Equipment, Weapons & Armour

A hero is what they carry. The Equipment and Weapons compendia list the market's wares in gold pieces — but the decisions that matter are few, and they decide how you fight and how you travel.

Money

The coin of the realm runs in gold pieces (gp), each worth ten silver (sp) and a hundred copper (cp). Prices in the compendium are honest adventurer's-market prices. A bedroll and a torch are trivially cheap; a suit of full plate is a small fortune; a mule is worth more than many peasants earn in a year. Spend like the dungeon will try to take it from you — because it will.

Armour and your Armour Class

Your Armour Class (AC) is how hard you are to hit, and in this system lower is better: an unarmoured human is AC 10, and good armour drives that number down. Calculate it as:

AC = 10 − (armour value) − (shield) − (dexterity bonus) − (magic)

A few landmarks to shop by:

A shield improves AC by one more, and a high dexterity chips off more still. Wizards cannot fight in armour at all; thieves and bards are bound to the light stuff; warriors may wear any of it. Before you buy, read what your class allows — the best armour in the shop is useless if the law of your class forbids it.

Weapons

Every weapon in the compendium lists what you need to know at a glance: the damage it does (in two columns, against small/medium and against large creatures), its speed factor (which slows your initiative), its weight, and its reach.

• One weapon vs two. Two weapons can give more attacks at a price in accuracy. Most warriors find one good weapon, well-chosen, steadier.
• Reach and damage. Polearms and heavy blades trade reach and power for speed. A dagger is fast and always at hand; a two-handed sword hits like a landslide but your initiative crawls.
• Missiles. Bows, crossbows, and slings let you hurt the enemy before it reaches you — worth gold in a dungeon corridor and priceless in the open field. Your Strengths and Dexterities feed different weapons: melee wants Strength, missile wants Dexterity.

The adventurer's kit

Whatever your class, spend a little on the basics that keep a dungeon-delver alive:

• Light — torches, lanterns, or the hooded kind. The dark is where the tomb gets its teeth.
• Rope — hemp rope, 50 feet, is the most useful single item a party can own, and the cheapest.
• Rations and water — the deep places take longer than you think, and starvation is undignified.
• A backpack, bedding, and a weapon to defend the camp.

The compendium also lists the homely comforts: cooking gear, ink and paper, climbing kits, healer's kits, thieves' tools (for those who can use them), and the components a wizard needs to work their spells. Buy the tools of your trade, and one spare of whatever would ruin your day to lose.

Encumbrance — what you can carry

You can only carry so much before it slows you down. The scale runs from light (unburdened, full speed) through moderate, heavy, and severe encumbrance, each cutting your movement and punishing your nimble skills — and, at the worst grades, your armour and even your ability to run. High Strength lets you shoulder more. The referee weighs your pack; the practical lesson is: a hero who cannot run is a hero who cannot flee, and there is no shame in the retreat that keeps you alive to fight tomorrow.

Movement

Your race sets your speed — humans, elves, and half-elves 120 feet a combat round; dwarves, gnomes, and halflings 90. Overland, the party covers miles a day according to terrain: clear ground is fastest, mountains and swamps crawl. Mounts quicken the march and spare your backs; a mule or a horse is often the wisest purchase in the whole book. Measure your plans in days and light and water, and the wilderness will not ambush you as often.

Spend what you need to be truly ready, then stop. The best equipment in the world is no substitute for a clear head, and the best character owns what they use.