Equipment

**Equipment** in Aoshtai Cogent is the armor and weapons which your character is carrying with them. Equipment should not be confused with clothing and inventories, which primarily have to do with roleplay and what a character is carrying in their backpack.

The rules for equipment and upgrading equipment outlined on this page apply to the Aoshtai Universe. Other universes, settings, and private campaigns may follow different rules and use their own weapons, armor, and upgrade systems designed by their dungeon masters. In order to create completely custom equipment for non-Aoshtai settings, dungeon masters are welcome to use the Cogent 1.0 Item template.

## Armor

Aoshtai characters may choose the kind of armor which they will wear when going into battle. Every point of armor grants characters more survivability at the cost of their ability to be stealthy, movement, and dexterity.

Every 1 point of Armor takes away 1 point of **Athletics**, **Stealth**, and **Sleight of Hand**. In return, that point of armor grants 1 guaranteed win when rolling with **Survival**.

Characters who want to be slow and tanky should wear heavy armor and may want to consider a shield. Characters who want to be fast, agile, and stealthy should wear light armor which gives them no points in armor but which can grant them other stat increases when upgraded.

### Armor pieces

Every Aoshtai character may wear two pieces of armor which have stats: a helmet and a chestpiece. There are 5 in total to choose from:

   Chest Armor | Chest
   Full-Body Armor | Chest

   Helmet | Head

### Chest pieces

#### Light Armor

Light Armor is the lightest among the chest armor pieces. It gives no armor but can be upgraded with empyrean power crystals or rare parts to give stat increases to Survival and to one other stat of the player's choice. See the section on upgrading equipment to see how this works.

This piece of armor is best for characters who want to be light, agile, and stealthy.

In order to equip your character with light armor, copy+paste the following basic template into the Equipment section of your character's sheet:

```
{{Light Armor}}
```

For more customizations, use the following:

```
{{Light Armor|Custom Name|Custom Description|Custom Image}}
```

In order to upgrade your character's armor, use the following more elaborate template:

```
{{Light Armor|Custom Name|Custom Description|Custom Image
}}
```

#### Chest Armor

Chest Armor is the medium tier chest piece. Archetypically, it represents a heavy cuirass. It gives one point of armor, which is good for characters who want some armor but don't want to be weighed down too much. Like all other pieces, it can be upgraded.

In order to equip your character with this armor, copy+paste the following basic template into the Equipment section of your character's sheet:

```
{{Chest Armor}}
```

For more customizations, use the following:

```
{{Chest Armor|Custom Name|Custom Description|Custom Image}}
```

In order to upgrade your character's armor, use the following more elaborate template:

```
{{Chest Armor|Custom Name|Custom Description|Custom Image
}}
```

#### Full-Body Armor

Full-Body Armor is the heaviest among the chest armors, archetypically representing a full suit of armor. It gives two point of armor, which is good for characters who want to be slow and heavy, like armored tanks. Like all other pieces, it can be upgraded.

In order to equip your character with this armor, copy+paste the following basic template into the Equipment section of your character's sheet:

```
{{Full-Body Armor}}
```

For more customizations, use the following:

```
{{Full-Body Armor|Custom Name|Custom Description|Custom Image}}
```

In order to upgrade your character's armor, use the following more elaborate template:

```
{{Full-Body Armor|Custom Name|Custom Description|Custom Image
}}
```

### Head pieces

#### Light Helmet

The Light Helmet represents a head piece which provides utility but does not provide an abnormal amount of protection. At the beginning, it gives no armor or stats, but can be upgraded with empyrean power crystals or rare parts to give stat increases to Survival and to one other stat of the player's choice. See the section on upgrading equipment to see how this works.

In order to equip your character with this helmet, copy+paste the following basic template into the Equipment section of your character's sheet:

```
{{Light Helmet}}
```

For more customizations, use the following:

```
{{Light Helmet|Custom Name|Custom Description|Custom Image}}
```

In order to upgrade your character's armor, use the following more elaborate template:

```
{{Light Helmet|Custom Name|Custom Description|Custom Image
}}
```

#### Helmet

The Helmet represents a head piece which provides utility and protection, such as the helmet of a heavy armor suit. Like all other pieces, it can be upgraded.

In order to equip your character with this helmet, copy+paste the following basic template into the Equipment section of your character's sheet:

```
{{Helmet}}
```

For more customizations, use the following:

```
{{Helmet|Custom Name|Custom Description|Custom Image}}
```

In order to upgrade your character's armor, use the following more elaborate template:

```
{{Helmet|Custom Name|Custom Description|Custom Image
}}
```

### Upgrading Armor

In the Aoshtai Universe, armor can be upgraded using empyrean power crystals and rare parts which are earned during play. When slotted into armor, these items can cause your armor to give your character powerful stat bonuses of your choice.

Every piece of armor has one upgrade socket, which means that one power crystal or rare part can be placed in it. Each EPC or rare part gives the following when slotted into a piece of equipment:

 [Epic Quality Upgrade Item] | +3 Survival and 3 upgrades of player's choice

#### Upgrades

In order to upgrade an item, add one of the following to the upgrade slots. The template will also automatically give +1 Survival per upgrade slot filled out. In order to apply these upgrades to your character, look for the "effects and modifiers" section on your character sheet.

## Shields

A shield is a piece of personal armor held in the hand. In the Aoshtai setting, shields are heavy devices capable of emitting a shield made of hardlight which can absorb hits from hardlight blades and many weapons which would otherwise pierce body armor.

The primary benefit of carrying a shield in your off-hand is the ability to roll **Survival**+Armor even against armor-piercing weapons, such as most melee weapons. Shields can also be upgraded to increase the number of creatures which the shieldbearer can fight at once. See the section below for more details.

In order to equip your character with this helmet, copy+paste the following basic template into the Equipment section of your character's sheet:

```
{{Shield}}
```

For more customizations, use the following:

```
{{Shield|Custom Name|Custom Description|Custom Image}}
```

### Shield Upgrades

Shields can be further upgraded with upgrade items such as empyrean crystals or rare parts to increase a character's combat width, which is the number of creatures which can attack them before flanking comes into play.

Shields have 1 upgrade socket. Each tier of upgrade item slotted into the shield causes the shield to give the character a larger bonus to their combat width:

In order to upgrade your character's shield, use the following more elaborate template:

```
{{Shield|Custom Name|Custom Description|Custom Image
}}
```