Further Animated Shield Questions

[Marimmar]

Okay, since the other thread didn't ask the questions I'm interested in, I'll post a new thread.

Questions:

1) If I have an animated shield floating around me, is it still considered to be my equipment? I don't have contact to it, so is it an 'unattended' item, or does it fall under the 'animated' item category and has its own saves and armor class?

2) Do I suffer the usual arcane spell failure chance and armor check penalty when an animated shield floats around me? If 'yes' then why?

3) If I use an animated tower shield as cover against something like a fireball, does the tower shield take damage from the fireball? I mean, cowering behind the shield to take no damage at all is like forcing the shield to take the brunt of the damage and spread effects can chew through barriers to affect people behind it. OTOH does equipment only take damage if specifically targetted.

4) Is an animated tower shield still a feasible target for attack spells if you want to affect the one behind it? It has no bodily contact after all.

I couldn't find any hard rules concerning these dilemmas, so I'd like to hear some opinions from the board members.

~Marimmar

 

[Artoomis]

Okay, since the other thread didn't ask the questions I'm interested in, I'll post a new thread.

Questions:

1) If I have an animated shield floating around me, is it still considered to be my equipment? I don't have contact to it, so is it an 'unattended' item, or does it fall under the 'animated' item category and has its own saves and armor class?

Seems like it would be "animated." It is not on you any more, so probably is not protected by you. But it certainly is not "unattended" in the sense of just lying on the table, waiting to be smashed.

2) Do I suffer the usual arcane spell failure chance and armor check penalty when an animated shield floats around me? If 'yes' then why?

I'd say no, you don't. It "frees up your hands." This seems like a pretty good deal - it only costs you one standard action, and seems to have no duration limiting it. Of course, a regular wizard carrying a tower shield is ludicrous, at best. And weight must be taken into account as well.

3) If I use an animated tower shield as cover against something like a fireball, does the tower shield take damage from the fireball? I mean, cowering behind the shield to take no damage at all is like forcing the shield to take the brunt of the damage and spread effects can chew through barriers to affect people behind it. OTOH does equipment only take damage if specifically targetted.

Well, it's not on you, so it gets treated like an animated object, right? It needs to make its save, and then its got hardness and hit points - don't expect it to last long!

4) Is an animated tower shield still a feasible target for attack spells if you want to affect the one behind it? It has no bodily contact after all.

No, it does not touch you. You'll get cover against these attacks.

Of course, a tower shield weighs 45 lbs - it would be an unusual wizard that could actually carry one around.

Finally - I leave you to figure out the shield's AC and its saving throw bonuses. There is some guidance for this in the DMG, I think.

 

[Marimmar]

Thanx for your input artoomis. I'll guess next weekend will be full of whining and teeth grinding when animated shields get discussed. I came up with the questions since almost all players (including me) bought either animated large shields or tower shields with arrow slits. Having some restrictions placed on them will probably drop ACs to more normal levels.

~Marimmar