It seems that the Tower shield is strictly better than the Large shield, which is strictly better than the Small shield (aside from minor differences such as cost, and that the small shield has a maximum of 2 attackers per Segment).

My players quickly seized on this mathematical oddity and now of course everyone wants a Tower Shield.

Also, since there is no reason not to add spikes, everyone will of course want a Spiked Tower Shield.

Other than the story and narrative limitations (“no, riding a motorcycle is not going to be easy while carrying a tower shield…”, “no, your tower shield is not welcome in the strip club…”), has anyone considered trying to balance out the shields by any other means?

I was considering imposing an Exertion Rating on the primary hand weapon when a shield is used.  Something like:
Small Shield adds +1 to the Exertion Rating of the primary hand weapon
Large Shield adds +2 to the Exertion Rating of the primary hand weapon
Tower Shield adds +3 to the Exertion Rating of the primary hand weapon

I might even consider +2, +4, +6 added Exertion respectively.
I might also impose an “Armor Check Penalty” for almost all Physical Skills.

It’s not just that I feel the shields are not balanced against one another (although that is part of it), but that they provide a huge +2, +4, +6 cover bonus to DR, AND 1-2 points of damage threshold, AND 2-4 points of damage resistance per attack.  So they are enormously beneficial.

On the other hand, comparing the stats of the One Handed and Two Handed melee weapons… yes the Two Handers do more damage, but that is usually balanced almost entirely by their extra Exertion Ratings and lower Max Attacks per Segment.  In my understanding of the current rules (which might be flawed I’m quick to admit) a One Hand Melee + Shield character is a MUCH better combatant than a Two Hand Melee character.

Actually, come to think of it, I might have to tweak the Armor in a similar manner.  Heavy Armor should make Tumbling and Balancing harder than Light Armor, and would be more tiring to wear…

/eh

Definitely makes sense. I’m not sure about the added exertion but definitely making certain skill checks more difficult for being weighed down.

Yeah, at present our group is feeling like shields should be “nerfed” a little bit (or a lot).  Exertion rating would be one way to go, another way would be to apply that armor check penalty to ALL physical skills, which includes both melee and ranged attacks…  I’m not sure how I feel about that.  It might make it more balanced, but it might also reduce the ‘fun’ factor.

/eh