Animated Shield icon: a round shield
Icon by Willdabeast, CC BY 3.0

Animated Shield 5e magic item

Armor (shield), very rare (requires attunement) · 2024 version below

Type
Armor
Rarity
Very Rare
Attunement
Required
Price (2014)
5,001–50,000 gp (DMG value range)
Price (2024)
40,000 gp plus the base item

While holding this shield, you can speak its command word as a bonus action to cause it to animate. The shield leaps into the air and hovers in your space to protect you as if you were wielding it, leaving your hands free. The shield remains animated for 1 minute, until you use a bonus action to end this effect, or until you are incapacitated or die, at which point the shield falls to the ground or into your hand if you have one free.

Animated Shield in the 2024 rules

The 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide revised the magic items, and the SRD 5.2 carries the new text. What changed:

Same rarity and attunement; the text is reworded for the 2024 rules glossary.

Type
Armor (Shield)
Rarity
Very Rare
Attunement
Required

While holding this Shield, you can take a Bonus Action to cause it to animate. The Shield leaps into the air and hovers in your space to protect you as if you were wielding it, leaving your hands free. The Shield remains animate for 1 minute, until you take a Bonus Action to end this effect, or until you die or have the Incapacitated condition, at which point the Shield falls to the ground or into your hand if you have one free.

Other very rare armor

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