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Table of Contents
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Spheres of Might
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Active Defense
If you are using a shield and you are attacked by a creature you are aware of while not flat-footed, you may spend an attack of opportunity to increase your shield bonus to AC against that attack by +2. This decision must be made before the roll is made. For every 4 points of base attack bonus you possess, the increase to your shield bonus provided by this talent increases by 1. Talents with the (deflect) tag grant additional effects to this ability. Each use of active defense may only benefit from one (deflect) talent. You may expend your martial focus to use active defense in place of spending an attack of opportunity.
Shield Talents
Bashing Shield
You do not lose your shield bonus to AC when making an attack with your shield. Additionally, you may make shield bash attacks with a buckler as if it were a light shield. Reduce the damage as if the shield bash was one size smaller when used this way. Associated Feat: Improved Shield Bash.
Battering Defense
If you deal damage to or succeed on a combat maneuver against a creature that missed an attack against a creature benefiting from your active defense before the end of your next turn, that creature becomes battered for 1 round.
Blockade
When affected by an area attack, you may spend your martial focus as an immediate action to use your shield to cushion the blow, granting you the benefits of the evasion ability (regardless of armor worn), and adding your shield bonus (but not your active defense bonus) to your Reflex saving throw against the triggering effect. If you already possesses evasion, you instead gain improved evasion.
All allied creatures in a cone originating from your space and facing away from the effect’s point of origin gain the benefits of this ability. Medium creatures create a 15-ft. cone. For every 4 points of base attack bonus and for every size category you are larger than Medium, the size of the cone increases by 5 ft. The size of the cone decreases by 5 ft. (minimum 5 ft.) for every size category you are smaller than Medium.
Cover Ally
As long as you have martial focus, you may use active defense to benefit an ally when an ally within your shield’s reach is targeted by an attack.
Note: This only provides the benefits of active defense, not the benefit of the base shield. (Source)
Deflecting Shield
Your shield bonus to AC applies against touch attacks.
Extensive Defense
You may expend martial focus as a free action that can be taken even when it’s not your turn to apply your active defense against all valid triggering attacks until the start of your next turn without spending attacks of opportunity. If you possess the Cover Ally talent, you may apply this benefit to all allies within reach.
Flexible Cover
You may spend a move action to use a shield to grant you cover until the beginning of your next turn. Bucklers, heavy shields, and light shields provide partial cover while tower shields provide total cover. When using a shield in this way, you must choose one edge of your space. That edge is treated as a solid wall for attacks targeting you only. You gain cover for attacks that pass through this edge. The shield does not, however, provide cover against targeted spells; a spellcaster can cast a spell on you by targeting the shield you are holding. Cover granted this way is insufficient to enable you to make a Stealth check to hide and the shield may be targeted as an attended object.
As an immediate action, you may change the selected edge of your space even when it is not your turn. If you expend martial focus, you may use this talent as an immediate action.
Greater Deflect
When using active defense, you may expend martial focus to apply two (deflect) talents instead of one.
Hardened Shield
Any shield you have equipped gains a competence bonus to its hardness equal to your base attack bonus.
Interposing Shield
Creatures benefiting from your active defense bonus (including yourself) gain DR/- equal to the bonus from active defense against attacks that hit despite active defense. This damage reduction stacks with damage reduction from other sources.
Punch Block
When you use your active defense, you may choose to make an attack roll as if making a shield bash and must use the result of this attack in place of your AC for resolving the attack, even if lower. You must be capable of making shield bash attacks with the shield to use this ability.
Note: Punch Block replaces your entire AC bonus with your attack roll; treat this as though using your active defense. This is not a shield bonus, and does not apply to attacks which would bypass your shield bonus. The Deflecting Shield talent does not allow Punch Block to apply against touch attacks.
Reactive Defense
Whenever you take the total defense action while wielding a shield, creatures that miss you provoke attacks of opportunity from you. You may make these attacks of opportunity but take a penalty on the attack rolls as if you were fighting defensively.
Reassuring Imposition [Apoc]
Source: Tandem Talents
Allies who are adjacent to you gain a bonus to concentration checks equal to your shield bonus to AC plus your active defense bonus. Additionally, if an adjacent ally would incur penalties to concentration checks from the Disruptive feat or a similar ability, the increase to DC is halved.
