@JeremyECrawford Do unconscious characters drop their shields?
— Chris Chapman (@GammaViking) 7 maggio 2018
While a shield is strapped to your arm, you don't drop the shield if you fall unconscious. #DnD https://t.co/4Q0OjpHIDT
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) 7 maggio 2018
Not all shields are strapped to a person’s arm! In fact, the vast majority of shields historically were actually NOT strapped to the arm!
But even putting aside actual historical realism, this ruling blatantly ignores the very rules that Crawford himself wrote! When a creature falls unconscious, worn items remain on their person, but they drop what they are holding – and the entry for shields clearly indicates that you ~CARRY~ a shield, not ~WEAR~ one.
(This also reveals a separate flaw and inconsistency in the rules – shields shouldn’t be included in the Don / Doff rules, because you don’t wear them! You are specifically say to “carry” and to “wield” them, meaning they should be treated just like a sword, bag of coins, or any other object you can hold in one hand, and shouldn’t require an entire action to draw or pick up.