Must I doff a shield to use it as an improvised weapon?

@dpnorton “Must I doff a shield to use it as an improvised weapon?” Nope. It’s shield-bash time!

— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) February 12, 2015

Does proficiency with my shield apply to a shield bash? Why doesn’t every monster with a shield detail a bash?

@dpnorton If you attack with a shield, it’s a normal improvised weapon, unless a special feature says otherwise. @SeldenNeil

— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) February 13, 2015

@dpnorton The Dueling feature makes some assumptions about imp. weapons that aren’t in the text. I’ll explain in Sage Advice.@MLenser

— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) February 13, 2015