Quote:
Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery
I had figured that was an extension of the "ignores armor" clause. If the spell can affect you through a helmet, gauntlet, breastplate, etc., which are all touching you, then it seems reasonable that it should affect you through a shield which is directly touching your hand or arm.
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It's exactly that.
You can dodge, of course!
You can parry, just not with an
unarmed parry. A weapon parry is fine.
You can't block because that's really just parrying with an exceptionally well-armored hand. If you want to invent special edge blocks or whatever that let a shield work at a penalty (for receiving the blow far from the arm, where the shield isn't supported), go right ahead. However, the baseline assumption is that your arm rests directly behind the point of contact, separated by about as much protection as heavy armor, which the spell could go through.
I do agree that distance should matter! So should contact. If your target isn't (1) in contact with the armor in question and (2) less than a yard away, then the spell won't do anything. People leaning against castle walls or standing on battleship decks are protected by thickness; they'll be a yard or more away. People standing behind ordinary walls are protected by not being in contact. But few shields are a yard thick, or hover in front of the wielder without any point of contact. Using a Dancing Shield, or a regular one with Telekinesis, would permit a block.