Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalzazz
I personally allow the 'improved chambara defenses vs rear attacks' to be used with force bucklers and other lightweight shields also . . . since if I can deflect a rear attack with my 2lb force sword Im sure I can manage it with a .5 lb force buckler!
That said, charging headlong into the fray with any sort of weapon allows greater risk of getting flanked and smacked in the back . . . I don't recall seeing any evidence that shield users are at any greater risk than anyone else (except that shields usually are not force bucklers, and thus way a ton, thus are wielded by people who put lots of points into brawniness so they not be immobile while carrying big heavy shields and other goodies, and thus put less points into zooming around like a hummingbird)
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Right. It's not that they're at greater risk so much as they've lost more advantage. If you're going to build a character's strategy around a shield, you want that +3 DB as much as possible. A character without the shield doesn't have that DB bonus at all, of course,
but he knew that going into the fight. He's focused on other means of defense (say, a cool power, or enhanced parry, or acrobatics, whatever).
So you've got your +3 DB and you want to maximize that. That means keeping people in front of you, or on your shield flank. Being in the middle of a fray removes that advantage as soon as people get on your right rather than your left, or on your rear. This isn't as much of a problem for an acrobatic character with timed defense and rear strike etc, because he has strategies for dealing with that. If you want a "grand melee" shield fighter, you have to develop your shield strategy accordingly.
(Note that most of the "defensive grip" styles, like Destructive Form, tend to have a similarly slow, patient and "keep them in front of me" approach. Serenity Form relies on Defensive Grip, but also uses Grip mastery to slide in and out of it as necessary, and seems very aware that people can get from behind because it's a "I need to be prepared for anything" style)
Anyway, my point in all of this is not "Shields can't do that," but "Shields work a particular way. You need to design your style around those considerations." You can definitely make a mobile shield style, but it'll look very different from the patient shield style that I've already shown.