What are magic qualities a shield can have besides being a mirror?

Do you prefer Call of Cthulhu, DnD, or Shadowrun Veeky Forums?

My tabletop group is torn at the moment and I'm curious.

Jesus christ I suspected I may be retarded but this is a new low.

You can use it as a sled.

You are retarded, sorry. That person is also retarded, but is more than one retard in the world, or in this thread.

A shield that can change size.
Full Cover one round
A lightweight buckler the next.

CONFIRMED

...

The back of the shield glows softly when it touches magic - useful for knowing if there's some sort of magical field or aura.

The front of the shield will blur and sometimes look like a lunging weapon, causing the enemy to feint to try and dodge it but get caught by your actual sword arm.

If the enemy's weapon hits your shield, it gets stuck, and they have to waste time trying to remove it.

If you swing you shield shaped roughly like a birds wing, it creates a gust of air that can cause an enemy to stumble or even knock them backwards.

Goddamn.

A wooden shield that can transform itself into a tree, enveloping the wielder.

The best part is that it's not an illusion and as such resists anti-illusion magic.

>Fuckin QUINTS

I'll call that a hard confirm, user.

WITNESSED

A shield that warps the area just in front of it, deflecting blows and projectiles without physical contact.

A series of metal plates that can shift and change shape at a moment's notice, Shield to block, Sword to counter, Dustpan to sweep up the mess.

>floating disk
>immovable rod
>transforms to coracle

Instead of a mirror, it's a window.

...

>A hole in the universe that is siblings with the sword, another hole in the universe. Anything that hits the shield will fall in and be spat out of the sword, and anything cut by the sword will fall out of the shield.
>A shield that absorbs part of any hit that impacts it, and can store the power until a later point, where it releases all the stored damage as an attack
>A stone shield that is a combination of portal magic, it acts like a portable castle, connecting to an actual castle elsewhere. Parts of the shield possess murder holes for archers to attack from, and canon ports, even a portion of the shield opening to release soldiers or act as a quick travel to said castle. Despite the size, the shield holds the durability of a castle's wall.
>A shield forged from the torment of pained souls, each time a weapon strikes the shield, the person attacking is assaulted by the screams and wails of pain from such an attack, damaging their sanity with every blow
>A shield forged from a shard of realty, acting as a solid convergence of every dimensional plane in existence. It does not block or defend against attacks, as much as it causes said attacks, and even the attacker sometimes, to fall in and be lost among infinite planes.
>A sword and shield pair that have swapped their roles. A sword that will move to block attacks every time, and a shield that cuts through nearly everything that touches it's surface.
>A shield that takes the form of an attackers loved ones when they make an attack against it.
>A shield that contains a magic liquid metal on the surface, said liquid metal is imbued with the souls of a band of warriors. The liquid metal can change shape partially into one/multiple of the warriors or their weapons/tools
>A shield that causes anyone who looks at it's surface to lose all interest in the shield and whats behind it.

A shield that gives you brouzoufs and heals your legs.

But user, my legs are okay.

A shield that can magically bind children to the front and support their weight, dissuading some attackers

There's always the shield that returns after you throw it. Slap some blades around the edge to cut enemies, and a chain to tie them up when it turns around.

A shield that magically assists with the user when they make a charge.

The classic "This is really good against arrows/acid/[insert specific thing here]"

A shield that secretes oil, that you can then light to use as makeshift torch or to dissuade enemies. Downside is it doesn't grant heat resistance to the holder.

A shield with groves meant to catch weapons swung at it. The magic allows the weapons to slide into the grooves well enough the user can disarm the foe or even attempt to just break the weapon if they're able to.

A shield that allows the user's shield arm to stretch, great for protecting allies or just shield-bashing people in the face from a distance.

A towershield that glides through the ground like butter, making it a great emergency shovel, and allows users to throw up sand, dirt, or rocks in people's faces.

The classic floating shield, allowing the other hand free to two-hand, dual wield, or have yet another shield.

A mirror shield that intensifies the light that hits it, blinding foes in dim light conditions and burning them in broad daylight.

A standard retaliatory shield that sends flames or some other kind of magical projectile back at attackers

A shield that, when you bang on it, makes it sound like an entire army is marching in your direction.

