Given how widely and commonly available shields (even large ones) have been throughout history, it seems pretty strange to have them be as expensive as Wealth Level 2 and 3. I do understand how the properties add up to those Wealth Levels. My question is: what might be some good ways to lower the Wealth Levels for shields to more realistic values while still maintaining proper balance? Perhaps adding the Slow and/or Heavy properties?
Shields are same cost as some weapons.
But yes, slow would decrease cost by 1
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If you are GM, you can just say they are less. Lots of text through out equipment that say as such.
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Go with wooden shields and give them a limited number of times they can use the defend action before they break. Or don’t worry about it and just say they are cheaper as mentioned above.
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The broad nature of the Wealth Level system means this sort of thing happens occasionally. You’ll notice that even though a dagger is much smaller and would be much cheaper than a sword, they cost the same, and a longsword is a strict upgrade on a shortsword but also fits into the same WL. As a GM you should always feel free to tweak this to better fit your setting.
What I also do is make cheaper items way more common. Maybe a shield does cost WL 2, but you can buy it basically anywhere while a for a sword you’d have to go to a dedicated swordsmith. It helps create the illusion of a sword being more valuable without actually changing anything about the cost.
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Thank you all for replying. Great suggestions!