Equipment

Your character starts out with 5 gold pieces (50 silver pieces) to spend on any common items from this chapter. Items with an uncommon rarity can be purchased only if you have special access from abilities you selected during character creation or your GM gives you permission to purchase them. Once you’ve purchased your starting items, there are three main ways to gain new items and equipment: you can find them during an adventure, make them using the Crafting skill, or purchase them from a merchant.

### Coins And Currency

Though you might be able to barter valuable items in some areas, currency is the most versatile way to make transactions when you head to market. The most common currency is coins. For most commoners and beginning adventurers, the standard unit is the silver piece (sp). Each silver piece is a standard weight of silver and is typically accepted by any merchant or kingdom no matter where it was minted. There are three other common types of coins, each likewise standardized in weight and value. The first is the copper piece (cp). Each copper piece is worth one‑tenth of a silver piece. The gold piece (gp) is often used for purchasing magic items and other expensive items, as 1 gold piece is worth 10 silver pieces or 100 copper pieces. The platinum piece (pp) is used by nobles to demonstrate their wealth, for the purchase of very expensive items, or simply as a way to easily transport large sums of currency. A platinum piece is worth 10 gold pieces, 100 silver pieces, or 1,000 copper pieces

Coin Values
 Silver Piece (SP)
 Gold Piece (GP)
 Platinum Piece (PP)

#### Other Currency

Art objects, gems, and raw materials (such as those used for the Craft activity) can be used much like currency: you can sell them for the same Price you can buy them.

### Price

Most items in the following tables have a Price, which is the amount of currency it typically takes to purchase that item. An item with a Price of “—” can’t be purchased. An item with a Price of 0 is normally free, but its value could be higher based on the materials used to create it. Most items can be sold for half their Price, but coins, gems, art objects, and raw materials (such as components for the Craft activity) can be exchanged for their full Price.

### Item Level

Each item has an item level, which represents the item’s complexity and any magic used in its construction. Simpler items with a lower level are easier to construct, and you can’t Craft items that have a higher level than your own. If an item’s level isn’t listed, its level is 0. While characters can use items of any level, GMs should keep in mind that allowing characters access to items far above their current level may have a negative impact on the game

### Carrying And Using Items

A character typically has two hands, allowing them to hold an item in each hand or a single two-handed item using both hands. Drawing or changing how you’re carrying an item usually requires you to use an Interact action (though to drop an item, you use the Release action instead). Many ways of using items require you to spend multiple actions. For example, drinking a potion stowed in your belt pouch requires using an Interact action to draw it and then using a second action to drink it as described in its Activate entry.

#### Bulk

Carrying especially heavy or unwieldy items can make it more difficult for you to move, as can overloading yourself with too much gear. The Bulk value of an item reflects how difficult the item is to handle, representing its size, weight, and general awkwardness. If you have a high Strength score, you usually don’t need to worry about Bulk unless you’re carrying numerous substantial items.

##### Bulk Limits

You can carry an amount of Bulk equal to 5 plus your Strength modifier without penalty; if you carry more, you gain the encumbered condition. You can’t hold or carry more Bulk than 10 plus your Strength modifier.

###### Encumbered

You are carrying more weight than you can manage. While you’re encumbered, you’re clumsy 1 and take a –10-foot penalty to all your Speeds. As with all penalties to your Speed, this can’t reduce your Speed below 5 feet.

##### Bulk Values

Items can have a number to indicate their Bulk value, or they can be light (indicated by an L) or negligible (indicated by a —) for the purpose of determining Bulk. For instance, full plate armor is 4 Bulk, a longsword is 1 Bulk, a dagger or scroll is light, and a piece of chalk is negligible. Ten light items count as 1 Bulk, and you round down fractions (so 9 light items count as 0 Bulk, and 11 light items count as 1 Bulk). Items of negligible Bulk don’t count toward Bulk.

##### Estimating an Item's Bulk

As a general rule, an item that weighs 5 to 10 pounds is 1 Bulk, an item weighing less than a few ounces is negligible, and anything in between is light. Particularly awkward or unwieldy items might have higher Bulk values. For example, a 10-foot pole isn’t heavy, but its length makes it difficult for you to move while you have one on your person, so its Bulk is 1. Items made for larger or smaller creatures have greater or lesser Bulk.

