New System for Shields

[Valec SKylien]

New system as the following:

1. Shields have a hp and a resistance.
2. The damage dealt by a weapon must over come the shields resistance rating or the shield takes no damage.

This is simply explained by the following logic:
If you have a shield, no matter how many times you knock a small rock against it, you'll not deform the shield. Thusly the shield should not be injured at all from that rock. This is explained by the fact that no matter how many times something is hit, it will not be damaged unless- you first deliver enough force to cause damage to the object.

I realize this has been discussed to a small extent, but not specifically suggested to my knowledge or searching.

 

[Nairagorn]

Pretty good suggestion. Give shields an armor class, and if a weapon can beat that AC then damage is done to the shield. Of course, good shields right now are almost unbreakable anyway. Still not a bad idea.

 

[Sahran]

Realistic, though I do think shields are powerful enough already. What about including less of a total blocking and more of a resistance to them?

If the hit exceeds the AC, it damages your shield, and your arm a bit (A smack of a hammer from a rider on your shield will definately hurt your bones!).

 

[Valec SKylien]

Shields are essental to medieval warfare. That is why they were so common. They should play an essental part. This new system would not make shields more powerful- just more realistic.

 

[Talon68]

I completely agree.
A stone will not deform a shield, in fact, in most cases a sword will not damage a shield, especially ones like the metal ones you can buy in this game, or a heater shield or targa won't get damaged at all by most weapons.
Perhaps bludgeoning weapons or axes should have a big bonus against the resistance of a shield.
Also, this raises questions as to where to draw the line. A dude could just hold up a shield forever and be ok, cos it's not doing enough damage to do anything to the shield. So perhaps shiled ratings should be lowered (those formerly of the 600 bracket should be lowered to the 100 bracket), and weapons given the ability to knock shields out of the way (with an obvious ability to counter, or shields would be rendered useless).

 

[Bigwig]

In general, I'd say that M&B needs some sort of stamina system. Let's have near invincible shields - but each hit you take tires you out a little more until eventually you can barely lift your shield arm.

 

[Nairagorn]

Now there's a good idea, and one I haven't heard before.

 

[Talon68]

Agreed, that is a quality idea.

GOGO BIGWIG

 

[Thorgrim]

Good idea, stamina would be handy for a lot of things...

You could then add sprint (get tired very quick if you run in heavy armour), stamina could be used when swinging weapons (more for heavy ones: you can't swing a giant hammer all day), could be quite interesting.

 

[Redwall]

Blunt weapons would do squat to a shield. Axes would bite in and swords would only do a bit of damage. Most shields were just wooden so you would use them to parry slightly, deflecting the shot instead of crushing your shield. But metal shields, of course, are designed to take attacks.

 

[Roach]

Depends on the blunt weapon. A staff would probably do squat, a military hammer would probably splinter a hole in the shield (and your arm if you're unlucky), and a rock-onna-stick (M&B sledges and poll-hammers) would smash it into kindling and pulverise your arm into your ribs.

Axes and swords would do similar damage to each other (fighting axes are helluva different from wood-cutting ones), with axes probably doing a bit more because of the weight concentration. Two-handed axes are different again, they probably would act more like a wood-axe and bite in deep, either tearing the shield out of your grip or leaving the axeman open for a stab in the face, depending who was the more experienced I guess.

And I'm pretty sure shields weren't made purely of metal, (except for ceremonial/decorative ones). Covered with a sheet of metal sure, but a solid metal shield would be unusable because of the weight.

 

[Valec SKylien]

And I'm pretty sure shields weren't made purely of metal, (except for ceremonial/decorative ones). Covered with a sheet of metal sure, but a solid metal shield would be unusable because of the weight.

no a sheet of metal-even the old medieval metal that isn't our modern alloys isn't that heavy.

 

[Harlequin_]

it is unlikeley that shields were made completely of metal- when someone hit your shield it would still be incredibly painful on your arm without some wood behind the metal layer for 'padding' . also try attaching straps or a handle to a completely metal shield much easier to use wood.

 

[ThVaz]

Shields were usually (but not always) wooden pieces covered in hard leather with pieces of metal.

 

[armagan]

Good idea! This had been mentioned before, but calling the new stat "resistance" is novel I guess. I'll try to do this. Thanks a lot for the suggestion and the discussion.

 

[CrazyEyes]

I think shields should have less health, as a balance for the resistance add-in.
A charging lance would beat the crap out of your shield (or the lance...) for sure, and something like a nice morningstar wouldn't feel good for it either. A warhammer? Say bye-bye to your forearm.

 

[CrazyEyes]

I think shields should have less health, as a balance for the resistance add-in.
A charging lance would beat the crap out of your shield (or the lance...) for sure, and something like a nice morningstar wouldn't feel good for it either. A warhammer? Say bye-bye to your forearm. An axe? Well, definately anything wooden, but I don't imagine it doing much to anything coated in steel.

EDIT: Sorry about the doublepost, something ugly made me lag. Also fixed a typo.

 

[Ryuta]

As far as I know, most of time, shield is made of wood, not iron or steel. I think shield made of metal (or covered with metal) is very few exception. All I could think of is Target (or Backler), which is used to parry sword, rather than blocking.

Most of shield (90%?) is made of wood covered with Leather or parchment and quickly hacked into pieces in prolonged combat.

 

[Merlkir]

I won't argue about shield construction ( many of you have image of them far from truth..) But considering typical medieval era shields, I would add this:

After a rain of arrows, most of the shields became useless unless the user took the arrows off. It's very hard to use a shield with arrows stuck in it. If the shield wasn't damaged too much, they could be pulled of or just cut with a sword for a quick use. It gets worse with javelins. They're of course thicker and do more damage to the shield. I'm laughing every time I see someone using shield with like fifteen arrows stuck in or three javelins. Not only it would be very uncomfortable, but it would also prevent you from blocking the blow properly. The javelin weighs something too, so the balance of the shield is gone...You should know what I'm trying to explain.
It would be nice, if the shield with something stuck in would be harder to use, slower, not accurate. You would rather throw that thing off and fight without it. Or, if you have time and space, you could pull those things off. There could be animation added of you pulling them off, it would take some time while you would be vulnerable. Or you could cut them off, but that would do some added dmg to the shield. Or lower it's attributes.

 

[Kelpo]

I won't argue about shield construction ( many of you have image of them far from truth..) But considering typical medieval era shields, I would add this:

After a rain of arrows, most of the shields became useless unless the user took the arrows off. It's very hard to use a shield with arrows stuck in it. If the shield wasn't damaged too much, they could be pulled of or just cut with a sword for a quick use. It gets worse with javelins. They're of course thicker and do more damage to the shield. I'm laughing every time I see someone using shield with like fifteen arrows stuck in or three javelins. Not only it would be very uncomfortable, but it would also prevent you from blocking the blow properly. The javelin weighs something too, so the balance of the shield is gone...You should know what I'm trying to explain.
It would be nice, if the shield with something stuck in would be harder to use, slower, not accurate. You would rather throw that thing off and fight without it. Or, if you have time and space, you could pull those things off. There could be animation added of you pulling them off, it would take some time while you would be vulnerable. Or you could cut them off, but that would do some added dmg to the shield. Or lower it's attributes.

Here was some discussion about that.