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ok so im talking to my friend about my cleric that uses a tower shield, then i made a joke about adding a immovable rod and *sovereign* glue to make the shield support its self while i cast from behind it...
then i thought about it, it might actually work...
if i use a standard action to give myself cover from attacks then active the rod, would it continue to function as cover for the following rounds? by raw i think it has to be activated by using a standard action to give cover, but then again in the text of the shield it says its almost as tall as i am. so would the shield count as a wall that grants total cover when stadning up on its own?
hmmm...
*i didnt even notice i called it solvent glue lol*
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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In my opinion, all of the following would need to happen for this to work:
1.) Deploy the shield as cover (standard action, as listed in the shield's description)
2.) Activate the immovable rod (a move action)
3.) Removing your arm from the shield harness (another move action)
After these actions, you are then hands-free and behind a temporary barricade. Picking up the shield to move with it again requires only the second and third actions in reverse order.
EDIT: I suppose as long as you were content to have only a single hand free (with the other still lashed to the shield), then step #3 is unnecessary.
Smacks of an exploit. I like it. Sounds awfully cheesy, but I can't think of any RAW reason you couldn't do something like this.
The DM should likely give you at least concealment and/or cover, but almost certainly not total concealment. Total cover I'm also thinking "no" because it would be awfully inconvenient to crunch yourself up enough that absolutely no part of you was showing around the Shield.
The test: can you be reasonably expected to curl yourself up, while wearing your armor, to such a degree that no part of you is visible around the Shield and yet also be able to attack freely from around/behind the Shield?
It is more likely to work in PFS than in a home game, since GM's have lesser power to say no if something follows the rules. However you might get blacklisted if the GM thinks it is an abuse of the rules. I will say that I don't see anything wrong with the idea. Just remember the total cover goes both ways. If you have total cover against an opponent then they also have total cover against you.
Why? This a serious question because I'm not sure in what way this would be banned. I don't play PFS, so I don't know if there are additional issues in place.
It isn't exploiting any loopholes or unclear rules. It requires a few actions and a few magic items and is entirely in keeping with both. It is the same concept as using the rod as a doorstop to prevent entry.
Bad guys can just walk around the thing and wail on the cleric. Or draw his companions past the shield so the cleric can't see anything. Or ready actions to hit the cleric when he pops out.
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I am a PFS GM. And I would say no.
Take what you will from that.
Why would you not allow it in PFS play? You even stated the steps it would take and it doesn't break any rules that I can think of...
If it is just a knee jerk reaction to say no to this kind of thinking, wouldn't it be more beneficial to give the PCs the benefit of the doubt and reward them for creative thinking than to just ban it outright. It may not be worthy of Total Cover but at least it should function as a tower shield normally does. If this doesn't work then what are feelings towards an animated tower shield?|
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Why would you not allow it in PFS play? You even stated the steps it would take and it doesn't break any rules that I can think of...
If it is just a knee jerk reaction to say no to this kind of thinking, wouldn't it be more beneficial to give the PCs the benefit of the doubt and reward them for creative thinking than to just ban it outright. It may not be worthy of Total Cover but at least it should function as a tower shield normally does. If this doesn't work then what are feelings towards an animated tower shield?
The tower shield states very specific requirements for it to be used as cover. Also noteworthy: the fact that spending the standard action to use it as cover only allows it to serve as said cover until the beginning of your next turn. In order to CONTINUE using it as cover, the character must spend their standard action each turn, preventing them from making any attacks or casting any spells (barring quickened ones, of course).
Effectively allowing a character to have an unlimited duration piece of hard cover for the added move action and a 5000gp item that is readily available by level 5 or so? No way. Best case scenario, I'd allow the character to treat it as partial cover if suspended in this way (+4 AC, pretty much the same as holding the shield). I'd be more inclined to just deny it outright since it smacks of an exploit.
As for an animated tower shield, that's fine and perfectly covered in the rules. You can't use an animated tower shield for cover, it simply provides it's shield bonus while leaving your hands free.
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fatespinner, i also am a PFS gm. i dont know all of the rules though. for instance i was not aware of the list of familiars that are allowed to use a wand,i thought that if it has arms and can talk that it can umd a wand.
i was more asking about a rule to prevent it less then a personal interpretation of if its allowed at a particular gms table. i really do appreciate your responce to my question, but i looks like there is no rule against it. i will talk to my coordinator about it to see how they feel and go from there.
I'm a PFS GM and I'd have no problem with it. The question boils down to whether using it as cover requires it to remain in place, or be continuously moved to maintain cover. Is the standard action to set it up correctly, in which case a rod would work, or is the standard action akin to moving it defensively each round?
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I think it's pretty clear that using it for cover requires constant repositioning and adjustment, otherwise it would not require a standard action each round to gain that benefit. If you could just "set it and forget it," then the ability would not have a single-round duration.