Maintaining Equipment (SNS)

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The rules that follow apply to all characters not just blacksmiths.
Adventurers' gear undergoes a great deal of abuse in the course of their travels. Heroes must continually sharpen their blades, smooth out the dents in their chestplates, and repair the broken links of their mail, or these essential objects will fail at the most inopportune time-mostly when heroes need these items to stave off death.
==Damaging Armor==
Whenever a character sustains damage from an attack in which the attacker rolled a natural 20, the defender's armor must make a saving throw versus crushing blow. The DM should then consult Table 52: Weapon Type vs. Armor Modifiers in the Players Handbook and apply the specific modifier to the armor's saving throw roll.
For example, a fighter wearing chain mail is struck by a club-wielding ogre that rolled a 20. The chain mail's save vs. crushing blow is a 7. The fighter rolls an 8, but the DM subtracts 2 from the roll after consulting Table 52. The final roll is a 6, which is insufficient to save versus the attack.
Magical armor add +1 to its saving throw for every +1 of its bonus. If the armor in question makes its save, it remains unaffected by the blow. Armor that fails this saving throw, however, sustains damage.
The DM should treat damaged armor as if it were poorly made; the armor is still usable, but it functions as 1 AC worse than usual. Unlike the disguised weakness of poorly made armor, however, the weaknesses of damaged armor are quite obvious. Anyone who looks at a suit of damaged armor can clearly see the rents, dents, and tears.
Damaged armor requires skilled repair by someone with the Armorer proficiency. Until that time, the armor suffers a -1 to any future saving throws. This penalty is cumulative. A suit of armor damaged three times without repair suffers a -3 penalty to all saving throws.
Nonmagical armor can only sustain four separate instances of damage. If the armor remains unrepaired after four hits, it will automatically break the next time an opponent rolls a natural 19 or 20. Broken armor does not provide any protection (treat the user as if he were not wearing any armor) and hampers its wearer's movement rate by half. In addition, the wearer suffers a -4 penalty on attack rolls until he removes the armor or takes it to a blacksmith for repairs.
Magical armor is more resilient than its mundane counterpart due to its enchanted nature and superior quality. A magical suit of armor can sustain four hits and an additional hit for every magical plus before breaking. Thus, a suit of chain mail +2 could sustain a total of 6 (4+2 for its magical bonus) hits before breaking.
==Damaging Shields==
Shields can sustain damage during combat, as well. However, these items only need to make a saving throw vs. crushing blow when struck with an attack roll of 20 by bludgeoning weapons or heavy slashing weapons such as axes.
These attacks must come from the front or the flanks of the defender in order to affect the shield. Rear attacks do not have any chance to damage a shield unless the defender strapped a shield to his back. Again, magical shields are more resilient than nonmagical ones. A magical shield can sustain a number of hits equal to its magical plus before breaking. Thus, a shield +2 could handle two damaging strikes before breaking.
==Damaging Weapons==
Weapons can suffer damage just like armor. However, this damage usually stems from the efforts of the attacker instead of the defender.
When an attacker rolls a natural 1 on his attack, his weapon must make a saving throw vs. crushing blow. Remember that a magical weapon adds +1 to its roll for every magical plus. If the item makes its saving throw, nothing happens. However, if the item fails its save, it sustains damage. Damaged weapons suffer a -1 penalty to any future saving throws and a -1 penalty to future attack and damage rolls. The penalties are due to a dulling of the blade, notching of the head, or any other damage that might affect the performance and balance of a particular weapon.
If the item in question fails its save with a roll of 1, the weapon breaks (a bow snaps, a blade cracks, the haft of a mace splinters, etc.) The weapon is entirely useless in any combat situation.
==Forceful Blow Option==
The DM can apply these same damage rules whenever an attacker rolls a natural 20 and inflicts the maximum amount of possible damage. This reflects the fact that a truly powerful blow can hurt a weapon as well as a defender.
Weapons can sustain damage a number of times equal to half of their maximum damage potential (vs. man-sized creatures) rounded down. The weapon breaks once it surpasses its maximum damage number.
For example, a long sword normally does 1d8 points of damage-making its maximum damage 8 points. The long sword could sustain damage 4 times (8x2-4). If the weapon sustains damage a fifth time, it breaks.
Magical weapons add their bonuses to their damage potential before dividing the number in half. A long sword +3 has a maximum damage of 11 (8+3). It could sustain damage five times before it shattered. 
Penalties incurred on damaged weapons are cumulative. For instance, a long sword damaged four times would make future saves at -4 and suffer a -4 penalty to-hit.
==Damaging magical Armor and Weapons==
When a magical weapon or suit of armor breaks, it loses all of its combat abilities. However, any other magical abilities inherent in the item can still function. For instance, a suit of armor of blending still appears as a normal suit of clothes even though the armor itself is broken. Intelligent swords even retain their sentience and noncombat powers, although they are useless in combat.
However, these additional powers continue to work only while each of the now-separate pieces of the item touch each other. A broken blade, for instance, still works if the pieces rest against each other in the sword's scabbard. If anyone removes a piece, the sword's powers do not function.