Armour & Shields

Adventuring is dangerous work; sometimes you find yourself on the wrong end of a spear, and in times like those you'll be thankful for the defenses provided by Armour and Shields.

Armor provides two types of defense, Armor Points (AP) and DR to Wounds:

Armor Points act as a second pool of HP for a character that must be consumed first before HP is. AP does not heal naturally and instead must be repaired by making aCraft (Mundane) Check DC 10. Success means you restore 1d6 AP.

DR to Wounds means the amount of Damage Reduction you apply when you take Wounds damage. Most armors come in two varieties, Chest and Full. Chest armor only applies DR to the Chest, while Full covers all limbs, Chest and Head.

Shields provide you a means to more actively defend yourself - whilst using a Shield, you may attempt to Parry incoming attacks. If your roll exceeds the total of the incoming attack, you successfully deflect it away! This benefit even applies to spells, as long as an attack roll is involved.

An Armor Check Penalty is a global penalty applied to all Strength and Dexterity based Skill checks, as well as to Parry attempts - it emulates the way in which armor impedes your movement due to its weight and bulk. Heavier armor has a higher check penalty.

Below is a list of common Armour and Shields that you may expect to find in most settlements in a typical PathRunner world. Note that the prices listed below are guideline values intended for use by your Game Master - these prices are very unlikely to be encountered during gameplay. However, if you selected a sufficient amount of Resources from the Priority Chart, you may buy any items listed below at the listed prices during character creation.

Armor and Shields may gain increased defensive bonuses through Enchantment, up to +10 . Armor and Shields may also be Masterworked, but keep in mind that Masterwork bonuses and Enchantment bonuses do not stack. Due to this, many adventurers Enchant their defensive items for greater bonuses, and Masterwork them to ease the Armor Check Penalty, or to raise the maximum Dexterity allowed by the armor.

Shields gain an additional Parry per Enchantment bonus.

Armor gains 5 additional AP per Enchantment Bonus, and Masterwork may not add AP.

Below are the TU values of magical Armor and Shields during Character Creation. As with other purchases, procuring magical equipment in-game is often significantly more expensive - spend wisely!