Equipment
Your character's equipment consists of Armor, Weapons, and other gear that will assist him in his adventuring career. All items and equipment have a rarity that determines how easy or difficult they are to obtain. Generally speaking, your character will only have access to Common and Very Common equipment to start with. Your GM will provide you with guidelines for purchasing equipment, typically in the form of a 100 gold piece (100 gp) budget of starting money.
Armor
Armor is worn by your character to help protect and defend him from attacks. Armor increases your character's Armor Class defenses (and through them, providing resistance to weapon damage) and in some cases increasing your character's Reflex defense.
Armor Proficiency ranges from Rank 0-8, with Rank 0 indicating no proficiency with armor and Rank 8 the highest proficiency (needed to wear the rare and extremely protective Dwarven Full Plate armor). Generally speaking, the higher the rank of the armor, the more protection it provides.
Your character's Armor Proficiency, provided by his class (found in the Class Traits box), determines the types of armor that he can wear (i.e. any armor of his proficiency rank or less). If your character attempts to wear armor he is not proficient with, he'll be subject to Attack Roll and Recovery penalties (as described in the Armor section).
While armor grants protection to the wearer, it has drawbacks as well. Armor has a Check Penalty, indicating a penalty applied to all Active Skills. Armor can also impose an Attribute Penalty to Armor Class, Touch, and Reflex defenses (though this is often counteracted by the bonuses the armor grants). Additionally, heavier armors impose a Speed Penalty, increasing the recovery time of your movement. Generally speaking, the heavier the armor, the greater the Armor Class bonus, the larger the check penalty, the higher the Attribute penalty, and the higher the speed penalty. All this can seem worth it though, when you consider the benefits of the Armor's Glance and Hit Armor Class Bonuses.
Armor Class will be described in more detail in the Attacks & Defenses section, but for the purposes of choosing armor know that the higher your armor's Glance AC Bonus, the less likely your character will be hit with Attacks. Additionally, the higher your armor's Hit AC Bonus, the less likely that your character will take full damage from those attacks.
You can browse Armor types and their properties with the link supplied to the right. When choosing your character's armor, you'll have to keep the above factors in mind. Will you choose armor with an increased Hit AC to reduce the damage you suffer? Or will you choose a lighter armor, keeping you agile and mobile, with no Speed Penalty and a lower Check Penalty?
Once you've chosen your character's armor, you can record its statistics in the Equipment section of the character sheet. If you've chosen an armor with a Speed Penalty, make sure to make those adjustments to your character's Speeds, increasing the Recovery of each movement mode by the Speed Penalty. Additionally, if your armor (and/or shield below) suffer from a Check Penalty, make adjustments to your characters Active Skill Bonuses as appropriate. The rest of your Armor statistics will be referred to again when calculating your Defenses in the Attacks & Defenses section.
Shields & Armor Accessories
Shields are similar to Armor, granting a bonus to your character's Armor Class defense and sometimes the Touch and Reflex defenses. Your character's class will grant proficiency in Shields, which ranges from Rank 0 to Rank 3. As with Armor, your character will suffer penalties if he attempts to utilize a shield he is not proficient with. Shields also suffer from a Check Penalty which reduces your character's ability to use active skills while the shield is equipped.
You can browse the Shield types and their properties with the link supplied to the right. A shield is typically wielded in your character's off-hand. Whether or not your character uses a shield can depend greatly on his fighting style and proficiency, but remember that it will limit his ability to utilize certain weapons. Once you've chosen your character's shield, if applicable, you can record its statistics in the Equipment section of the character sheet.
A variety of Armor Accessories are also available, such as Helms and Gauntlets, which provide a variety of small benefits. They can be browsed with the link provided and any selected equipment can be added to the Equipment Section of the character sheet.
Weapons
Weapons are used to make attacks and are divided into Melee and Range varieties. Melee weapons are used to attack creatures adjacent to your character, or within the weapon's reach, and include items such as swords, hammers, and axes. Range weapons function at a specified distance, determined by the weapon, and include items such as bows, slings, crossbows, and throwing knives. Some Melee weapons can double as thrown range weapons, such as small hammers and daggers.