A towershield that camouflages itself, so you can hide behind it.

>A standard retaliatory shield that sends flames or some other kind of magical projectile back at attackers
I like electric varieties. In low-magic settings that really brings on the shock and awe.

A shield that flies, but only when you stand on top of it like a skateboard. Also gives a +2 to your Attitude stat.

The inside of the shield is a once-per-day-use teleporter. Lets you jump 100 miles.

Shield is a living creature and has acid blood.

A tower shield in the shape of a pair of folded wings.

Weaing the shield on your back turns it into a pair of wings allowing you to fly.

The Great Shield has the face a of terrible monster on it. In the presence of evil spirits the mouth opens and groans which scares them away.

The Great shield has a statue like relief of a woman on it. When you kneel and set the shield down in front of you her arms outstrech to cover you at all sides from devestating attacks (i.e. someone shoots a cannon at you and you tank it.

Your shield has a built in cannon in the shape of a Lion or a Dragon and shoots miniture cannon balls

A shield that absorbs forces when struck.

A key word can be used to activate and release all the stored force in one blow.

Sweet jesus the potential for abuse there could be staggering.

>Repeatedly strike shield with battering ram for several months
>Covertly bury shield under enemy fortifications
>Activate shield

A mass of autonomous, small iron beads that is attached to ones body.

Will stick to offending weapons, simultaneously blocking a blow and weighing said weapon down afterwards.

The beads make more beads by gradually tearing apart other iron-based constructs.

The amount of beads that can be controlled is reliant on the wielder's willpower.

The beads grow more intelligent the more there are.

Significant masses (that would greatly burden the wielder) tend to become completely autonomous, though their loyalty keeps them bound to their master as something akin to a protective golem.

Laws forbid more than a certain amount of beads per person, as too many beads has resulted in everything from animal rights issues to evil overlords... made of beads

The beads are highly territorial, and will lash out at other bead masses if in close proximity.

Check it, it's made out of a magical material that absorbs almost all sorts of impact, but not only that, you can throw it around like a freaky boomerang frisby and cut loads of things in half with it like a razor discus.

Came here to post this. Where are we stealing this from?

You'd need some caveats to prevent it from being overpowered.

Maybe

>it only absorbs half of the strike (12 -> 6)
>you need to be hit (If D&D. An attacked rolled under your AC won't be absorbed)
>attacks have to be with the intent to kill for the shield to activate

It could also have a cap as to how much power it absorbs possibly increasing when its wielder gets stronger.

I should also note that they are domesticated versions of a far more vicious species that live in deep, deeeeep ferric underground environmnents

Only really a threat to miners though.

They're like rust monsters, but giant masses of iron balls.

+constitution/endurance
usable as a weapon
providing a bonus to allies.

Returning.

A roundshield that is the eye of a storm.

Which shield guides you to stuff? Also
>heals you gradually just by having it on you

It can breathe FUCKING FIRE like Death Adder's.

youtube.com/watch?v=-E8aDeyco_I

Magically durable shield that doesn't have to be replaced after each battle

Magically light shield so you don't get tired

Shield that transforms into a ring when not in use, making it very easy to carry around

>a shield that when you bang on it it sounds like there is an entire army with you
This sounds fucking fantastic.

A shield which changes it's appearance to suit the nature of it's wielder.

In the hands of a man particularly vulnerable to their own greed it might appear as the face of a dragon.

In the hands of another whose bravery is unmatched it would be a lion.

In the hands of a truly free spirit it would be a hawk.

A simple and stubborn soldier will find a spartan, steel pavise.

Anyone who holds it will be able to move and defend themselves with it intuitively, even if they do not have any prior martial experience.

A shield complete with a mouth on the front that shouts encouraging words in battle

An awakened shield with high dex and improved dodge.

Whenever he gets hit he accusers his attacker a racist.

Smokes constantly, can blow decent smoke rings.

Loves hitting people. Doesn't mind hitting shields, but will occasionally mutter "perpetuating the stereotype" when around tower shields.

Thinks bucklers are demure and constantly talks about how much better they are than stuck up heater shields.

Is racist as a matter of principle to any non metal creature, and extremely racist to any artificial construct calling them "Garden Tools." Refuses to explain why this is offensive, everyone thinks he just said something dumb and stuck with it.

