Shields: what do they do when a character is not crouching?

[BiggRigg42]

On page 209 in "A Time of War", it is said that the shield is to be treated as Barrier Armor, and it provides full cover when crouched.

Does the shield do anything for a character when said character is not crouched, and how would this work with the optional hit location rules?

[guardiandashi]

On page 209 in "A Time of War", it is said that the shield is to be treated as Barrier Armor, and it provides full cover when crouched.

Does the shield do anything for a character when said character is not crouched, and how would this work with the optional hit location rules?

The way I would Interpet that is:
First you determine the size of the shield,once you have that, you determine how much of the characters using the shield for cover would be blocked or obscured by the shield. That then determines how much cover it provides, and what if any locations would be covered or blocked from being hit by attacks past the shield.
To consider historical shields the Roman "Tower" shields might cover said Roman from knee to chin for instance in that  case the characters would likely have 3/4 cover and more if they crouched or ducked a bit.
A kite shield might provide 1/4 or 1/2 cover depending.

Hope it helps

Edit stupid auto correct on my tablet .

[Maelwys]

Depending on how they were holding the shield while not crouched, you could adjust the amount of cover provided. Page 178 has modifiers for light, moderate and heavy cover along with full cover, so you can use those modifiers.

[BiggRigg42]

Thanks guys. It looks like we are supposed to create our own rules for how shields work apart from crouching? Your input really helps though.

[Maelwys]

Well, you have the basic rules. Use the Barrier armor rules, and when you're crouching, you have full cover. When you're not crouching, you're going to have to use your best judgement on how much of the person is covered.

[BiggRigg42]

That makes sense. I get it now. If crouching gives you full cover, then not crouching gives you some form of partial cover. This follows by common sense, but read as written had me at a loss. Thanks again.