About Shields
A Shield is modeled as a combination of:
- a defensive bonus (added to a defense roll).
- a durability value (how much damage it can take in a single strike before it is damaged)
- an integrity value (it's "health" or 'hit points')
- a burden (as per it's weight and maneuverability)
One might extract these values directly from the first four letters of the specific name of the shield ("Swordbane", for example), or from the name of it's type description (ie. "Buckler"). This can be done according to a number of particular conventions - for example, making use of either the complete formal spelling of the name, or otherwise from a (close-as-possible) phonetic representation. The example below is using the English-Latin transcription of the Phonetic Alphabet of the Inner Sea:
Buckler:
( B.U.K.L.R ) = 2+22+3+12+18 --> (2+4+3+3+9) --> 57|21|3
Otherwise, consonants in the name (the 'roots', 'grounding', or 'skeleton' of a word itself) provide the basic protective bonus (over and above the defense roll).
Examples:
Shield:
( Sh.L.D ) = 27+12+4 --> 9+3+4 --> 16 --> 7
Buckler:
( B.K.L.R ) = 2+3+12+18 --> 2+3+3+9 --> 17 --> 8
Either way, vowels in the name provide elemental thematics and can represent either magic effects the shield can produce (if so originally crafted or later modified and enhanced), or represent the potential for enchantment - such as 'slots' for certain switchable augmentations like magic gems or runes that can be bound to the item.
The buckler has [slots: 'u', 'e'] and the shield has [slots: 'i','e'] for magical purposes.
More advanced methods of examining the properties of a shield will be detailed elsewhere.
See also: