Buckler/light shield;
anyone proficient in light armor is proficient with buckler.
+1 AC, 5gp, 2lb,
buckler straps to your forearm. You can carry items and cast spells with the buckler hand and keep it's bonus to AC.
If you attack with your buckler hand,start a grapple, climb, you lose AC bonus until your next turn.
As buckler is relatively small you can't use it with any shield actions/attacks/feats (protection style, shield master).
Tower shield;
anyone proficient with heavy armor is proficient with tower shield.
+3 AC, 20gp, 15lb,
you have 5ft penalty to your speed and disadvantage to stealth checks while having tower shield equiped.
You have disadvantage to attack rolls unless you use a light weapon.
If you use dodge action you also gain half-cover(+2 AC).
You can use all shield actions/attacks/feats (protection style, shield master).
Honestly, I was kinda surprised when 5th excluded light shields in the first place. It seemed an armor option for some classes that seem to need a little defense boost. But then again Im not super happy with the weapon/armor selection this edition. Been meaning to update it but have been lazy.
I let players use a bucklet as an offhand finesse weapon for 1d3 damage.
arnwolf666 wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
JohnLynch wrote:
I'd just treat both as a shield, and let the player describe what their shield looks like.
I've found bucklers require more active use, but the amount of protection (against melee attacks at least) to be broadly similar. I'd certainly not allow a shield as a finesse weapon, but I'd probably be of the same opinion even if there were bucklers in the rules.
I'd like to note that a buckler did not get strapped to the forearm; a buckler was held in the hand. Of course, you can it anything you want; I would call what you've descrided as a small forearm shield, or maybe a bracer shield?
In any case, I do think the existing rules are a little lacking, where shields are concerned; but, they are enough to expand upon easily (especially since a typical shiled provides a +2, leaving room for smaller and larger types of shields).
lawrencehoy wrote:
Brock_Landers wrote:
Bucklers make sense when you actually play with the donning and doffing rules for shields, which makes them unwieldy.
I rule in my games that anyone proficient in shield use can use a buckler (+1 AC, any round you did not use that hand to attack with a weapon or some other action) or a tower shield (+3 AC, cover against attacks coming from one direction, but disadvantage to attack rolls).
A buckler would be useful to an archer because they would have +1 AC on surprise rounds, or while dodging. Same thing for two handed weapon users, who don't always get to swing their sword before they are attacked themselves. So it would be a small out of combat bonus or surprise action bonus to AC.
Tower shields should make you bulky and slow but give a very good benefit including to your allies who can cower behind you when the dragon breathes in your general direction.
And before anyone says "it's unrealistic" to have a wooden shield be used to deflect fire, remember that the chinese have used oak re-entry shields for their spacecraft and they work quite well. The outer layer burns off but sucks out heat from the under layer which cools it and takes the head off. It's remarkably effective albeit counterintuitive.
If I wanted Tower Shields I would make them an Exotic Armour and rename the Shield Master feat Tower Shield Proficiency.
If I wanted a buckler, riffing off Doomslayer, I might go "Buckler, +1 AC Special: Once per round you can don or doff the shield without it counting as an interaction with an object". But even then you get silly situations like where you have archers constantly putting on and removing their buckler every single time on their turn.