Equipment

The amount of gear a character can carry is measured in “slots,” a semi-abstract unit of weight and bulk. Most characters can carry one slot per point of strength without being encumbered. This is known as a character’s carrying capacity. For example, a human character with 14 Strength has a carrying capacity of 14 slots. A dwarf’s carrying capacity is 4 points higher than its Strength score.

If you carry 1–4 slots more than your capacity, you become encumbered. This means your speed is reduced to 75% of its usual amount (rounding down to the nearest 5 feet), and you have disadvantage on endurance checks, and on Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks.

If you carry 5–8 slots more than your capacity, you become heavily encumbered. This means your speed is reduced to 50%, and you automatically fail endurance checks and Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks.

One slot is enough to hold a sword, a shield, a light shovel, a coil of rope, a lantern, or a full waterskin. Some smaller objects take up only half a slot—such as a torch, a flask of oil, a bag of caltrops, or a day’s rations. Very small items take up only a quarter slot—such as daggers, potions, wands, and scrolls. One slot can also be used to hold up to 250 coins and gems (in any combination). Large objects, such as armour, can take up multiple slots.

The following objects do not take up slots unless carried in unusually large quantities:

1 gold piece (gp) = 10 silver pieces (sp) = 100 copper pieces (cp)

One silver piece is the typical daily wage of an unskilled labourer. A gold piece is the typical wage of a skilled craftsman or professional.

*These items cost and weigh only half as much when sized for small creatures like halflings.

Candles. A candle illuminates a 5-foot radius and burns 1 hour. Tallow candles burn with a foul-smelling smoke; beeswax candles burn cleanly and smell sweet.

Caltrops. A bag of caltrops can be scattered to cover an area 5 feet in diameter. A creature moving through at more than half its speed must make a DC 15 Balance check or stab its foot on a caltrop, taking 1 piercing damage and halving its speed until healed.

Food. Simple food includes bread, turnips, fish and the like. This food spoils after one week. Rations consist of highly concentrated dried food that will keep almost indefinitely.

Iron spikes. These can be used to jam a door open or shut, among other uses. Don’t forget a hammer to pound them in.

Lamp. Aladdin’s favourite light source illuminates a 30-foot radius. It burns with a more even flame than a torch, but the oil can spill out if the lamp is tilted or dropped.

Lantern, standard. A lantern provides light with less risk of fire than an open flame, and with more protection against wind and rain. It burns oil and sheds 30 feet of light.

Lantern, bullseye.  This lantern has only a single shutter, with its other sides polished on the inside. It sheds light in a cone 60 feet long and 20 feet wide at the end.

Marbles. Similar to caltrops, but a creature who steps on them slips and falls prone instead of injuring its foot.

Oil, lamp. Aside from providing fuel, a flask of oil can be thrown as a weapon with a range of 15/30. On a hit against Touch AC, the target is splashed with oil. This deals 1d6 fire damage if the oil is subsequently ignited. A puddle of burning oil on the ground deals 1d6 fire damage per round.

Pitons. Pitons are pegs with hooks used to secure a rope while climbing. A hammer is needed to pound them in. If one piton is used per 5 feet of cliff, you won’t fall further than 10 feet even if you lose your grip (assuming you have properly rigged the rope and attached yourself to it).

Potion, healing. This basic healing potion cures 1d8 + 1 hit points of damage.

Ten-foot pole. Though cumbersome to carry, a ten-foot pole can be used to safely trigger most mechanical traps from a distance. Be sure to mention to your referee if you are using it to probe ahead of you while exploring.

Torch. A burning torch sheds flickering light in a 20-foot radius.

Waterproof bag. This bag, treated with oil and wax, can be used to bundle up an object (such as a spellbook) so it will not risk water damage while swimming or boating.

*Weight (but not cost) is halved when armour is made for a small creature such as a halfling.

AC Bonus: The protective value of the armor. Bonuses from armor and a shield stack.

Maximum Dexterity to AC. This is the maximum Dexterity bonus that this armour allows you to add to your AC. This does not affect your Dexterity for other purposes, such as skill checks or Reflex saving throws.

Weapons can be categorized in several ways.

Weapon size. Weapons are classified as tiny, small, medium, and large. For example, a dagger is a tiny weapon, while a longbow is a large weapon.

Simple, martial, and exotic weapons. This determines what proficiency is needed to use the weapon effectively. Your proficiency is determined by your class. If you use a weapon with which you are not proficient, your attacks have disadvantage.

