Shield
Shield.png

Practitioners of the Shield sphere master shields, leveraging more power and utility out of such equipment than most warriors ever dream of. All practitioners of the Shield sphere gain the following ability:

Active Defense

If you are using a shield and are attacked by a creature you are aware of, you may use your reaction to increase your shield bonus to AC against that attack by +2.

Talents with the (deflect) tag grant additional effects to this ability. Each use of active defense may only benefit from one (deflect) talent. You may expend your martial focus to use active defense without spending a reaction.

Combat Rule Reminder

Disarm

A creature can use a weapon attack to knock a weapon or another item from a target’s grasp. The attacker makes an attack roll contested by the target’s Strength (Athletics) check or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. If the attacker wins the contest, the attack causes no damage or other ill effect, but the defender drops the item. The attacker has disadvantage on its attack roll if the target is holding the item with two or more hands. The target has advantage on its ability check if it is larger than the attacking creature or disadvantage if it is smaller.

Shield Basic Talents

Deflect Talents

Catch Blade (deflect)

If the triggering attack misses and was made with a melee weapon, you may make a disarm attempt against that weapon with no additional action. Magic shields add their bonus to this check.

Smashing Counter (deflect)

If the triggering attack misses and was made by an adjacent creature, you may shove the attacking creature with no additional action.

Redirecting Shield (deflect)

Whenever a weapon attack (not including siege weapons or other massive weapons) misses a creature benefiting from your active defense, you may expend your martial focus to choose a new target for the attack within its original range (for ranged attacks) or reach (for melee attacks), comparing the original attack roll to the new target’s AC.

Sacrificial Shield (deflect)

If the triggering attack hits and is a critical hit, you may break your shield to turn the critical hit into a normal hit. Broken shields can often be repaired during a long rest.

Other Talents

Blockade

You may use active defense against effects that allow you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take half damage. When used in this way, you add your shield’s AC bonus to your Dexterity saving throw instead of gaining the usual benefits of active defense. If you succeed on the saving throw, you take no damage from the effect.

Cover Ally

You may grant your active defense to an ally within your natural reach when an attack targets that ally.

Extensive Defense

You may expend martial focus without an action, even when it’s not your turn, to apply your active defense against all valid triggering attacks until the start of your next turn without spending a reaction. If you possess the Cover Ally talent, you may apply this benefit to yourself and all allies within reach.

Flexible Cover

As an action, you may use your shield to create cover. When using a shield in this way, you must choose one edge of your space to create this cover. This creates three-quarters cover (+5 to AC and Dexterity saving throws) until the beginning of your next turn for any attacks that pass through that edge.

Cover granted this way is insufficient to enable you to make a Dexterity (Stealth) check to hide. You may expend your martial focus to use this talent as a bonus action. As a reaction, you may change the selected edge of your space.

Greater Deflect

When using active defense, you may expend martial focus to apply two (deflect) talents instead of one.

Guarded Stance

You may use active defense when not equipped with a shield. You may treat one weapon you are wielding as a shield for purposes of talents that reference your shield.

Interposing Shield

Creatures benefiting from your active defense bonus (including yourself) reduce the damage taken from attacks that hit despite active defense by your proficiency bonus. This is applied before resistance.

Punch Block

When you use your active defense, you may choose to make an attack roll with an unarmed strike and use the result of this attack in place of your AC for resolving the triggering attack, even if lower.

Reactive Defense

Whenever you take the Dodge action while wielding a shield, you may make an attack as a reaction against a creature that misses you.

Shield Skate

When moving down an incline or using the Dash action, you may spend a bonus action to throw your shield down in front of you and use it to skate across the ground. This increases your land speed by +20 feet for that round. You do not benefit from your shield’s bonus to AC during your movement while using this ability. You may freely reclaim and re-equip your shield at the end of your movement.

Shield Legendary Talents

Perfect Redirection

Prerequisites: Shield sphere (Redirecting Shield), 7th level or higher.

You may use your Redirecting Shield talent against spell attacks.

Soul's Shield

Prerequisites: Shield sphere, 11th level or higher.

You gain a bonus to all saving throws equal to your shield’s bonus to AC. This does not stack with effects that allow you to add an ability modifier to saving throws, such as the paladin’s aura of protection.

Variants

Fearless

Your active defense does not grant a bonus to ac. You gain a (deflect) talent as a bonus talent.

Passive Blocker

You do not gain the active defense ability and cannot take (deflect) talents or other talents that require the use of active defense. You gain Flexible Cover as a bonus talent. You cannot possess both this and either Unshielded or Fearless.

Unshielded

You cannot use active defense with a shield. You gain Guarded Stance as a bonus talent.

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