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Sheilds and Sorcery Question


Jhandar

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I am curious about the spell 'Sorcerer's Bulwark' (pg 133 of the big yellow book), it indicates that it 'adds +1 armor protection value of shields and any objects used as shields' (per rank). This makes think that the use of a shield provides bonus AP to a wielder's armor, but in reading the shield skill it makes it fairly clear that shields are a vehicle to parry with (and thusly do not provide the passive AP that armor does when an attack gets through). The section on Slung Shields points to a shield (not being wielded) providing some passive AP if the GM is using hit locations and the strike hits where the shield is currently slung, with damage being subtracted from the shields AP/HP, with the example of blocking an arrow to the back which normally would not be possible.

So, my question is; Does Sorcerous Bulwark just provided bonuses to AP to a shield and I am misunderstanding how defenses are gleaned from the use of a shield, or is the intent of the spell to provide additional AP in the form of hit points to a shield to help it resist the erosion of combat?

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For a second I thought we had another fantasy monograph in the works: "Shields and Sorcery." ;)

Re-reading the paragraph in my copy of the BGB, I think you've got it right. The spell boosts the effectiveness of shields as they work as deflection devices but doesn't surround the caster with some sort of all-encompassing force field.

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The Sorcerer spells I think are imported from the Elric line. The spell in Elric reads:

Hell's Bulwark (1-4) Range is touch. Adds that many hit points of protection to shields and objects used as shields. Each cast of the spell is on a single shield.

So I would assume the intent is that it adds hit points to the shield to reduce chance of breaking.

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