Fantasy AGE - Expanded Rules for Shields

A month or so ago I ran across a thread on the Roninarmy.com forums talking about rules for shield bash attacks. At the time I was going to write my own set of rules and post them, but I got side-tracked, as usual. However, today while writing the AoT rules concerning special materials like skyforge steel or dwarven iron, I kinda hit a snag.

Shields in Fantasy AGE have only one identifying trait, their Defense Bonus. This makes it rather difficult to create rules for special materials because it there is only one trait you can modify. My approach to handling special materials is similar to Dragon Age*. Each special material modifies the base stats of the item (minus granting talent levels). I also didn't want to the materials to grant stunt bonuses, either. Then the idea hit me, treat them as weapons! Treating them as weapons made it easier to make each special material unique between shields, as well as giving me an idea on how to handle shield bash attacks.

* Geez, I get so many ideas from Dragon Age. Maybe I should just switch to that system instead?

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Expanded Rules for Shields

Here are my expanded rules for shields in Fantasy AGE.

WEAPON GROUP

Shields now are their own Weapon Group. However, it is not a "true" weapon group in that Warriors cannot pick this as one of their starting weapon groups at 1st level.

SHIELDS GROUP (FIGHTING)
Weapon          Defense   Damage    Mn. Str.  Cost
----------------------------------------------------
Light shield      +1      1d6-1       -1      15 sp
Medium shield     +2      1d6          1      30 sp
Heavy shield      +3      1d6+1        2      60 sp
Shield spikes*    --      +2          +1      +10 sp

* Shield Spikes can be added to any shield for an additional cost.

ABILITY FOCUS

Fighting (Shields): Proficiency in using shields as off-hand melee weapons. This ability focus is only used when making shield bash attacks.

TALENT

Shield Mastery Talent
Classes: Rogue, Warrior.
Requirement: None.

You have trained to use your shield as a proper melee weapon.

• Novice: When armed with a shield you can perform the Lightning Attack combat stunt for 2 SP, instead of the usual 3 SP. This extra attack comes from your shield.
• Journeyman: When armed with a shield you can perform the Knock Prone combat stunt for 1 SP, instead of the usual 2 SP.
• Master: You can counterattack an enemy's poor melee attack. When an enemy makes a Melee Attack against you and misses by 4 or more, you can make an immediate shield bash against them as a Free action. However, this counterattack cannot generate stunt points, and you only add half your Strength (rounded down) to the damage roll. You can only perform one counterattack in a single round.

Warriors: Warriors add this talent to the list of starting talents from which to choose from at 1st-level.