Tower Shields - OP Quality?

[Nunkuruji]

Note the Shieldbearer spell in SpC for additional options

[awaken DM golem]

PhaeXY says: " ... using it in weird ways ... "

(points at self)

Monk + Titan Bloodline level 12 ability + I'm forgetting the feat(s) right now = Flurry with Tower Shield
The shield ends up being Light, qualifying it for flurry.
I wonder if you can Quick Draw a light flurry Tower Shield (wink) ??

I picture it, via the discussion about a 1-armed fighter not affected negatively, by being Monk.


... and having one of those 1000-pound giant training boards the Native Hawaiians use.
Then bap monsters on the head.

[Grim Sage]

I like making them out of Riverine - a portable, mobile Wall of Force is bound to be useful, no?
Also, on the subject of having it wielded by minions, if it's "wielded" (well, held in place) by a Telekinesis or Force effect - those generally aren't subject to damage, making it a sturdy, mobile defense.

[jojolagger]

They're useful if you need a mobile source of total cover. You can, absurdly enough, use them as a Cloaking Device by hiding behind them, thus hiding your equipment (including the tower shield), unless I'm misremembering the rules. You might need Hide in Plain Sight or something, though. You can arguably cast spells or do anything other than attack from behind it while using it from total cover. Everything past the first sentence and before this one is, however, mostly absurd and counter to the likely RAI. Useful if an enemy telegraphs attacks somehow, and/or your DM doesn't rule that the wooden shield isn't going to protect you from the Tarrasque's bite or something similarly powerful.

You don't need hide in plane sight or anything. You only need some form of concealment or cover to hide. It's totally stupid, but it works.

[Talore]

They're useful if you need a mobile source of total cover. You can, absurdly enough, use them as a Cloaking Device by hiding behind them, thus hiding your equipment (including the tower shield), unless I'm misremembering the rules. You might need Hide in Plain Sight or something, though. You can arguably cast spells or do anything other than attack from behind it while using it from total cover. Everything past the first sentence and before this one is, however, mostly absurd and counter to the likely RAI. Useful if an enemy telegraphs attacks somehow, and/or your DM doesn't rule that the wooden shield isn't going to protect you from the Tarrasque's bite or something similarly powerful.

You don't need hide in plane sight or anything. You only need some form of concealment or cover to hide. It's totally stupid, but it works.

Gorf the Rogue/Fighter: I move towards the enemy, then hide behind my shield! I'm going to get ready to give 'em a sneak attack!
DM: The enemy walks past your shield, unaware of his impending doom. He walks past, and you lunge with yourdagger. He screams "OHMYGODIDIDNTSEEYOU!" then you lop off his head.

Build, please... 

[jojolagger]

They're useful if you need a mobile source of total cover. You can, absurdly enough, use them as a Cloaking Device by hiding behind them, thus hiding your equipment (including the tower shield), unless I'm misremembering the rules. You might need Hide in Plain Sight or something, though. You can arguably cast spells or do anything other than attack from behind it while using it from total cover. Everything past the first sentence and before this one is, however, mostly absurd and counter to the likely RAI. Useful if an enemy telegraphs attacks somehow, and/or your DM doesn't rule that the wooden shield isn't going to protect you from the Tarrasque's bite or something similarly powerful.

You don't need hide in plane sight or anything. You only need some form of concealment or cover to hide. It's totally stupid, but it works.

Gorf the Rogue/Fighter: I move towards the enemy, then hide behind my shield! I'm going to get ready to give 'em a sneak attack!
DM: The enemy walks past your shield, unaware of his impending doom. He walks past, and you lunge with yourdagger. He screams "OHMYGODIDIDNTSEEYOU!" then you lop off his head.

Build, please... 

Fighter 1/ Rouge 19 (Whatever lets you max sneak attack dice and hide. You'll probably want to dip one level in fighter for the proficiencies.)