##### Bulk of Coins

Coins are a popular means of exchange due to their portability, but they can still add up. A thousand coins of any denomination or combination of denominations count as 1 Bulk. It’s not usually necessary to determine the Bulk of coins in fractions of 1,000; simply round down fractions of 1,000. In other words, 100 coins don’t count as a light item, and 1,999 coins are 1 Bulk, not 2.

##### Bulk Of Creatures

You might need to know the Bulk of a creature, especially if you need to carry someone off the battlefield. The table that follows lists the typical Bulk of a creature based on its size.

Bulk Of Creatures
 Small
 Medium
 Large
 Huge
 Gargantuan

##### Dragging

In some situations, you might drag an object or creature rather than carry it. If you’re dragging something, treat its Bulk as half. Typically, you can drag one thing at a time, you must use both hands to do so, and you drag slowly—roughly 50 feet per minute unless you have some means to speed it up. Use the total Bulk of what you’re dragging, so if you have a sack laden with goods, use the sum of all the Bulk it carries instead of an individual item within.

#### Wielding Items

Some abilities require you to wield an item, typically a weapon. You’re wielding an item any time you’re holding it in the number of hands needed to use it effectively. When wielding an item, you’re not just carrying it around—you’re ready to use it. Other abilities might require you to merely carry or have an item. These apply as long as you have the item on your person; you don’t have to wield it.

### Item Damage

An item can be broken or destroyed if it takes enough damage. Every item has a Hardness value. Each time an item takes damage, reduce any damage the item takes by its Hardness. The rest of the damage reduces the item’s Hit Points. Normally an item takes damage only when a creature is directly attacking it—commonly targeted items include doors and traps. A creature that attacks you doesn’t normally damage your armor or other gear, even if it hits you. However, the Shield Block reaction can cause your shield to take damage as you use it to prevent damage to yourself, and some monsters have exceptional abilities that can damage your items. An item that takes damage can become broken and eventually destroyed. It becomes broken when its Hit Points are equal to or lower than its Broken Threshold (BT); once its Hit Points are reduced to 0, it is destroyed. A broken item has the broken condition until Repaired above its Broken Threshold. Anything that automatically makes an item broken immediately reduces its Hit Points to its Broken Threshold if the item had more Hit Points than that when the effect occurred. If an item has no Broken Threshold, then it has no relevant changes to its function due to being broken, but it’s still destroyed at 0 Hit Points. A destroyed item can’t be Repaired. An item’s Hardness, Hit Points, and Broken Threshold usually depend on the material the item is made of.

* If you retrieve a two-handed item with only one hand, you still need to change your grip before you can wield or use it.
* A creature must have a hand free for someone to pass an item to them, and they might then need to change their grip if they receive an item requiring two hands to wield or use.
* Retrieving an item stowed in your own backpack requires first taking off the backpack with a separate interact action.

##### Broken

Broken is a condition that affects objects. An object is broken when damage has reduced its Hit Points below its Broken Threshold. A broken object can’t be used for its normal function, nor does it grant bonuses—with the exception of armor. Broken armor still grants its item bonus to AC, but it also imparts a status penalty to AC depending on its category: –1 for broken light armor, –2 for broken medium armor, or –3 for broken heavy armor. A broken item still imposes penalties and limitations normally incurred by carrying, holding, or wearing it. For example, broken armor would still impose its Dexterity modifier cap, check penalty, and so forth. If an effect makes an item broken automatically and the item has more HP than its Broken Threshold, that effect also reduces the item’s current HP to the Broken Threshold.

#### Object Immunities

Inanimate objects and hazards are immune to bleed, death effects, disease, healing, mental effects, necromancy, nonlethal attacks, and poison, as well as the doomed, drained, fatigued, paralyzed, sickened, and unconscious conditions. An item that has a mind is not immune to mental effects. Many objects are immune to other conditions, at the GM’s discretion. For instance, a sword has no Speed, so it can’t take a penalty to its Speed, but an effect that causes a Speed penalty might work on a moving blade trap.

### Shoddy Items

Improvised or of dubious make, shoddy items are never available for purchase except for in the most desperate of communities. When available, a shoddy item usually costs half the Price of a standard item, though you can never sell one in any case. Attacks and checks involving a shoddy item take a –2 item penalty. This penalty also applies to any DCs that a shoddy item applies to (such as AC, for shoddy armor). A shoddy suit of armor also worsens the armor’s check penalty by 2. A shoddy item’s Hit Points and Broken Threshold are each half that of a normal item of its type.