Associated Feat: Shielded Caster.
Shield Skate
When moving down an incline or using the charge action, you may spend a swift action to throw your shield down in front of you and use it to skate across the ground. This gives you a 10 ft. circumstance bonus to your land speed for that round. You do not benefit from your shield bonus to AC during your movement while using this ability. You may reclaim and reequip your shield as a free action at the end of your movement.
For every 5 points of base attack bonus you possess, the circumstance bonus to your land speed increases by 10 ft. You may make overrun attempts against any creature in the path of this movement without provoking attacks of opportunity. Add your shield bonus to AC to your combat maneuver bonus for these checks.
Shielded Focus
While wielding a buckler, shield, or tower shield, you may spend a move action to regain your martial focus whenever you choose to fight defensively as part of an attack action.
Additionally, whenever an attack misses a creature benefiting from your active defense, you may regain your martial focus as an immediate action.
Snapping Tortoise (stance) [Youxia HB]
While in this stance, whenever a creature misses an attack against a creature benefiting from your active defense, your next successful attack action against that creature before the end of your next turn forces that creature to succeed at a Fortitude save or fall prone even if you are no longer in this stance.
Targe Riposte [High. HB]
You can use the hand wielding a light shield to also wield a light or one-handed weapon, as if it were a buckler, but you take a -2 penalty on attack rolls (instead of -1). If the hand wielding the light shield is wielding a weapon from the close or light blades fighter weapon group, you only take a -1 penalty on attack rolls. Whenever you would attempt a melee attack with a shield bash, you may instead attempt a melee attack with a light or one-handed weapon from the close or light blades fighter weapon groups wielded in your shield hand.
You may take this talent a total of twice. If taken a second time, whenever you would attempt a melee attack with a shield bash, you may instead attempt a melee attack with any light or one-handed weapon (not just those from the close or light blades fighter weapon groups) wielded in your shield hand.
Tough Shield [EO3]
You add your shield bonus to AC as a shield bonus to your CMD.
You can use active defense against combat maneuvers, allowing creatures benefiting from your active defense (including yourself) to add your active defense bonus to their CMD (not including the benefit of the base shield).
Deflect Talents
Catch Blade (deflect)
Whenever an attack misses a creature benefiting from your active defense, if the attack was made with a piercing or slashing melee weapon, you can allow the weapon to strike your shield. If you do, the attack hits your shield, dealing damage to the shield as normal, and the weapon becomes bound. As long as the creature’s weapon is bound, they cannot move from the square they currently occupy. A creature whose weapon is bound may release the weapon as a free action or attempt to break the bind as a standard action by making a successful combat maneuver check against your disarm CMD. If the bound weapon is a natural attack or unarmed strike, the creature must succeed at a successful combat maneuver check to break the bind. You cannot attack with, receive any shield bonus from, nor use active defense with the shield used to bind a creature as long as the bind is in effect. If any effect, including this attack, renders the shield broken or destroyed, this effect ends immediately.
Forced Rebound (deflect)
Whenever a melee attack misses a creature benefiting from your active defense, you may initiate a bull rush combat maneuver against the attacking creature as a free action that can be taken even when it’s not your turn. You may add your shield’s shield bonus to AC (including enhancement bonus) as a circumstance bonus to the roll.
Jarring Block (deflect)
Whenever a melee attack misses a creature benefiting from your active defense, you may initiate a disarm combat maneuver against the attacking creature as a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity and that can be taken even when it is not your turn. This must target the weapon used for the triggering attack, and must be accomplished with your shield, rather than a weapon you are wielding. You may add your shield’s enhancement bonus to AC to your disarm check.
Redirecting Shield (deflect)
Whenever a weapon attack (not including siege weapons, or other massive weapons) misses a creature benefiting from your active defense, you may choose a new target for the attack within its original range (for ranged attacks) or reach (for melee attacks) as a free action that can be taken even when it’s not your turn, comparing the original attack roll, with a -2 penalty, to the new target’s AC and resolving the attack as normal on a successful hit.
