A buckler, also known as a target shield, is a small round shield of wood or metal that fastens to the forearm. It can be worn by crossbowmen and archers with no hindrance to their attacks with their chosen weapons. Because of its small size (approximately 1' in diameter), a buckler protects against one attack per melee round. The user can choose which attack he wishes to use his buckler against, but he must declare this before the attack roll has been made. This increases the defender's armor class only by 1 (more if magical) against that single attack.
Note: Bucklers should be treated not as full shields when determining the armor class of the user, but more as a special item that can be called upon to add extra protection for one attack per round.
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