## Armor

### Armor Class

Your Armor Class (AC) measures how well you can defend against attacks. When a creature attacks you, your Armor Class is the DC for that attack roll.

**Armor Class = 10 + Dexterity modifier (up to your armor’s Dex Cap) + proficiency bonus + armor’s item bonus to AC + other bonuses + penalties**

Use your proficiency bonus for the category (light, medium, or heavy) or the specific type of armor you’re wearing. If you’re not wearing armor, use your proficiency in unarmored defense.

### Donning And Removing Armor

Getting in and out of armor is time consuming—so make sure you’re wearing it when you need it! Donning and removing armor are both activities involving many Interact actions. It takes 1 minute to don light armor, 5 minutes to don medium or heavy armor, and 1 minute to remove any armor.

### Armor Statistics

Unarmored Defense provides the statistics for the various forms of protection without wearing armor. Armor provides the statistics for suits of armor that can be purchased and worn, organized by category. The columns in both tables provide the following statistics.

#### Category

The armor’s category—unarmored, light armor, medium armor, or heavy armor—indicates which proficiency bonus you use while wearing the armor.

#### AC Bonus

This number is the item bonus you add for the armor when determining Armor Class.

#### Dexterity Modifier Cap (DEX CAP)

This number is the maximum amount of your Dexterity modifier that can apply to your AC while you are wearing a given suit of armor. For example, if you have a Dexterity modifier of +4 and you are wearing a suit of half plate, you apply only a +1 bonus from your Dexterity modifier to your AC while wearing that armor.

#### Check Penalty

While wearing your armor, you take this penalty to Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks, except for those that have the attack trait. If you meet the armor’s Strength threshold (see Strength below), you don’t take this penalty.

#### Speed Penalty

While wearing a suit of armor, you take the penalty listed in this entry to your Speed, as well as to any other movement types you have, such as a climb Speed or swim Speed, to a minimum Speed of 5 feet. If you meet the armor’s Strength threshold (see below), you reduce the penalty by 5 feet.

#### Strength

This entry indicates the Strength score at which you are strong enough to overcome some of the armor’s penalties. If your Strength is equal to or greater than this value, you no longer take the armor’s check penalty, and you decrease the Speed penalty by 5 feet (to no penalty if the penalty was –5 feet, or to a –5-foot penalty if the penalty was –10 feet)

#### Bulk

This entry gives the armor’s Bulk, assuming you’re wearing the armor and distributing its weight across your body. A suit of armor that’s carried or worn usually has 1 more Bulk than what’s listed here (or 1 Bulk total for armor of light Bulk). An armor’s Bulk is increased or decreased if it’s sized for creatures that aren’t Small or Medium in size.

#### Group

Each type of medium and heavy armor belongs to an armor group, which classifies it with similar types of armor. Some abilities reference armor groups, typically to grant armor specialization effects.

#### Armor Traits

The traits for each suit of armor appear in this entry. Armor can have the following traits. **Bulwark**: The armor covers you so completely that it provides benefits against some damaging effects. On Reflex saves to avoid a damaging effect, such as a fireball, you add a +3 modifier instead of your Dexterity modifier. **Comfort**: The armor is so comfortable that you can rest normally while wearing it. **Flexible**: The armor is flexible enough that it doesn’t hinder most actions. You don’t apply its check penalty to Acrobatics or Athletics checks. **Noisy**: This armor is loud and likely to alert others to your presence when you’re using the Avoid Notice exploration activity.

#### Armor Specialization Effects

Certain class features can grant you additional benefits with certain armors. This is called an armor specialization effect. The exact effect depends on which armor group your armor belongs to, as listed below. Only medium and heavy armors have armor specialization effects.

**Chain**: The armor is so flexible it can bend with a critical hit and absorb some of the blow. Reduce the damage from critical hits by either 4 + the value of the armor’s potency rune for medium armor, or 6 + the value of the armor’s potency rune for heavy armor. This can’t reduce the damage to less than the damage rolled for the hit before doubling for a critical hit.

**Composite**: The numerous overlapping pieces of this armor protect you from piercing attacks. You gain resistance to piercing damage equal to 1 + the value of the armor’s potency rune for medium armor, or 2 + the value of the armor’s potency rune for heavy armor.

