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I am building an Eldritch Archer fighter and for level 2 there is not a good class feat for it (assisting shot but I don't like it).
I am taking half-elf as ancestry, so I can have access to some cantrips. At level 1 I want to take "Shield" spell.
AGGRESSIVE BLOCK
Trigger: You use the Shield Block reaction, and the opponent that triggered Shield Block is adjacent to you and is your size or smaller.
You push back as you block the attack, knocking your foe away or off balance. You use your shield to push the triggering creature, either automatically Shoving it 5 feet or causing it to become flat-footed until the start of your next turn. The triggering creature chooses whether to be moved or become flat-footed. If it chooses to be moved, you choose the direction. If the Shove would cause it to hit a solid object, enter a square of difficult terrain, or enter another creature’s space, it must become flat-footed instead of being moved.
Am I allowed to do this?
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I don't see why this wouldn't work. Shield grants you access to Shield Block, and that shield block isn't treated differently from any other shield block, excepting that it automatically ends the spell and stops you from casting Shield again for 10 minutes.
It seems all good until you get to "You use your shield..."
You wouldn't have a shield to use, the Shield spell isn't in your hands (and perhaps other metaphysical issues).
And Wow, hadn't realized how poor the 2nd level feats are (and 1st other than PBS) for Fighter archers. I guess because I pick up MCDs at 2nd.
Maybe pick up a feat for if forced into melee?
Or delay Eldritch Archer to get 2/4/6 of another archetype?
No one is going to let this work.
I don't think there's enough evidence to clearly allow it to work, although perhaps the Shield spell itself is ambiguous on this re: it's references to "your magical shield" / "the shield"... It really could be better written to more clearly convey either interpretation.
But fundamentally IMHO, it lacks clear direct mechanical instantiation of real shield. The references to "your magic shield" and "the shield" make just as much sense as rhetorical conveniences necessary for the function of Shield Block's mechanics. If Shield spell did create a real "shield", then I would likewise allow it to make Shield Bashes, but again, IMHO the rules don't clearly back that up.
I suppose one can make argument it is real shield within scope of Shield Block, and Aggressibe Block is extension of Shield Block, but I think that is really a further level of ambiguity without hard evidence.
If "you use your shield" were in the fluff section of Agressive Block I would probably allow it, but it's clearly attached to specific mechanics, and I don't believe Shield spell fulfills that mechanically.
Alright, so what are you doing? 5 seconds or your charactter passes to the monster's turn...
I actually think this is one of the more interesting combinations of cross discipline abilities so far.
I see nothing in the rules that indicates there is an ambiguity here. If Shield Block or Aggressive Block had the requirement that you are "Wielding a Shield in one or more hands" or something similar I could maybe get behind that logic. But neither feat requires you to wield a shield, only Raise Shield does, and Shield the Spell is automatically "raised".
Shield then indicates that you can shield block with your magical shield as though it was a normal shield with the bonus of being able to shield block Magic Missiles. To me, that indicates that you can absolutely combine that shield block with feats that alter or improve Shield Block like Shield Warden or Aggressive Block.
I don't see this as imbalanced or op or whatever, since you could only do it once per 10 minutes without also carrying an actual shield. Seems fine to me.
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there is also the question of what happens first:
when you use Shield Block with the Shield spell, the Shield spell ends, so there's no more "shield" to shove with.
So, even if we get over the issue of if the spell counts as a shield, then the GM has to make a call if the Spell ends before the shove or it first shoves and then ends
As you block the attack makes me think that Aggressive Block happens as a part of Shield Block, rather than right after. Aggressive Block is likely a Free Action so that it operates as a Reaction, even though you've already spent your reaction for Shield Block.
Free actions with triggers and reactions work differently.
You can use these whenever the trigger occurs, even if the
trigger occurs in the middle of another action.
Aggressive Block in my opinion happens during the Shield Block reaction, so the Shield Spell hasn't had a chance to end yet, as it ends "After" you use Shield Block.
Edit: To clarify, Aggressive Block is a Free Action with a Trigger, that Trigger being that you use Shield Block. So by the rules, Aggressive Block happens simultaneously with Shield Block. Shield wouldn't have a chance to "end" until after both Shield Block and Aggressive Block end.