I just made a new rogue on dnd beyond and I bought him a shield that I could style as a buckler. As soon as I equipped it however it gave me disadvantage to acrobatics, athletics, stealth, and slight of hand. The item description never mentions any such disadvantage. Maybe there's a proficiency issue (I thought I was proficient but maybe not)? But if so the item description only mentions not getting the AC bonus (which I received), it says nothing on getting disadvantage. Is this a bug in dnd beyond or a rule I was unaware of?
Edit: After some poking around I can confirm its because its trying to treat shields like armor. When wearing armor your not proficient in you get the bonus but get the penalties, when wielding a shield the description specifically clarifies you shouldn't get the bonus. If I'm wrong on this let me know but I think its just a mistake from trying to treat shields like any other bit of armor.
Yea this is an area they keep messing up in the rules. They probably intend for the disadvantage to apply both to Armor and Shields but the rules doesn't clearly reflect that.
The way I read it, it seems clear the disadvantage is related only to armor, not shields (link to 2024 rules):
Light, Medium, or Heavy Armor If you wear Light, Medium, or Heavy armor and lack training with it, you have Disadvantage on any D20 Test that involves Strength or Dexterity, and you can’t cast spells.
Shield You gain the Armor Class benefit of a Shield only if you have training with it.
Armor Training Armor training allows you to use armor of a certain category without the following drawbacks. If you wear Light, Medium, or Heavy armor and lack training with it, you have Disadvantage on any D20 Test that involves Strength or Dexterity, and you can’t cast spells. If you use a Shield and lack training with it, you don’t gain its AC bonus. See also “Disadvantage” and chapter 6 (“Armor”).
Going back to the behavior the OP states, it really looks like an error in D&DBeyond. At a minimum, a rogue should not receive the shield bonus but the OP said they did.
It sure looks like DDB is applying the armor penalty instead of the shield penalty to a character using a shield that isn't proficient.
There might be a reasonable argument that it should be both penalties (or other penalties), but I agree with TarodNet that the rules imply only no AC bonus for shields. I think for most cases, just gaining no AC benefit is enough of a penalty. When it comes to magic item shields, maybe just missing the AC bonus might not seem like enough of a penalty, depending on what else the shield does.
The way I read it, it seems clear the disadvantage is related only to armor, not shields (link to 2024 rules):
Light, Medium, or Heavy Armor If you wear Light, Medium, or Heavy armor and lack training with it, you have Disadvantage on any D20 Test that involves Strength or Dexterity, and you can’t cast spells.
Shield You gain the Armor Class benefit of a Shield only if you have training with it.
Ah, my bad. This is what I get for trying to recall details from memory at oh-dark-thirty. Regardless, a baseline Rogue cannot use a shield effectively, especially as there’s no provisions for a buckler or other “light” type of shield.
I just made a new rogue on dnd beyond and I bought him a shield that I could style as a buckler. As soon as I equipped it however it gave me disadvantage to acrobatics, athletics, stealth, and slight of hand. The item description never mentions any such disadvantage. Maybe there's a proficiency issue (I thought I was proficient but maybe not)? But if so the item description only mentions not getting the AC bonus (which I received), it says nothing on getting disadvantage. Is this a bug in dnd beyond or a rule I was unaware of?
Edit: After some poking around I can confirm its because its trying to treat shields like armor. When wearing armor your not proficient in you get the bonus but get the penalties, when wielding a shield the description specifically clarifies you shouldn't get the bonus. If I'm wrong on this let me know but I think its just a mistake from trying to treat shields like any other bit of armor.
Rogues aren't shield-proficient. I assume DDB is imposing the 2014 penalties still.
It's not a mistake, it's the RAW of how shields work. If you don't have shield prof, you get disadvantage on most rolls if you have a shield equipped.
Yea this is an area they keep messing up in the rules. They probably intend for the disadvantage to apply both to Armor and Shields but the rules doesn't clearly reflect that.
Also:
Going back to the behavior the OP states, it really looks like an error in D&DBeyond. At a minimum, a rogue should not receive the shield bonus but the OP said they did.
It sure looks like DDB is applying the armor penalty instead of the shield penalty to a character using a shield that isn't proficient.
There might be a reasonable argument that it should be both penalties (or other penalties), but I agree with TarodNet that the rules imply only no AC bonus for shields. I think for most cases, just gaining no AC benefit is enough of a penalty. When it comes to magic item shields, maybe just missing the AC bonus might not seem like enough of a penalty, depending on what else the shield does.
Ah, my bad. This is what I get for trying to recall details from memory at oh-dark-thirty. Regardless, a baseline Rogue cannot use a shield effectively, especially as there’s no provisions for a buckler or other “light” type of shield.
Nah, not your bad, @The_Ace_of_Rogues. You're a fountain of knowledge here and I always learn a ton from you.