Wooden Shields

[siegfriedliner]

So do people think that the fact that it's an intentional balance point that the bulk of good shields are metal to limit the amount of utility druids get from their shield block feat or do you think that it's an accident/flavour text.

Would you let Druids use nominally steel enchanted shields made of dragon scales or ironwood etc.

Also on a side note has anyone seen any enchanted tower shields yet in the official releases?

[pauljathome]

siegfriedliner wrote:

So do people think that the fact that it's an intentional balance point that the bulk of good shields are metal to limit the amount of utility druids get from their shield block feat or do you think tha it's an accident/flavour text.

Would you let Druids use nominally steel enchanted shields made of dragon scales or ironwood etc.

Impossible to know.

On the one hand, druids are hardly underpowered especially at low levels. They certainly don't need the power boost.

On the other hand, its a very, very strange ability they have, one that is almost completely useless especially at levels just a little bit beyond first.

My guess (and it is only that) is that the shield block feat made more sense under some version of pre-release rules, the shield rules changed and they forgot to update the druid.

Personally, I would NOT let druids get shields made of dragon scales or ironwood. But I also don't think it would be a huge deal to allow it, especially if they were priced at least 1 or 2 levels higher than the steel equivalents.

[WatersLethe]

I personally think it's weird that the assumption is metal shields are the go-to shield. Historically, besides bucklers, pretty much all shields were wooden.

Since this is fantasy, it's fine that there are metal shields, but it's pretty sad to see the wooden ones snubbed so badly.

[Castilliano]

My thought is that Druids got Shield Block to balance with not having the Shield Cantrip on the Primal spell list like all the other classes limited to one spell tradition. (Primal Sorcerers are simply out of luck.)
With Primal Witches around (and more Primal casters in the future), Druids getting Shield Block feels more like an anomaly, especially when a majority of the martials can't, yet I feel the initial reason valid.

And yes, IMO there do need to be more wooden shields (or a way to replace the metal in metal shields as suggested) not just for Druids, but martial/MCD Druids too.
A Primal spell which reinforces a wooden shield would be neat, and seems thematic enough to me, perhaps with a cool ability, i.e. a living shield that heals itself or can be healed.

[Megistone]

I would say that the other thread about shields has got a good advice.
Once you get into the magic item territory, the base form of a shield shouldn't have a big impact on its stats. A sturdy shield can easily be a wooden one, or a tower shield. And druids can be happy.

[Staffan Johansson]

I am pretty certain that the reason that druids have Shield Block is that in the playtest, they had proficiency in shields. When the rules dropped shield proficiency as a thing, all the classes with shield proficiency got shield block instead.

[Squiggit]

I'm not sure anathema really factor into class balance at all, tbh.

Regarding the shields themselves, I'm not sure what the actual design intent is. Having all magic shields be specific magic items means you're pretty much stuck with what you get and that's pretty clear in the rules, but since many special materials aren't really competitive with their magical counterparts in the first place it doesn't feel like that separation is necessarily intentional.

[pauljathome]

Squiggit wrote:

I'm not sure anathema really factor into class balance at all, tbh.

I have no clue if it is intentional on Paizo's part but I think the Anathema against metal armor and shields very much factors into the balance of the druid.

The druid is currently the best Gish character in the game. The inability to wear heavy armor and the inability to actually block with a shield to any effect very much limits their melee combat durability.

If it was allowed, my combat druid would almost certainly have taken the Champion archetype which would significantly improve his ability to withstand damage on the front lines.

[thenobledrake]

While Druid Anathema definitely does feel like a balance-providing element, most of the rest of the Anathema in the game seem less balance-providing and more flavor-enhancing.

Because yes, if I could wear metal armor as my druid, I'd have put less boosts into Dexterity and more into Constitution, and I'd have the same AC and movement speed with a higher HP total just from being able to wear a breastplate instead of hide.

[Mr Tea]

I don't see why you wouldn't let them have dragonscale or ironwood shields. Their anathema is metal. Just like they can wear dragonhide full plate.