Editing Tyche's Favourites/Chargen (section)

==Shields==

Shields are amended as follows:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Item
!Defense Bonus
!Athletics Penalty
!Cost
!Enc
|-
|Cloak-wrapped forearm
| +1AC vs one-handed melee
|
|
|
|-
|Buckler 
| +1AC vs melee and thrown
|
|5dr
|Item
|-
|Small shield
| +1AC vs melee and thrown, 2AC vs missiles
|
|10dr
|1 stone
|-
|Medium shield
| +2AC vs melee and thrown, 3 AC vs missiles
| -1 
|50dr
|2 stone
|-
|Large shield
| +3AC vs melee and thrown, 5AC vs missiles
| -2
|100dr
|3 stone
|}

The Persian ''cheires'' functions as a buckler.

In mass combat, small/medium shields give +1AC and large shields +2AC. When closing up, in addition to the usual +2AC in melee and +4AC vs missiles, troops uniformly armed with an aspis get an additional +1AC.


''Design note: This is a major change from the flat +1AC shields usually give. In this period the shield was much more important than armour as a pieces defensive equipment. Traditional notions of Greek honour were attached to retaining your shield. Lots of warriors had little more than a shield, armour being both expensive and fatiguing to wear for long periods (heat especially). Bigger shields like the bronze-faced Greek aspis covered a warrior from eye to knee with a mobile barrier, making them all but immune to arrows and slings from the front. In close formation these gave coverage to the man to the left as well as their wielder. D&D is based in a lot of medieval assumptions, and in that period armour was more important and shields almost disposable. Thus shields aren't very effective where in antiquity they were.''