No Potency For the Lion's Shield

[Tectorman]

The Lion's Shield has the special ability to make a bite attack with the shield; i.e., an attack directly meant to go against an opponent's AC and meant to be used alongside regular attacks that get potency bonuses to attack. Yet, the shield's description goes out of its way to tell you you don't get to enhance it to gain potency. So you start off with this attack falling behind in accuracy, and it only gets further behind as you go up, both in accuracy and damage.

Why? What's the point of this item? How does it distinguish itself from a regular heavy steel shield with shield spikes, shield spikes that CAN get enhanced for additional level-appropriate accuracy and damage?

Side note: Why is it Conjuration rather than Transmutation? Nothing is being created; instead, the biting maw is changing from static to animated.

[Dasrak]

The Lion's shield's attack is a free action whenever you raise your shield, that's what distinguishes it from spiked shields. It would actually be a decent item for its level range if it didn't cost resonance to activate, but at the narrow level range at which that attack is relevant it's too expensive for how few uses per day you're getting. Maybe it will be better after the resonance overhaul?

[Sara Marie]

My paladin is using doubling rings with a +1 bastard sword to get around not being able to put a potency rune on the Lion's Shield.

I appreciate it's ability to do piercing damage in addition to shield bash and its extra hardness and dent.

(Dasrak, Thank you! I missed the part about the trigger for the bite being "raise your shield")

[Dasrak]

Sara Marie wrote:

My paladin is using doubling rings with a +1 bastard sword to get around not being able to put a potency rune on the Lion's Shield.

I don't think this works. The Lion's shield's restriction is specifically that it "can't be enhanced to gain potency". The prohibition is not specific to runes, but all sources of potency.

[Sara Marie]

Open to interpretation? You aren't enhancing the shield, just sharing a bonus from another item via magical rings. The GM did specifically okay it in this case, but I can definitely see the reasoning from the other side.

[Darksol the Painbringer]

Dasrak has the RAW of it. If I can't cast Magic Weapon on my Lion's Shield, then I don't think Doubling Rings would be able to work either.