Handedness

Each weapon has a particular handedness, which determines how well you can wield it based on your size and whether or not you are using a shield.

ASEVP

Penalties incurred when wielding a weapon with a shield are almost all based on your adjusted shield evasion penalty. This is found by:

   ASEVP = Base_penalty - (Shields_skill/(5 + Size_factor)

The base penalty is 1 for bucklers, 3 for shields, and 5 for large shields. Size factor is zero for most races, but is equal to -2 for large races (Trolls, Ogres, Centaurs, and Nagas), 2 for small races (Kobolds and Halflings), and 4 for little races (Spriggans and Felids, although the latter can't use shields at all).

Thus, ASEVP becomes zero at 5/15/25 skill for most races with bucklers/shields/large shields, but at 3/9/15 for large races (although some cannot wear bucklers), at 7/21/- for small races (neither can wear large shields), and at 9/-/- for Spriggans, who can only wear bucklers.

Note that in addition to its own penalties, the ASEVP is also part of your AEVP (adjusted EV penalty), a value which is used to calculate, among other things, accuracy and spellcasting penalties. However, this article concerns effects of shields other than those from their AEVP; for the effects of AEVP, see the above article.

One-Handed

One-handed (1H) weapons are the most convenient weapons to wield, regardless of size. Any species can use a one-handed weapon with a shield, and will only suffer the standard shield penalties to speed (which can be negated through the Shields skill). One-handed ranged weapons, like slings, don't suffer any shield penalty at all.

The specific penalty for one-handed weapons wielded with a shield at insufficient skill is an added delay of min(1dASEVP, 1dASEVP).

This is not generally very noticeable, although a character wearing a large shield at zero skill will notice a difference.

One-and-a-Half Handed

One-and-a-half handed (1.5H) melee weapons are nearly as convenient as one-handed weapons, but suffer penalties to both speed and damage when using a shield you aren't yet skilled enough for. Ranged weapons only suffer a moderate penalty to the attack delay when using a shield.

One-and-a-half handed weapons suffer a random reduction in accuracy, speed, and damage that will be in the range of 0 to your ASEVP for each. Thus, at zero skill, a weapon will suffer a damage, accuracy and speed reduction of 0 to 1/3/5 for bucklers/shields/large shields. The accuracy penalty is in addition to any caused by your AEVP.

This effect is somewhat more severe than with a one-handed weapon, although a character wielding a trident with a buckler at zero skill is going to notice very little difference. Still, it is best to either have sufficient Shields skill or be training to it when wielding 1.5-handed weapons.

Two-Handed

Two-handed (2H) melee weapons simply cannot be used along with a shield. They usually deal extremely heavy damage to make up for this restriction. You may use two-handed ranged weapons with a shield, but you will suffer a severe penalty to the attack delay.

Double

Double weapons are generally even less effective than 1.5H weapons with a shield; along with the 1.5H penalties for fighting with a shield, base damage is halved, making use with a shield extremely undesirable. However, this only applies to quarterstaves and lajatangs; the other double weapons use unique rules:

• Staves are treated as 1.5H weapons for medium or large species, and as 2H for small species.
• Dire flails are treated as 2H for medium or large species, and are too large for small species.