Bulwark
Fighters have a habit of playing offense, but not all fighters have to. Cavalier has a protective, defensive streak, but we’ve decided to push it farther. With the Bulwark, now you can really play the shield wall fighter of your armored dreams.
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Martial Archetype: Bulwark
Bulwarks make up some of the most fearsome frontline fighters any troop could ask for. Wielding shields as tall as themselves, they are trained to provide cover for their companions and sustain the trials of war. There is no greater asset to an army—and no greater nuisance for its opponents—than a well-positioned bulwark.
Front Line Guardian
3rd-level Bulwark feature
You have trained to position your shield to best protect your allies. While you wield a shield, allied creatures within 5 feet of you have half cover.
Guarded Persona
3rd-level Bulwark feature
You guard yourself in ways that go beyond physical means. You have advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks to determine if a creature is dangerous to you or carries hostile intent, and you have advantage on Charisma (Deception) checks to withhold information that would compromise you and your companions.
Castling
7th-level Bulwark feature
You can reorient your allies on the battlefield. As a bonus action, you choose a number of creatures that you can see within 30 feet, up to your proficiency bonus. Those creatures can use their reaction to move up to their movement speed towards you without provoking opportunity attacks.
Vigilant Positioning
10th-level Bulwark feature
You’re ready to spring into a defensive stance at a moment’s notice. When you roll initiative, you gain temporary hit points equal to your fighter level and you can immediately move up to your movement speed (no action required).
Vengeful Warden
15th-level Bulwark feature
You can drive your enemies to the ground when you deflect their attacks. When a creature misses you or another creature within 5 feet of you with a melee attack, you can force that creature to make a Strength saving throw (DC equal to 8 + your Strength modifier + your proficiency bonus). On a failed save, the creature is pushed up to 10 feet away and knocked prone.
Rapid Shelter
18th-level Bulwark feature
You can exert yourself to rapidly hoist your shield to cover a creature, completely sheltering it from harmful effects. When you or a creature within 5 feet of you is targeted with an attack or a harmful effect, you can use your reaction to grant the target full cover from that attack or effect.
You must be wielding a shield to shelter a creature in this way, and once you do, you must finish a short or long rest before you can do it again.
Tower Shields
Tower shields are large and cumbersome shields used for a superior defense. Characters with proficiency with shields also have proficiency with tower shields. Alternatively, if your GM is concerned about tower shields becoming too prevalent, they can restrict proficiency with tower shields to bulwarks only.
As an action, a creature can place a tower shield on the ground to create cover 5 feet high and 3 feet wide. Small creatures that wield a tower shield have disadvantage on attack rolls. Tower shields count as shields for the purpose of features such as the Protection fighting style, and you can only benefit from a single shield or tower shield at a time. A tower shield takes 1 minute to don and an action to doff.
Tower shields have the following statistics:
Cost: 50 gp
Armor Class (AC): +3
Strength: Str 15
Stealth: Disadvantage
Weight: 25 lb.
