Horwath
Legend
Now, personally I do not have a problem with Shield spell, as 1st level slots are finite and if you do 2-3 combats per day that matter, not some medium level trash fights to buy that 6-8 combats per day budget, those 4 slots will not last very long.
But, lot's of people have a problem with +5 AC for 1 round mechanic and waiting for reaction to get trigger might take some more game time if player is thinking too much if to use the Shield or not.
Now, how to modify it and keep it useful and flavorful to a degree.
maybe solution is just to have it be magical invisible shield that you use instead of your normal one. And not requiring proficiency or using carry capacity:
Shield.
1st level spell
cast time: 1 Bonus action
Duration: 12hrs (so sorcerers can have 24hrs with 1pt metamagic usage)
You create an invisible shield of force:
you gain +1 bonus to AC or +3 bonus to AC if you have one hand free(you can still use this hand for spellcasting)
This bonus does not stack with bonus from normal shield.
upcasting:
3rd level: increase bonus by 1
6th level: increase bonus by 2
9th level: increase bonus by 3
But, lot's of people have a problem with +5 AC for 1 round mechanic and waiting for reaction to get trigger might take some more game time if player is thinking too much if to use the Shield or not.
Now, how to modify it and keep it useful and flavorful to a degree.
maybe solution is just to have it be magical invisible shield that you use instead of your normal one. And not requiring proficiency or using carry capacity:
Shield.
1st level spell
cast time: 1 Bonus action
Duration: 12hrs (so sorcerers can have 24hrs with 1pt metamagic usage)
You create an invisible shield of force:
you gain +1 bonus to AC or +3 bonus to AC if you have one hand free(you can still use this hand for spellcasting)
This bonus does not stack with bonus from normal shield.
upcasting:
3rd level: increase bonus by 1
6th level: increase bonus by 2
9th level: increase bonus by 3