Weapon proficiencies range from Ranks 0 to 4 and are granted by your character's race and class. Most races have a favored weapon group for which they gain proficiency. Depending on the character's Class and its affinity for weapons, it can grant proficiency in all weapons of a specific rank, in weapons of a specific subgroup, or allow you to choose a selection of weapons. Generally speaking, the higher the rank of the weapon, the better the weapon is. If your character attempts to wield a weapon for which he is not proficient, the weapon is treated as an Improvised Weapon, causing it to deal less damage and be less accurate than those he is proficient with.
In addition to being separated into groups, such as Blades and Axes, and subgroups, such as Swords and Daggers (both Blades), weapons are distinguished by handedness: Off Hand, Main Hand, and Two Hand weapons. Off Hand weapons can be wielded in your character's Main or Off hand and are typically smaller and deal less damage than Main Hand weapons. Main Hand weapons can be wielded only in the Main Hand and are often used in conjunction with a Shield or Off Hand weapon. Two Hand weapons require both the main and off hand to wield and cannot typically be used in conjunction with Shields.
Weapons have a number of factors that differentiate them from each other, as described below:
- Speed: Speed determines how fast a weapon can be used in combat. The higher the speed of the weapon, the more time that must pass between attacks with that weapon.
- Precision Bonus: The Precision Bonus represents the accuracy of a weapon and increases your character's attack bonus.
- Damage Dice and Damage Modifiers: Damage factors determine how much damage a weapon deals. Generally speaking, the higher the Damage Dice and the higher the Damage Modifier, the higher the potential damage.
- Base Critical Percentage and Critical Damage per Rank: The Base Critical Percentage (Base Crit) determines a weapon's chance of making a Critical Strike. Critical Damage per Rank (Crit per Rank) determines the amount of damage dealt on a Critical Strike. Critical Strikes are described in more detail in the How to Play section.
- Armor Negation: Armor Negation (ArN) represents a weapon's ability to pierce through an armor's protection, and can upgrade a Glancing Hit to a Full Hit. The interaction between Armor Negation and Attacking will be explained in greater detail in the How to Play section.
- Weapon Properties: Some weapons have extra properties, such as adding to a character's defense, granting bonuses in Disarm or Parry situations, or increasing a character's reach. When browsing through the weapons, you can click on the links of any weapon property to see its benefit (or detriment).
You can browse Melee and Ranged weapons using the links to the right. Most characters carry at least one melee and one ranged weapon, though Fighters and Rogues can easily have more. Choose your character's weapons carefully, as there are significant benefits and detriments to all of them. Lighter weapons are faster, but typically have lower damage potential and less Armor Negation. Conversely, large two-handed weapons are slower and prevent the use of a shield, but have a higher damage potential. Make sure to pay attention to the Armor Negation as well, as weapons with a High Armor Negation can be far superior against armored opponents, even if their damage is not as high as other weapons.
Once you have determined your character's weapons, record them in the Equipment Section of the character sheet. You will need to refer back to your weapon's stats in the Attacks & Defenses section to determine your final weapon stats.
Adventuring Gear
Adventuring gear consists of the mundane equipment that characters utilize to make it through the everyday trials and tribulations of adventuring. It includes items such as bed rolls, lanterns, rope, pitons, cook pots, water skins, food, ritual components and much more. Some equipment is available in bundles or kits for convenience. Most player character's will start with an Adventurers Pack, which contains much of the basic gear you will need to begin your career, but feel free to browse through all the items and purchase anything you think will be useful (and within your budget of course).
You can browse through available kits and equipment lists by following the links to the right. Once you have chosen Adventuring Gear, you can make notes in the "Other Equipment" section the character sheet. Additional equipment, such as Mounts and Alchemical Goods are also available, but not usually common equipment for first level characters.
Spell Books & Ritual Books
Spell Books and Ritual Books are only used by characters with specific training, and you can ignore these sections of the character sheet unless they apply to your character. Spell Books are used only by Wizards and are described on the Wizard class page. Ritual Books are used only by those with ranks in the Ritual Casting Skill and are described on the Ritual Casting skill page.