In short, in our game (homebrew campaign) we have a god of civilization and community which uses the tower shield as his sacred weapon.
Well, i wanted to be a Human warpriest that served this god and i wanted to base my build on TWF and the DM allowed me to bash with the tower shield for 1d6 of damage (don't really care since the shield is the sacred weapon, which scales).
Blessing chosen: Good, Law
The Stats are:
17 STR 8 INT
15 DEX 14 WIS
12 CON 8 CHA
(Wisdom is quite low, but i needed the STR for carrying stuff)
I got the following traits:
Shield Bearer (+1 damage when bashing, +2 AC for a turn once a day to an ally)
Shield Trained (I consider shields light weapons)
Competitive (i get a +1 when attempting to do something nearby someone trying to do the same thing, i find it very cool even though i could have got Fate's favored instead)
I don't know if the feats i've chosen will work, i post the list:
Improved shield bash (from the Shieldbearer archetype)
TWF (Level 1 feat)
Shield focus (Bonus human Feat)
Power attack (Level 3 Feat)
Mobile bulwark style (Level 3 bonus feat)
Improved bull rush (Level 5 feat)
Mobile Fortress (Level 6 Favorite class bonus feat)
Shield Slam (Level 6 bonus feat)
Shielded stand (level 7 feat) (maybe i could put something else there?)
Mobile stronghold (Level 9 Bonus feat)
Quicken Blessing (level 11 feat)
The aim of this build is, obviously, Shieldbashing and knocking people way and possibly making them prone with the shield bash
Casting spells on myself is not a problem since Fervor allows me to get away with it easily, my shield has been consecrated, so it also acts as an holy symbol
Bonus, if you had 3K Gp's laying around what would you buy?
I thought about getting the Corset of delicate moves (2K GP's, gives 1 extra swift action once a day)
Rate the build and give advice if you wish so
Sorry for the poor language, i'm not an english mothertongue
if you need more info ask me
you still cant shield bash with a tower shield
Shield-Trained
You were trained to use shields as weapons.
Benefit(s) Heavy and light shields are considered simple weapons rather than martial weapons for you. Heavy shields are considered light weapons for you.
Shield, Tower
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.
Name Violation wrote: you still cant shield bash with a tower shield Pootisman wrote: Well, i wanted to be a Human warpriest that served this god and i wanted to base my build on TWF and the DM allowed me to bash with the tower shield for 1d6 of damage (don't really care since the shield is the sacred weapon, which scales).
Name Violation wrote: you still cant shield bash with a tower shield
Shield-Trained
You were trained to use shields as weapons.
Benefit(s) Heavy and light shields are considered simple weapons rather than martial weapons for you. Heavy shields are considered light weapons for you.
Shield, Tower
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.
I know and the DM knows but as i said the DM allowed an expection to this rule because of the god i'm worshipping
Told him about the trait and he said "it's ok, go on"
Things I see:
You can't take shield focus as your 1st level feat. It requires a BAB of 1 and a warpriest is a 3/4 BAB class. That delays the Mobile Bulwark chain, and means you are going to be taking some SERIOUS penalties to attack for quite a few levels. Even once you get Mobile Stronghold, I'm assuming the GM is counting your tower shield as a one-handed weapon, so you'll be taking -4 when TWF. You want to eventually get the Shield Master feat. Probably with your 12th level bonus feat.
TWF doesn't mesh well with Shield Slam/Bull Rush. The problem is that if you move them more than 5 feet, you can't follow them and continue attacking. Choose one or the other to focus on. If it's TWF, you need to get the Improved and Greater Feats eventually.
It is going to take you quite a few rounds to get "up to power." You have 4 different swift actions (fervor-cast, enter Mobile Bulwark style, enhance sacred weapon, and enhance sacred armor). The corset helps, but only a tiny bit. Not a problem, just something to be aware of.
Belafon wrote: Things I see:
You can't take shield focus as your 1st level feat. It requires a BAB of 1 and a warpriest is a 3/4 BAB class. That delays the Mobile Bulwark chain, and means you are going to be taking some SERIOUS penalties to attack for quite a few levels. Even once you get Mobile Stronghold, I'm assuming the GM is counting your tower shield as a one-handed weapon, so you'll be taking -4 when TWF. You want to eventually get the Shield Master feat. Probably with your 12th level bonus feat.
