What is the "SRD"?
I don't see how a tower shield could logically weigh 45.0 pounds if full plate mail is only 50.0 pounds.
Then there's also the fact that my shield magically grew from (I think) 21.6 pounds to 36.0 pounds? I would at least expect some extra protection from that magical growth.
It is the same exact item, I don't think it is fair to slam everyone with a shield with this extra weight. It's not like we bought new shields or anything. The old Machinist's crossbows didn't get nerfed when the new one was implemented.
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Ah, I'm not done...
Another reason why a shield couldn't weigh fourty-five pounds:
A cleric or a fighter is almost always found wearing full plate armor. Tower shields compliment full plate armor more than they compliment the lighter armors... that said, I'm finding it hard to imagine that someone who's already wearing heavy armor could concievably carry a fourty-five pound shield on his
weak arm, let alone be able to move that arm to be able to block attacks or maneuver to strike. It doesn't make sense. I wouldn't even expect Arnold Schwarzenegger to be able to handle a tower shield in full plate mail, and he has what, a strength modifier of at least 6?
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