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Item Durability

Item Quality

Items come in three grades:

  • Superior: masterwork items, four notches.  They usually cost ten times the normal cost of such items.  Most magic items are always made from masterwork base items.  They may provide a minor intrinsic non-magical bonus (+1 to hit for weapons, a reduction of 1 to armor item penalties, or a +2 on tool use checks).
  • Standard: a typical item, three notches.
  • Poor: a poor quality item, two notches.  They have a -1 penalty (-1 to damage for weapons, -1 AC for armor, or -2 on tool use checks for items).

Notches

Notches represent wear and tear equipment has taken.  They affect performance in the following ways:

Weapons

  • Odd notches (first, third, etc.) inflict a -1 penalty to damage.
  • Even notches (second, fourth, etc.) inflict a cumulative -1 penalty to hit.

Armor

  • Odd notches inflict a -1 penalty to checks due to damage.
  • Even  notches inflict a cumulative -1 penalty to AC.

Items

This requires some interpretation by the GM. In general:

  • Odd notches reduce effectiveness
  • Even notches inflict a cumulative -1 penalty  to hit.

Destruction

If an item would take a notch after it has taken its maximum notches, it's destroyed.

Magical Items and Notches

Magical items with a +X system (armor, weapons, shields) get an extra notch for the total base bonus.  In other words, a sword +1, +3 vs. dragons, gets 1 extra notch.

Other magical items don't get any bonus notches, but are almost definitely masterwork items, despite appearances to the contrary, and so have a base of four potential notches.

Fixing Notches

Fixing an item is tougher than just making it from scratch.  Fixing major damage is also much tougher than fixing minor damage or even just making something from scratch, but may be worth it for something for which the making of them has been lost.  Sometimes even the methods of repair have been lost.  The cost of fixing, time taken to fix that notch, and equipment required is as follows, and reduces the notches by one.  Fix the most expensive notch first.

  • 1 notch -> fixed: 10% of the item's price, 1 hour, and a basic tool kit.
  • 2 notches -> 1 notch: 30% of the item's price, 8 hours, and an appropriate specialty shop kit (a forge, a wood-working shop, a jeweler's kit, etc.)
  • 3 notches ->  2 notches: 60% of the item's price, 1d6 x 8 hours, and an appropriate specialty shop kit (a forge, a wood-working shop, a jeweler's kit, etc.)
  • X+1 notches -> X notches (X>=3): X x 100% of the item's price, one week.

Fixing Strange Items

While a skill check isn't normally required, just time and the right tools, if you don't otherwise have a skill system, for strange items have the repairer roll under their intelligence or wisdom, whichever is better.  On a natural 20, they bollocks it up, and break it beyond repair.  On roll at or below a quarter of their attribute, they understand how to do this now, and no longer have to roll to repair. 

Learning to Create Strange Items

Someone who has fixed an strange item may use your spell research procedure to learn how to make it themselves. 

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