Shield

Seelah's shield. See also Category:Images of shields.

For another meaning of "Shield", please see shield (spell).

Shields are protective equipment, typically wielded in a hand or on an arm, that have similar properties to worn armor. Shields can also be used offensively, or even thrown, and some combatants specialize in the art of attacking with a shield.

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Construction

Through training and special designs, shields can also be used as thrown weapons.

Shields can be made from many materials, from common wood, metal, and hides to exotic skymetals, dragon's hide, duskwood, stone, and other unusual components. They also vary widely in size, from collapsible gauntlet bucklers that can be stored within a single gauntlet to fortress shields that are also known as portable walls.

Various shield designs allow for additional specialization. For instance, a salvo shield's angled plates more effectively deflect projectiles, a swordstealer shield's hooks snag swords and other melee weapons, and the easy-to-release straps of a meteor shield allow it to quickly be thrown at a target.

Magical shields

Shields can be magically enhanced with runes, or crafted as magic items. The magical effects available to shields range from straightforward improvements to durability or additional protections against spells, to niche functionalities such as improving a shield's comfort when used as a pillow for camping or integrating magnetic lodestones to draw projectiles away from more vulnerable targets.

Some shields can also facilitate spellcasting on their own, such as a caster's targe with integrated parchment for scroll-like inscriptions, or a staff-storing shield that can merge with a magical staff and allow its wielder to cast magic while also defending themselves.

Alchemical shields

The use of alchemy in shield design can result in unique effects without involving magic. For example, a magnetic shield uses copper rings and the electricity of bottled lightning to create a temporary electromagnetic effect.

Mechanical shields

Some shields include mechanical features, such as the dart-launching dart shields that launch a projectile loaded into its center even when it is being raised in defense.

Accessories

A shield boss provides a simple but effective enhancement to a shield's ability to bludgeon a foe.

Shields can be augmented with spikes, oils, and other accessories to alter or increase their effectiveness.

A shield boss adds bludgeoning metal to a shield's center that increases its effectiveness when bashed into a target. Shield pistols are firearms that can be mounted onto a shield, and are popular among members of the Firebrands who operate in the Shackles.

Shield accessories can also be magical, including affixable talismans. An ensnaring disk talisman, for instance, causes a foe's held weapon to stick to the affixed shield.

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Types

The dwarven gunslinger Angban wields a musket behind a spiked tower shield.

See also: Category:Shields

• Bucklers are small shields, typically made of steel, that are strapped to a wielder's forearm.
• A klar is a combined shield and weapon of Shoanti design originally made from the skull of a giant gecko. Variants include the intimidating hippopotamus klar.
• Metal-reinforced tower shields provide total coverage of their wielder's body.
• War lances are magical lances that include a full shield in their vambrace.

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Notable shields

• Glorymane is an intelligent lion's shield and former librarian and historian of the Lion Blades.
• The scales of the kaiju Igroon can be fashioned into magical shields that bend light around them.
• The Shattered Shield of Arnisant, also known as the Shield of Aroden, was responsible for the destruction of Tar-Baphon's mortal form.

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In culture

Shields represent one of the six suits of the Harrow. They are also frequently employed by knights, and are used to display the coat of arms associated with the order or noble that they serve.

In religion

Iomedae wields a shield bearing her religious symbol.

Several deities favor shields as weapons. For example, Aleth, Granduncle Taproot, Imot, Mazludeh, and the pantheon of the Guardians of the Sacred Self favor the shield boss.

• Abraxas is often depicted wielding a flail and shield.
• Iomedae is often depicted as wearing plate mail and wielding a shield that can cast holy light across unholy foes.
• The empyreal lord Mazludeh favors a heavy shield as her weapon.
• The religious symbol of the Osirian pantheon god Neith was a shield crossed by two arrows.
• Worshippers of Ketephys designed and bless amaranthine pavises, wooden tower shields with hides that bear his religious symbol and protect their wielders and allies from demonic powers.

External links

• Shield (real-world item) on Wikipedia
• Shield rules, list of shields, and the shield weapon group on Archives of Nethys for Pathfinder Second Edition
• Armor rules, list of shields, and list of unique magic shields on Archives of Nethys for Pathfinder First Edition