Writing Equipment

Equipment is where the system's realism meets its economy. This chapter covers the field conventions for /Equipment/ and how quality, condition, and the computed effective stats interlock.

Field conventions by category

• Weapon — damageType (blunt/cutting/piercing), damage (base depth bonus), hands, range, plus traits. Damage guidance: 1 for small and improvised (dagger, hand axe, staff), 2 for proper arms (sword, spear, longbow), 3 for limb-breakers (maul, crossbow). Justify every 3 with a cost — the crossbow pays with slow reload, the maul with cumbersome.
• Armor — armorRating, coverage, plus traits. Ratings: 1 for padding, caps, and bucklers; 2 for leather and brigandine; 3 for mail. Coverage is the honest constraint — a hauberk does not protect the head, and that gap is a feature.
• Gear — weight, value, and an effect line when the item does something specific (light, fire, rope work).
• Consumable — uses, effect, light weight. The effect line is rules text: what it does, for how long, to whom.
• Treasure — mostly value and story. A treasure's description should be a hook, not an appraisal.

Quality and condition drive the math

The type carries two computed fields:

• effectiveDamage = damage + quality bonus − condition penalty
• effectiveRating = armorRating + quality bonus − condition penalty

where quality gives masterwork +1 / crude −1, and condition gives damaged −1 / ruined −2. The character sheet's Defense reads effectiveRating, so a rusted hauberk silently protects less — never write effective values into files; they derive.

When writing play effects that touch gear, express them as condition steps ("the acid ruins the lock" → condition: ruined), never as direct stat edits — the computed fields stay truthful that way.

The property vocabulary

Properties are a closed glossary, not free-text tags — keep them consistent with the player handbook's table: balanced, concealable, cumbersome, cool, layerable, long range, noisy, parrying, quiet, reach, slow reload, throwable, tool, versatile. When you coin a new property, add its meaning to the handbook chapter in the same change.

Conventions

• Weight is pounds for the whole bundle. Realistic numbers: sword 3, mail 22, rope 8, rations 4.
• Value is silver-standard gp. Crude ≈ half price, masterwork ≈ five to ten times, fine ≈ double. A common arming sword is 15 gp; a fine one 30.
• Descriptions are one to three sentences of honest, physical prose — how it's made, what it's for, what it costs the user. Save rules for the rules fields.
• Category filters matter downstream: the character sheet's weapon and armor pickers filter by category, so put shields and helms in Armor, not Gear.
• Two-handed + shield conflicts are a table rule, not a schema rule — don't invent validation for it.

Adding items

Write the file to /Equipment/<Name>.equipment.json with only the fields the item actually uses — a quiver needs uses, a sword never does. If a new item needs a field the type lacks, extend the schema first, then add the item.