Shield Fumble Die

[Maezar]

I searched but can't find a discussion of the Shield Fumble Die effect.

My thought is that once a character's fumble die from Armor is higher than 1d8, the shield ceases to have any negative effect. Thus, a lightly armored character is penalized MORE for carrying a shield than a heavily armored character, which just seems odd.

I've decided that instead, I'm going to try using "+1d" for the fumble penalty for using a shield.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.

PS: Oh, and I'll waive this for Dwarves

[GnomeBoy]

Another interpretation is that using a shield (alone) means you have a d8 Fumble Die. As spelled out on page 79, carrying a shield as your only armor is considered "light" armor, and uses the same fumble die as other light armor types.

If you're wearing whatever kind of armor with a shield, you use the higher of the two dice. The "heavier" of the armor types is determining the fumble die, you're not intended to add them together.


A possibly fun alternate idea that just popped into my head: if a character has a shield, roll the d8 and the die for the armor type. Choose the worst result. Maybe Dwarves choose the better result... Just putting that out there for the hivemind...

[Skoddie]

This is a bit different from RAW, but I have always run the fumble die as being tied to Armor Class rather than specific pieces of armor. This can make it easier when PCs are wearing fancy armor from a module that doesn't fit onto the equipment table.

For example:

AC 0-10 = 1d4
AC 11-13 = 1d8
AC 14-15 = 1d12
AC 16+ = 1d16

This of course does seem to negate the difference between Studded Leather and Hide which have the same AC but a different fumble die, but generally it makes having a shield, or having other pieces of armor not covered by the book (helms, bracers, etc. found in certain modules) easier to integrate with the whole fumble system.