Review: Shields Up!

Review: Shields Up!

A new GURPS book just dropped out of nowhere – Shields Up! from Gaming Ballistic. While it is written with DFRPG in mind, it has many options that work in normal GURPS games. Not long ago, I recorded a comprehensive video guide on shields in GURPS, and this book made it less comprehensive. So, let’s take a look at this book and see what’s in there. I’ll say in advance, that this is an excellent book that is very much worth its price, and I do not say that very often.

The book is 24 pages long, but all these pages are packed with information. Not everything is new rules, however – this book doesn’t just provide new rules, but also consolidates everything about shields in one place. This might be a disappointment for some readers, but I do not mind that. The order of presentation due to the compilation nature of the document sometimes creates confusions, because some concepts are mentioned and talked about several pages before they are introduced and explained. In that aspect, the book reminds me of Technical Grappling that is very difficult to wrap your head around when you read it the first time.

So, what’s new? First, of all, we finally have proper rules for using shields as cover, and they are not as clunky as some fan-made ones I’ve seen online. They remind of T-Bone’s rules for using shields as cover, but they do have some differences. Wording is a bit ambiguous, but I think I understand how it works. A new maneuver is introduced – All-Out Defense (Cover) that allows the shield being used as cover. Attacks against areas behind the shield are penalized, and any such attacks must overcome the shield’s Cover DR. You can either use the default simplified rules for the hit locations covered by the shield or use optional more complex rules that divide the body into five bands. The number of bands that you protect depends on the shield’s DB and your posture. I can imagine some silly situations arising – for example, how does one protect the bottom band with a DB 1 shield? You’d probably need long arms for that! These bands are only given for a humanoid body, which means that you will have to come up with your own layouts for different body morphologies, but that shouldn’t be too difficult. Also, I really like that there are downsides to hiding your head behind the shield – obviously, you can’t see the enemy! Also, you cannot block when you use your shield as cover, but you can still parry or dodge, and the DB still applies.

All-Out Defense (Cover) has another option called Focused Ward. This submaneuver makes you focus your shield defense against a single opponent. You can block attacks, both from the chosen opponent and others, but your DB only applies to the subject of your focus. Also, your shield acts as an obstruction to your subject, so he will have to Evade to get close to you. I wonder if dual-wielding shields and having Enhanced Tracking 1 allows you to ward off two opponents at once.

Speaking of Evasion, there’s another new maneuver – All-Out Defense (Evade) that makes it easier to bypass Focused Ward. There’s also All-Out Attack (Evade) that does the same but instead of giving up attacks gives up defenses.

There seems to be another option that I either did not understand, or was partially cut – Fighting Cover. It is mentioned on page 3, and then never brought up again, which makes me feel that it used to be an additional option that was not properly removed. If I had to reverse engineer the intention, I would say that this is a way of using shield as cover without using the All-Out Defense (Cover) maneuver, because it says that you can still attack. And you probably can choose if you’re using shield actively or as fighting cover as a free action at the start of your turn. The fact that the book states in several places that cover is only available as All-Out Defense seems to imply that this is simply a passage that the author was meant to remove but didn’t.

Shield binds that were introduced in Fantastic Dungeon Grappling were expanded with extra options that are not available for weapon binds.

A new skill is introduced – Fast-Draw (Shield). The Shield skill itself has been expanded. Shields now have a minimum ST requirement, just like weapons, and having a high Shield skill will help you raise your effective ST for them. If you do not meet the shield’s ST requirements, it becomes unbalanced. Shield ST requirement also determined FP loss after the fight. Using Immovable Stance and Push skills with shields has been slightly expanded as well, and the Thrown Weapon (Shield) skill got a proper write-up. Even some uses of Tactics and Leadership with shields have been introduced.

Guige use has been expanded, so if you want more options than there are in GURPS Low-Tech Companion 2, this is where you should look for them.

Feinting with shields has been changes slightly – you do not have to use your shield offensively against the opponent to be able to feint with the shield.

Defensive options have been greatly expanded:

Shields now can be presented either at Reach C or Reach 1, which adds some more options, mainly for keeping enemies at bay with Focused Ward. Even rules for multiple blocks per turn have been altered to make the shield’s DB matter. Larger shields are harder to maneuver, after all. There are some cool new rules for applying a shield bind on a block, and even trapping the blade with a wooden shield. You can also drop to your knees behind the shield as part of a Block attempt against a ranged attack.

Finally, something that I have been waiting for – rules for using large shields as active defense against area attacks. This is something I really needed, and I am happy that now I have proper rules for that.

While DFRPG usually stays away from complex rules, this book suggests an optional, simplified approach to shield damage. Personally, I think that shield damage rules are very important, so if you were afraid of using them before, I suggest you to take a look at this simplified variant.

I complained about bad wording before, but now there’s a chance to commend good wording. Overpenetration is worded better here than in the GURPS Basic Set! There are also optional variant rules for overpenetration.

As for character creation options, this book provides a few new advantages and perks that are quite neat, and reprints and expands some from other sources, such as Pyramid #3-118.

Shields themselves get new customization options that cannot be found anywhere else. Some stats have been changed as well. For example, pavises now count as DB 4 shields, and not as abstract movable cover. Their stats differ from those in GURPS Low-Tech. Oh, now we can also have Very Fine shields, not just Fine shields!

There are some editing mistakes here and there – colons instead of full stops, text referring to option number #2 while it actually meant option #3, and so on. The book mentions the shield-bearer profession, but does not say where to find it (Pyramid #3-118, unless it was reprinted somewhere else). But nothing that cannot be changed in a new version of the pdf.

In conclusion, I have to say that this is an excellent book and that I am going to incorporate some of these rules into my games. I hope to see more similar books from Gaming Ballistic in the future!