TWF doesn't mesh well with Shield Slam/Bull Rush. The problem is that if you move them more than 5 feet, you can't follow them and continue attacking. Choose one or the other to focus on. If it's TWF, you need to get the Improved and Greater Feats eventually.
It is going to take you quite a few rounds to get "up to power." You have 4 different swift actions (fervor-cast, enter Mobile Bulwark style, enhance sacred weapon, and enhance sacred armor). The corset helps, but only a tiny bit. Not a problem, just something to be aware of.
I totally forgot about the BAB requirement in shield focus, that's a little disaster... i should be able to take one level of fighter and fix that in exchange of delayed spells and other stuff...
i think the bull rush/shield bash combo is not bad considering the following situations:
- if there is 1 boss i can hit him with the sword, shield bash him and IF it is pushed back i can step back so he can't just step and make use of his full round action (i deal less damage, so does him, i lose a lot less from this than him)
- in alternative if there is a wall nearby i can attempt to trip him
- if there are many enemies i can use the shield as the main weapon and attempt to push away more people at once
And then yes, the swift action economy is a nightmare, considering that at level 10 i will get quicken blessing
I think the fighter level is a good idea because I just noticed something else:
You get proficiency in the tower shield as a weapon (because it's your deity's favored weapon) but I don't see how you're getting proficiency with it as armor (the tower shield proficiency feat). Without that you take the shield's ACP on all attack rolls. Unless, of course, the GM is giving you that as part of the weapon proficiency.
And just to verify: your GM is allowing you to apply the shield-trained trait to tower shields as well? I assumed he wasn't but if he is it makes the TWF penalty better.
Stumbling bash might be better than shield slam if you're doing TWF. It applies a -2 penalty to AC to the target for 1 round which could make your later attacks in a full attack hit. Or shield snag has a fun effect. Shield slam is the prerequisite to shield master, but that's late enough that it's not on your list - if your character isn't going to get to 12th level then shield master doesn't matter.
BTW I've seen worse English on these messageboards from native speakers. Including one who got huffy when I asked them whether English was their native language.
Belafon wrote: I think the fighter level is a good idea because I just noticed something else:
You get proficiency in the tower shield as a weapon (because it's your deity's favored weapon) but I don't see how you're getting proficiency with it as armor (the tower shield proficiency feat). Without that you take the shield's ACP on all attack rolls. Unless, of course, the GM is giving you that as part of the weapon proficiency.
And just to verify: your GM is allowing you to apply the shield-trained trait to tower shields as well? I assumed he wasn't but if he is it makes the TWF penalty better.
I got the proficiency anyways because it was the god's sacred weapon, so that didn't mattered
The shield trained trait reduces the penalty
avr wrote: Stumbling bash might be better than shield slam if you're doing TWF. It applies a -2 penalty to AC to the target for 1 round which could make your later attacks in a full attack hit. Or shield snag has a fun effect. Shield slam is the prerequisite to shield master, but that's late enough that it's not on your list - if your character isn't going to get to 12th level then shield master doesn't matter.
BTW I've seen worse English on these messageboards from native speakers. Including one who got huffy when I asked them whether English was their native language.
i will probably get to level 12 and i shall get shield master, i will consider shield snag.
Pootisman wrote: Belafon wrote: I think the fighter level is a good idea because I just noticed something else:
You get proficiency in the tower shield as a weapon (because it's your deity's favored weapon) but I don't see how you're getting proficiency with it as armor (the tower shield proficiency feat). Without that you take the shield's ACP on all attack rolls. Unless, of course, the GM is giving you that as part of the weapon proficiency.
I got the proficiency anyways because it was the god's sacred weapon, so that didn't mattered Being proficient with a shield as a weapon is not the same thing as having the Shield Proficiency feat.
For example a wizard could take the Shield Proficiency feat to avoid taking attack roll penalties on all attacks while wearing a light steel shield. However he would still have to take the Martial Weapon Proficiency (light shield) feat to be proficient with a light steel shield as a weapon.
You have the opposite situation where you are proficient in tower shields as a weapon (the GM-created feat Weapon Proficiency: Tower Shield) but you don’t necessarily have the normal feat Tower Shield Proficiency.
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