Has been caught polishing himself to a catalogue with pic related open. Claims it's okay, it's a very defensive sword.

>The Great shield has a statue like relief of a woman on it. When you kneel and set the shield down in front of you her arms outstrech to cover you at all sides from devestating attacks (i.e. someone shoots a cannon at you and you tank it.
Probably my favorite from the thread. That's pretty good, user.

One of my players just found a charred black shield with a red dragon emblazoned on the front

I was planning on just having it absorb half of incoming fire damage and then storing that damage as extra damage on the wielder's next attack (basically a shield with Absorb Elements innately on it) but that's kind of boring.

Can anyone think of any cooler fire-related qualities for the shield?

The best variant I've seen is from Dragon's Dogma, and would make a great class if you get the mechanics right.

But you give it a max amount of damage it can absorb, based on enchantment or some power, to keep the shield from getting too strong.

If the system can support it, you need a way to make it so that every hit you get doesn't work. So like, D&D wise, say hits that are flanked or come from a position that the shield couldn't cover don't work. I dislike the extra rolling, but for systems that already have a parry style action, like Dark Heresy, you could only make the hit absorb if the attack is successfully parried.

The other thing to do would be to make it not straight damage, but some sort of effect. Like, say, a blast of force that can push people away/knock them down/stun them/etc. Not your primary damage, essentially, but great combat utility for a defensive character.

You can bullshit some reason for the out of combat stuff, yea. Something like the defensive enchantment only working when it's actually protecting you, or requiring you to actually hold the weapon for it to work.

You could almost limit the amount of damage it can take per day as well, and make that part of the feature. Like, you use it defensively to absorb blows, and then once you've done enough you've got the offensive element. Nothing to stop you from just beating it before combat, but doing so loses you possible absorbed damage.

what is it made out of?

If made from hide, leather, or wood, making the shield fire resistant is the obvious.

If made from metal, that shield has to weigh like 20 to 30 pounds.

>When raised, the shield radiates heat that does 2 points of fire damage each round to everything within 20 ft except for the wielder.

The red dragon marking is alive.

It will migrate to the players flesh. Permanently.

Imbues fire resistance and a noticeable boost in stamina/endurance. Player may find themself wishing to consume the flesh of virgin maidens, and may act strange in the presence of gold or other artifacts of wealth.

Dragon marking may grow with time.

The charred shield still retains fire resistance, and as such is still a novel artifact. Dragon will become pissed if the player loses the shield.

It may be coerced (very forcefully) to leave, but not without leaving a few unsightly burn scars, much like that of the shield it once possessed.

WITNESSED! This is now a thing in my setting. Thank you quint-blessed user

it's made of steel btw.

I like the dragon idea, though the player who has it isn't a big RPer so getting him to act out the side effects may not work.

I was thinking something like that though - maybe a couple times after it absorbs fire, the player begins to hear whispers whenever he holds the shield. They start off faint and barely legible, but become more and more audible until it sounds like someone is talking in his ear.

said voice becomes more and more commanding as time goes on, telling the player to offer it gold, stuff like that.

If the player refuses and angers the shield, I might make him weak to fire instead whenever he wields it or something like that. Maybe eventually a red dragon flies down and demands the party hand over the shield, or maybe if the shield is ever broken a red dragon erupts from it, freed from its captivity

A dragon literally being inside the shield sounds cool.

It's like finding a genie. A really shitty, fire-breathing non-wish-granting genie/

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Man, the Souls series had some great shields.

>shield makes you highly resistant to mundane poison
>holy shield defends the user from all but the most powerful dark magic
>ancient shield once wielded by powerful knight of the gods, was burnt it a great fire in a god's desperate attempt at saving the world, and because of this is resistant to all flame
>shield with the face of a pig on it. It's nothing special, it's just meant to make the user look stupid
>shield designed after the one used by a legendary king of giants, it grants it's user the power to stand, feet firmly planted, against the most powerful foes in the land
>shield with the face of a woman in agony can distract foes

You forgot the Effigy Shield

And the Crystal Ring Shield, and Havel's shield

Well I'm not going to put every single shield. Half of them do nothing. Also,

addendum
>can change shape to suit the situation
>can magneticly lock with other shields to form unbreakable turtle formations

There's a suit of armour that is exactly that which gets posted here frequently.

