Shield Bearer’s Bond

Beginning when you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you learn a ritual that facilitates the bond you share with your allies and the promise to protect them. You perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short or long rest. Your party must be able to hear you throughout the ritual, at the conclusion of which you don a shield forging the bond. While you are within 10 feet of a bonded ally, and are holding a shield, you can add your shields AC bonus, up to a maximum of 2, to your melee weapon damage rolls. This bonus increases when you reach certain levels in this class, increasing to 3 at 7th level, 4 at 15th level, and 5 at 20th level.

Defensive Strikes

Starting at 3rd level, your training allows you to make use of shields in an offensive manner. Shields you use count as simple melee weapons with which you are proficient, and deal 1d6 bludgeoning damage. You use Strength for the attack and damage rolls for your shield attacks. Once per turn, when you score a critical hit with a melee weapon, you can make an additional melee weapon attack with a shield as part of the same action. The damage of your shields increases to 1d8 at 11th level, and 1d10 at 18th level.

Oath of the Shield Guardian

Starting at 7th level, you can rush to an allies aid at the risk of your own wellbeing. As a bonus action you can make a binding oath to a target friendly creature within 30 feet for 1 minute. You receive the damage bonus from Shield Bearer’s Bond while within 30 feet of an oathbound creature. In addition, when a creature you are oathbound to is within 30 feet of you, and becomes the target of an attack, you can use your reaction to move up to your speed, without provoking opportunity attacks, to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the oath bound creature and take the attack instead. This effect ends if you are incapacitated, drop to 0 hit points, or you target another creature with this feature. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.

Countering Assault

Beginning at 10th level, you’ve become accustomed to defending against an onslaught of attacks, and then countering with your own when the enemy least expects it. When a creature misses you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to make an opportunity attack against the creature. A creature attacked this way has disadvantage on their next attack. If a creature misses you with a melee attack while using Oath of the Shield Guardian to take the attack, you can use this feature as part of the same reaction.

Protective Phalanx

At 15th level, your skill with a shield allows you to defend those around you more effectively as your presence becomes too prominent to ignore. Other friendly creatures within 5 feet of you gain a +2 bonus to their AC and +4 to their Dexterity saving throws. In addition, when one or more creatures are under the effects of Protective Phalanx and are subject to an effect that allows them to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, a creature can use their reaction to instead take no damage if it succeeds on the saving throw, and only half damage if it fails.

Steel Dragon Stance

At 18th level you have mastered the art of a balanced defense and offense, striking down your opponents through precise deflections and patience. While holding a shield, you can use your bonus action to shift into the stance of the steel dragon. For 1 minute, you gain the following benefits:

• Your Defensive Strikes deal an extra 1d6 bludgeoning damage.
• When you use Oath of the Shield Guardian to take an attack meant for another creature, you have resistance to the damage to that attack.
• You can now select up to two targets for Oath of the Shield Guardian. The bond on the earliest creature ends when you target a third creature.
• In combat you gain a special reaction. You can use this extra reaction only for Oath of the Shield Guardian.

Once you use this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.