Weapon and Shield Style

This is the classic technique of using a one-handed weapon and carrying a shield on the other arm.

Advantages

The principal advantage of Weapon and Shield Style is that you get the AC bonus of a shield; this is especially good when you can find a magical shield which confers a better AC bonus.

A second advantage is that the character can use the Shield-Rush maneuver (below, under "Melee Maneuvers").

Disadvantages

The disadvantage to Weapon and Shield Style is that the left arm (right arm, for left-handed characters) is dedicated to the shield and is not much use for anything else. If the character is disarmed, all he has to wield offensively is his shield, until he can get back to his weapon. If he is pinned in combat, he can't use his shield hand for grappling.

Style Specialization

If you devote a weapon proficiency slot to specialization in Weapon and Shield Style, you receive one extra attack per round . . . only when using a shield on the shield-hand, that is. You can use that extra attack only for the Shield-Punch and Parry maneuvers (see under "Melee Maneuvers," below).

As with the normal "Attacking with Two Weapons" rules (see the Player’s Handbook, page 96), when striking with both hands in a single combat round, the character suffers a –2 to attack rolls with his weapon and a –4 to attack rolls with the Shield-Punch or Parry. (If you're ambidextrous, as described above under "Off-Hand Weapons Use," that's a –2 with weapon and –2 with shield.) If you devote a second weapon proficiency slot to Weapon and Shield Style Specialization, that penalty drops to with the weapon and –2 with the shield. (If you're ambidextrous, that penalty is 0 with weapon and 0 with shield.)

On any round when you perform two maneuvers, you do not get the AC bonus for the shield for the rest of the round. If you swing your sword and perform a Shield-Punch in the same round, you do not get your shield's AC bonus if anyone attacks you later in the round.

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