Mêlée weapons. A normal mêlée weapon can be used to attack a creature within your mêlée reach (which is five feet for small and medium characters).

Reach weapons. A reach weapon is a particularly long mêlée weapon. With a reach weapon, you can attack a creature up to 10 feet away.

Thrown weapons. Some mêlée weapons can also be thrown to attack at a distance. You can only throw a weapon that is one-handed or light for you. When you throw a weapon, apply your Dexterity to the attack roll, but apply your Strength to damage.

Range. A weapon’s range lists two numbers: the short range and the maximum range (both in feet). When attacking beyond short range, you have disadvantage on the attack roll. You can't attack a target beyond the maximum range.

Light weapons. Light weapons are easier to use in your off hand, and they can be used while grappling. A light weapon can be used in one hand, and there is no benefit to using one in two hands. Add only half your Strength modifier to damage with a light weapon. When you attack with a light mêlée weapon, you can choose to apply your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier to your attack roll (but not to your damage roll).

One-handed weapons. A one-handed weapon can be used in one hand. On a hit, add your normal Strength modifier to damage.

Two-handed weapons. A two-handed weapon cannot be wielded in one hand. On a hit, add one-and-a-half times your usual Strength modifier to the damage.

Projectile weapons. All projectile weapons (bows, slings, and crossbows) require two hands to use. A projectile weapon two sizes larger than the wielder is too large to use.

Subdual damage. A sap is a handheld bludgeon designed to batter the target into unconsciousness. Attacks with a sap deal subdual damage. This means that a foe reduced to zero hit points by a sap is knocked out rather than dying.

Hand-and-a-half. A bastard sword is between the size of a medium weapon and a large one. A medium creature needs at least 14 Strength to wield a bastard sword in one hand.

Double-ended. Imagine Darth Maul’s lightsabre, but not made of lasers. If you are proficient with a double sword and wield it in both hands, you can use it to make an extra attack each round. This extra attack is a secondary attack (so it is made at a −5 penalty).

Set. If you use your standard action to set one of these weapons against a charge (bracing the butt of the weapon against the ground), you deal double damage on your opportunity attack against the first creature that charges you.

Extra reach. A pike is a spear so long it provides 15 feet of reach. However, it cannot be used effectively against a creature less than 10 feet away; the best you can do is hit with the shaft for 1d4 bludgeoning damage. It is better to drop it and switch to a sword once your enemy closes in.

Halberd, etc. A halberd is an axe on a stick. A glaive is a sword on a stick. Other options for your consideration include the bardiche (round axe on a stick), voulge (square axe on a stick), fauchard (hook on a stick), guisarme (hook on a sword on a stick), glaive-guisarme (stick with separate sword and hook), and ranseur (two hooks on a sword on a stick). These weapons are all equivalent in game terms.

Trip. When you attack with a halberd or similar pole-arm, you can try to trip your foe instead of trying to deal damage. See the Advanced Combat Rules for more information about trip attacks.

Mounted charge. A medium creature can use a lance as a one-handed weapon while mounted. A lance’s damage is increased to 3d6 when making a mounted charge.

Ammunition. To track your ammunition, fill a bowl with small tokens and take one out for each projectile you shoot. If you search the battlefield after the fight, you can recover half the ones you used, returning them to the bowl. The rest are broken or lost.

Aiming a bow requires dexterity, but drawing one is a matter of strength. To use a bow, you must have a Strength modifier greater than or equal to the minimum value shown. Add your Strength modifier to damage with a bow, but only up to the maximum value shown. There is no minimum Strength requirement to use a shortbow, but a character with a Strength penalty applies this penalty to damage with a shortbow. Shooting a bow requires two hands.

Composite bow. A composite bow is a recurved bow made from laminated wood, horn, and sinew. Such a bow stores more energy than a normal bow of the same size. Due to its compact size, a composite bow can be used from horseback by a medium character.

Longbow or greatbow. A longbow is as tall as a full-grown man, too large to use from horseback. A greatbow is a longbow with an exceptionally heavy draw strength.

A sling requires more practice to use than a bow, but in skilled hands it is a deadly weapon. Unlike a bow, a sling can be loaded and shot while using a shield in the other hand. The best stones for slinging are those that have been worn smooth by water. Such ammunition is bulky, but easily replenished almost anywhere. Alternatively, specially made “bullets” can be formed from clay or cast from lead.

Add your full Strength modifier to damage with a sling.