[The_Mad_Linguist]

Be small, get a Darkwood tower shield, and have an unseen servant carry it around, with an action readied to intercept anything.

[Hansie]

It can be hilarious at very low levels.

Upset by the death of my level 1 half-orc cleric (designed to do as much damage as possible), I decided to just focus on survival, and built a dwarf fighter, who would just hide behind his tower shield, fight defensively and use Combat Expertise. The party was attacked by a horde of goblins much beyond our capacity to destroy... clearly we were intended to run.  I stood my ground, and dared him to roll 20s.  Never got hit.  (clearly a more experienced DM would have started a grapple or something, and I would have been dead dead dead).

[jeffrie]

Could more than one melee combatant use Tower Shields at the same time to nullify AoO and/or flanking?

I mean, how's it work? How big is the shield? Does it take up the whole side? Is there still room to slide a sword around it?

What about ranged? It could be useful if you were being attacked from two or more directions? Like in an ambush?

Seems they could be used in larger groups of open battle. Shield wall with volley behind, or caravan surrounded by horde? Great if your team has longer range.

It could be used tactically to draw the eye of the crowd. Send out one or two guys with max ac to stand in the front for long enough for some other ploy to play out.

That sounds neat. Two absolute tanks with every defense they have 'holding the pass' against unthinkable odds while the factotum and the rogue do 'something'.

Of course, little matters when the wizards start getting the weird stuff.

[Nunkuruji]

Seems they could be used in larger groups of open battle. Shield wall with volley behind, or caravan surrounded by horde? Great if your team has longer range.

Could definitely get a few volleys of ranged fire off, while having cover yourself, given that you have the range for a few rounds to pass in such a situation.
Similarly if defending from a fortified position, castle wall, etc.

[StreamOfTheSky]

Is there anything other than Darkwood that can get the tower shield's weight down a bit?  It weighs 45 lbs normally, if you can get it down to 20 lbs...

"Glove of Storing
This device is a simple leather glove. On command, one item held in the hand wearing the glove disappears. The item can weigh no more than 20 pounds and must be able to be held in one hand. While stored, the item has negligible weight. With a snap of the fingers wearing the glove, the item reappears. A glove can only store one item at a time. Storing or retrieving the item is a free action. The item is held in stasis and shrunk down so small within the palm of the glove that it cannot be seen. Spell durations are not suppressed, but continue to expire. If an effect is suppressed or dispelled, the stored item appears instantly."

Kinda pricy, but there might be some tricks to be had there...

[Cagemarrow]

At low levels a Warlock could make good use of a tower shield in combination with The Summon Swarm invocation. Drop it as a free action, summon the swarm, then use your move to pick it up and hide behind it for full cover while maintaining concentration on the swarm. Dragon Fire Adepts can do the same without having to drop it by using their breath weapon instead. Hell they can wear full plate and use a tower shield non-proficient and not take any real penalties to their combat prowess since their (SN) breath weapon doesn't suffer from to-hit or arcane spell failure. I know I wouldn't grapple with someone who can simply breath fire into my face when I try to grab him.

I could also see adding folding legs to the top of the shield to make it self supporting instead of feet at the bottom. Have the legs attach to a hinge at the top and you simply tilt it back to have them drop down to hold up the shield using its own base, plus the two legs to hold it up. You duck underneath it. Wouldn't stand up to repeated hits (No AC bonus) but should be plenty to provide cover to hinder line of sight/effect.

shield side -> /| <- legs

Add a handle at the top and bottom edges, parallel with the ground, and you could even have something to grab and rotate it around with a move action to keep it pointed at whoever you're trying to block. Would hinder your mobility though and spell casters that dumped strength would be suffering encumbered penalties while carrying it around. Of course this is all made redundant by animated shields at higher levels.

[SneeR]

The only time anyone even considered using a tower shield in any of my games was when I said it gave a +6 armor bonus and anyone proficient in heavy shields could use it. It is so heavy, and imposes a -2 penalty such that the people most likely to use it are non-melee clerics.

