There are a couple of ways of handling shields. I want one that's simple and easy and makes them useful but hardly overpowering.
One option is that the shield adds a bonus to your defense; if you win the contest solely because of that bonus, then the attack hit your shield instead. If the attack is sufficiently powerful to blow through the shield, it does so; otherwise, you're safe. The larger the shield, the bigger the defense bonus. The more durable the shield, the bigger the hit it can take without breaking.
Another option is that the shield grants bonus dice for your defense, much like Ironclaw does it. This eliminates the whole "the shield can break" bit, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Also, we can have an optional rule: if the attack is too powerful compared to the shield (probably by comparing the attack's maximum damage on an unmodified roll), it takes a critical success to block it... otherwise the shield breaks. The same can be applied to parrying; superhumanly powerful blows might break your weapon if you try to parry.
If the attack is way too powerful, it takes an Extra to block. On anything else, the shield/parrying weapon is shattered or knocked out of your hand.
Posted by Kiz at May 29, 2004 11:35 PMComments