Broken Shields (3.5e Variant Rule)
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Broken Shields
Shields aren't very interesting in D&D. They increase your AC, and... well, that's about it. They might give you some special enhancements, but rarely what a suit of armor couldn't do. And by many, they're seen as a "weaker" choice, since you are forced to give up two-handed weapons which can matter a lot in the endgame. On the other hand, a +5 Animated Shield is something that easily bumps someone off the RNG compared to others, which can be just as big of a problem. So instead we change that with this variant.
Mechanics
Shields no longer grant an AC bonus. Instead, as a non-action when using a shield, you may automatically increase your AC by 10 + twice the shield's enhancement bonus against a single attack after knowing the result of the attack. If the change in AC causes you to take no damage from the attack, the shield loses one durability. If a shield's durability drops to 0 or lower, the shield must make a Fortitude save (DC equal to 10 + the amount of damage dealt after factoring in hardness) or break, becoming entirely splintered and made useless.
It is possible to repair a shield by spending five minutes to maintain it, resetting its durability to the maximum possible, while the mending spell increases the durability by one (up to its maximum) and the make whole spell completely repairs the shield.
A shield's durability is equal to its innate durability plus its enhancement bonus to AC. Thus, a +2 Darkwood Heavy Fortification Buckler would have a durability of 3, while a +5 Animated Tower Shield would have a durability of 10.
Shield | Durability |
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Buckler | 1 |
Light | 2 |
Heavy | 3 |
Tower | 5 |
Spells that deal damage, as well as melee and ranged touch attacks may also be blocked by a shield, but require the expenditure of two points of durability instead of one. If you use a shield in this way to block a spell, instead gain a bonus equal to 5 + the shield's enhancement bonus to your save against the spell (you may use this after rolling your save), and you take no damage or any of the effects on a successful save (though your shield takes full damage as though it had failed the save for the purposes of the DC against breaking if its durability falls to 0 or lower).
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