Thoughts on PLD changes

[TouchandFeel]

Cleaving a shield would be practically impossible, a poorly made or damaged one maybe. The only time you'd hit a shield would be either your blow was blocked or you willingly attacked it, both bad options.

You definitely can break or cleave through a shield with the right weapon.

Most shields used in actual combat throughout history weren't made from large sheets of metal, but from wood that was often reinforced with leather binding and strategically placed small pieces of metal for greater strength. Shields made almost entirely of metal didn't really appear until much later and were much smaller in size and tended to be for tourney, ceremonial use or fencing like the buckler. The sheer weight and unwieldiness of a large metal shield pretty much excludes their practical use on the battlefield.

A weapon with enough weight and inertia behind it like a large axe, maul or a large heavy sword like the Dacian Falx would potentially be able to get through a shield or at least mess it up enough to render it fairly useless.
Historical records even mention how the Roman legions were thrown for a loop a bit because of certain weapons like the Francisca and the Dacian Falx being able to break through their shields and injure or kill the soldier, rendering their shield formations less effective.

Also, directly attacking the shield in an attempt to break it was a tactic that was actually used on the battlefield. In the instance of large shieldwall formations, the intent of directly attacking the shields is obvious, to break the through the formation. In foot combat, shields would sometimes be targeted in an attempt to hinder the enemy. Many shields were not actually just held but strapped to the body in some way, such as a forearm strap or shoulder strap. If you break your enemy's shield and render it virtually useless, that leaves them encumbered with a busted shield getting in the way of their movement, giving you an advantage that could be the difference between life or death.