A crossbow must be spanned (drawn back) and loaded before it can be fired. This requires two hands, and cannot be done while moving, because you need to brace the bow with your foot. You can walk around with a spanned and loaded crossbow in one hand if you expect trouble, but you had better disarm it before you set it down—lest you set it off by mistake.

Do not add your Strength modifier to damage with a crossbow; all the force is supplied by the weapon itself.

Light crossbow. This is a crossbow light enough that it can be spanned the same turn it is fired (before the shot if it was not spanned, or after the shot to get it ready again).

Heavy crossbow. A heavy crossbow is too heavy to draw back by hand, so it is designed to be loaded with a detachable winch. This process takes two rounds (so you can only fire the crossbow every second turn).

The best pack animal is a donkey or a mule. They are stolid in the face of danger, hardy, sure-footed, and capable of carrying heavy loads over vast distances. Unlike horses, they're willing (though not eager) to enter dungeons and other strange places.

The best mount for use in battle is a warhorse (or war-pony, for halflings and dwarves). These animals have been trained to remain well-behaved even in combat situations. Other mounts are liable to panic and throw their rider.

Carrying capacity. Four-legged animals have a higher carrying capacity than their strength would suggest (+4 for medium mounts, +8 for large mounts). This benefit is included in the table above. If an animal carries a rider, it must support the weight of its rider plus the rider’s equipment.

Constitution modifier. The animal’s constitution is listed in case it needs to make endurance checks when travelling. For full combat statistics, see Creature Statistics.

Barding. Barding is armor designed to protect an animal’s head, neck, chest, and body. Any type of armor shown on the Armor table can be purchased as barding, and provides the same AC benefit. Barding for a medium animal costs twice as much as the equivalent armour for a human character. Barding for a large animal costs four times as much as armour for a human, and takes twice as many inventory slots.

Feed. Horses, donkeys, mules, and ponies can graze to sustain themselves in suitable terrain. You may wish to pack feed (such as oats) when travelling to places where grass is scarce. Feed for a horse for a day costs a silver piece and weighs one slot. Medium animals such as ponies require only half as much food.

Saddles and tack. If you buy an animal, you can assume that the price includes any required saddle, reins, saddlebags, and so forth.

An animal can pull up to four times its usual carrying capacity in a cart or wagon. The listed weight to pull counts against this total. An animal is encumbered when pulling more slots than its usual carrying capacity. Wheeled vehicles cannot move quickly or easily over rough terrain without a road.

These boats are designed to carry medium creatures. They can seat twice as many small creatures. Boats designed for small creatures are half the cost and half the weight.

Portage weight. This is how many inventory slots are required to carry the boat over land. A coracle is a tiny round boat designed to be carried on one’s back. Larger boats are often carried between multiple characters to distribute the weight.

Capacity. A boat that carries up to 50% more than its capacity rides low in the water, reducing its speed. Beyond this point, the boat begins to sink.

Hit points. This is how much damage the boat can sustain before it starts to sink, not the amount of damage needed to destroy it completely. Some weapons, such as arrows, are ineffective against a sturdy object like a boat.

Spellcasting services. The standard fee to have an NPC cast a spell for you is 10 sp times the level of the spell times the level of the caster (a higher-level caster charges more even for low-level spells, because a highly skilled person considers their time more valuable). If the spell consumes a costly material component, you must also provide the component. This all assumes that you can find a suitable spellcaster, and that casting the spell will not put the spellcaster in any danger.

Buying magic items. Magic items are among the most useful items that a character can purchase or own. However, magic items are seldom for sale in shops or market stalls—they are too rare and valuable. If you want to find magic items for sale, you will need to spend time searching for extraordinary individuals who might be willing to sell them.

When you spend a week of downtime searching for magic items, make a Charisma check and add your level as a bonus (since higher-level characters are more likely to attract the interest of other powerful people). Then compare your result to the following table.

If you roll well enough to find a lead on one or more items, the referee will roll on the magic item tables to determine the specific items available. You can choose to buy the items or let them pass. If you wish, you can also share the leads you find with other characters who might be more interested.

The “Maximum Items Available” column limits how many items of each category can be found for sale within a certain time frame. This limit applies across all characters—once all the leads have been discovered, there are simply no other items available at the moment.

If you wish, you can choose to use one of the starting packages below to speed up the process of selecting your starting gear. Each has been purchased using the normal starting wealth (150 silver pieces) and the equipment tables in this chapter. You can modify a starting package by trading some of the equipment for its worth in money, or for other equipment of the same value.

