When performing a combat maneuver, you must use an action appropriate to the maneuver you are attempting to perform. While many combat maneuvers can be performed as part of an attack action, full-attack action, or attack of opportunity (in place of a melee attack), others require a specific action. Unless otherwise noted, performing a combat maneuver provokes an attack of opportunity from the target of the maneuver. If you are hit by the target, you take the damage normally and apply that amount as a penalty to the attack roll to perform the maneuver. If your target is immobilized, unconscious, or otherwise incapacitated, your maneuver automatically succeeds (treat as if you rolled a natural 20 on the attack roll). If your target is stunned, you receive a +4 bonus on your attack roll to perform a combat maneuver against it.
When you attempt to perform a combat maneuver, make an attack roll and add your CMB in place of your normal attack bonus. Add any bonuses you currently have on attack rolls due to spells, feats, and other effects. These bonuses must be applicable to the weapon or attack used to perform the maneuver. The DC of this maneuver is your target’s Combat Maneuver Defense. Combat maneuvers are attack rolls, so you must roll for concealment and take any other penalties that would normally apply to an attack roll.
Benefit: In most situations, a tower shield provides the indicated shield bonus to your Armor Class. As a standard action, however, you can use a tower shield to grant you total cover until the beginning of your next turn. When using a tower shield in this way, you must choose one edge of your space. That edge is treated as a solid wall for attacks targeting you only. You gain total cover for attacks that pass through this edge and no cover for attacks that do not pass through this edge (see Combat). The shield does not, however, provide cover against targeted spells; a spellcaster can cast a spell on you by targeting the shield you are holding. You cannot bash with a tower shield, nor can you use your shield hand for anything else.
When employing a tower shield in combat, you take a –2 penalty on attack rolls because of the shield’s encumbrance.
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Say there's two medium creatures in a five-foot wide passage. One of them has a Tower Shield and uses it to gain Total Cover. Can the other creature attempt any combat maneuver against the shield-wearing one?
The normal response to a Tower Shield seems to be sundering it, but Total Cover should negate that tactic.
And if you can't use combat maneuvers, but you as a GM would rule that you can sunder it, what other maneuvers would you allow?
Technically, sunder is an attack against a creature, so you shouldn't be able to use such a maneuver. The alternative, then, is to simply attack the shield directly--it's just sitting there, after all, so it can hardly be considered attended. That's actually much easier than attempting a sunder maneuver, which makes sense given that the shield's owner can't really do much to stop the attack without "unsetting" the shield.
The cover protects the shield bearer against "attacks targeting only you". sunders should work, and the attacker can use acrobatics to move through their square. You can also target their square with splash damage weapons. You really should be able to bullrush them, but sadly it's not permitted. If the tower shield were fixed to a wall it would probably have the break DC of a door at 13 or 18, I don't know why its more sturdy in human hands.
I understand that basic point, but if we're treating the tower shield like a wall, then we aren't interacting with the person holding it. If we aren't treating it like an object we can't just break it, but we aren't treating it like something held be a person so we can't bullrush them or over run them by pushing it.
It's a bit weird. If a player tells me they want to push the shield, there's no roll regardless of the strength or size difference.
Technically, sunder is an attack against a creature, so you shouldn't be able to use such a maneuver. The alternative, then, is to simply attack the shield directly--it's just sitting there, after all, so it can hardly be considered attended. That's actually much easier than attempting a sunder maneuver, which makes sense given that the shield's owner can't really do much to stop the attack without "unsetting" the shield.
I was under the impression that you could still move after gaining total cover from the tower shield, but your post seems to imply the opposite.
As I'm choosing one 'edge' of my space, and that edge is treated as a solid wall, I don't see how one interprets that to be limited to the square I started out in.
Is there something obvious I have missed, or is this up for debate?
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Sunder, for example, is allowed because it can target an object (thus you're not targeting an enemy hidden behind total cover), and thus it could attempt to sunder the shield.
I see, that makes sense.
With the exception of Sunder/Disarm, there shouldn't be any other combat maneuvers possible, correct?