Generic, Text: Shields

Shields are complicated. Surprisingly so, given that they're just bits of wood and metal strapped to your arm. But shields are a defensive weapon and (in the right hands) an offensive one too. They provide cover, but they're not indestructible. They can't nullify damage like armour can, but the base BW rules might leave you to believe that they can. Hopefully, this section clears some things up.

A shield, at it's core, provides cover. There are four or five types of shield, depending on how you count them. Confusingly, these are given die-ratings: 0-4D, but this is often more of a quick-reference name since what we're really interested in is their size. They are, in order:

1. 0D: Basket-hilted weapons & Gauntlets — Provide no cover. Technically not even shields.
2. 1D: Bucklers & Targes — Provide no cover.
3. 2D: Target Shields — Provides +1 Ob of cover, the equivalent of dashing between hedges and foliage.
4. 3D: Heaters & Kites — Provide +2 Ob of cover, the equivalent of standing by a chest-high palisade wall.
5. 4D: Tower Shields — Provide +3 Ob of cover, the equivalent of hiding behind a big tree or closing a door.

So long as you carry a shield, the cover obstacle is passively added to the Obstacles of all ranged attacks aimed at you, but the ranger also gets to add bonus dice to their own attack equal to their weapon's VA (which may vary, depending on the weapon and the range). If you carry a shield and are also nearby some cover then use the highest of the two bonus penalties, do not combine them.

In the Melee! system, all attacks are treated as ranged attacks for this purpose. That is, you can add the cover bonus to the obstacle to hit you if you use any shield larger than a buckler. Bucklers are meant more for duelling anyway, so it makes sense.

The bonus dice that an attacker gets from their VA should be rolled first, if any of them are sixes then the shield may get damaged, depending on the quality and the following:

• Poor Quality: All 6s rolled on the VA dice damage the shield's rating.
• Run of the Mill: A single 6 rolled on the VA dice will damage the shield's rating.
• Superior Quality: A single exploding 6 rolled on the VA dice, that turns up another success, will damage the shield's rating. (Yes, that means the attacker has to spend Fate, or needs a magic weapon).

When a shield's die-rating is reduced, the effective cover that it provides is reduced too (e.g. A damaged tower shield is no better than a heater). But it's other stats remain the same. Note that an attack can seem to "miss" but still damage a shield.

When you Push or actively Block (in Fight) you get to add the shield dice to the manoeuvre, since marginal successes count in those instances. In the case of Block (or Block & Strike, and Counterstrike), roughly the same rules as the apply: The shield only get's damaged by 6s on an opposing force's VA bonus.

Basically, under this system, the shield's rating has to be actively destroyed by an opponent, rather than passively destroyed by the user.

Also Note: Shields do nothing against magic (unless it's a magic shield).

Clumsy Weight

While useful, shields are heavy, difficult to use, and require some serious shield-arm strength and stamina.

• Carrying a shield around with you all day, or at the end of each battle where you used a shield, induces a Forte-based Tax test at an Ob of 1, 2 or 3; for targets, heaters, or towers. This test can only reduce your Forte to a minimum of 1. (Shield Training gives +1D).
• Using a shield restricts you to one-handed weapons. You cannot two-hand a shield for bonus dice.
• The +1-3 Ob cover bonus from a target, heater, or tower shield gets added to your own obstacle as a penalty when you try to Lock someone and continue to wield the shield.
• In Fight and in Range and Cover, using a shield reduces your ability to utilise the relative distances between you and the opponent, affecting the Vie for Position action, and the Withdraw and Engage manoeuvres, as follows:
  
  1. Target shields reduce any advantage dice from positioning by 1, to a minimum of 1.
  2. Heater shields reduce any advantage dice from positioning by 1, to a minimum of 0.
  3. Tower shields reduce any advantage dice from positioning by 2, to a minimum of 0.
• If a shield is destroyed while you're wearing it—reduced to zero dice—then the shattered remains strapped to your arm make you suffer +1 Ob to all martial actions until you get rid of it. This requires a simple action in Melee, a physical action or two in Fight, or a free action in Range and Cover. (Shield Training and a strapless shield will basically negate this penalty, though a destroyed shield cannot be used as a weapon).

Shield Training

Having the Shield Training skill lets you do several things:

• You may add +1D to all Forte Tax tests related to extended shield use.
• You may use strapless variants of shields, which means you can drop them as a free action.
• You may use a shield as a weapon, to strike or bash with the following stats:
  1. Buckler: Pow +1, VA 1, WS 2, Shortest.
  2. Target: Pow +1, VA 0, WS 2, Short.
  3. Heater: Pow +2, VA 1, WS 1, Short.
  4. Tower: Pow +2, VA 0, WS 1, Short.
• In Fight, you may script Block against the Great Strike manoeuvre.
• In Fight, you may script the Block & Strike action, and add the shield dice to either portion of the manoeuvre.
• In Fight, you may add the shield dice to the defensive portion of a Counterstrike manoeuvre.
• In Fight, Charge and Push manoeuvres may use the Short weapon length instead, if it more advantageous.

The Two-Fisted Fighting training skill also lets you script the Block & Strike action when using a basket-hilted weapon, or when wearing gauntlets. If you have both Two-Fisted Fighting Training and Shield Training they let you duel-wield shields, and always use the best most-intact die-rating / cover bonus!