arrow catching enchant with 2 handed atk


Rules Questions


Alright so i have a 2 handed reach weapon. Im fairly sure i can still have my shield on when i weild a 2 handed weapon yes? If thats true then when i make a 2 handed atk i lose my shield bonus to AC? And if thats true then do i lose arrow catching enchant? My arguement was just because the shield isnt infront of my face doesnt mean the ranged missles would suddenly not be attracted to it, my buddy says otherwise, can u guys help?

Sovereign Court

A buckler yes, don't think it works for the other types of shield tho. The way you are facing doesn't matter and yeah the enchant would be active.


The only type of shield that you can wield would be a buckler. And you take penalties if you do.

Quote:

Buckler

Price 5 gp

Shield Bonus +1

This small metal shield is worn strapped to your forearm. You can use a bow or crossbow without penalty while carrying it. You can also use your shield arm to wield a weapon (whether you are using an off-hand weapon or using your off hand to help wield a two-handed weapon), but you take a –1 penalty on attack rolls while doing so. 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. You can't make a shield bash with a buckler.

Quote:

Light Steel Shield

Price 9 gp

Shield Bonus +1

You strap a light steel shield to your forearm and grip it with your hand. A light steel shield's weight lets you carry other items in that hand, although you cannot use weapons with it. Whether wooden or steel, a light shield offers the same basic protection and attack benefits, though the two varieties respond differently to some spells and effects (such as rusting grasp). A druid can use a light wooden shield, but not a light steel shield.

Quote:

Heavy Steel Shield

Price 20 gp

Shield Bonus +2

You strap a heavy steel shield to your forearm and grip it with your hand. A heavy steel shield is so heavy that you can't use your shield hand for anything else. Whether wooden or steel, a heavy shield offers the same basic protection and attack benefits, though the two versions respond differently to some spells and effects (such as rusting grasp). A druid can use a heavy wooden shield, but not a heavy steel shield.

As far as whether or not you lose the bonus...I think you probably should. If you lose all bonus to AC from the shield I don't think you should retain any other benefits either. However it is unclear what the rules say, if anything, about it.


This likely should fall under the "using the item" rule. Like you can't get the benefit of a Defending weapon if you're just holding it, you probably shouldn't get the benefit of a shield that attracts ranged attacks if you're not actively defending yourself with it (i.e., using the shield for its intended purpose of augmenting your AC).


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For reference here is the FAQ rule fretgod is talking about:

Quote:

Defending Weapon Property: Do I have to make attack rolls with the weapon to gain its AC bonus?

Yes. Merely holding a defending weapon is not sufficient. Unless otherwise specified, you have to use a magic item in the manner it is designed (use a weapon to make attacks, wear a shield on your arm so you can defend with it, and so on) to gain its benefits.
Therefore, if you don't make an attack roll with a defending weapon on your turn, you don't gain its defensive benefit.
Likewise, while you can give a shield the defending property (after you've given it a +1 enhancement bonus to attacks, of course), you wouldn't get the AC bonus from the defending property unless you used the shield to make a shield bash that round--unless you're using the shield as a weapon (to make a shield bash), the defending weapon property has no effect.


Claxon wrote:

For reference here is the FAQ rule fretgod is talking about:

Quote:

Defending Weapon Property: Do I have to make attack rolls with the weapon to gain its AC bonus?

Yes. Merely holding a defending weapon is not sufficient. Unless otherwise specified, you have to use a magic item in the manner it is designed (use a weapon to make attacks, wear a shield on your arm so you can defend with it, and so on) to gain its benefits.
Therefore, if you don't make an attack roll with a defending weapon on your turn, you don't gain its defensive benefit.
Likewise, while you can give a shield the defending property (after you've given it a +1 enhancement bonus to attacks, of course), you wouldn't get the AC bonus from the defending property unless you used the shield to make a shield bash that round--unless you're using the shield as a weapon (to make a shield bash), the defending weapon property has no effect.

Yes, one more silly FAQ best to ignore. Or at least not take too literally. If you wield a defending weapon while using total defense it would be totally brainfart to not get the bonus from defending.

"Hey I have a weapon that is good to defend me. But it doesn't really help me when I try to defend me from attacks." Doh!


The idea behind the defending weapon is that the act of swinging it is what defends you. It doesn't just put up a force-field, it's intercepting attacks as you swing it to attack. Same goes for the arrow-catching shield; it isn't going to make arrows go all "cartooney" and make a sharp swerve to your flank to embed themselves in the shield. You kinda gotta have the shield "up" in defense position, not down holding the butt end of your longspear. This one actually does make sense.


Aside from that, one can conceptually appreciate the concept of going on total defense with a defending weapon. While it perhaps isn't according to Hoyle (or FAQ), it's certainly a reasonable thing to think about.

But the idea that merely holding a defending weapon in one hand and therefore benefit from it whilst gleefully whacking away with your other sword is just plain silly.


I've always felt that it would be appropriate to spend a move action to "brandish" a defending weapon to benefit from the Defending property. Because the whole message of the FAQ is that, if you aren't making attacks with it, there's zero draw-back to funneling all the enhancement bonus into AC. In that case, total defense is functionally identical to just holding it while doing other actions. In fact, total defense more so because you won't even worry about AoOs. The concept of the Defending property is a give-and-take between enhancement to attack/damage and AC bonus.

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