Shields are not intended weapons (unless it is a particular one), so they should be treated as Improvised Weapon: attack roll 1d20+STR (no proficiency bonus), damage roll 1d4+STR.
You do not need Tavern Brawler. That feat allows you to grapple the target with a bonus action after you attack it with an unarmed strike or improvised weapon.
You use STR for the attack roll with an improvised weapon like a shield because it is a melee attack (ref). There is no finesse involved.
Tavern brawler does grant you proficiency with the shield attack, however, and it should be noticed that if you can convince your DM that your shield is a suitable replacement for a certain weapon, it could use its hit die; A shield with an angular, bladed edge could reasonably be considered similar to a shortsword, so if your DM agreed, you could use a d6+str+proficiency. As the name implies, improvised weapons are largely up to your imagination and interpretation.
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It's ok Ranger, you'll always be cool to me.. Unless druid gets another use for its wild shape charges.
Since a shield weighs 6 lbs, you might be able to convince your DM to allow you to count it as a Heavy Weapon. If you do it would also stack with the Great Weapon Master feat.
Your DM could just decide that you're proficient in shield bashes and treat it as a club (1d4). There's a lot of historical precedence for shields being used as a weapon by trained warriors; I recommend calling it a martial weapon? Generally speaking, hitting with the shield is going to be less preferable than hitting with whatever is in your main hand so it doesn't break the game to let you use a shield bash with proficiency. Maybe it allows you to have one more backup weapon and/or a bludgeoning weapon on hand but daggers and clubs are cheap and light.
Potentially there's an exploit if you're two weapon fighting but you'd need the feat to do that since shield isn't light...and then it's taking the place of a second not light weapon such as a second sword/axe/hammer/etc. Maybe don't let shield AC and feat AC stack?
Some shields might be spiked or bladed to do piercing or slashing instead.
Since a shield weighs 6 lbs, you might be able to convince your DM to allow you to count it as a Heavy Weapon. If you do it would also stack with the Great Weapon Master feat.
Which one of those shields are 6 lbs weighted, because there are a lot of shields:
BUCKLERS....
WOODEN SMALL SHIELDS....
WOODEN NORMAL SHIELDS.....
IRON SHIELDS.....
STEEL SHIELDS....
TOWER SHIELDS......
ahhhh... and don't forget the Wondrous item: Magic shields
Since a shield weighs 6 lbs, you might be able to convince your DM to allow you to count it as a Heavy Weapon. If you do it would also stack with the Great Weapon Master feat.
Which one of those shields are 6 lbs weighted, because there are a lot of shields:
BUCKLERS....
WOODEN SMALL SHIELDS....
WOODEN NORMAL SHIELDS.....
IRON SHIELDS.....
STEEL SHIELDS....
TOWER SHIELDS......
ahhhh... and don't forget the Wondrous item: Magic shields
Since a shield weighs 6 lbs, you might be able to convince your DM to allow you to count it as a Heavy Weapon. If you do it would also stack with the Great Weapon Master feat.
Which one of those shields are 6 lbs weighted, because there are a lot of shields:
BUCKLERS....
WOODEN SMALL SHIELDS....
WOODEN NORMAL SHIELDS.....
IRON SHIELDS.....
STEEL SHIELDS....
TOWER SHIELDS......
ahhhh... and don't forget the Wondrous item: Magic shields
If you are holding a shield you can use your Action to make an attack using it as an Improvised Weapon.PHB p.147 "An improvised weapon includes any object you can wield in one or two hands." You will still gain the +2 AC bonus from holding a shield whilst doing this.
PHB p148: "An object that bears no resemblance to a weapon deals 1d4 damage." This applies to a shield, and since a shield neither pierces nor slashes, will be bludgeoning damage.
If, however, what you want to do is attack with a weapon then also smash them with a shield for damage, then you cannot. PHB p195: When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand." A shield is not considered a light melee weapon, and therefore, you cannot use your Bonus Action to attack with it, The only weapons that can be used to make a Two Weapon Fighting attack as a Bonus Action are: Club, Dagges, Handaxe, Light Hammer, Scimitar, Shortsword, Light Crossbow.
The best you can do is take the Shield Master feat, which allows you to Shove an enemy if you have already taken the Attack action. Unfortunately, this is pretty weak, as you've already attacked so knocking them prone won't help much since they will certainly stand up again before your next turn (it's helpful to your party, but who wants to take feats just to give others all the glory right? :D). Shield Master's other abilities are generally fairly weak (there are few spells/abilities that require a DEX save that specifically target only you, and if you were going to pass your saving throw and take half damage anyway then as a Fighter, it's not that big of a deal anyway).
If you are holding a shield you can use your Action to make an attack using it as an Improvised Weapon.PHB p.147 "An improvised weapon includes any object you can wield in one or two hands." You will still gain the +2 AC bonus from holding a shield whilst doing this.
PHB p148: "An object that bears no resemblance to a weapon deals 1d4 damage." This applies to a shield, and since a shield neither pierces nor slashes, will be bludgeoning damage.
If, however, what you want to do is attack with a weapon then also smash them with a shield for damage, then you cannot. PHB p195: When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand." A shield is not considered a light melee weapon, and therefore, you cannot use your Bonus Action to attack with it, The only weapons that can be used to make a Two Weapon Fighting bonus attack are: Club, Dagges, Handaxe, Light Hammer, Scimitar, Shortsword, Light Crossbow.
The only downside is that nobody is proficient with Improvised Weapons without the Tavern Brawler feat.
That’s why I homebrewed a feat specifically for shield fighting (linked above) and a Monk subclass all about improvised weapons (based on Jackey Chan). It felt like a gap in the game for me.
