Armor and Weapon Rules


[2.3.4.1] The armor and weapon bonuses listed on the character sheet are determined by comparing the character's bonuses to the armor and/or weapon's bonuses:

Atk (attack bonus) - character ability + weapon attack - heft
Cvr (cover bonus) - This is the bonus used to see if Absorbtion takes effect
Dmg (damage) - character size or weapon heft (whichever is higher)
Abs (absorbtion) - how much attack power is absorbed by this item
Mas (mass) - the weight of the specific weapon or armor peice set
Par (parry) - hand to hand + weapon parry - encumbrance
PPV (player point value) - the player point value of the weapon or armor peice
Rch (reach) - character reach + weapon reach
Hft (heft) - character encumbrance or weapon heft (whichever is higher)
Pwr (power) - bonus to the power of attacks with the item
Lst (lasting damage) - determines how much lasting damage is caused by the item
Stn (stun damage) - determines how much stun damage is caused by the item
Tgh (toughness) - how many damage points it takes beyond the damage absorbed to inflict damage (lower the item's absorbtion in the case of armor or weapons, or in the case of characters, to lower their hit points.)
___ (special bonuses) - one of the item's special bonuses, such as Grappling (Grp,) Concealment (Con,) Quick Draw (QkD,) Amount (Amt,) or Mass Per Unit (MPU) for various Ammo types

[2.3.4.1.1] Parrying - When a character defends with an item, use the item's parry bonus (the sum of the weapon's parry bonus and the character's ability and encumbrance bonuses) plus any other combat bonuses as the bonus to their defense roll. If the defense is successful, the attack is "parried" and the defending character takes no damage from that attack (or half damage if the defense is half successful.)

[2.3.4.1.2] Blocking - If the defense fails, or is only half-successful and the cover bonus of the item is greater than the attack's success level, then the attack is "blocked" and the item's absorption is subtracted from the attack power of the attack, but the item takes damage based on the amount of attack power it absorbed. If the cover bonus is equal to the attack's success level, then the attack is "half blocked", half the item's absorption is subtracted from the attack power, and the item still takes damage based on the amount of attack power it absorbed.

[2.3.4.1.3] Armor - Any equipment with a cover bonus greater than 0 can be considered armor. Every peice of armor worn, and any item used to actively defend has a chance of blocking an attack. Use this rule instead of the blocking rule when the character has armor:

Each peice of armor is sorted from the highest absorb bonus to the lowest (unless that peice is being used to actively defend.) Beginning with the item used to actively defend (if any), followed by the sorted list of armor peices, compare the success level of the attack to the cover bonus of that item plus the cover bonus of all of the items before it. If the total cover bonus is greater than the attack's success level, then the attack is "blocked" by that item. If the total cover bonus is equal to the attack's success level, then the attack is "half blocked" by that item and "half blocked" by the next item (if there is one.)

[2.3.4.1.4] Organizing Armor - One peice of armor can be treated as several peices of armor that have the same absorb bonus if the several peices cover bonuses add up to the single peice's cover bonus. Several peices of armor that cover the same area of the body and have the same cover bonus can be treated as one peice with the same cover bonus and an absorb bonus equal to the absorb bonuses of the several peices added together.

Use this to organize overlapping peices of armor. Divide each peice of armor into different areas that do or don't overlap other peices of armor, then combine the overlapping peices. For example, if you have partially overlapping leather and chainmail armor, then you would have an area protected by leather and chainmail, an area protected only by chainmail, and an area protected only by leather. Each of these areas should be treated as a seperate peice of armor.

[2.3.4.1.5] Hitting Too Hard - If the attack power of an attack with a weapon is greater than the attacking item's absorbtion, and if the target's absorbtion is equal to or greater than the weapon's absorbtion, then the weapon is damaged instead of the target. The damage the weapon takes is based on attack power of the attack minus the weapon's absorbtion.

[2.3.4.1.6] Breaking - If an item's absorbtion is reduced to 0 and it is damaged again, the item breaks. Usually this means that the item's reach bonus, lasting damage bonus, stun damage bonus, parry bonus and cover bonus are halved.


Copyright 1997 - 2001 Seth Galbraith and Benjamin Galbraith