Back in 2020, I came up with some simplified rules for shield damage for DF Felltower.
Simplified Shield Damage for DF Felltower
They didn't last long, because I still don't feel like keeping track for NPCs and I noticed players don't really keep track for their PCs, either.
Vic suggested the damage rules from Shields Up!, and ran them in his last session of play. I didn't notice them making it much faster or easier to track.
Here is another possibility:
- Shields have DR per my post above.
- Shields have 1 HP per base pounds of weight; damage in excess of DR + HP in one blow breaks a shield automatically; shields are either fine or broken completely.
- Cumulative damage may break or weaken a shield; GM's call based on particular types of damage - usually corrosion or fire. Such attacks can drop a shield to 0 HP over time and break the shield.
- Shatterpoof, metal, etc. work normally. Lighten makes a shield lighter but not weaker.
Seems like this could work. It makes shields fragile to an extent but dealing with giant monster blows should be risky to weapons and shields alike.
Just to throw random ideas out there, if you don't want to track shield damage, you could treat Block like a Parry for weapons parrying heavier weapons (p. B376). You could give DB as a bonus to ST for parrying heavy weapons (finicky!) or just stick to the weight thing and roll 1d to determine breakage for heavy weapons.
ReplyDeleteNot sure this is a good idea, but it does remove tracking shield HP.
I think the issue is that purely weight-based means most shields are way too heavy to risk breakage. Modified weight-based breakage means figuring out what numbers fit best.
DeleteI think "broken or fine" with set DR and HP is probably easier. I hope so anyway!
True. I had a player use his shield as a weapon because weapons couldn't parry it without risking breakage.
ReplyDeleteAnother possibility if you wanted a single die roll instead of tracking HP might be rolling for breakage vs. Shield HT if any damage penetrates, at -1/X penetrating damage. Based on Symptom, X would be 2, but maybe more if you don't want shields breaking often. Probably still not to your taste, but another random option.
That's not a bad option. Not as simple as I like but it would be workable.
DeleteAnd yeah, I had to rule that a thrusting attack with a shield wasn't a full-weight attack for breakage, because breaking a broadsword with a shield check is total b.s.
Similar to Tim's second idea, above, it might be possible to adapt some of the "weapon robustness" ideas from The Broken Blade to shields. Then, the only changing stat you need to worry about is HT, and it doesn't change all that much, and most breakage checks are just a die roll check against HT.
ReplyDeleteThe Broken Blade? I don't think I follow.
DeleteDoug Cole's article in Pyramid 3/87.
DeleteAh, I don't have that issue, so that explains why the name didn't ring a bell.
DeleteOh, well. Briefly and incompletely, it uses various existing stats like ST, DR, and so on to derive a damage threshold to govern HT checks against breakage. But if you don't have it, that doesn't do you much good.
Delete