Equipment of Alnwich: Shields

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Today, shields. There are a wide variety of shields available in Alnwich, largely thanks to trade and Usking soldiers stationed at the garrison. From the blade-edged Curonion targes of the southern lowlands of Usk to the local Norling shields of pine and hide, Alnwich sees them all.

Weapons or Armor?

Shields are the stepchildren of the armament world. They offer protection like armor, but they are held in hand and can be used for offense like weapons. Yet, while having characteristics of both, they always get classified in RPGs as neither - listed aside from everything else.

I would argue that shields are very much weapons that happen to offer a degree of protection. Romans used them to push and shove enemies back; vikings used them to strike foes. And fighting manuals regularly show them used to attack opponents. Heck, in GURPS terms, a block is mechanically little more than a Parry with a lousy (if any) penalty for successive use!

But what about DB, DR/HP, and Cover DR? Well, weapons already have DR/HP and just don't list them because they aren't regularly attacked. Also, weapons are far too small to offer any Cover DR, so that stat is omitted from write-ups. That just leaves DB. This is basically just a special feature like those weapons who target chinks with a reduced penalty or that can hook opponents. Shields happen to generally help with active defenses. That's all.

So I'm going to treat shields like weapons for consistency's sake. They will have a few unique statistics that will be discussed below, and some will need to be derived, as well. It won't take much effort, and I've already made a spreadsheet to do most of the heavy lifting in shield design for me.

Deriving Statistics

What statistics do we need for shields, if we are to treat them as weapons? A few are obvious: Damage, Reach, Cost, Weight, and Minimum ST. Those that we need for their shield aspects include DB, DR/HP, and Cover DR.

We already have statistics for Damage, Reach, Cost, Weight, DB, and DR for most shields and those that will be based on them. HP and Cover DR are based on the shield's weight and covered in GURPS Low-Tech Companion 2 - Weapons and Warriors. That just leaves Minimum ST.

Calculate minimum ST for shields using the following steps:

1. Calculated the shield's total weight.
2. Find the value of A by looking up the appropriate ST for the calculated weight on the table on LTC 2, p. 16.
3. If the shield has just a buckler grip, B = 2/3; if it has enarmes, B = 1.
4. If the shield has a guige, C = 0.75; otherwise, C = 1.
5. Minimum ST = A * B * C, rounded to the nearest whole number.
6. Adjust the Minimum ST by +/-1 based on the shield's ungangliness, reputation for ease of use, etc., as desired.

This yields shield minimum strengths in an appropriate range for warriors and generally only precludes the weakest people from using most shields. This rule is highly optional, but it does give a nice guideline for ST requirements for giant or massive shields.

Shields of Alnwich

What follows here is a list of shields available for purchase in Alnwich.

Aspis This is a 36” diameter, highly concave, bossless shield with enarmes. It has a very sturdy construction and is designed for use in a shield wall.

Heater This nearly-triangular shield has a flat top about 36” wide and long. It is strapped to the arm but lacks any guige.

Kite Shield This large, heavy shield protects the entire height of its wielder, and has a rounded top that slowly tapers to a point near his feet. The shield is strapped on via enarmes, and a guide helps bear its prodigious weight.

Large Shield These giant shields cover their wielder from chin to shins and are wielded with both enarmes and a guige to bear their prodigious weight.

Medium Buckler These shields cover the wielder from the chin to the waist and are usually round or oval in shape. Some have notches removed to allow for easier thrusting attacks through a shield wall. Unlike Esting shields, these are meant to be durable, and as a result, they require particularly strong warriors to wield.

Medium Shield This is a typical round shield about 36” in diameter that is strapped to the arm and supported with a guige.
Norling Shield A 36” round shield of pine covered in hide and edged in iron. It has a buckler grip, iron boss, and no guige.

Scutum This rectangular shield has a deep curve, laminated construction, and a boss. The Small Scutum is similar to an Aspis but is more durable; the Large Scutum also has a guige and is as close to a portable wall as one can get without resorting to a pavis.

Small Buckler This is a small shield that covers the user’s forearm and shoulder, and is usually round or square.

Small Shield This is a generic shield about 18” - 24” in diameter and is strapped onto the arm via enarmes.
Targe A small round shield 18” - 24” in diameter with enarmes. Most are Wooden Targes with cow hide wrapped around a hardwood core, but Metal Targes are also popular, if expensive. The Curonian Targe is rimmed in iron and sharpened for slashing attacks.

GURPS Stats for Shields

Here are the GURPS stats for the shields above.

Shield (DX-4)

Weapon	Damage	Reach	DB	Cost	Wt	ST	DR/HP	Cover	Notes
Small Shield	thr cr	1	1	$40	6	7	4/15	7
Targe, Curonian or	thr cr sw-2 cut	1 1	1 –	$60 –	6 –	7 7	4/15 –	7 –
Targe, Metal	thr cr	1	1	$200	4.5	5	4/15	7
Targe, Wood & Hide	thr cr	1	1	$40	6	7	4/15	7
Aspis	thr cr	1	2	$88	13	8	4/22	9
Small Scutum	thr cr	1	2	$110	15	9	4/24	9
Heater	thr cr	1	2	$75	12	8	4/18	8
Medium Shield	thr cr	1	2	$60	15	6	4/20	9
Kite Shield	thr cr	1	3	$120	18	7	4/21	9
Large Scutum	thr cr	1	3	$180	22	7	4/27	10
Large Shield	thr cr	1	3	$90	21	7	4/22	9

Shield (Buckler) (DX-4)

Weapon	Damage	Reach	DB	Cost	Wt	ST	DR/HP	Cover	Notes
Dueling Buckler	thr cr	1	0	$25	2	6	4/12	7
Small Buckler	thr cr	1	1	$40	6	10	4/15	7
Medium Shield	thr cr	1	2	$50	14	12	4/19	8
Norling Buckler	thr cr	1	2	$38	7	10	2/15	6