Equipment

Basics

All equipment follows certain basic rules.

Superior Gear

Gear can be made extremely well, making it even better than a normal version. These versions are referred to as mastercraft objects. The exceptional quality of these objects provides the user a bonus on attack rolls, damage, Defense, or some other characteristic that improves when the object is used. This can be used to add other features to a piece of equipment, even features that don't normally have a gadget or other mechanic associated with them.

The maximum combination of bonuses possible is +3, no matter how those three are distributed across the equipment's statistics. However, the GM can alter this (and any other rule) as appropriate for his or her game.

A mastercraft object that provides a +1 bonus can usually be purchased on the open market as a custom version of a common object. Mastercraft objects with a bonus of +2 or +3 are not common and are generally not for sale.

Restricted Gear

Some objects are subject to legal or cultural limitations that restrict their ownership and use. These objects require you to purchase a license or play a fee to legally own the object.

This is a separate item and should be purchased in addition to (and usually before) the object to which it applies. Alternatively, you can purchase the item through a black market (see below).

There are four levels of restriction:

• Licensed: The owner must obtain a license to own or operate the object legally. Generally, the license is not expensive, and obtaining it has few if any additional legal requirements.
• Restricted: Only specially qualified individuals or organizations are technically allowed to own the object. However, the real obstacles to ownership are time and money; anyone with sufficient patience and cash can eventually acquire the necessary license.
• Military: The object is sold primarily to legitimate police and military organizations. A military rating is essentially the same as restricted (see above), except that manufacturers and dealers are generally under tight government scrutiny and are therefore especially wary of selling to private individuals.
• Illegal: The object is illegal in all but specific, highly regulated circumstances.

Restricted Objects

Purchasing a License

To purchase a license or pay necessary fees, make a Wealth check against the Cost given in the table above. With a success, the license is issued to the character after the number of days indicated. To speed the process, you can make a XX check against a DC equal to the license Cost. Success results in the license being issued in 1d6 hours.

During the process of character creation, a character just needs to purchase the license or pay the fee; the time required takes place before game play begins.

As a general rule, a character must obtain the appropriate license before buying a restricted object. Legitimate dealers will not sell restricted objects to a character who does not have the necessary license. However, a character may be able to turn to the black market to obtain restricted objects without a license.

The Black Market

Sometimes a character wants to obtain an object without going through the hassle of legal restrictions. Almost anything is available on the black market.

Streetwise checks can be used to locate a black market merchant (see Skills for details).

Objects purchased on the black market are more expensive than those purchased legally. Add the black market Cost modifier from the above table to the object’s Cost.

Obtaining an object on the black market takes a number of days according to the Time Required column on the above table. The process can be hurried, but each day cut out of the process (to a minimum of one day) increases the purchase DC by an additional +1.

Armor

Body armor comes in a nearly infinite variety of shapes and sizes. Most armors fall into one of two categories: Light and Heavy. There is a third category for use in science-fiction games: Powered. The rules for each category and a chart of armors is given in the armor section.

Training

Training with armor comes in two or three feats, representing the discipline and endurance to wear the armors correctly, gaining maximum protection for minimum hindrance. Even untrained characters gain benefit from using armor but they are greatly hindered by not being properly trained in moving and fighting in it. Characters take a -1 to defense and a -1 to all attack rolls while wearing armor they aren't trained in.

Enhancements

Some campaigns have bio-manipulation, cybernetic enhancements, or both available for sale. These powerful enhancements follow most of the normal rules for equipment. Details are found here.

These rules can also represent mystical grafts for campaigns that use such elements.

Utility Equipment

Adventurers like stuff. Tool kits, adventuring gear, computers, safe houses, and more exotic items end up on most character's shopping and wish lists. This section covers things that aren't weapons, armor, or vehicles.

Vehicular Adventures

Vehicular Adventures

Weapons

Weapons in Alloy Heroes are designed with a number of uses, categories, and applications in mind. As such, they fill an extensive and separate section of this document, found here.