Sacrificial Shield (deflect)
You may spend an immediate action to redirect the damage from a successful attack against you to your shield. This action is taken after the result of the attack roll is known but before the damage is revealed. Attacks that do not target you directly or which do not deal hit point damage cannot be redirected in this manner.
Smashing Counter (deflect)
Whenever an attack misses a creature benefiting from your active defense, you may make a shield bash attack against the attacking creature as a free action that can be taken even when it’s not your turn.
Legendary Talents
Life’s Shield
Prerequisites: Shield sphere, Sacrificial Shield, base attack bonus +5.
Whenever an attack would reduce you to 0 or fewer hit points you may activate your Sacrificial Shield talent as a free action that may be taken even when it is not your turn. If your shield would be broken or destroyed by this effect, you retain your shield’s enhancement bonus (if any) to your AC for a number of rounds equal to your base attack bonus. If you possess the Soul’s Shield talent, you also retain your resistance bonus to saving throws for a number of rounds equal to your base attack bonus.
Perfect Redirection
Prerequisites: Shield sphere, Deflecting Shield, Redirecting Shield, base attack bonus +7.
You may use your Redirecting Shield talent against spell effects that include an attack roll or touch attack.
Perfect Turtle Mimicry (stance) [Jester's HB]
Prerequisites: Shield sphere (Flexible Cover), base attack bonus +10.
While in this stance, choose one edge of your space. That edge is treated as cover as though using the Flexible Cover talent. This cover applies along the edge of your space even while moving, but the cover is always along the edge of your space you chose when assuming this stance. You must be wielding a shield to benefit from this stance.
While in this stance, you may expend martial focus as an immediate action to gain improved cover against attacks from every direction until the start of your next turn (improved cover provides a +8 AC bonus and +4 Reflex save bonus as well as improved evasion against attacks which this Reflex save bonus applies). When you lose the benefits of improved cover granted by this talent, you immediately exit this stance.
Quaking Block (deflect) [EO3]
Prerequisites: Shield sphere, base attack bonus +5.
Whenever an attack misses a creature benefiting from your active defense, you may spend an immediate action to release a burst of energy, dealing damage as if you had made a successful shield bash to all enemies within a 15-foot cone (or a 10-foot radius burst), centered on the initial target. Creatures within the area may attempt a Reflex saving throw to negate this damage.
Shattering Rebuke [EO3]
Prerequisites: Shield sphere (Sacrificial Shield (deflect)), base attack bonus +7.
Whenever you use the Sacrificial Shield talent to redirect damage dealt by a manufactured weapon to your shield, you may redistribute the force back into the weapon, dealing an amount of damage to the weapon equal to the damage dealt to your shield before applying hardness.
Soul’s Shield
Prerequisites: Shield sphere, base attack bonus +5.
You gain a resistance bonus to all saving throws equal to your shield’s enhancement bonus to AC.
Spiritual Aspect [EO3]
Prerequisites: Shield sphere (Cover Ally), base attack bonus +5.
As a swift action, you may choose a creature or 5-foot square that you can see within close range (25 feet + 5 feet per 2 points of base attack bonus you possess), guarding the location with an aspect of yourself until the beginning of your next turn; if you choose a creature, the aspect moves with them.
You are treated as if you were standing in the same square as your aspect when determining the effects of your Shield sphere talents, including when using active defense.
If you possess the Extensive Defense talent, you may expend your martial focus when creating an aspect to allow the aspect to last for a number of rounds equal to your practitioner modifier (minimum 2 rounds).
This talent is a supernatural effect.
Towering Bulwark [Conq. HB]
Prerequisites: Shield sphere (Flexible Cover), base attack bonus +7.
Whenever you use flexible cover, your shield provides total cover regardless of what type of shield it is and provides total cover against targeted spells.
If you possess the Cover Ally talent, when you use cover ally to grant your active defense to an ally, you may expend martial focus as an immediate action to grant that ally total cover against a single attack. Using cover ally this way cannot be used in conjunction with the Extensive Defense talent.
Note: Shields and Shield Bonuses
According to the writers, the Shield Sphere is generally intended for shields and anything that says it "acts like" or "can be used as" a shield. Simply granting a Shield Bonus to AC is not enough to allow something to function with this sphere, although your GM may rule that it makes sense in a particular case.