Right?
Anyhow. I had set up that shields allow you to attempt to block a number of attacks each round based on the size of the shield... a small shield gives one check, a medium shield two, and a large shield three. So far, so good. Then I playtested this, and ended up back where I started, rolling a lot of defensive checks in combat.
So, I'm revising those rules (again) to make this a passive effect - and I have two ways to go at this...
Option One: You can choose a number of attacks to impose -1 edge to (1 for a small shield, 2 for a medium shield, 3 for a large shield). This means that when fighting a dragon, I could decide to use my small shield against the bite only, letting the claws attack normally, but with a large shield I'd be able to impose -1 edge to all three attacks. An enchanted shield could then give you one bonus defense (an enchanted small shield defends against 2 attacks per round).
Option Two: The size of the shield increases the DT of attacks againt you... a small shield sets the DT to 11, a medium shield sets the DT to 12, and a large shield sets the DT to 13... an enchanted shield increases this +1.
Assuming an 'average' attack bonus of +3, the edge increases the difficulty by 25% (vs. 1, 2, or 3 attacks), whereas each +1 to the DT increases the difficulty 8% (vs. all attacks).
Hmmm. At the end of the day, option two is a little simpler, but option one gives more strategic options in play... if this can be applied retroactively to an attack that is about to hit, it makes for more drama at the table. I see the dragon rolled a 12 with its bite, so I raise my shield to block it, and ask the GM to roll a second die for the -1 edge, hoping he doesn't roll another 12. I'm going to go with option one for now and will see how that plays out. Toro just picked up an enchanted small shield, so I'll have a real chance to playtest this.
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