Training

Training with weapons improves your ability to use them. Each weapon has a proficiency bonus, a bonus to attack rolls with the weapon, a benefit all trained characters gain when using the weapon. Even untrained characters can use the weapon, but they don't gain the proficiency bonus.

Economy

There are two basic ways of representing economy.

The first (and most common) is to use "Cold Hard Cash". Determine a basic unit of currency and track every bit of it, including the value of each piece of equipment the characters have.

The second is to use an abstract Wealth system, representing a combination of credit, income, on-hand funds, favors, and whatever other resources are appropriate to the setting and situation. This is the method recommended and preferred by me, the author.

Cold Hard Cash Rules

The key to this option is a basic unit of currency. Many fantasy settings use silver pieces, while real world currencies (dollars, euros, etc) can be used in modern settings, and credits of some sort are common in science fiction.

Apocalyptic settings rarely have a universal form of currency (there's usually not enough organization) but they can use anything from bottle caps to bullets to

Starting Cash

A character begins play with an amount of money equal to 200 x (5 + Occupation Wealth + Windfall + 1 if Trained in professional skill) in basic currency units.

Cost Table

This table is for converting Cost DCs into cash values. It is not for converting Wealth into specific amounts of cash. First, those would be off by an order of magnitude or more; second, there are enough variables in Wealth to make a cash value essentially impractical. Third and finally, there's no reason to have such a conversion.

Wealth

Every character has a Wealth bonus that reflects his or her buying power—a composite of income, credit rating, and savings. A character’s Wealth bonus serves as the basis of the character’s Wealth check, which is used to purchase equipment and services for the character.

Wealth Score

A newly created 1st-level character’s Wealth bonus is +5 plus:

• Wealth provided by the character’s starting occupation.
• Bonus from the Windfall feat, if taken.
• +1 for trained in their professional skill (see skills).

Over the course of play, the hero’s Wealth score will decrease as the hero purchases expensive items and increase as the hero gains levels and finds monetary rewards in play.

A character’s Wealth score can never fall below +0, and there is no limit to how high the Wealth score can climb.

Since Wealth is an abstract concept, it’s sometimes difficult to determine how financially well off a character is. To get a general sense of how financially solvent a character is at any given time, check the table below.

Purchasing Equipment

Wealth checks are used to determine what characters can afford and what gear they might reasonably have access to. Every character has a Wealth bonus that reflects his or her buying power. Every object and service has a purchase DC. To purchase an object, make a Wealth check against the purchase DC.

This check functions just like any other check: roll 1d20 + Wealth score

Success: You purchase the object now. This can lower your wealth.

Failure: For whatever reason (frozen accounts, unacceptable deals, deciding to save for the credit card bills coming, or ninjas leaping out and interrupting your shopping spree) your character doesn't purchase the object at this time.

Time: Buying less common objects generally takes a number of hours equal to the purchase DC of the object or service, reflecting the time needed to locate the wanted materials and close the deal. Getting a license or buying an object with a restriction rating increases the time needed to make purchases.

Try Again: A character can try again if he or she fails a Wealth check, but not until the character has spent an additional number of hours shopping equal to the purchase DC of the object or service.

Wealth of +0: You don't have the buying power to purchase any object or service that has a purchase DC of 10 or higher. Also, it always takes a number of hours equal to the purchase DC of the object or service to attempt a purchase.

Combining Wealth

Occasionally, you may need to combine the value of multiple purchase DCs or Wealth bonuses. For example, you may want to buy several items simultaneously to reduce shopping time. Likewise, it is occasionally necessary to combine Wealth bonuses, such as when one character aids another on a purchase or when adding together multiple Wealth awards. When combining purchase DCs or Wealth bonuses, follow these guidelines:

• Two equal values have a combined value two points higher.
• Two values that are one ot two points apart have a combined value two points higher than the larger value.
• Two values that are three points apart have a combined value one point higher than the larger value.
• Two values that are four or more points apart have a combined value equal to the larger value. (The smaller purchase or bonus does not significantly effect the total value.)
• When combining three or more values, find the combined value of the lowest two values, then repeat the process until you have a single combined value. For example, to combine three purchases of DC 5, 6, and 8, first pair the DC 5 and 6 purchases to get a combined DC 8 purchase. Then, combine the original DC 8 purchase with the combined DC 8 purchase to get a total purchase DC of 10.