The weight of each piece of equipment is given in parentheses. Unless otherwise noted, these weights assume a human-sized character. If the weight exceeds your carrying capacity and you don’t want to have your speed reduced by encumbrance, you may wish to trade some of the excess gear for cash, or store some of it safely in town while adventuring.

Barbarian. Hide armour (2 slots), great axe (2 slots), light spear (1 slot), 2 torches (1/2 slot each), flint and steel, simple food (3 days, 3 slots), waterskin (1 day, 1 slot), hemp rope (50 feet, 1 slot), 76 silver pieces.

Bard. Leather armour (1 slot), long sword (1 slot), shortbow (1 slot), quiver of 20 arrows (1 slot), lamp (1/2 slot), lamp oil (6 hours, 1/2 slot), flint and steel, simple food (3 days), waterskin (1 day), lute (1 slot), disguise kit (1/2 slot), 60 silver pieces.

Cleric. Scale armour (2 slots), shield (1 slot), mace (1 slot), light crossbow (1 slot), quiver of 20 crossbow quarrels (1 slot), 2 torches (1/2 slot each), flint and steel, simple food (3 days, 3 slots), waterskin (1 day, 1 slot), silver holy symbol, 10 silver pieces.

Druid. Hide armour (2 slots), shield (1 slot), light spear (1 slot), shortbow (1 slot), quiver of 20 arrows (1 slot), 2 torches (1/2 slot each), flint and steel, simple food (3 days, 3 slots), waterskin (1 day, 1 slot), holly and mistletoe leaves, 86 silver pieces.

Fighter/paladin, general. Scale armour (2 slots), shield (1 slot), long sword (1 slot), longbow (2 slots), quiver of 20 arrows (1 slot), 2 torches (1/2 slot each), flint and steel, simple food (3 days, 3 slots), waterskin (1 day, 1 slot), shovel (1 slot), 11 silver pieces.

Fighter/paladin, dwarf. Scale armour (2 slots), shield (1 slot), battle axe (1 slot), light crossbow (1 slot), quiver of 20 crossbow quarrels (1 slot), 2 torches (1/2 slot each), flint and steel, simple food (3 days, 3 slots), waterskin (1 day, 1 slot), shovel (1 slot), pickaxe (1 slot), 11 silver pieces.

Fighter/paladin, halfling. Scale armour (1 slots), buckler (1/2 slot), short sword (1/2 slot), shortbow (1 slot), quiver of 20 arrows (1 slot), 2 torches (1/2 slot each), flint and steel, simple food (4 days, 2 slots), waterskin (1 day, 1/2 slot), shovel (1 slot), 52 silver pieces.

Monk. Quarterstaff (2 slots), sling (0 slots), pouch of 10 smooth stones (1 slot), lamp (1/2 slot), lamp oil (6 hours, 1/2 slot), flint and steel, simple food (3 days, 3 slots), waterskin (1 day, 1 slot), hemp rope (50 feet, 1 slot), 123 silver pieces.

Ranger. Leather armour (1 slot), long sword (1 slot), hand axe (1/2 slot), long bow (2 slots), quiver of 20 arrows (1 slot), 2 torches (1/2 slot each), flint and steel, waterskin (1 day, 1 slot), hemp rope (50 feet, 1 slot), fishing rod and tackle (1 slot), 10 pitons (1/2 slot), hammer (1/2 slot), 37 silver pieces, 5 copper pieces.

Thief. Leather armour (1 slot), 2 daggers (1/2 slot together), light crossbow (1 slot), quiver of 20 crossbow quarrels (1 slot), bullseye lantern (1 slot), lamp oil (6 hours, 1/2 slot), flint and steel, simple food (3 days, 3 slots), waterskin (1 day, 1 slot), hemp rope (50 feet, 1 slot), thieves’ tools (1/2 slot), bag of marbles (1/2 slot), 40 silver pieces, 5 copper pieces.

Witch. 2 daggers (1/2 slot together), 10 tallow candles (1/2 slot together), flint and steel, simple food (3 days, 3 slots), waterskin (1 day, 1 slot), chalk (5 pieces), pewter cauldron (2 slots), small bronze mirror (1/2 slot), 114 silver pieces, 5 copper pieces.

Wizard. Quarterstaff (2 slots), 10 beeswax candles (1/2 slot together), flint and steel, simple food (3 days, 3 slots), waterskin (1 day, 1 slot), spellbook (1 slot), 35 silver pieces.