That’s why I homebrewed a feat specifically for shield fighting (linked above) and a Monk subclass all about improvised weapons (based on Jackey Chan). It felt like a gap in the game for me.
I had a look at your All A Hero Needs... feat. I think making you proficient with it as a weapon is fine, but increasing the damage to 1d6 is too much, and the shield should still 1d4 damage, otherwise it's dealing as much damage as a short sword, spear or shortbow arrow, all of which are specifically designed to inflict bodily damage.
I find the idea of a character running around wielding a shield on its own pretty weird, though. Effectively this feat makes the character as effective as another character who is wielding a shortsword and a shield at the same time. From a logic perspective, one of those guys has a massive advantage.
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what do i have to do to make up a guy to hit with a shield ?
Shields are not intended weapons (unless it is a particular one), so they should be treated as Improvised Weapon: attack roll 1d20+STR (no proficiency bonus), damage roll 1d4+STR.
so i need tavern brawler feat ? and you get to use str for attack and damage were can i find that information ? and ty
You do not need Tavern Brawler. That feat allows you to grapple the target with a bonus action after you attack it with an unarmed strike or improvised weapon.
You use STR for the attack roll with an improvised weapon like a shield because it is a melee attack (ref). There is no finesse involved.
cool ty information
Tavern brawler does grant you proficiency with the shield attack, however, and it should be noticed that if you can convince your DM that your shield is a suitable replacement for a certain weapon, it could use its hit die; A shield with an angular, bladed edge could reasonably be considered similar to a shortsword, so if your DM agreed, you could use a d6+str+proficiency. As the name implies, improvised weapons are largely up to your imagination and interpretation.
It's ok Ranger, you'll always be cool to me.. Unless druid gets another use for its wild shape charges.
Since a shield weighs 6 lbs, you might be able to convince your DM to allow you to count it as a Heavy Weapon. If you do it would also stack with the Great Weapon Master feat.
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lol that be be cool
Your DM could just decide that you're proficient in shield bashes and treat it as a club (1d4). There's a lot of historical precedence for shields being used as a weapon by trained warriors; I recommend calling it a martial weapon? Generally speaking, hitting with the shield is going to be less preferable than hitting with whatever is in your main hand so it doesn't break the game to let you use a shield bash with proficiency. Maybe it allows you to have one more backup weapon and/or a bludgeoning weapon on hand but daggers and clubs are cheap and light.
Potentially there's an exploit if you're two weapon fighting but you'd need the feat to do that since shield isn't light...and then it's taking the place of a second not light weapon such as a second sword/axe/hammer/etc. Maybe don't let shield AC and feat AC stack?
Some shields might be spiked or bladed to do piercing or slashing instead.
That was why I wrote this feat a while back. People seem to like it.
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Which one of those shields are 6 lbs weighted, because there are a lot of shields:
BUCKLERS....
WOODEN SMALL SHIELDS....
WOODEN NORMAL SHIELDS.....
IRON SHIELDS.....
STEEL SHIELDS....
TOWER SHIELDS......
ahhhh... and don't forget the Wondrous item: Magic shields
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
This Shield. RAW, it’s the only one that matters.
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*facepalm incomming* in 3........... 2................. 1......................
You only described what it means the word Shield for the novices, instead of describing which shield weightens 6 lbs.
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
This Shield weighs 6lbs. Take your face out of your hand and look under the weight column on the table all the way to the right.
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Could use the dwarven beserker shield as a model.
If you are holding a shield you can use your Action to make an attack using it as an Improvised Weapon.PHB p.147 "An improvised weapon includes any object you can wield in one or two hands." You will still gain the +2 AC bonus from holding a shield whilst doing this.
PHB p148: "An object that bears no resemblance to a weapon deals 1d4 damage." This applies to a shield, and since a shield neither pierces nor slashes, will be bludgeoning damage.
If, however, what you want to do is attack with a weapon then also smash them with a shield for damage, then you cannot. PHB p195: When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand." A shield is not considered a light melee weapon, and therefore, you cannot use your Bonus Action to attack with it, The only weapons that can be used to make a Two Weapon Fighting attack as a Bonus Action are: Club, Dagges, Handaxe, Light Hammer, Scimitar, Shortsword, Light Crossbow.
The best you can do is take the Shield Master feat, which allows you to Shove an enemy if you have already taken the Attack action. Unfortunately, this is pretty weak, as you've already attacked so knocking them prone won't help much since they will certainly stand up again before your next turn (it's helpful to your party, but who wants to take feats just to give others all the glory right? :D). Shield Master's other abilities are generally fairly weak (there are few spells/abilities that require a DEX save that specifically target only you, and if you were going to pass your saving throw and take half damage anyway then as a Fighter, it's not that big of a deal anyway).
The only downside is that nobody is proficient with Improvised Weapons without the Tavern Brawler feat.
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That and the fact that you're hitting them for just 1d4 damage which is poor for any class.
That’s why I homebrewed a feat specifically for shield fighting (linked above) and a Monk subclass all about improvised weapons (based on Jackey Chan). It felt like a gap in the game for me.
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I had a look at your All A Hero Needs... feat. I think making you proficient with it as a weapon is fine, but increasing the damage to 1d6 is too much, and the shield should still 1d4 damage, otherwise it's dealing as much damage as a short sword, spear or shortbow arrow, all of which are specifically designed to inflict bodily damage.
I find the idea of a character running around wielding a shield on its own pretty weird, though. Effectively this feat makes the character as effective as another character who is wielding a shortsword and a shield at the same time. From a logic perspective, one of those guys has a massive advantage.