I have a character who uses a longsword and a quickdraw shield. He has the Quickdraw Feat. He intends to attack with the longsword both sword-and-board and 2-handed. How does this work with the quickdraw shield? I know how I would rule it, and I've seen older threads on the forums that I don't want to bump. Let's break it down by rounds, and give two examples.
Example #1: Fighter with Quickdraw Feat and Regular Shield. He is lounging in his armor, all gear packed away, when his camp is ambushed by goblins.
Example #2: Same Fighter, with Quickdraw, but this time he's got a Quickdraw Shield. Goblins attack camp.
In example #1, round 1: fighter free action draws his longsword, standard action attacks, move action draws his shield from his back.
Questions:
1. Does his shield immediately confer it's AC bonus, or does he have to spend another move action readying it by strapping it to his arm?
2. Does drawing his shield from his back provoke an opportunity attack?
In example #2, round 1: fighter free action draws his longsword, standard action attacks...
Questions:
1. Is it still a move action to draw his shield from his back? Meaning that he draws as a move action and then free action readies?
2. Is it a free action to draw from his back, and therefore he gets the shield bonus immediately?
Essentially it's a question about how shields, in general, work. Most games I've seen, the guy has his shield, and it always confers it's AC bonus. He pulls it out as a move action, and he's good to go. Most groups I've gamed with don't differentiate between drawing a shield, and then strapping a shield onto your arm.
If these two are separate actions, doesn't this mean that the quickdraw shield, with the quickdraw feat, allows you to spend a move action to draw your shield, potentially provoking an attack of opportunity, and then a free action to use it for it's AC bonus. Then, when you're ready to put it away, you can throw it back on your back as a free action. Meaning it's a lot easier to put the shield away than it is to draw it.
Walk me through several rounds of this fighter attacking while readying his shield and then putting it away.