the course of the game, and his eventual ability to cope with everything that has happened, and eventual rise to be the hero that saves everything with the help of the Christ-figure Aeris.
  • Throughout the game, he is dogged by his past, has to deal with inconsistencies in his fabricated dream, and tries to deal with the psychosis and schizophrenia that has resulted from the trauma that he has endured, which leads him to become confused, and hear fragments of his actual self talking to him from time to time in his head.

    Now how much of that was "I HAS A BIG SWORD! HAR HAR!"?


  • +1 Heavy Bashing Spiked Shield of Light Fortification (+3 shield), enhanced as a weapon for a +1 merciful spiked shield (+2 weapon) as your main weapon.

    Meanwhile you have a +3 heavy shield (+3 shield) in your other hand, enhanced as a weapon to be a +1 defending spiked shield, as your off-hand weapon.

    It's kind of like being able to hold 2 weapons + 2 shields at once. That might sound really amazing, but it's not OP like it sounds. It does allow you to pull some cute tricks though.

    You guys realize that this is more expensive than even normal TWF?

    According to this point found under magic item creation:
    Multiple Different Abilities: Abilities such as an attack roll bonus or saving throw bonus and a spell-like function are not similar, and their values are simply added together to determine the cost. For items that take up a space on a character's body, each additional power not only has no discount but instead has a 50% increase in price.


    Hayato Ken wrote:
    Quote:

    +1 Heavy Bashing Spiked Shield of Light Fortification (+3 shield), enhanced as a weapon for a +1 merciful spiked shield (+2 weapon) as your main weapon.

    Meanwhile you have a +3 heavy shield (+3 shield) in your other hand, enhanced as a weapon to be a +1 defending spiked shield, as your off-hand weapon.

    It's kind of like being able to hold 2 weapons + 2 shields at once. That might sound really amazing, but it's not OP like it sounds. It does allow you to pull some cute tricks though.

    You guys realize that this is more expensive than even normal TWF?

    According to this point found under magic item creation:
    Multiple Different Abilities: Abilities such as an attack roll bonus or saving throw bonus and a spell-like function are not similar, and their values are simply added together to determine the cost. For items that take up a space on a character's body, each additional power not only has no discount but instead has a 50% increase in price.

    Shields only add the costs together. See Magic Armor: Shields.


    Gorbacz wrote:
    Dual-shielding is silly.

    I beg to differ.

    For all of you nay-sayers out there, I have three words: Watch Samurai Jack.

    I know of at least two episodes right of the top of my head where uses two shields effectively.

    Look it up.

    Dark Archive

    Fallen_Mage wrote:
    Gorbacz wrote:
    Dual-shielding is silly.

    I beg to differ.

    For all of you nay-sayers out there, I have three words: Watch Samurai Jack.

    I know of at least two episodes right of the top of my head where uses two shields effectively.

    Look it up.

    Would this be the same series that has a guy have a machine gun for a leg?

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