If multiple characters wish to cooperate on a purchase, each must spend a number of hours shopping equal to the purchase DC. Make a check using their combined Wealth bonus (see "Combining Values," above). If the check succeeds, calculate the Wealth loss using the combined Wealth bonus and apply this loss to each cooperating character.

For example, four characters each have a Wealth bonus of +17 and they wish to buy a used starship worth 25,000 credits (DC 31). They choose to cooperate, gaining a combined Wealth bonus of +21, and they Take 10 on the Wealth check so that they automatically succeed. All four characters spend 31 hours shopping and they each lose 2 points of Wealth (1/5 of 31-21 is 10/5 = 2).

Losing Wealth

Losing wealth is pretty straightforward.

• Successful Purchase: Your character's Wealth score only goes down if you successfully buy an object or service.
• Excessive Purchase: Your character can only lose Wealth by purchasing goods or services in excess of their Wealth Score.
• Amount Lost: You lose one-fifth the difference between the Cost and your Wealth Score. 1/5 * (Cost - Wealth)
• Plot: As the plot necessitates, some or all of a character's wealth score may become temporarily unavailable due to opponents freezing assets, ruining credit histories, or simply stealing valuables. This is up to the Game Master, but should be reversible by player actions by the end of the adventure.

Regaining Wealth

Selling Objects

Selling something can provide an increase to your Wealth score. The increase is the same amount as the Wealth score loss you would experience if you purchased an object with a cost equal to the sale value.

Most objects have a sale value equal to (Cost - 2).

A character cannot legally sell restricted objects unless the character is licensed to own them. A character also cannot legally sell objects that have been reported as stolen. Selling objects illegally usually requires that the character have contacts in the black market, and reduces the sale value by an additional 2. Selling takes a number of hours equal to the normal purchase DC of the item.

Wealth Awards

Adventuring may result in characters finding valuable items. In such cases, the benefit translates into a Wealth award.

Professional Improvement

As a character gains in experience, it is assumed that they gain in wealth. Whether they become more savvy negotiators or actually improve their income, or something else entirely, is up to your table to determine. The benefits are given here.

• When: Upon leveling up, as the first step in gaining a level.
• Check: Make a professional skill check vs. Wealth score.
• Success: Increase Wealth score by +1.
  • Scaling Success: For every 5 points by which you exceed the DC, you gain an additional +1 increase to Wealth score.
• Special: If you are trained in your professional skill, your Wealth score increases by +1. Regardless of the result of your skill check.

A GM may dictate that this does not occur.

On-Hand Objects

In real life, most people possess a myriad of innocuous goods for which an accurate and current accounting would be exceedingly cumbersome to maintain. Determining whether a character owns a particular mundane object requires a Wealth check. This is only doable during game play, not between or before sessions.

• Determine Cost: Determine the Cost of the item. The GM determines the Cost of any unlisted objects. Similarly priced objects are a good guide.
• Reasonable Location: You must be where the object can reasonably be located (GM determination).
• Cost Limit: The Cost must be DC 10 or less.
• Penalty: You take a -10 penalty on all On-Hand Wealth checks.
• Wealth Check: Make a Wealth check vs. Cost.
• Success: You have the object nearby. This does not affect Wealth.

Depending on the situation, the GM can rule that a certain mundane object is unavailable; in order to obtain any given object, the character must be in a place where that object might actually exist. For example, you cannot make a check for a frying pan while sitting in the town jail.

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