[AriasDerros]

There are only really so many ways to OP a Tower Shield.

1) Abusing the hide rules.
2) Abusing cover against spells.
3) Abusing methods of bringing it out as a free action, to have the shield when you wish.
4) Mountain plate + tower shield on a divine caster or psion or just anyone who doesn't worry about the penalties. most likely with a ring/rod of arming to put it away.
5) Zavule's Sig [spoiler]

DM: The iron door is enchanted with a powerful anti-magic barrier.
Zavy: The door itself?
DM: Yes.
Zavy: I get acid flasks and a pry bar.  I just found myself a new tower shield.

Which, would work quite well with a riverine shield[/spoiler]

[StreamOfTheSky]

Ok, so you can get a tower shield to be under 20 lbs by being small and using darkwood.  And Glove of the Master Strategist is basically glove of storing but better and 1/3 the price (3500 gp, also gives true strike 1/day).  So here's the basic idea I have:

Keep the tower shield hidden away inside glove, ready an action to attack someone when they melee attack you.
-As they approach, ready triggers, you free action (as part of the ready) shield out to hide behind, negate their attack
- Free action shield back into the glove (as part of the ready) and take your own attack
- If he's not dead, you get to full attack him next turn before he can act again.

For added cheese, use a 2H reach weapon, free action'ing your shield hand on and off as needed to hold the shield.  Then you can also get an AoO as he comes in.  For even more fun against a charger, add Lion Spirit Totem Barb 1 (pounce), Cometary Collision feat, and Steadfast Boots (if not using a longspear).

*Shrug* Just trying to find outlandish ways to break a vastly ridiculed piece of equipment.

[Fadier]

My favourite material for making a Tower Shield out of is Glasssteel (CoV pg 65 may have been updated somewhere else though). It has all the hardness and hitpoints of Adamantine and the light weight of Mithryl for only 2,000gp. With the icing that is being see through, ever wanted one of those plastic police riot shields?

[StreamOfTheSky]

Another idea would be Symbol spells.  They require that you put them in a prominent location.  A tower shield is practically the size of a door, so it would seem a perfectly valid place to put a symbol on.  Then flash it it out on enemies as needed.

[jeffrie]

I bet you could get a lot of symbols on a tower shield.

[Jackinthegreen]

There's also the steel tower shield from Races of Stone 158.  Damn thing weighs 100 pounds though, meaning a mithril version would be 50.

The Wrapped Tower from MiC has some uses, but panicked creatures can be annoying to deal with.

[jeffrie]

Ok, so you can get a tower shield to be under 20 lbs by being small and using darkwood.  And Glove of the Master Strategist is basically glove of storing but better and 1/3 the price (3500 gp, also gives true strike 1/day).  So here's the basic idea I have:

Keep the tower shield hidden away inside glove, ready an action to attack someone when they melee attack you.
-As they approach, ready triggers, you free action (as part of the ready) shield out to hide behind, negate their attack
- Free action shield back into the glove (as part of the ready) and take your own attack
- If he's not dead, you get to full attack him next turn before he can act again.

For added cheese, use a 2H reach weapon, free action'ing your shield hand on and off as needed to hold the shield.  Then you can also get an AoO as he comes in.  For even more fun against a charger, add Lion Spirit Totem Barb 1 (pounce), Cometary Collision feat, and Steadfast Boots (if not using a longspear).

*Shrug* Just trying to find outlandish ways to break a vastly ridiculed piece of equipment.

You ready hide as a free action. When the opponent approaches you whip out your tower shield and hide, flanking him for sneak attack with your reach weapon on your AoO .

"What just happened where'd that guy go? and what's this shield doing here? Why do i feel sick? I'm so confused.. .Ouch!"

Hilarious.

Could you make a contingency or trigger to go off at the same time? Like when the fool says "ouch" a bolt zaps him from the shield?