Minimum ST for Shields

[Anders]

Has anyone played around with requiring minimum ST for shields? I'm thinking 8, 10, 12 for Small, Medium, and Large. My concern is mainly shield bash, where the absence of Minimum ST disturbs me. It means there's also no Maximum ST. It's untidy. There may also be issues with realism.

[David Johansen]

GURPS doesn't really do scaling for weapons and armor in the Basic Set. Low Tech covers it in more detail but really, the defense bonus for a shield should be relative to the size of the user. A 1' diameter shield is a better defense for a hobbit than a titan.

[CarrionPeacock]

Brass Knuckles and other weapons used to strike with unarmed skill also doesn't have minimum ST, so I suppose shield bashes are just like those attacks but with a shield and Shield skill instead.

[FeiLin]

Originally Posted by Anders

Has anyone played around with requiring minimum ST for shields? I'm thinking 8, 10, 12 for Small, Medium, and Large. My concern is mainly shield bash, where the absence of Minimum ST disturbs me. It means there's also no Maximum ST. It's untidy. There may also be issues with realism.

I agree and I rule in favor of your suggestion.

Take that, Captain America! (assuming he's got a medium shield and more than ST 30)

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Anders

H. It means there's also no Maximum ST. It's untidy. There may also be issues with realism.

<shrug>Shield Bash is brass knuckles for whole body attacks (Slams).

Getting rid of Maximum ST is a better idea. It's nothing but a back door limitation on character ST.

[Alden Loveshade]

I haven't thought about this in detail. But for defense, it seems to me that generally the bigger the shield the less you have to move it. And the bigger the shield, assuming the same materials, the more massive it is, which can help a shield bash.

I would tend to think the differences would more or less balance out. But again, that's off the top of my head.

[tbone]

Originally Posted by Anders

Has anyone played around with requiring minimum ST for shields? I'm thinking 8, 10, 12 for Small, Medium, and Large. My concern is mainly shield bash, where the absence of Minimum ST disturbs me. It means there's also no Maximum ST. It's untidy. There may also be issues with realism.

The lack of a Min ST for shields always struck me as odd, and it's long been on the "hmm, I should make up something some day" list. But I haven't done anything yet, other than jot down a couple of general rules I'd use:

1) I'd prefer some programmatic result, calculating Min ST directly from shield weight, so we'd instantly have a Min ST for any possible variant. (Get into the Tech books, and we already have shields of all different shapes, sizes, materials, and weights.)

2) Using a shield as a buckler (holding and wielding it like a weapon) should require higher ST than strapping it to the arm (keeping it close to the body).

[Christopher R. Rice]

I played with this idea on my blog.

[tbone]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

I played with this idea on my blog.

You did indeed – and I see that I left a comment with the same stuff I wrote above, plus more detail.

So to the OP: Head to CR's linked blog page for his suggested Min ST stats and more. (And if you work that into something of your own, I'm sure plenty of people on the forum here would like to hear about it.)