This skill allows the player to use any Shield in combat. The Shield skill is needed to activate any magical abilities a Shield may have.

Just as a weapon, a shield must pass a safety check and may only be of a certain size for safety purposes. A shield must be of either all foam construction or of wood construction with a padded edge of no less than ¾”.

A shield may be used to block physical damage in melee, and tagline effects that are direct attacks suck as a packet thrown for “10 fire”. The shield must intercept the attack to block it, simply wearing a shield does not grant its protection; one must be actively holding and trying to use it.

Depending on the size type of the shield as to what types of taglines (including radius for Tower Shields) it may protect against, as well as if it can be used for Archers (i.e. Bucklers).

For more on Taglines and their effects please refer to the chapter on Combat in this book.

A shield will not block spells in fact if a spell strikes a Shield then it counts the same as if the packet had struck the player.

There are certain spells which are combined with Shield use, as well as various Runes which can only be used with a Shield. These spells and Runes require the bearer have skill in their shield to use and may require additional skills as well to activate. See the Chapter on Spells and Magic for more information regarding Spells and Runes.