In general, I agree it's a horrible idea for an orc to wear a shield, but I didn't see a logical reason to prevent Smear from working on it if you really wanted to. (That said, a shield affected by Smear is a suspiciously good shield.) The decision was based on surface area.

As for the full helm, I'd again invoke surface area, and I'm also partial to providing an advantage to a gear classification that is normally a drawback. If you aren't wearing a full helm, you get two pieces of gear with two sets of abilities, and there's already plenty of incentive to do that.

(As an aside, it was an oversight that full helms aren't better than they are for Armor Use skills. I'd like to remedy that at some point to create the kind of strategic decision I allude to above.)

Even if you decide that Smear-ing a shield is nigh-useless (I'd agree, FWIW), and that you'd prefer the spiked mask or whatever to a full helm, you still have four eligible slots-- on body, about body, arms, and legs. The combined impact of that, even at a low Smear skill, is worth the practice slots in my opinion. Note also that Smear boosts Armor Use in those slots, and that they are the best slots (neglecting Shield Block, which is for wussy defensive people anyway) for deflecting blows, especially from foes shorter than you.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com