We are starting a new campaign next round and everyone has to start new characters. My Shadow Dancer has 2 levels of Monk of Many Styles. My question is can she use a buckler for AC benefits while still gaining the ability to use crane style/wing/riposte? Are there any negatives that effect this?
such as? She only has a 2 level dip in monk. She uses armor cause she has proficiency with it from other classes.
Only have a +1 in Wis modifier. The bulk of my stats are in dex, cha, and con.
Why even bother with a buckler then? It also only adds +1 AC and gives a -1 Armor Check Penalty. Now if it is an enchanted buckler then it would be worth more AC.
Also
This penalty stacks with those that may apply for fighting with your off hand and for fighting with two weapons. In any case, if you use a weapon in your off hand, you lose the buckler's AC bonus until your next turn. You can cast a spell with somatic components using your shield arm, but you lose the buckler's AC bonus until your next turn.
While that doesn't list crane style (crane style didn't exist when buckler rules were written), it is almost certainly RAI that using that 'free hand' for crane wing would make you lose the buckler bonus on any future attacks in that round (so ask your GM on how they would rule on this).