Holtzman Shield

Dune has energy shields that only allow slow objects to penetrate them. Excellent for protecting against bullets. Fading suns also has this. It's a way to make melee dueling possible in the age of guns

Guidelines and ideas

• • Shields have a minimum damage threshold. anything over this gets blocked

  • Shields could block "fast" objects. This means pretty much all missile weapons, and most melee strikes

  • One could combine the speed with the minimum damage

  • environmental damage like falls gets done just like the hits. Mythras rules already provide for being hit in multiple locations

  • Shields should have a maximum energy threshold before they burn out. This should be per cycle

  • treat Holtzman Shields like regular shields for the purposes of knockback/bashing. Thus, they can be used to push back troops

  • in fact, you can "attack with the shield" and it doesn't take a hand. Treat as unarmed, and as part of the style.

The Slow Blade Penetrates the Shield

So how is this emulated? I think probably as a special effect. The combat with the shields makes regular blows largely about positioning and putting your opponent at a disadvantage. Lets go with "minimize damage" being a special effect here, and a Critical one. This will let you get through the shield