Talk:Buckler (5e Equipment)

Stat disagreement

I disagree with the statistics as currently presented. It doesn't seem intuitive that a smaller, lighter item is half again as good as a full size shield against a dagger or a greataxe. I think it would better reflect its historical usage in rapier combat by granting +1 AC, and when used with a one-handed finesse weapon, a +1 to attack rolls; this is because the buckler's main purpose in rapier combat was to hide the sword-hand to make it harder for the enemy to predict the next attack. This is something that remains useful and true regardless of the arms and armor of your opponent. —Proton^[talk] 11:53, 1 February 2015 (MST)

Actually a buckler had many different roles in combat, yes one of them was blinding and protecting the sword hand, another was as a bludgeon or as a deflector. And it was used as a companion for weapons other than rapiers. But yeah, an additional variant rule for using it in tandem with a weapon with the light & finesse properties would make sense. After all, it's up to the DM whether or not to employ variant rules. Lemiel14n3 (talk) 12:14, 1 February 2015 (MST)

You could "hide the sword-hand" behind a normal shield as well? Or a cloak? This is a bonus that is derived from the wielder's skill, not inherent to the equipment itself. This rule could go almost anywhere else: a fighter or rogue specialization, a feat, Fencing Instruction... However, I also feel that this variant rule rather assumes that the foe is humanoid. Would a blind ooze care that you're hiding your rapier behind a buckler? Marasmusine (talk) 04:09, 15 April 2015 (MDT)

Your last point is satisfactory to me. I'll remove the second variant rule. —Proton^[talk] 07:37, 15 April 2015 (MDT)

Parrying Buckler realism

The current revision contains a third variant which can make the buckler more effective than a standard shield against melee weapon attacks. This is mechanically a reasonable trade-off since it doesn't help against spells or ranged attacks, but I have difficulty imagining an extremely dexterous person using a buckler to deflect a greataxe or similar heavy weapon more effectively than they would with a standard shield. I'd like to open discussion for a suitable explanation, or suitable change in mechanics. If no such explanation or change is reached in a week, I elect to remove this variant. —Proton^[talk] 03:38, 12 May 2016 (MDT)

Yeah, I really don't like that variant, I only added it here as a compromise (people kept making separate buckler pages, I think I redirected them here). Marasmusine (talk) 04:37, 12 May 2016 (MDT)

After removing the excess stuff from the Parrying variant (stuff that was put in as a "benefit" but actually ended up being worse than the default rules for shields and improvised weapons), I think it's similar enough to the first variant to warrant removing it altogether. People are always going to make their own snowflake pages; if they're this similar, indicate the current variant most suitable; if they're not very similar, another variant can be written here. —Proton^[talk] 11:44, 12 May 2016 (MDT)

Separating variants

I took the liberty of separating the four variants on this page into their own pages. This should each individual one easier to use in a campaign, especially considering how diverse their effects are. I'm not sure why they would be all bundled together on this page, really. - Guy (talk) 05:38, 27 November 2017 (MST)