SRD:Heavy Shield

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Heavy Shield

Martial One-Handed Melee Critical: ×2 Range Increment: — Type: Bludgeoning Shield Bonus: +2 Maximum Dex Bonus: — Armor Check Penalty: −2 Arcane Spell Failure Chance: 15% Hardness (Steel): 10 Hardness (Wood): 5
Size	Cost		Damage	Weight		hp
	Steel	Wood		Steel	Wood	Steel	Wood
Fine	10 gp	3 gp 5 sp	—	1-1/2 lb.	1 lb.	1	1
Diminutive	10 gp	3 gp 5 sp	1	1-1/2 lb.	1 lb.	2	1
Tiny	10 gp	3 gp 5 sp	1d2	1-1/2 lb.	1 lb.	5	3
Small	20 gp	7 gp	1d3	7-1/2 lb.	5 lb.	10	7
Medium	20 gp	7 gp	1d4	15 lb.	10 lb.	20	15
Large	40 gp	14 gp	1d6	30 lb.	20 lb.	40	30
Huge	80 gp	28 gp	1d8	75 lb.	50 lb.	80	60
Gargantuan	160 gp	56 gp	2d6	120 lb.	80 lb.	160	120
Colossal	320 gp	112 gp	3d6	180 lb.	120 lb.	320	240

Description

You strap a shield to your forearm and grip it with your hand. A heavy shield is so heavy that you can’t use your shield hand for anything else.

Wooden or Steel: Wooden and steel shields offer the same basic protection, though they respond differently to special attacks.

Shield Bash Attacks: You can bash an opponent with a heavy shield, using it as an off-hand weapon. Used this way, a heavy shield is a martial bludgeoning weapon. For the purpose of penalties on attack rolls, treat a heavy shield as a one-handed weapon. If you use your shield as a weapon, you lose its AC bonus until your next action (usually until the next round). An enhancement bonus on a shield does not improve the effectiveness of a shield bash made with it, but the shield can be made into a magic weapon in its own right.

Enhancements

Shield Spikes: When added to your shield, these spikes turn it into a martial piercing weapon that increases the damage dealt by a shield bash as if the shield were designed for a creature one size category larger than you. Otherwise, attacking with a spiked shield is like making a shield bash attack.

Table: Heavy Spiked Shield Damage

Fine	Diminutive	Tiny	Small	Medium	Large	Huge	Gargantuan	Colossal
1	1d2	1d3	1d4	1d6	1d8	2d6	3d6	4d6

An enhancement bonus on a spiked shield does not improve the effectiveness of a shield bash made with it, but a spiked shield can be made into a magic weapon in its own right.

Compared to a regular heavy shield, a heavy spiked shield costs 10 gp more and is 5 lb. heavier.

Heavy Shield Material Enhancements

Material	Average	Masterwork^1	Hardness	hp	Special
Steel	20 gp	170 gp	10	20	—
Wood	7 gp	157 gp	5	15	—
Adamantine	—	2,020 gp	20	26	Bypass hardness less than 20
Deep Crystal	—	1,007 gp	10	45	Psionic
Mundane Crystal	—	153 gp	8	37	No rusting, not metal
Darkwood	—	257 gp	5	15	1/2 weight
Dragonhide	—	314 gp	10	15	Usable by druids
Iron, Cold	40 gp	190 gp	10	20	Magical enchantments cost an additional 2,000 gp.
Mithral	—	1,020 gp	15	20	1/2 weight, no arcane spell failure chance
Silver, Alchemical	110 gp	260 gp	8	6	−1 damage
Unlike other weapons, shields do not gain an enhancement bonus on attack rolls from being masterwork quality. Instead their armor check penalties are lessened by 1.

Magical/Psionic Weapon Enhancements

Bonus Value	Additional Cost^1	Hardness Increase^2	Additional hp^2
+1	+2,000 gp	+2	+10
+2	+8,000 gp	+4	+20
+3	+18,000 gp	+6	+30
+4	+32,000 gp	+8	+40
+5	+50,000 gp	+10	+50
+6	+72,000 gp^3	+12	+60
+7	+98,000 gp^3	+14	+70
+8	+128,000 gp^3	+16	+80
+9	+162,000 gp^3	+18	+90
+10	+200,000 gp^3	+20	+100
+11 or more	+ bonus squared × 20,000 gp	+ enhancement bonus × 2	+ enhancement bonus × 10
Increase total cost for magical enhancement by 2,000 gp for cold iron weapons. Unlike the additional cost, the increase the weapon's hardness and hit points are only gained from its enhancement bonus, not its special abilities. If the weapon has a magical bonus greater than +5 or a special ability worth more than +5, the weapon is epic. Multiply magic cost by 10.

Magical/Psionic Armor and Shield Enhancements

Bonus Value	Additional Cost	Hardness Increase^1	Additional hp^1
+1	+1,000 gp	+2	+10
+2	+4,000 gp	+4	+20
+3	+9,000 gp	+6	+30
+4	+16,000 gp	+8	+40
+5	+25,000 gp	+10	+50
+6	+36,000 gp^2	+12	+60
+7	+49,000 gp^2	+14	+70
+8	+64,000 gp^2	+16	+80
+9	+81,000 gp^2	+18	+90
+10	+100,000 gp^2	+20	+100
+11 or more	+ bonus squared × 10,000 gp	+ enhancement bonus × 2	+ enhancement bonus × 10
Unlike the additional cost, the increase to the armor or shield's hardness and hit points are only gained from its enhancement bonus, not its special abilities. If the armor or shield has a magical bonus greater than +5 or a special ability worth more than +5, then it's epic. Multiply magic cost by 10.

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See Also

• Armor Qualities
• Weapon Qualities
• Weapons
• Armor
• Equipment
• Wikipedia: Shield

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