Title says it all.
Fighter has a tower shield fighting archetype that removes the penalty and gives some other benefits. That's the only one I know of off the top of my head.
Most mithral armors are one category lighter than normal for purposes of movement and other limitations. It doesn't talk about shields so it's not RAW but it makes sense to me that you'd be able to use a tower shield as a shield one size smaller.
I think Mithril will only lower the ACP.
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Pretty much the only way other than having an obscure specific magic item or a customized magic item is 5 levels of tower shield fighter. Of course, you could always see if your GM will let you do something to remove it (like make it mithral* and remove the penalty, or maybe a feat or alternate racial trait).
*Tower Shields can't be made of mithral because they are wood. There are some specific magic items that change this, but this is a general rule.
There is a feat chain that counters the -2 to attacks.....weapon focus and greater weapon focus.
Not exactly what I was looking to find. One could also say that anything that add's a + to hit would be countering them as well.
Thanks to all who answered. Looks like the Fighter Archetype is the only one that truly removes the penalty.
I will swing the different material idea past my GM. She runs a game in Faerun and Darkwood in that setting does almost the same thing as mithril in terms of weight reduction and that could be used to make a Tower Shield. I will see if she will go with it.
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What about tower shield proficiency?
"Tower Shield Proficiency (Combat)
You are trained in how to properly use a tower shield.
Prerequisite: Shield Proficiency.
Benefit: When you use a tower shield, the shield's armor check penalty only applies to Strength and Dexterity-based skills.
Normal: A character using a shield with which he is not proficient takes the shield's armor check penalty on attack rolls and on all skill checks that involve moving, including Ride.
Special: Fighters automatically have Tower Shield Proficiency as a bonus feat. They need not select it."
Works for me.
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What about tower shield proficiency?
"Tower Shield Proficiency (Combat)
You are trained in how to properly use a tower shield.Prerequisite: Shield Proficiency.
Benefit: When you use a tower shield, the shield's armor check penalty only applies to Strength and Dexterity-based skills.
Normal: A character using a shield with which he is not proficient takes the shield's armor check penalty on attack rolls and on all skill checks that involve moving, including Ride.
Special: Fighters automatically have Tower Shield Proficiency as a bonus feat. They need not select it."
Works for me.
Tower shield still imposes a -2 to attacks beyond the non-proficiency ACPenalty to attacks. That -2 is what he is trying to nullify.
If you are looking for a different flavor of fighter, the Phalanx Soldier gets Deft Shield, that also reduces the penalty by 1 at 7th level and then eliminates it at 11th.
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In my game the fighter users a different method. He carries a tower shield (really, a Pavise) and a throwing spear.
First round he chucks the spear and places the shield in the proper tactical location.
Second round he draws his greatsword and joins melee. Then a squishy caster takes cover behind the shield. This is extremely helpful and very effective.
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In my game the fighter users a different method. He carries a tower shield (really, a Pavise) and a throwing spear.
First round he chucks the spear and places the shield in the proper tactical location.
Second round he draws his greatsword and joins melee. Then a squishy caster takes cover behind the shield. This is extremely helpful and very effective.
I like that...I need to add that into my games...
Most mithral armors are one category lighter than normal for purposes of movement and other limitations. It doesn't talk about shields so it's not RAW but it makes sense to me that you'd be able to use a tower shield as a shield one size smaller.
You can't make mithral tower shields. They are specifically called out as being made of wood. Mithral says you can't use it for wood items.
Further, a mithral tower shield would be grossly heavy despite being made of mithral and obscenely expensive as a result. Based on the weight of material, a tower shield made of iron would weigh roughly 10 times that of a wooden tower shield.
Which means that it would weigh about 450 lbs. A mithral tower shield, weighing half as much, would weigh about 225 lbs. Roughly five times as much as a wooden tower shield. Not only would it be heavier and harder to use than its wooden counterpart (more or less making it inferior to the wooden counterpart as instead of getting more mobility you'd be flushing it down the toilet) but it would also be disgustingly expensive.
Since you can't make tower shields out of mithral normally, we'd have to ignore the +1,000 gp shield modification cost (because it's illegal) and instead look at what it would actually cost to forge one out of material. At 500 gp / lb. it would cost about 112,500 gp.
So the reason people don't have tower shields made out of mithral is because it would be one of the greatest examples of engineering stupidity that could be found throughout the entirety of the world.
A metal tower shield would not need to have the same mass as a wooden one to provide the same protection. It needs surface area, but not to be as thick.
If it's worth anything, one of wotc's 3.5 splat books has a metal tower shield.
A metal tower shield would not need to have the same mass as a wooden one to provide the same protection. It needs surface area, but not to be as thick.
By all accounts it would be a much different beast. To have the same coverage that the tower shield must provide, you would have to make it crazy thin, and even then I doubt you could make it anywhere as serviceable as a normal one, let alone easier to wield than wooden counterpart. Especially when you consider that the hardness/hp of a tower shield is suggestive that it's around 2 inches thick. You have to cover the same amount of space, so the only way you can go is thinner, and you'd have to make it MUCH thinner to even reach the normal weight of a tower shield, like less than half an inch in thickness.
Then you'd have to actually get it to be light enough to make it not merely "as bad" but to make it easier to wield, which means you'd be approaching paper thin really quick since based on the rules for mithral you're aiming not at meeting the weight but cutting the weight in half. We're talking a paper-thin shield at this point which would be bizarre to wield.
If it's worth anything, one of wotc's 3.5 splat books has a metal tower shield.
Mercurial weapons make more sense, which is not saying much. :P
EDIT: Meanwhile it wouldn't actually do anything for the -2 penalty to hit for wielding a tower shield, which I imagine is not related to its check penalty to weight but the size of it getting in your way as well since you can only effectively attack from a few angles making it harder to hit your opponent. >_>
HEHE... insert annoying secondary arguement in 3...2...1...
If you could remove the additional -2, making it equivilant to a Hvy shield, then technically, you should also be able to bash with it! 2 handed mithral tower shield bash!
If you can't make a tower shield from mithral because it's not metal, try Darkwood or Ironwood and then bribe the GM.
You're only RAW option is one of two fighter archetypes. Tower Shield Specialist and Phalanx Fighter. Spartan much?
*cough* Tower Shield Specialist *cough*
Some people consider the tower shield specialist archetype to not work as probably intended, because the tower shield training ability increases the max Dex bonus to AC allowed by armor by 2. Since armor and shields are specific items, they conclude that the ability doesn't increase a tower shield's max Dex.
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There's a Mithral Tower Shield in Ultimate Equipment called a Force Tower, and it weighs just 22lbs. I think it's the exception to the rule that you can't make tower shields out of metal (specific trumping general).