| Riain |
I'm not sure where this thread would go, but since it didn't fit the other threads in a nice, neat spot, I thought I'd put it here until directed otherwise.
I originally used Shields for AC wrong on the first play-through (but thankfully nobody actually used "Raise a Shield" so it didn't change squat). The issue was that "Raise a Shield" said it adds a circumstantial bonus that doesn't stack with coverage, and none of us caught the earlier part on 176 where the proficiencies don't stack. Realizing that now, I understand people's concerns with even having a Shield to begin with. I love Math (though I teach Music) and decided to run some numbers. I ran Paladin, Fighter, and Wizard through some calculations based upon the current setup. I did NOT include magical bonus to armor of +5. I also sent Wizard to 26 Dex (the cap possible atm) for +8 AC (comparable to the standard soft-cap to AC from Armor of +7). Here is what I found (proposals afterwards).
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8zdn21kbcc1vfye/Shield%20AC%20Theory.docx?dl=0
(The table won't paste here.) The long and short of it is that Shields currently only change the Miss:Hit by 5%. For the cost of an action, that's pretty insignificant. I have seen one proposal to let profs stack from Shield and Armor. When you do that, a Paladin who is level 10+ with a light shield (+1) will ONLY be physically hit on a natural 20 from the first attack of a round (a Fighter gets the same stats after level 12ish). So that'd break the system in reverse. If you look at the farthest right column, you get this proposal:
Have Shields grant a bonus of their AC/TAC + HALF the bonus from proficiency. This balances out to a pretty solid tank for the first hit, but imbalances the second and third attack. So to fix that, have the "Raise a Shield" only affect the AC of the first attack, and Shield Block for damage go to the second/third attack (with the possible damage). This would account physically that the first attack was deflected by the shield, but haste to block a follow attack cause the attack to put more force on the shield and possibly damaging it.
For WIZARDS, however, they're up a creak period. I suggest the Cantrip Shield go from being an Action spell to a REAction spell that only affects one attack per round. The Shield would grant +1 like it currently does, but also give 1/2 caster level as a bonus on top of that. This retains the utility, without making it AS strong as the Fighter/Paladin.
As another possible, for I'm sure that not all classes are meant to have the same AC as the tanks, this could be a Feat for Pally/Fighter to take to gain the proficiency bonuses. That would leave the shield boosts as is for the other classes to discourage them from just picking up shield proficiency.
Thoughts? (I can run the numbers for a +5 Legendary quality armor as well if need be, but that's just +25% to miss and -25% to hit... which is, yes, significant as well. As such, it may even be good to use 1/4 proficiency bonus.)