You strap a shield to your forearm and grip it with your hand. A light shield's weight lets you carry other items in that hand, although you cannot use weapons with it.
Benefit:Wooden or Steel: Wooden and steel shields offer the same basic protection, though they respond differently to some spells and effects.
Shield Bash Attacks: You can bash an opponent with a light shield. See “shield, light” on Table: Weapons for the damage dealt by a shield bash. Used this way, a light shield is a martial bludgeoning weapon. For the purpose of penalties on attack rolls, treat a light shield as a light weapon. If you use your shield as a weapon, you lose its Armor Class bonus until your next turn. 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
Material Enhancements | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Material | Average | Masterwork | Hardness | Hit Points | Special |
Steel | 9 gp | 159 gp | 10 | 10 | |
Wood | 3 gp | 153 gp | 5 | 7 | |
Adamantine | 2,009 gp | 20 | 13 | Bypass hardness less than 20 | |
Bone1 | 3 | 153 gp | 5 | 7 | Armor bonus reduced by 1, Armor check penalty reduced by 1, Fragile quality |
Darkwood | 203 gp | 5 | 7 | 1/2 Weight | |
Dragonhide1 | 306 gp | 10 | 7 | ||
Iron, Cold | 18 gp | 168 gp | 10 | 10 | Magical enchantments cost an additional 2,000 gp. |
Mithral | 1,009 gp | 15 | 10 | 1/2 weight, no arcane spell failure chance | |
Silver, Alchemical | 29 gp | 179 gp gp | 8 | 3 | −1 damage |
1 Cannot be purchased must be found on adventurers (GM's discretion) |
Weapon Enhancements | |||
---|---|---|---|
Bonus Value | Additional Cost 1 | Hardness Increase 2 | Additional HP 2 |
+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 3 | +12 | +60 |
+7* | +49,000 gp 3 | +14 | +70 |
+8* | +64,000 gp 3 | +16 | +80 |
+9* | +81,000 gp 3 | +18 | +90 |
+10* | +100,000 gp 3 | +20 | +100 |
1 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 2 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. |