Penalty for using a shield with no talent

[Draygon]

Ragnar- LG Shield, slung on back.

[alforno]

Originally Posted by Nils_Lindeberg

Why not follow the rule for weapon talents.
You can use a shield untalented, but you attack with 4/DX. If you also don't have weapon talent you attack with 5/DX.

Everyone should benefit from a shield from a front attack in some way. Especially against missiles.

And anyone attacking a talentless person would agree that it is slightly easier if they don't have a shield than if they do.

An alternate rule would be to allow cover for shields, when held up in front of them to protect vs. missiles on a battlefield.

But no use from it just seems strange.

This method would NOT apply a penalty for non-attack actions. That means an untalented person defending would defend with a shield at the same effectiveness as the talented.

Maybe the unskilled use could give the attacker a DX bonus with the rationale being that the untalented shield user is distracted by using the shield and therefore presenting an easier target to the attacker.

[hcobb]

The advantage of using a shield over using armor is that you move the shield to take the blow.


My suggestion would be that the shield is an additional -1 DX over its size and you need to roll 3/DX every time you try to stop hits with the shield.

[madhopper50]

Originally Posted by hcobb

The advantage of using a shield over using armor is that you move the shield to take the blow.


My suggestion would be that the shield is an additional -1 DX over its size and you need to roll 3/DX every time you try to stop hits with the shield.

I agree with this. Rules state "The commonest example of unskilled rolling is with regular weaponry. Most weapons are fairly easy to use, so if you pick up a weapon without training, you can still hit with it, at a penalty of 1 die. So you roll 4 dice, rather than 3, every time you attack with a weapon you don’t know. There are no extra penalties for missed rolls".