Main > Combat > Martial Spheres > Shield Sphere

Base Talents

Shield Talents (Deflect)

These talents grant additional effects to Active Defense. Each use of active defense may only benefit from one (deflect) talent.

Catch Blade

Whenever an attack misses a creature benefiting from your active defense, if the attack was made with a piercing or slashing melee weapon, you can allow the weapon to strike your shield.

If you do, the attack hits your shield, dealing damage to the shield as normal, and the weapon becomes bound. As long as the creature’s weapon is bound, they cannot move from the square they currently occupy. A creature whose weapon is bound may release the weapon as a free action or attempt to break the bind as a standard action by making a successful combat maneuver check against your disarm CMD.

If the bound weapon is a natural attack or unarmed strike, the creature must succeed at a successful combat maneuver check to break the bind.

If any effect, including this attack, renders the shield broken or destroyed, this effect ends immediately.

You cannot attack with, receive any shield bonus from, nor use active defense with the shield used to bind a creature as long as the bind is in effect.

Forced Rebound

Whenever a melee attack misses a creature benefiting from your active defense, you may initiate a bull rush combat maneuver against the attacking creature as a free action that can be taken even when it’s not your turn.

You may add your shield’s shield bonus to AC (including enhancement bonus) as a circumstance bonus to the roll.

Jarring Block

Whenever a melee attack misses a creature benefiting from your active defense, you may initiate a disarm combat maneuver against the attacking creature as a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity and that can be taken even when it is not your turn.

This must target the weapon used for the triggering attack, and must be accomplished with your shield, rather than a weapon you are wielding. You may add your shield’s enhancement bonus to AC to your disarm check.

Redirecting Shield

Whenever a weapon attack (not including siege weapons, or other massive weapons) misses a creature benefiting from your active defense, you may choose a new target for the attack within its original range (for ranged attacks) or reach (for melee attacks) as a free action that can be taken even when it’s not your turn, comparing the original attack roll, with a -2 penalty, to the new target’s AC and resolving the attack as normal on a successful hit.

Sacrificial Shield

You may spend an immediate action to redirect the damage from a successful attack against you to your shield. This action is taken after the result of the attack roll is known but before the damage is revealed.

Attacks that do not target you directly or which do not deal hit point damage cannot be redirected in this manner.

Smashing Counter

Whenever an attack misses a creature benefiting from your active defense, you may make a shield bash attack against the attacking creature as a free action that can be taken even when it’s not your turn.

Shield Talents (Improved Active Defense)

Battering Defense

If you deal damage to or succeed on a combat maneuver against a creature that missed an attack against a creature benefiting from your active defense before the end of your next turn, that creature becomes battered for 1 round.

Cover Ally

As long as you have martial focus, you may use active defense to benefit an ally when an ally within your shield’s reach is targeted by an attack.

Extensive Defense

You may expend martial focus as a free action that can be taken even when it’s not your turn to apply your active defense against all valid triggering attacks until the start of your next turn without spending attacks of opportunity.

If you possess the Cover Ally talent, you may apply this benefit to all allies within reach.

Greater Deflect

When using active defense, you may expend martial focus to apply two (deflect) talents instead of one.

Interposing Shield

Creatures benefiting from your active defense bonus (including yourself) gain DR/- equal to the bonus from active defense against attacks that hit despite active defense. This damage reduction stacks with damage reduction from other sources.

Punch Block

When you use your active defense, you may choose to make an attack roll as if making a shield bash and must use the result of this attack in place of your AC for resolving the attack, even if lower. You must be capable of making shield bash attacks with the shield to use this ability

Shield Talents (Improved Defense)

Blockade

When affected by an area attack, you may spend your martial focus as an immediate action to use your shield to cushion the blow, granting you the benefits of the evasion ability (regardless of armor worn), and adding your shield bonus (but not your active defense bonus) to your Reflex saving throw against the triggering effect.