Don't mistake my tone, user reusing that shows good taste and there's nothing wrong with applying the concept to other things.

> The shield is in the shape of a skull, and insults your enemy so that he actually starts to aim at the shield instead.

"Hey Mort, I'm sticking you in something other than the pillar this time."

The shield is enchanted to draw projectiles towards it, giving the wearer increased defenses against arrows and the like. It also pulls on missiles shot at nearby allies, protecting them from harm. The downside is that it doesn't provide increased defense against arrows pulled away from allies.

The idea being that "arrow shot at you = moved closer to shield, more likely to block" and "arrow shot at ally = moved in the general direction of the shield which also happens to be the general direction of you" due to the enchantment having less power to act upon farther away objects.

The shield is actually the phylactery of the lich you killed to get it, but this is concealed by powerful magic OR the shield is sofa king good that you're torn on whether to destroy it or not.

The dragon idea was good. Shields are good for this kind of thing as their large size allows a good emblem representing a being or spirit inhabiting them.

I dunno, user.

Maybe somesorta... Chain spamming?

Or maybe the ability to generate an iron maiden?

Or maybe it's just a pure evil piece of shit?

Tate no Yuusha is OK for shield stuff.

somebodies read the Dresden files, and that is a great shield right there.

The Dominions games have a few interesting shields.

Like one with a painted eye and a trapped spirit. When someone strikes the shield, the spirit goes out and rips one of his eyes off.

Another one is made of bramble, and the brambles move and grow to tangle attackers.

Another one is a giant crystal towershield. Impractical as hell, but it´s supposed to be used by mages to multiply their powers.

Another one looks like a lucky coin and it´s wielder has a % chance to survive when a hit would kill him.

Another one is extremely light for the carrier, so it doesn´t penalize your movement.

Another one protects the wielder from fire, but also burns whoever attacks.

Another one flies around you and stops hits on its own.

Another one shines with holy might and intimidates the opponent, meaning most sentient troops won´t dare attack the bearer.

Another one summons spirits.

Another one inspires bravery.

Another one marks the attacker with astral magic, making him visible to the horrors from beyond.

Another one casts a curse on whoever strikes it. Cursed units have a much higher chance to get injured or diseased and rarely live long.

Concussive blasts?

No it sounds like an army

-Focus the wielders will into a larger magical barrier infront of them or around them,
-A light/glowing ornate design.
-Front is made of magic glue that grips weapons that strike it and sticks to things it strikes.
-A skull design that shoots eye lasers on the front.
-Could Absorb fire and then unleash the fire later?
-Magical steel spikes jutt out as desired.
-It floats and you can stand on it and fight.
-Causes fear or horror like effects once per day, based on a scary design on the front?

Some ideas.

The design on the front is an incredibly detailed and beautiful painting of the person most important to you. Everyone sees their own most beloved person, and will often hesitate either subconsiously avoiding attacking their image, or conciously being confused as to why you would have such a thing ainted on your shield.

You found it with the bodies of three corpses, two noblemen that seemed to have killed each other in a duel, and a noblewoman dead of poison, appearing to be grieving over their bodies.

I like how you defined it as unwanted. A snarky shield or a shield of hindsight. Might be fun.

A shield that can cut everything, can be cancelled with the sowrd that can block everything

The Dragon Parma in DS2 raises your drop rate while equipped.

Shield that releases elemental attacks, such as producing a potent wind, or raging flame.

Shield that produces light at a level desired by the wielder, from a subtle glow to blinding flashes.

Shield that draws the attention of those who can see its face, such that they can not properly focus on anything else.

Shield that can not be pushed back from the front, being immovable from any force directed at its face.

Shield made of wood that grows plants from it's surface when struck that tangle the attacking weapon, then release from the shield.

Shield of shattering, the surface is covered in twisting force fields that rip and tear anything that gets close enough.

Shield of sluts, causes all blocked attacks to result in a sexual liaison at some future time.

Shield of shielding shields, causes other shields in the area to share durability, so that any attack would have to be able to damage all of the shields in the area to damage any of them.

It's got a lamp.

