Armor, Shield, and Equipment Damage
Acid, fire, lightning, and other lethal energies and substances can quickly
destroy a character’s armor. Unlike the critical hits introduced in Player’s Option: Combat & Tactics , every critical strike endangers the victim’s armor and equipment since the
character already failed a saving throw. However, there’s no need to check
everything the character may have on his person—instead, only check items on or in
the location struck. For example, if a character is struck in the face with a burning hands spell, his magical boots are in no real danger of being destroyed, but his
helm or his reading spectacles might be ruined.
To check for item damage, refer to Table 29 : Item Saving Throws in the DMG. Vibration or sonic attacks can be treated as either a crushing blow or
disintegration as the DM prefers, although if you decide to use the disintegration
column, a +4 bonus is reasonable to reflect the less destructive nature of
vibration attacks. Wounding critical strikes do not damage equipment.
Partially Destroyed Armor: If a character loses his armor in one particular location, the most accurate
way to reflect his increased vulnerability is to consult the partial armor rules
described on pages 128, 146 and 147 of the Player’s Option: Combat & Tactics book. Basically, the character’s overall AC will be worsened by the value of
the missing piece, and the character will also have an AC 10 location that can
be exploited by a called shot.
If you don’t have the Combat & Tactics book or don’t want to use partial armor rules, simply assign the character a
1-point AC penalty for each piece of missing armor. For example, if a character
in chain mail (base AC 5) loses the armor protecting his torso and right arm,
his armor is now treated as a base AC of 7. This isn’t as realistic, but may be
a little easier to use in play.
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