Equipment Lists vs. Character Sheets - 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, so the bonuses listed for a weapon on the character sheet may not be the same as the bonuses listed for the same weapon on an equipment list. When these rules mention the weapon's bonuses, they refer to the bonus on the equipment list. (see Characters/Character Sheet.)
Special Bonuses (___) - Some weapons and armor will have bonuses not already listed on the character sheet. Label and use the blank columns for these bonuses.
Reach (Rch) - character reach + weapon reach
Power (Pwr) - character size or weapon power, whichever is greater - The power of a weapon is usually it's heft or a little bit (like 1 point) higher. A weapon with more power than heft is considered "well balanced".
Heft (Hft) - character encumbrance or weapon heft, whichever is lower - The heft of a weapon is usually the weapon's size as if it were a character plus 15. (See Characters/Description/Size Table)
Sharpness (Shp) - Sharpness is a bonus to lasting damage. Blunt weapons, including punches and kicks, have a sharpness of -5. A weapon with a sharpness of 0 is actually pretty sharp, but a very sharp weapon can have a sharpness bonus greater than 0.
Combat Bonus (Cmb) - character Hand to Hand bonus + skill bonus (if one applies to this weapon) + encumbrance. This is a general bonus to attacking and parrying with the weapon, but it only applies if the weapon is used as a hand to hand weapon. Use the Attack (Atk) bonus instead this bonus for attacking with missile weapons like slings, bows and guns.
Attack (Atk) - character ability (such as hand to hand or marksmanship, plus a skill if one applies) + weapon attack + (character encumbrance or weapon heft, whichever is lower) This bonus is used instead of combat bonus (Cmb) when attacking. You need an attack bonus on the character sheet for missile weapons (such as slings, bows and guns) and weapons that have an attack bonus. (See Action Rules/Attacking.)
Grapple (Grp) - character ability (such as hand to hand or marksmanship, plus a skill if one applies) + weapon grapple + (character encumbrance or weapon heft, whichever is lower) This bonus is used instead of combat bonus (Cmb) when manipulating. You need a grapple bonus on the character sheet for weapons that have a grapple bonus. (See Action Rules/Manipulation.)
Parry (Par) - character hand to hand ability (plus a skill if one applies) + weapon parry + (character encumbrance or weapon heft, whichever is lower.) This bonus is used instead of combat bonus (Cmb) when parrying. You need a parry bonus on the character sheet for weapons that have a parry bonus. (See Action Rules/Parrying.)
Toughness (Tgh) - When a weapon or armor is damaged (by a successful attack, absorbing damage or hitting too hard) the item's absorption is reduced by the attack power minus the item's toughness. If the item's toughness is greater than the attack power, then the weapon is not damaged at all.
Breaking - If the damage taken by an item is greater than it's absorbtion, 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.
Hitting Too Hard - If the attack power of an attack with a weapon is greater than the attacking item's toughness, and if the target's absorbtion is equal to or greater than the weapon's toughness, then the weapon is damaged instead of the target.
Cover (Cvr) and Absorb (Abs) - used together by armor and weapons that can block some damage.
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.
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.)
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.