Shield made with a fountain embossed on the front. Generates fresh clean water from the top of the fountain and can contain a few cups worth when held upright. Placing a coin and making a wish has a chance of it coming true, but only on the first coin placed within each week.

Shield made of some strange yellow fabric that is constantly wet, and allows one to slide on any surface while using it boogie-board style.

Shield comprised entirely of spikes that can be broken off, thrown, or scatter in the direction the shield is facing when struck. The spikes are caltrops. Grows back a set number each morning.

Shield made of many gemstones and rare minerals. Each gemstone and mineral glows when another source is present within the immediate vicinity. Limited to regular detection rules.

Shield embossed with a door motif for its frame and facing. Setting it within a door frame or archway and speaking the command word causes the shield to take up the space and become a portal to the closest room which shares the same styled door.

Shield with a caged frame that covers a blank face. Shield bashing a creature traps it within the shield, and the image of the creature shows up on the otherwise blank face. Speaking the command word frees the creature. Speaking a different command word launches them instead.

> A really gooey shield. Opponents weapon gets stuck on it.
> A shield that screams at your opponent. Basically because its still a living creature, and its about to take an axe to its face
> A shield that spits and curses your opponent, so they literally want to destroy your shield and aim for it, instead of you
> A shield that blows disorientating stuff at your opponent (image the radiation Guardian carepackage in COD)

>Energy Absorption/Nigh Indestructibility
>Infinite Bounce Power and Returns to Owner
>Homing accuracy
>Enhanced Morale, +10 Patriotism

Being a sword in disguise

Came here to say this

No chainsaw shield yet

...

Rather than deflecting attacks, the obverse of the shield acts as a bag of holding. Weapons that fall into it can then be retrieved by the holder after battle.

>Invisible
From one side it is completely invisible, the holder can see the wooden bands behind it so he knows where it is?

>Heraldry
If you play a game heavy on the social and courtly rules, a shield that can change its device, color and sigil would be a god send.

>Living
Instead of being strapped to the forearm it shoots across the body like a small dragon intercepting the attack as any normal shield would.

>Plotting
On the inside of the shield a map plots itself as you explore a dungeon, showing the wield of the shield as a cold flame.

The shield thinks its funny. Nobody else does.
When you find someone that shares its sense of humor, you might have some trouble.

A most unusual shield.

>Shield that morphs into a bracelet or ring when not in use
Make it an actual bracer and I'm sold

In a campaign heavy with dragons and area breath weapons, I have my players a tower shield that basically blocked all breath weapons, causing them to "part" around the shield. Picture holding something right in front of a flash light- everything behind it is in the shadow, not just the immediate other side of the object.

I assume you mean pic related?

The arms on Lautrec's armor are decorative. They represent the embrace of the goddess Fina but the armor itself isn't magical (though the ring he wears is supposedly blessed by her). The suit itself is honestly pretty mediocre.

...

Had a magical shield in a game once. It healed people.....by bashing them over the head with it. Hopefully I healed more than I gave them and that the spirit in the shield hadn't fallen asleep again. Also one time my character suffered heatstroke, wandered off into the woods with the shield, and became convinced it was a holy relic of his god before he wandered back and beat himself with the shield repeatedly to try and get rid of the sunstroke. Mostly just beat himself unconscious.

Party never noticed, too busy arguing with giant snakes over kingdom politics.

>arguing with giant snakes over kingdom politics

That sounds familiar. Idhun?

>Idhun
Nah, GM's homebrew. Don't actually remember if they were snakes but they were big and nasty and had poison. Main thing is that I was doing all this shit with the GM off to the side while the rest of the players were arguing bullshit for 20 minutes. They didn't seem to realize that me and GM had basically kept the game going the whole time so it was kinda funny.

Honestly I did this a few times during that game. Those guys could NOT pick a plan of action in any reasonable amount of time and I got good at shenanigans.

>Two words: Displacer shield
To anyone facing you, your shield always looks to be held in a different position, causing the thrown blows of the enemy to be wildly out of place

>Thunderous buckler
Any time the buckler is struck, a large flash and boom blind and deafen the attacker

Fighting by itself, like a dancing sword.
Resisting heat in such a way that you can use it to move on top of magma.
Reflecting sound.
Catching the wind, enabling the user to fly (kite shield).