If you already possesses evasion, you instead gain improved evasion.

All allied creatures in a cone originating from your space and facing away from the effect’s point of origin gain the benefits of this ability. Medium creatures create a 15-ft. cone.

For every 4 points of base attack bonus and for every size category you are larger than Medium, the size of the cone increases by 5 ft.

The size of the cone decreases by 5 ft. (minimum 5 ft.) for every size category you are smaller than Medium.

Deflecting Shield

Your shield bonus to AC applies against touch attacks.

Flexible Cover

You may spend a move action to use a shield to grant you cover until the beginning of your next turn. Bucklers, heavy shields, and light shields provide partial cover while tower shields provide total cover.

When using a shield in this way, you must choose one edge of your space. That edge is treated as a solid wall for attacks targeting you only. You gain cover for attacks that pass through this edge. The shield does not, however, provide cover against targeted spells; a spellcaster can cast a spell on you by targeting the shield you are holding.

Cover granted this way is insufficient to enable you to make a Stealth check to hide and the shield may be targeted as an attended object.

As an immediate action, you may change the selected edge of your space even when it is not your turn.

If you expend martial focus, you may use this talent as an immediate action.

Reactive Defense

Whenever you take the total defense action while wielding a shield, creatures that miss you provoke attacks of opportunity from you.

You may make these attacks of opportunity, but take a penalty on the attack rolls as if you were fighting defensively.

Shield Talents (Other)

Bashing Shield

You do not lose your shield bonus to AC when making an attack with your shield.

Additionally, you may make shield bash attacks with a buckler as if it were a light shield. Reduce the damage as if the shield bash was one size smaller when used this way.

Associated Feat: Improved Shield Bash.

Hardened Shield

Any shield you have equipped gains a competence bonus to its hardness equal to your base attack bonus.

Shield Skate

When moving down an incline or using the charge action, you may spend a swift action to throw your shield down in front of you and use it to skate across the ground. This gives you a 10 ft. circumstance bonus to your land speed for that round.

For every 5 points of base attack bonus you possess, the circumstance bonus to your land speed increases by 10 ft.

You may reclaim and reequip your shield as a free action at the end of your movement.

You do not benefit from your shield bonus to AC during your movement while using this ability.

You may make overrun attempts against any creature in the path of this movement without provoking attacks of opportunity. Add your shield bonus to AC to your combat maneuver bonus for these checks.

Shielded Focus

While wielding a buckler, shield, or tower shield, you may spend a move action to regain your martial focus whenever you choose to fight defensively as part of an attack action.

Additionally, whenever an attack misses a creature benefiting from your active defense, you may regain your martial focus as an immediate action.

Advanced Talents

Shield Talents (Deflect)

Perfect Redirection

Prerequisites: Deflecting Shield, Redirecting Shield, base attack bonus +7.

You may use your Redirecting Shield talent against spell effects that include an attack roll or touch attack.

Life’s Shield

Prerequisites: Sacrificial Shield, base attack bonus +5.

Whenever an attack would reduce you to 0 or fewer hit points you may activate your Sacrificial Shield talent as a free action that may be taken even when it is not your turn.

If your shield would be broken or destroyed by this effect, you retain your shield’s enhancement bonus (if any) to your AC for a number of rounds equal to your base attack bonus.

If you possess the Soul’s Shield talent, you also retain your resistance bonus to saving throws for a number of rounds equal to your base attack bonus.

Shield Talents (Improved Defense)

Soul’s Shield

Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +5.

You gain a resistance bonus to all saving throws equal to your shield’s enhancement bonus to AC.

Drawbacks

Sphere-specific drawbacks must be chosen when a practitioner first gains the associated sphere, and grant the practitioner an extra combat talent in the prerequisite sphere.

Drawbacks may be removed in place of gaining a new talent through your class progression or by taking the Extra Combat Talent feat. You cannot gain multiple drawbacks that remove or augment the same ability.

