The buckler

One minor question came up when the folks were equipping their characters.  Can I use a buckler and two weapons?  I guess in a lot of systems a buckler is strapped on to the arm and leaves the hand free.  That's not what I thought a buckler was, but I can see where the idea comes from.  Here's what I was thinking when I put the buckler in the rules.

by an unknown master

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckler

It's held in the fist and can only be used to block (it's useless as passive defense).  I thought it was a good way to utilize the beacon blocking rules.

Instead of attacking in a round, a character may try to block an attack.  When blocking, apply a character’s STR bonus + Shield bonus to their AC.
A Block can only happen if you have a shield or a melee weapon equipped (primary or an offhand weapon). 

So a buckler is great for that.  It's light and cheap and if it doesn't give you any AC bonus, neither does it give you any duel weild penalties. And you use it when you need to block a hit.  I like the picture in the article too.  Those dudes are not just trading hats!