| 42nfl19 |
I have a few questions concerning the interactions of all these things. The first is this. What happens when you have a Tower Shield(in total cover mode) and the shield enhancement Arrow Catching?
I have drawn a simple picture to show the potential interactions.
Figure.
Black circle is the archer. Blue is the guy with the shield. The Red is the ally next to the shield guy. With the Enhancement, ranged attacks would target the shield guy as shown in Figure A. If there is an object which provides total cover which blocks the shield, the attack continues to the red target unhindered. But what about a Tower Shield? The shield is the one with the enhancement but also is the total cover. What should happen in figure C?
As another question, what happens if a shield bearer also has Deflect Arrows or Missile Shield? Can he deflect the arrow that he himself attracted?
| Gallant Armor |
I have a few questions concerning the interactions of all these things. The first is this. What happens when you have a Tower Shield(in total cover mode) and the shield enhancement Arrow Catching?
I have drawn a simple picture to show the potential interactions.
Figure.Black circle is the archer. Blue is the guy with the shield. The Red is the ally next to the shield guy. With the Enhancement, ranged attacks would target the shield guy as shown in Figure A. If there is an object which provides total cover which blocks the shield, the attack continues to the red target unhindered. But what about a Tower Shield? The shield is the one with the enhancement but also is the total cover. What should happen in figure C?
As another question, what happens if a shield bearer also has Deflect Arrows or Missile Shield? Can he deflect the arrow that he himself attracted?
If you have total cover none of the abilities you mention would apply.
Arrow Catching: "If the wielder has total cover relative to the attacker, the projectile or thrown weapon is not diverted."
Total Cover: "You can’t make an attack against a target that has total cover."
If you have total cover Arrow catching doesn't apply and enemies can't attack you so Deflect Arrows and Missile Shield wouldn't apply.
| 42nfl19 |
Wouldn't RAI allow it to work? It seems like the itention is that an arrow can not travel to the shield if a wall is in the way. It seems that the total cover they are refering to has to block line of sight from attacker to shield. Since a tower shield is not being hindered by anything it would seem like it would atttact the arrow. The tower shield is the one attracting the arrow not the user. If it did not attract the arrow in total cover mode but it did in normal use, I would not conceptualy see the difference.
Also for the other question, that is referring to a user with a normal shield.
| Gallant Armor |
RAI is for that explicitly not to work as arrow snatching comes with the risk of getting hit. If it worked in the way you described, every character could get a hireling to walk next to them with a arrow catching tower shield and negate enemy archers with no risk to the party.
If you are using a light or heavy Arrow Catching shield and have Deflect Arrows or Missile Shield, you could deflect one incoming arrow per round. This arrow could have been aimed at you, or aimed at an adjacent ally or foe.