Armor and Shields

Armor items are protective items worn by characters to improve their defenses. Armor items are classified as light armor, heavy armor, or shield. Equipping light armor or heavy armor, improves a character’s armor class. Equipping a shield improves a character’s armor class and Reflex defense, if the character is proficient with the shield.

Characters not proficient with a piece of armor or shield only apply ½ the armor’s AC bonus (rounded down).

Some armors and shields have a check penalty, which is applied to DEX and STR-based skill checks for characters who are not proficient with that armor.

Similarly, heavier armors and shields have speed penalties, which apply to all movement moves (to a minimum of 1 square) to for characters who are not proficient with that armor.

Certain armor and shield types also dis allow the wielder from adding their DEX or INT to AC while wielding them. This does not change based on proficiency.

Tower Shield

A tower shield is a tall, sturdy shield normally constructed of wood or metal.

As a move action, it can be planted, turning the square it was planted in into blocking terrain and granting a bonus to CMB vs being Pushed or Repositioned to the wielder equal to its shield bonus. While wielding a planted tower shield, the wielder cannot leave the planted square. While panted, a tower shield grants a total shield bonus of +4 instead of +2.