**Leather**: The thick second skin of the armor disperses blunt force to reduce bludgeoning damage. You gain resistance to bludgeoning damage equal to 1 + the value of the armor’s potency rune for medium armor, or 2 + the value of the armor’s potency rune for heavy armor.

**Plate**: The sturdy plate provides no purchase for a cutting edge. You gain resistance to slashing damage equal to 1 + the value of the armor’s potency rune for medium armor, or 2 + the value of the armor’s potency rune for heavy armor.

### Armor Descriptions

Each type of armor is described in more detail below.

**Breastplate**: Though referred to as a breastplate, this type of armor consists of several pieces of plate or half‑plate armor that protect the torso, chest, neck, and sometimes the hips and lower legs. It strategically grants some of the protection of plate while allowing greater flexibility and speed.

**Chain Mail**: A suit of chain mail consists of several pieces of armor composed of small metal rings linked together in a protective mesh. It typically includes a chain shirt, leggings, a pair of arms, and a coif, collectively protecting most of the body.

**Chain Shirt**: Sometimes called a hauberk, this is a long shirt constructed of the same metal rings as chainmail. However, it is much lighter than chainmail and protects only the torso, upper arms, and upper legs of its wearer.

**Explorer’s Clothing**: Adventurers who don’t wear armor travel in durable clothing. Though it’s not armor and uses your unarmored defense proficiency, it still has a Dex Cap and can grant an item bonus to AC if etched with potency runes.

**Full Plate**: Plate mail consists of interlocking plates that encase nearly the entire body in a carapace of steel. It is costly and heavy, and the wearer often requires help to don it correctly, but it provides some of the best defense armor can supply. A suit of this armor comes with an undercoat of padded armor (see below) and a pair of gauntlets.

**Half Plate**: Half plate consists of most of the upper body plates used in full plate, with lighter or sparser steel plate protection for the arms and legs. This provides some of the protection of full plate with greater flexibility and speed. A suit of this armor comes with an undercoat of padded armor (see below) and a pair of gauntlets.

**Hide**: A mix of furs, sturdy hide, and sometimes molded boiled leather, this armor provides protection due to its layers of leather, though its bulkiness slows the wearer down and decreases mobility. Leather: A mix of flexible and molded boiled leather, a suit of this type of armor provides some protection with maximum flexibility.

**Padded Armor**: This armor is simply a layer of heavy, quilted cloth, but it is sometimes used because it’s so inexpensive. Padded armor is easier to damage and destroy than other types of armor. Heavy armor comes with a padded armor undercoat included in its Price, though it loses the comfort trait when worn under heavy armor. You can wear just that padded armor undercoat to sleep in, if your heavy armor is destroyed, or when otherwise not wearing the full heavy armor. This allows you to keep the armor invested and benefit from the power of any runes on the associated heavy armor, but no one else can wear your heavy armor without the padded undercoat.

**Scale Mail**: Scale mail consists of many metal scales sewn onto a reinforced leather backing, often in the form of a long shirt that protects the torso, arms, and legs.

**Splint Mail**: This type of armor is chain mail reinforced with flexible, interlocking metal plates, typically located on the wearer’s torso, upper arms, and legs. A suit of this armor comes with an undercoat of padded armor (see above) and a pair of gauntlets.

**Studded Leather**: This leather armor is reinforced with metal studs and sometimes small metal plates, providing most of the flexibility of leather armor with more robust protection.

Damaging Armor
 Leather (Hide, Leather, Studded Leather)
 Metal (Breastplate, Chain Mail, Chain Shirt, Full Plate, Half Plate, Scale Mail, Splint Mail)

## Shields

Raise a Shield is the action most commonly used with shields. Most shields must be held in one hand, so you can’t hold anything with that hand and Raise a Shield. A buckler, however, doesn’t take up your hand, so you can Raise a Shield with a buckler if the hand is free (or, at the GM’s discretion, if it’s holding a simple, lightweight object that’s not a weapon). You lose the benefits of Raise a Shield if that hand is no longer free. When you have a tower shield raised, you can use the Take Cover action to increase the circumstance bonus to AC to +4. This lasts until the shield is no longer raised. If you would normally provide lesser cover against an attack, having your tower shield raised provides standard cover against it (and other creatures can Take Cover as normal using the cover from your shield). If you have access to the Shield Block reaction (from your class or from a feat), you can use it while Raising your Shield to reduce the damage you take by an amount equal to the shield’s Hardness. Both you and the shield then take any remaining damage.