Shield Enhancement Options

[dfinan]

Still kind of new to the ways magic items work in 2nd edition in general. So question about shields and enhanving their block and hardness. I run a champion went the shield route, have the minor reinforcing and about to upgrade to lesser (almost 7th level).

The question comes down to the wording on the reinforing runes it says at one point maxium hardness 8, hp 64. The question, does that apply even if the shield is made out of sturdier material. Say adamntine which for a standard item has a hardness of 14. Would it be useless to put a reinforcing rune on it?

Overall just looking at ways to make my shield absorb more damage and considering alternate materials to do so.

Thanks for any sggestions.

[Easl]

To get the hardness of an adamantine shield you should use the hardness given for adamantine shields on GM core page 233.

To reinforce, follow the GM core p232 guidance: ...every reinforcing rune includes maximum Hardness and Hit Point values. Since the runes work by increasing the structural integrity of a shield by a certain amount, they can’t increase the durability of a shield beyond a listed maximum value.

So for example, the L8 standard grade adamantine shield listed on page 233 has a hardness of 10. A L7 Lesser reinforcing rune adds 3 but only up to a maximum hardness of 10, so it would not add to the L8 shield's hardness at all. But a L10 moderate reinforcing rune could add it's +3 to that standard grade shield, because the shield's 10 + the rune's 3 <= the rune's maximum hardness of 13.

At least I think...

[Finoan]

Easl wrote:

At least I think...

Yeah, that is the way that I interpret those instructions on shield Reinforcing Runes too.

It will add hardness and HP to a shield on top of the base shield's stats, but only up to the maximums listed. If the shield material already adjusts the hardness or HP above that amount, then that tier of Reinforcing Rune wouldn't raise it further.

If only one of the stats was above that value, the Reinforcing Rune would still raise the other one. And if the shield's stats are only slightly below the maximum of the Rune, the Rune can raise the stats up to the maximum even though it would not be by the full amount of possible bonus listed for the Rune.

So an Adamantine Shield that has Hardness 10, HP 40, and BT 20:

A Reinforcing Rune (minor) has maximum 8 Hardness, 64 HP, and 32 BT. So you could put that on the Adamantine Shield to raise the HP and BT of the shield, but it wouldn't change the 10 hardness that it already has since that is higher than the maximum of 8 that the Rune provides. It wouldn't raise the HP and BT above the maximums though. Final stats for the shield would be Hardness 10, HP 64, BT 32.

A Reinforcing Rune (moderate) would finally have maximum hardness that allows for increasing the hardness of an Adamantine Shield.

[dfinan]

Ok thats what I thought, just wish there was a way to make the shields beefier for those who go that route. At least I am not misunderstanding somethign about how the runes work.

[Lightning Raven]

The Reinforced Rune benefit will scale as you level, so keep an eye on that.

The shield rune is designed to improve other shields but never surpass Sturdy Shields, which are designed to be the best at blocking. With other shields, you trade off a bit of hardness and HP for their utility.

[steelhead]

Ah, so many moving parts. At least you can figure out the best options depending on price and level. Then it’s just a matter of using your shield at that perfect time on the battlefield (whether breaking it or not). As everyone in the party is healing after the combat, you fix your shield. Assurance is particularly useful in crafting for this purpose since the DCs are fixed. I’ve enjoyed my sword and board champion as he’s gotten into the mid to upper levels. The flexibility of multiple reactions for either defense, offense, or debuffing makes for an engaged combatant.

[Ascalaphus]

Well the DC to fix the shield is based on the shield's level, so it does get higher as the shield/rune gets more potent.

However, the damage on a critical failure to Repair never goes up, and is reduced by hardness. So with say the level 7 shield/rune, it's really quite hard to accidentally make things worse.

The Quick Repair feat can then make the repairs a pretty trivial thing.