Shield Fighter

Your training with shields is so extensive that they become as deadly as any other weapons in your hands.

Shield Combat

When you choose this subclass at 3rd level, you become an expert in using shields as weapons for melee and ranged attacks. While you are wielding a shield, it counts as a melee weapon which deals 1d8+STR bludgeoning damage on a hit, and it has the thrown property with a range of 30/60. Regardless of whether you hit or miss with a shield, it always returns to your hand after you make a ranged attack with it.

You also gain access to a unique piece of equipment: a custom tower shield. This shield does not have the thrown property, but it can still be used to make melee attacks, dealing 1d10+STR bludgeoning damage on a hit. While you are wielding this tower shield, your speed is reduced by 10 feet, and creatures of your choice other than yourself gain half-cover while they are within 5 feet of you.

Regardless of how many shields you are wielding, you can only gain the AC bonus from one shield at a time, but a magic shield that grants additional magic bonuses to your armor class can be considered a magic weapon with a similar bonus to your attack and damage rolls with it.

[Homebrew Note: The player should add a custom item to their inventory for their tower shield. It is not considered a heavy or two-handed weapon. If you take any Fighting Styles that impact ranged or thrown weapons, double check that their benefits are being applied to your thrown shield attacks on your character sheet.]

Ricocheting Shield

At 7th level, your precision with shields allows you to bounce a thrown shield between multiple targets.

As an action, you can choose any number of creatures you can see within 30 feet of you. Make a thrown shield attack at each creature in any order of your choosing, as the shield ricochets off of them and the environment. Each creature can only be targeted once during this action. If an attack misses, the sequence automatically ends, and you don't roll any attacks against the remaining targets. Regardless of when the sequence ends, the shield returns to your hand afterwards.

At 18th level, the sequence no longer ends when you miss a target.

Tower Training

At 10th level, your training with your tower shield has made you swift and powerful, despite its lumbering size. Wielding your tower shield no longer reduces your movement speed.

The damage for its melee attacks also increases to 2d10+STR, and it counts as magical when you attack with it.

Additionally, on your turn, you can use 10 feet of your movement to pierce the shield into the ground, where it remains until you use 10 feet of movement to lift it again, or until something happens that would push or move it out of its space. While it is pierced, it grants any creature in its space half-cover, without that creature needing to wield it.

Dual Shielder

At 15th level, you become a veritable walking fortress. While you are wielding two shields at the same time, you gain the AC bonuses from both.

Shield Mastery

At 18th level, your shield attacks reach their fullest potential. The damage of your tower shield increases to 3d10+STR.

Additionally, the normal range of your thrown shield attacks becomes 60, and when you use your Ricocheting Shield action, the sequence no longer ends when you miss a target. Instead, the sequence continues until you have made a single attack against each creature of your choice within 30 feet of you.