So having given it a decent amount of thought i think i have a few ideas for some relatively interesting new shield concepts.
first off i think the wooden shield is fine the way it is, but i have some ideas for additions. primarily i think the addition of special gilding for shields would be a good idea. For example a metal reinforcement that gives a percentage boost to durability and a small increase to armor value +0/+1 at q10 or something. i also think something like a gold/silver banding would be interesting for an increase to charisma or will, or as an alternative allowing us to socket gemstones into a shield.
Secondarily i do think the addition of specifically two new metal shields would be a solid addition. the first of these would be a kite/round shield what would have more armor deflect but less armor soak then wooden shields, as well as an increase to durability. the second being a tower shield, i would imagine it to be an extremely defensive piece of armor that would have very high soak and deflect but would come at the cost of a reduction to dexterity and an increase to combat cool down.