I playing a 7th lvl Magus and always looking to boost my AC as I am the off tank for my party and want to make sure I can take a hit. So I was wondering can a Magus use a buckler with out suffering Arcane spell failure?
Mithral buckler. No ACP, no ASF, will cost you about 1k gold.
Mithral buckler. No ACP, no ASF, will cost you about 1k gold.
Yeah. All you have to do it make a buckler out of Mithril and anyone can use it with absolutely no penalty (other than the 2.5 lbs it weighs) regardless of their proficiency. Honestly, this stuff needs to get an errata.
Tecnically, if you use the hand with the buckler to cast or spellcombat, you lose tyhe AC so is kinda pointless
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Mithral buckler. No ACP, no ASF, will cost you about 1k gold.Yeah. All you have to do it make a buckler out of Mithril and anyone can use it with absolutely no penalty (other than the 2.5 lbs it weighs) regardless of their proficiency. Honestly, this stuff needs to get an errata.
If it's working as intended, there's no need for errata.
If it's working as intended, there's no need for errata.Mithral buckler. No ACP, no ASF, will cost you about 1k gold.Yeah. All you have to do it make a buckler out of Mithril and anyone can use it with absolutely no penalty (other than the 2.5 lbs it weighs) regardless of their proficiency. Honestly, this stuff needs to get an errata.
I know. That wasn't quite what I meant - errata isn't the right word.
Shield Proficiency - meaning you know how to effectively use a shield in a combat situation - should mean something. Right now any rouge can strap on a masterwork buckler for virtually no penalty. And if you do cast, all you need is a mithril one.
I'm just saying. I think a fine houserule is that you only get half AC bonus for shields you are not proficient with (rounded down, minimum zero). That way, people can still pick up a shield for quick AC, but the fact that they are not properly trained hurts them. This would be in addition to the non-existent penalty of the armor check penalty to attack rules (I say non-existent because it never comes up - everyone gets masterwork and doesn't worry about it).
Personally, I don't allow a paltry sum to let you avoid a feat.
I disagree, and I don't think a rogue using a masterwork buckler or darkwood heavy shield is really something to worry about.
Until it becomes magical, and now he never has to worry about critical hits or sneak attacks ever again, thanks to heavy fortification. That may not be the best use of it, even.
I dunno. I think that fact that some people get certain feats for free should be meaningful. Would you be OK with a Rouge picking up a martial weapon he's not proficient with and using it for no penalty for a measly 150 GP prince increase?
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Nope, because that's not what a masterwork weapon does.
Also, since when would a rogue be worried about sneak attacks? :P
In any case, if your magus wants, use a mithral buckler; you may find you prefer just casting the shield spell however, as you don't lose the benefit of that when you cast spells and you don't have to spend thousands of gold on it.
Nope, because that's not what a masterwork weapon does.
True, but I find that reason alone to be poor reasoning.
Fact: Any class with "Shield Proficiency" is getting shafted because anyone with the money and inclination can use a mithril heavy steel shield with just as much proficiency as anyone with the feat.
I find this to be an issue. The feat is meaningless unless someone wants to learn Tower Shield Proficiency. Feats should not be meaningless. Regardless of if half the classes in the game get them for free or not.
In any case, if your magus wants, use a mithral buckler; you may find you prefer just casting the shield spell however, as you don't lose the benefit of that when you cast spells and you don't have to spend thousands of gold on it.
I agree Shield is infinitely better. While a buckler will be nice if you don't want to memorize Shield, I would consider the spell my primary AC booster when a big fight comes along.
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The feat is not meaningless, as it's a prerequisite for the proper shield feats: Improved Shield Bash, Shield Focus, Missile and Ray Shield, Saving Shield and Covering Defence.
Sure, any moron can hold a shield in front of them, and if it's a well-made shield it won't even get in the way while they do it. However, if you want to USE a shield and be kickass with it? You need the feats.
The feat is not meaningless, as it's a prerequisite for the proper shield feats: Improved Shield Bash, Shield Focus, Missile and Ray Shield, Saving Shield and Covering Defence.
Sure, any moron can hold a shield in front of them, and if it's a well-made shield it won't even get in the way while they do it. However, if you want to USE a shield and be kickass with it? You need the feats.
Your first statement is true. I had forgot about all that. I think it's fair to say that most people don't take those feats, though I have taken them in the past.
I disagree with the second part. A buckler in particular. A buckler is a very small shield, and while just holding it front of you will limit your enemies' ability to attack with thrusting weapons (because the angle is cut off), I think (this part I cannot personally attest to) that a sword swing, axe swing, or even a bludgeoning weapon attack will require an active parry - and a good parry, or the weapon will crash through the buckler and impact anyway.
Besides, with the potential for +6 AC (+7 if you want to go heavy), and an additional +5 of magical benefits, I think simply stipulating that you take actual training with the defensive device you want to use is a small price to pay.
We'll have to agree to disagree. Personally I think the fact that it's a magically enhanced buckler means it does most of the work for you, whether you know how to use it or not.
I was coming to the same conclusion - agree to disagree. We have different views on it. And that's OK!
Oh well. It was good to vent my opinion, because no one else in my group agrees with me either.
