Animated Shield

Armor (shield), very rare (requires attunement)

While holding this shield, you can speak its command

word as a bonus action to cause it to animate. The
shield leaps into the air and hovers in your space to
protect you as if you were wielding it, leaving your hands
free. The shield remains animated for 1 minute, until you
use a bonus action to end this effect, or until you are
incapacitated or die, at which point the shield falls to the
ground or into your hand if you have one free.

A shield is made from wood or metal and is carried in

one hand. Wielding a shield increases your Armor Class
by 2. You can beneVt from only one shield at a time.

Notes: Utility, Warding

Item Tags: UTILITY WARDING

Basic Rules, pg. 151

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SamsonSlice Posted Nov 18, 2018

Wonder if this would work while being a Druid and

Wild Shaped.

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Ninjason Posted Dec 7, 2018

I would say, almost the same rules as those for

spells apply, meaning, you can activate the shield
and it remains animated even if you transform,
for up to 1 min, or until you are incapacitated:

You can't cast spells, and your ability to

speak or take any action that requires hands
is limited to the capabilities of your beast
form. Transforming doesn't break
your concentration on a spell you've already
cast, however, or prevent you from taking
actions that are part of a spell that you've
already cast.

If you wish to activate it after you have

transformed, your form needs to be able to speak
for you to use a bonus action speaking its
command word.

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Alucard47 Posted Dec 9, 2018

Unless you make the command word a roar or a

sound of an animal you take the shape of most?

Last edited by Alucard47: Dec 9, 2018

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SamsonSlice Posted Dec 11, 2018

:D

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SamsonSlice Posted Dec 11, 2018

Yeah, sorry I was assuming you speak the

command word before transforming unless
you're high enough to where you can cast your
druid spells while in Wild Shape form.

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drag0n_77 Posted Apr 14, 2019

How would this interact with the Cleric's/Paladin's

use of a Shield as their Holy Symbol for spell
casting? Would you, then, be able to wield a 2
hand weapon and still cast spells?

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Chronoslayers Posted Sep 2, 2019

Good question. I would like to know too.

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PalladiumTurtle Posted Oct 1, 2019

How would this interact with the

Cleric's/Paladin's use of a Shield as their
Holy Symbol for spell casting? Would you,
then, be able to wield a 2 hand weapon and
still cast spells?

Short answer: no. You need to be holding the

shield to use the holy symbol on it. If you want to
be able to wield a two-handed weapon and still
cast spells, you should see if you can get a ruby
of the war mage.

See the Sage Advice

Compendium: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sour
ces/sac/sage-advice-compendium#Spellcasting

What’s the amount of interaction needed to use a

spellcasting focus? Does it have to be included in
the somatic component?

If a spell has a material component, you

need to handle that component when you
cast the spell. The same rule applies if
you’re using a spellcasting focus as the
material component. ...

Last edited by PalladiumTurtle: Oct 1, 2019

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Bruzer Posted Nov 23, 2019

What happens after the 1 minute and the effect

ends? I dont see a recharge... can you pick it up
and animate it again?

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Lorcotus Posted Jan 24, 2020

This is my question as well, Doesn't say you can't

so I imagine after a minute you can just use it
again as long as you spend a bonus action to do
so?

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taven03 Posted Feb 18, 2020

I would say yes, it doesn't give any charges so in

limited as long as you keep using a bonus action

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Lithdora Posted Mar 9, 2020

my dm said yes on this ,,not sure what your dm

would go with but it sounds like it in the
summary

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petyu3 Posted Apr 13, 2020

What's the command word?

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TheMu]nMan919 Posted Apr 22, 2020

Does anyone know how much weight an

Animated Shield could support? Like if I was
wielding the shield, and "held" it over my head so
that a teammate could leap off of it and into the
air to do a cool maneuver, could it actually
support their body weight? And if so, what's the
limit? Could it protect me from a falling building's
debris?

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TheMu]nMan919 Posted Apr 22, 2020

Quote from petyu3

What's the command word?

Usually you as a character get to decide it's

command word/phrase and you can attune it as
so:

https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-
rules/magic-items#Attunement

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MrGoodbarrel Posted May 6, 2020

Quote from TheMuFnMan919

Does anyone know how much weight an

Animated Shield could support? Like if I
was wielding the shield, and "held" it over
my head so that a teammate could leap off
of it and into the air to do a cool maneuver,
could it actually support their body weight?
And if so, what's the limit? Could it protect
me from a falling building's debris?

that's up to your DM since there are no rules on

the matter

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KendricJourdan Posted Jul 12, 2020

@TheMufnMan919

It can probably carry however much you can

carry, since you're still 'wielding' the shield. It isn't
intended to be a better Tenser's Floating Disk.

RAW, it likely won't protect you from falling debris,

as those tend to be Dexterity Saving Throws.

Last edited by KendricJourdan: Jul 12, 2020

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Thurismund Posted Aug 14, 2020

I would agree unless said character has the

Shield Master feat

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ArtemisCaresTooMuch Posted Sep 7, 2020

I’m trying to pick random magic items to describe

as daelkyr creations so I’m better at that if I ever
get to run an Eberron campaign. In this case, it’s a
symbiont.

“Valaara, the Crawling Queen, has imbued

the vermin in this container with a malign
intelligence. To attune to it, you must pour out the
contents of the container onto your arm, allowing
the maggots within to burrow in. At your
command, swarms of lies spill forth from your
empty hand, creating a barrier that perverts the
very concept of a shield to protect you. It can
hover on its own or form a massive structure of
lies upon your arm.

Symbiotic Nature. The shield can’t be removed

from you while you’re attuned to it, and you can’t
voluntarily end your attunement to it. If you’re
targeted by a spell that ends a curse, your
attunement ends, and lies and maggots spill
from your skin all across your body until they’re
gone”

Last edited by ArtemisCaresTooMuch: Sep

7, 2020

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ProphetZarquon Posted Oct 10, 2020

@ClericalKenku

If I were playing my Swarm Master character, I'd

totally want that. The ly-shield's difcult de-
attunement just creates more incentive to make
the most of his Vrst attunement, to Tattoos.

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