Review: Shields Up!

Time for a review of material that I like.

Two notes:

- I received this as a complimentary copy
- I was a playtester/reviewer (the latter), mostly when the book was largely done

By Danny Macfie
24 pages
Gaming Ballistic, LLC

This supplement is for the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game by SJG produced by Gaming Ballistic. It covers the use of shields in DFRPG through a series of expanded rules options and equipment choices.

Using these rules, you can:

- use shields as cover
- account for shields carried but not readied
- attack with a shield, including throwing, bashing, grappling, and shield rushes
- attack shields, via grappling, hooking, attacking it directly
- attack around shields
- use shields as improvised tools

It also has a dozen new traits and modifications for existing traits, such as Weapon Master, and new kinds of shields.

The book is a very solid expansion. Personally I'd suggest picking and choosing, since shields get a very dramatic expansion in their potential use. Some options make simple sense and can be put into a game without any groundwork - digging with a shield, for example, or evasion or slung shields rules. Others will add some bookkeeping and additional checks - shield damage, for one. And the many additional shield equipment options are cool - but a min-maxer is likely to fiddle around to make the "perfect" shield. It's all well done, however, and really covers the subject of shields in a complete manner. I can't see a thing missing.

Overall: This isn't a supplement you need for the DFRPG, but if you feel like shields don't get their proper due - either from realism or gamist angles - this book will be very useful. It'll work fine for plain GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, too, as much as any other DFRPG supplement will. Recommended.