Cover Command

[Mills]

Cover (Defense)

This command raises an equipped shield up allowing the character to take cover under it. It is useful for gaining additional protection against projectile attacks. This command provides a bonus to the "shield use" skill calculations for projectiles that are about to hit a character. Successfully blocking a blow may not negate all damage, but it will reduce it from what it would have been. While under the cover of a shield, all character combat attacks are slowed significantly.

Notes:

Wielding the shield (i.e., "ep shield") increases your character's chance of success.

Example:
>cover
Amos raises a shield and takes cover under it.

>cover
Amos lowers a shield.

Delay: After

See Also: Shield Use

[frankjacoby]

I like this a lot, I would also say that while under the effects, your movement delay is greatly increased, also, scan or watch should factor into the success of this skill.

[Veselka]

I like it too. It would be cool if you could provide cover for other people as well.

As another negative, it should make you very vulnerable to melee attacks (Lower your defense overall). If you attack in melee, you break cover.

If you do 'cover amos', you provide cover to Amos.

If you do 'cover amos <direction>', and they are also taking cover under a shield, you take cover with Amos (AKA Shield Wall). This increases your defense against projectiles, increases your defense against melee, and also makes you harder to bash. However, it makes it so you cannot take movement without breaking cover/the 'shield wall'. You have to provide a direction that you are facing (west/north/south/east/up/down).

If you are engaged in this 2+ version of cover, you cannot swing back, you can only defend.

If you are grouped with the shield wall participants (follow person), all attacks are directed to the shield wall folks first depending on their guard skill (basically allows them to guard multiple people).

It also drastically increases damage to shield wall participants from backstab and projectiles shot from directions other than the one you are facing.

These positives/negatives are increased with the more people a part of the shield wall, to the point that you become unbashable/deflect projectiles very effectively from that direction.

Cool idea!

[Bogre]

One goal in the future might be to allow this to be used with things / structures in the room, like destroyed wagons, big boulders, and the like.

<cover boulder>

You duck behind a boulder, taking cover.