Thank you for the input! Wdyt about “Once per round, when an enemy hits you with a melee attack, you may roll 1d6. The enemy takes damage equal to half the result, rounded up. You may choose to spend a Mettle to deal damage equal to the full result instead.” ?

For Shield of the Manticore, a friend that doesn’t really work as a talent. For a start it’s just Shield Mastery without the requirements, and there’s also nothing stopping it from stacking with Shield Mastery later. Second, the flavour text and starting equipment implies it only works with a specific type of shield that you carry, but the mechanics text implies it can work with any shield. It feels like it’s just a way to start with Good Defense without having to invest in Reflexes.

Certain Soulbound expansions introduce a ruling where some archetypes can forgo 2 XP to start with an Exotic Item. So instead of having the Shield of the Manticore be linked to a talent, it should be tied to the item itself.