Passive Blocker

You do not gain the active defense ability and cannot take (deflect) talents or other talents that require the use of active defense.

You gain Deflecting Shield with this drawback.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Ultimate Combat. © 2011, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Jason Bulmahn, Tim Hitchcock, Colin McComb, Rob McCreary, Jason Nelson, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Sean K Reynolds, Owen K.C. Stephens, and Russ Taylor.

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Advanced Race Guide © 2012, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, Benjamin Bruck, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, Jim Groves, Tim Hitchcock, Hal MacLean, Jason Nelson, Stephen RadneyMacFarland, Owen K.C. Stephens, Todd Stewart, and Russ Taylor.

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Equipment (OGL) © 2012, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, Benjamin Bruck, Ross Byers, Brian J. Cortijo, Ryan Costello, Mike Ferguson, Matt Goetz, Jim Groves, Tracy Hurley, Matt James, Jonathan H. Keith, Michael Kenway, Hal MacLean, Jason Nelson, Tork Shaw, Owen KC Stephens, Russ Taylor, and numerous RPG Superstar contributors

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Ultimate Intrigue © 2016, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Jesse Benner, John Bennett, Logan Bonner, Robert Brookes, Jason Bulmahn, Ross Byers, Robert N. Emerson, Amanda Hamon Kunz, Steven Helt, Thurston Hillman, Tim Hitchcock, Mikko Kallio, Rob McCreary, Jason Nelson, Tom Phillips, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Thomas M. Reid, Alexander Riggs, David N. Ross, David Schwartz, Mark Seifter, Linda Zayas-Palmer.

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Advanced Class Guide © 2014, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Dennis Baker, Ross Byers, Jesse Benner, Savannah Broadway, Jason Bulmahn, Jim Groves, Tim Hitchcock, Tracy Hurley, Jonathan H. Keith, Will McCardell, Dale C. McCoy, Jr., Tom Phillips, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Thomas M. Reid, Sean K Reynolds, Tork Shaw, Owen K.C. Stephens, and Russ Taylor.

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 5 © 2015, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, John Bennett, Logan Bonner, Creighton Broadhurst, Robert Brookes, Benjamin Bruck, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, Thurston Hillman, Eric Hindley, Joe Homes, James Jacobs, Amanda Hamon Kunz, Ben McFarland, Jason Nelson, Thom Phillips, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Alistair Rigg, Alex Riggs, David N. Ross, Wes Schneider, David Schwartz, Mark Seifter, Mike Shel, James L. Sutter, and Linda Zayas-Palmer.

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 4 © 2013, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, Savannah Broadway, Ross Byers, Adam Daigle, Tim Hitchcock, Tracy Hurley, James Jacobs, Matt James, Rob McCreary, Jason Nelson, Tom Phillips, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Sean K Reynolds, F. Wesley Schneider, Tork Shaw, and Russ Taylor.

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 3, © 2011, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors Jesse Benner, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, James Jacobs, Michael Kenway, Rob McCreary, Patrick Renie, Chris Sims, F. Wesley Schneider, James L. Sutter, and Russ Taylor, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.

Shield Sphere

From Titan's Teeth

Contents

Active Defense

Base Talents

Shield Talents (Deflect)

Catch Blade

Forced Rebound

Jarring Block

Redirecting Shield

Sacrificial Shield

Smashing Counter

Shield Talents (Improved Active Defense)

Battering Defense

Cover Ally

Extensive Defense

Greater Deflect

Interposing Shield

Punch Block

Shield Talents (Improved Defense)

Blockade

Deflecting Shield

Flexible Cover

Reactive Defense

Shield Talents (Other)

Bashing Shield

Hardened Shield

Shield Skate

Shielded Focus

Advanced Talents

Shield Talents (Deflect)

Perfect Redirection

Life’s Shield

Shield Talents (Improved Defense)

Soul’s Shield

Drawbacks

Passive Blocker

COPYRIGHT NOTICE