Shields shall be splintered!

When a character is hit by an attack, the player can declare that their shield absorbs the blow instead of the character.  The shield is shattered and discarded, but you don’t take any damage from that hit.

A magical shield may also be used to absorb an attack, but each time doing so the shield loses one plus of its magical ability.  Once it reaches +0 its enchantment is lost and it becomes a normal shield, also losing any special abilities.  (Rune-engraved shields do not count as magical shields.)

Special shields made from the the wood of Yggdrasill are not considered enchanted but may be sacrificed to automatically make one saving throw.  Few know the true location of Yggdrassill and much care is taken to harvest only enough to not harm the World Tree.

This rule allows for easier survivability of fighting characters because of the lower standards of armor in the dark ages.

This cannot be combined with the two-handed fighting rule.

Adapted from Trollsmyth.