If I were faced with the first question as a GM, I'd rule that carrying a shield in a prehensile tail doesn't give you the AC bonus, since you aren't "using" it.
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All shields, with the exception of the Buckler, can be used as weapons, and should be treated as such. If the limb cannot wield a weapon, then it cannot wield a shield, as it is a weapon.
Usually, when you attack with a weapon, using the arm that bears a Buckler, you take a penalty to attack rolls. This penalty does not occur when using two-handed firearms. Nothing prevents the loss of your shield bonus to AC though.
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States that an object can be carried using this and that a weapon cannot be wielded. Can we apply this same logic to shields? I was assuming that all this did was let you grab items without having to spend a move action but someone told me that because a shield is not a weapon you can hold a shield in the tail and gain the AC bonus while using a two-handed weapon.
Prehensiles usually have to do with carrying something as if needing a "third hand", and nothing else. I dont' think you can even use the prehensile to drink a potion if you don't have a spare hand free; it's moreso there so that you don't need to dig through your backpack for an item.
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All shields, with the exception of the Buckler, can be used as weapons, and should be treated as such. If the limb cannot wield a weapon, then it cannot wield a shield, as it is a weapon.That sounds like a good way to go about things but is there an actual rule that states this? The person who told me this probably won't accept that answer without rules to back it up. He is the type of guy that will read everything to the letter, for instance he once told me that because the anchoring weapon quality didn't make any mention of how to disengage the weapon from the enemy that it would stay stuck to the enemy even after death.
Just show him the martial weapons table in the CRB where shields are listed as light and one-handed melee weapons.
^ Blackbloodtroll already cited the rule in previous posts. A shield can be used as a weapon, so no.
A buckler is designed to fit on the forearm, so no. A tower shield? Really? C'mon.
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Ok sounds good, but preemptively, what would you say if he made the argument for bucklers or tower shields? Those aren't listed under the weapons chart.
Nothing about the trait actually allows him to wield anything in his tail. Just look at it:
"Prehensile Tail: Many tieflings have tails, but some have long, flexible tails that can be used to carry items. While they cannot wield weapons with their tails, they can use them to retrieve small, stowed objects carried on their persons as a swift action. This racial trait replaces fiendish sorcery."There is a huge difference between carrying and wielding. There are several threads about it.
Also shields say : "Shield, Heavy; Wooden or Steel: You strap a shield to your forearm and grip it with your hand. A heavy shield is so heavy that you can't use your shield hand for anything else."
Nothing in the Prehensile Tail ability changes the basic requirement for wielding a shield. Prehensile tail doesn't allow you to wield anything in it at all, in fact, and is clearly not intended to.
this is caveat to wielding a flail strapped to your junk.
I think a raging, Phallus totem barbarian should be able to do this.
Assuming the barbarian is male.
PG-13, gentlemen.
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My interpretation of the tail is that it can't even hold things. It can only retrieve them, and it had better be going into a free hand as part of the retrieval, or you just retrieved it onto the ground.
That was my initial take as well, but there is that sentence "Many tieflings have tails, but some have long, flexible tails that can be used to carry items". I think they'd have been better off leaving that little bit of (presumably) flavor oriented text out of the description all together.
PG-13, gentlemen.What is allowed in PG-13 varies pretty wildly, and many movie companies will edit seemingly randomly, trying to get the perfect rating.
Who you know, and who is currently in charge can cause the content in a PG-13 movie to vary.
... to a point. :D
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My interpretation of the tail is that it can't even hold things. It can only retrieve them, and it had better be going into a free hand as part of the retrieval, or you just retrieved it onto the ground.That was my initial take as well, but there is that sentence "Many tieflings have tails, but some have long, flexible tails that can be used to carry items". I think they'd have been better off leaving that little bit of (presumably) flavor oriented text out of the description all together.
Flavour text aside, when someone is using one, I only allow it to do the one thing the rules allow it to do. I've annoyed one player so far, but I would prefer to avoid having people think of the tail as another hand. It's a spring-loaded wrist sheathe that works on any stowed item, and that's already fantastic, especially for what you give up.