Gear
There are three types of gear. Functional, Extraordinary and Ephemeral Gear.
Functional gear is considered things that are strictly necessary to preform some part of your type or specialty. You can't be a photographer without a camera. You can't be a Scavenger without tools of some sort or another.
If these tools only provide the how you do something you can carry them outside your 10 slot loadout. (They would still take up space in your bagged or zoned system if you chose to use either one.)
If a gear eases a task, or has special properties, then it becomes Extraordinary Gear or Ephemeral Gear.
Extraordinary Gear takes up a slot in your 10 slot load out.
Ephemeral Gear is things like magical tattoos, brands, cybernetics, and apps. Containers can only store so much and have a physical limit. This limit is dictated by the items level. Since Characters do not have a level, the cap is 5 ephemeral gear items on the body — tattoos, brands, cybernetics, or anything that physically alters the body.
Extraordinary Gear
All extraordinary gear has some sort of level. The level determines many things about the item depending on what it is. But the level on all gear tells you about it's quaility.
| Level | Quality | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Junk / Makeshift | Barely functional. Held together by tape, luck, or weak magic. Likely to glitch or fail under pressure. |
| 2 | Budget / Surplus | Mass-produced or outdated surplus. Reliable for daily use, but lacks specialized features or refinement. |
| 3 | Standard | The "Consumer Grade" baseline. Reliable, middle-of-the-road gear used by the general populace. |
| 4 | Professional | Specialized gear used by experts. Hardened against wear and tear; refined materials and consistent output. |
| 5 | Superior | High-end "Flagship" models. Exceptional craftsmanship that stands out to those in the trade. |
| 6 | Elite / Tactical | Cutting-edge tech or artisan craft. Customized for high-performance and specific tactical advantages. |
| 7 | Experimental | Prototype hardware or rare "lost" magic. Features capabilities not yet available on the open market. |
| 8 | Masterwork | The pinnacle of non-unique gear. Created by masters; perfectly balanced, efficient, and highly sought after. |
| 9 | Legendary | Gear with a reputation. Heavily modified, ancient, or infused with high-density energy and rare components. |
| 10 | Apex | The absolute limit of engineering or sorcery. One-of-a-kind items that are the stuff of myths. |
Armor
There are three different armor types. Armor eases defense and hinders stealth and can decreases carrying capacity.
| Armor | Ease Defense | Hinder Stealth | Carrying Capacity Reduced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light | 1 step | 0 steps | 0 |
| Medium | 2 steps | 1 step | 0 |
| Heavy | 3 steps | 2 steps | 1 |
Weapons
Weapons come in different damage types. Creature attacks also do these same damage types.
| d8 | Damage Types |
|---|---|
| 1 | Physical (piercing, slashing, crushing weapons) |
| 2 | Psychic (mental, psychic) |
| 3 | Elemental (fire, air, earth, water) |
| 4 | Necrotic (death, undead, spirits, blood magic) |
| 5 | Radiant (divine, angelic, light) |
| 6 | Shadow (shadows, Nether magic) |
| 7 | Chaos (Faerie Magic) |
| 8 | Toxic (poisons, venom, disease, radiation) |
Consumables
Consumables are pieces of gear that have a limited lifetime. Such as rations, potions, scrolls.
Each consumable must dictate how it is depleted. There are two options -- [single-use] and [depletion].
Some consumables leave behind remnants that can be used later. These things such as paint, chalk have a durability that determines if the remnant is reusable again.
- One use — [single-use]
- Multiple uses: Roll a 1 on a d20 - [depletion]
- Level 1-4 roll at disadvantage
- Level 5-7 roll normally
- Level 8-10 roll at advantage
A Remnant is the physical trace left in the environment after a consumable is used (e.g., chalk marks on a wall, paint on a door, or a chemical trail on the ground). These items that leave behind marks should have a [remnant] tag and are required to add a durability tag for the remnant.
The Remnant's Durability determines if the mark remains readable or functional over time. When the environment or time puts the mark at risk (rain, traffic, fading), roll a d20. On a 1, the Remnant is destroyed or unreadable.
There are [temporary] and [semi-permanent] tags for a durability of a mark let by a remnant.
- One use — [temporary]
- Multiple uses: Roll a 1 on a d20 — [semi-permanent]
- Level 1-4 roll at disadvantage
- Level 5-7 roll normally
- Level 8-10 roll at advantage
Containers
Containers can contain things. A smartphone can contain apps. A keyring can contain keys or keychain dongles and tools. A kit is essentially a container. A bag or backpack is also a container.
There are two types of containers the ephemeral/narrative container which is used purely for narrative organizational purposes, and space constraining containers that are used in the bagged inventory systems.
Containers can contain up to their level of things plus two for small items like key chains, charms on a necklace/bracelet, a belt or belt pouch. Most containers can contain their level * 2 medium items. Large bags for resource intense came contain level + 2 large items.
| Container | Contains |
|---|---|
| Small | Level + 2 small items |
| Most | Level * 2 medium items |
| Resource | Level + 2 resources |
| Item Size | Small | Medium | Large | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small | 1 | 2 | 4 | Small items are things like scrolls, keys, dice, potions |
| Medium | — | 1 | 2 | Medium items are what most things are |
| Large | — | — | 1 | Large items are either heavy or large, like a great sword or shield or plate armor |
A Bag of Holding, Portable Hole, or what I like to call a TARDIS container — "bigger on the inside" -- has a 3 times their level max capacity and cannot contain other multi-dimensional containers.
Kits
Crafting, Thieving, Hunting, Trapping, Navigation, and other specialty tasks that have multiple tools can have a kit that contain all the tools necessary and only take up one slot.
Kits contain generic tools at their level — a hammer, a needle and thread, fishing line, a skinning knife.
But you can add up to their level times 2 of a specialized item related to that kit — special ink to a ritual kit, a healing potion for a medical kit, a level 3 hunting rifle to a hunting kit
Items that can be consumed like bandages, potions, salves, inks, chalk, paint, etc. follow the consumable rules.
Smartphones/Laptops
In a modern setting Smartphones and Laptops are run of the mill nearly everyone has one device. They provide basic computation and socialization apps. The following apps are always available: GPS/Map, Phone, Camera, Internet, Notes, Music.
A device may contain its level times 3 specialized apps. Things like Social Networking Platforms, Drawing, Anything you would need to download from an app store or magical app if your world provides such mechanics.