The Adventurer's Toolbox

I believe that, after race and class, one of the most defining aspects of a character is what he carries around, what he chooses to stick in his backpack before going out and adventure.  As such, whatever the RPG book I'm reading, the equipment section is the one I often go to first.  After all, I might not be playing a game with different races or even classes, but all games (that I know of) have gear.

The Three Boxes

There are three large categories of equipment an adventurer might need, in my opinion: weapons, armour, and gear.  Weapons are the tools of the trade for most characters; they might not all wear actual armour, but everybody carries at least a dagger, just in case some slobbering monstrosity gets too close.  Weapons, I've found, also includes the implements of the spellcasters.  In 4th Edition D&D, while they are not listed with other weapons, they act in the same way as weapons for warriors.

The weapons list I'm currently working from is a strange cross between 2nd, 3rd and 4th Edition.  Weapon groups have been kept, mostly as a keyword for abilities that work with or better with a certain type of weapons.  The fighters Slashing Fury ability (in its current form) requires the wielder either use a heavy blade or an axe, while the rogue's Cruelest Cut requires a light blade to be used.

I've also come up with a rough damage expectation for characters and monsters at this point, and it looks like the d8 is going to be the "average" dice for weapon damage.  So the big, classic murder tools, the longsword, the warhammer, the mace and the battleaxe, are probably going to use it as their damage dice.  You might feel removing some of the diversity in damage and in properties will make those weapons bland, but I decided to put some of those into the abilities of the characters using them.  A fighter will use a mace in a very different way than a rogue would, for exemple.

Weapons also come in a variety of materials which alter the way they work.  As of right now, I can't really go into details, but let's just say a fighter who wishes to squeeze the most out of each attack will want to pick up an adamantine axe or something.

I've always felt armour diversity in 4E was anemic, it lacked diversity.  I've decided to bring back some of the previous editions' varieties: studded leather, chainshirt, banded mail, etc.  As it stands, the armour chart has double the varieties of the base 4th Edition one.  I've also added back the tower shield to the game; picking it is costly as it slows you down some, but it is meant mostly as a situational tool.  As for the rest of the armours' stats, I've decided to stick to a simple, 4E-like approach (so your armour will have an AC bonus, a price, a penalty to certain checks, and some will modify your speed).  I am working on a different system for encumbrance, one where you don't have to track every pound of gear you're lugging around.

Armours also get an additional diversity with superior and rare categories.  You can find a piece of cloth armour in pretty much every armour shop in Kyrohn, but only the finest stores in Kelestas will have a robe of feysilk in stock, and a celestial weave mantle can only be found in the dusty ruins of Aurathis.

Finally gear is a problematic category.  We'll all agree that thieve's tools, rations and rope are a crucial part of the fantasy RPG experience, but what about alchemical fire?  Healing salves?  Ladders?

What I've found is that there is a way for both "adventuring gear" and "trade goods" to exist in a single RPG book.  The latter, though, might take too much space within the limited space that can be afforded to equipment, so they will get a sidebar that will help those using the system to adjucate their price and impact in game terms.  A sturdy ladder might cost you a gold crown and make climbing any surface an easy task, while a waterclock will be both harder to find and vastly more expensive.

 The magical stuff

Magic items have a long and prestigious history in the realm of fantasy RPGs and D&D more specifically.  From the lowly healing potion to the mighty Holy Avenger, all of those items strike a particular chord within players or DMs; they are sometimes the object of entire quests or they are everyday commodities for adventurers.

Something that always bugged me (well since the later 2nd Edition era) were +X weapons and armours, and I strove to remove them from Forbidden Skies' system.  Effectively, they've been folded directly into the characters' progression.  As for the rest of the magical items list, I'm currently in the process of whittling down a list of "core" items that will be included in the base system: cloaks of elvenkind, rings of protection, gauntlets of ogre power, winged boots, bags of holding, etc.

I want most magic items to have personality, so I'm toying with a list of traits that can be randomly selected and that can add bits of story to what tends to be just loot. I'm hoping it will make players more attached to what treasure they find. 

And on a final note, while I like the simplicity of the typical D&D coinage (copper, silver, gold and platinum pieces), I also like the idea of either changing the names of those coins to something more setting specific or even introducing competing currency (I highly doubt I'll do the latter one though; too much trouble).

That's about it for now.  I still have a lot of work to do on that specific aspect of the game, but I have a very strong framework on which I can build.  Next time, I'll show you some specifics on one of the key nations in Forbidden Skies and I'll elaborate on my process for creating kingdoms and realms for the setting.

Thank you for reading this, and be well.

E.L.F - AKA The Choice