Shield Enhancement Bonus

Magical enchantments can be applied to shields in two different forms: as a Shield Enhancement Bonus, or in the form of Shield Magic Properties.

If a shield is enchanted with an enhancement bonus, the enhancement bonus is added directly to the shield's base shield bonus to AC, for purposes of determining the total AC provided by the shield. Thus, a +3 heavy steel shield, which has a base shield bonus to AC of 2, adds a total of 5 points to your armor class (counting the +3 enhancement bonus). The shield is still described as a +3 shield (not a +5 shield), since enhancement bonuses can only go up to +9, and the cost of the enhancement bonus is based on the plus provided. It is also a descriptive indicator of the shield's magical power.

A shield enhancement bonus stacks with other kinds of bonuses to AC, but not with other shield enhancement bonuses. If two different sources of shield enhancement bonus are available, only the highest available bonus may be used.

A Shield Enhancement Bonus only provides a bonus to Armor Class. It has no effect on the shield's other attributes, such as Armor Check Penalty, Dex Penalty to AC, etc.