Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 ISHNIKDEV Mar 29, 2015 6:47:15	Hello I am a new GM to DND5e and i some of my players have a question about armor degradtion and repairs   how do we calculate\incorporate when the characters armor gets damaged? is there a base durability on armor? how much does it cost to repair armor? how for does a armor have to be degraded before it is impoosible to repair? eg %10 or %20 of armor left   I can make my own house rules but I want to stick with the books rules as much as possbile to keeps everything consistant and I do not see any guideline for this   Thanks
#2 transcendantviewer Mar 29, 2015 7:16:08	You could use the "Repairing Equipment" rules from 3.5. Aside from that, armor and equipment degradation is approached with suspension of disbelief. I don't really know how to rule it either, myself, but the 3.5 rules would be where I'd start.
#3 EmpactWB Mar 29, 2015 8:51:21	I can answer, after a fashion. By default, armor only gets damaged when an attack says it damages armor. The Black Pudding, Grey Ooze, and Rust Monster are the only ones I see in the Monster Manual that do this, and they only affect mundane armor. Damage to armor penalizes AC, and when the benefit is completely gone, so is the armor. The damage to a suit of armor is listed as permanent, so you'll need to get new armor to regain full benefit.   So there are very few monsters that damage armor at all, durability equals AC increase, it can't be repaired, and when the AC equals unarmored the armor is destroyed. If you want to expand on this, you'll have to enter houserule territory, but I would be interested to see what you come up with.
(Reply to #3) ISHNIKDEV	EmpactWB wrote:
#5 EmpactWB Mar 29, 2015 10:21:16	That could work pretty well. Maybe limit it to being reduced to 0 hit points by an attack that isn't psychic or poison; objects are immune to those, so why let it break their armor?
#6 Illithidbix Mar 29, 2015 10:28:14	There are no rules for it, except for a handful of monsters with special attacks. There are damaging object rules in the DMG but this is more for deliberate attacks rather than long-term durability.   Cleaning and maintenance is generally assumed to be something that is done in downtimes/fast-forward during rests and similar. It's presumed that all adventurers have enough "life skills" to know how to patch up their own equipment" when nothing exciting is happening. Same as very few DM's (to my knowledge) care to enforce PC's roleplaying going to the toilet.   I would generally only do it if the equipment is strained beyond normal use myself, perhaps by fighting gargoyles, golems or similar extra hard monsters. It could be a useful way to allow tool proficiencies to come into more use for field repairs.
#7 ISHNIKDEV Mar 29, 2015 10:27:18	sounds about right to me   Thanks for the Help
#8 strider13x Mar 29, 2015 15:14:46	Hit Points!   Hit Points work best when used as genre emulation. You have a player or group of players that want that as a factor? Then narrate how the killing blow was stopped by breastplate, cutting the strap! On a short rest the player repairs what they can of the damaged mail. Then during downtime the players can pay gold to repair the armor fully, maintaining the warrior lifestyle!   Other players may not be interested in that part of the genre, they may prefer the study of mystical forces and how to regenerate mana. They might avoid the deadly strike by precognosis or creating a field of eldritch force! During their short rest they pick mushrooms while a cauldron boils! During downtime they are deep into tomes in libraries forever paying gold for late fees!   Cater your HP loss to each players expectations! No additional rules required!
(Reply to #8) transcendantviewer	strider13x wrote:
#10 Psikerlord Mar 29, 2015 23:13:22	ISHNIKDEV wrote:
#11 strider13x Mar 30, 2015 2:58:50	Transcendent Veiwer-   All that is explained by... Hit Dice! Focusing on minutia keeps us away from the action and adventure that D&D is built for. Relying on HP and HD to better tell our stories beats simply hand waiving past things like crafting skills, but avoids unneeded rules for stuff that in the end keeps us away from the Dungeons and Dragons and intrigue and excitement we came to the table to enjoy! Weave those elements into the story rather than hinder yourself with more minigames that dont enhance the experience.
#12 abs1nth Mar 30, 2015 5:32:44	strider13x wrote:
(Reply to #11) transcendantviewer	strider13x wrote:
#14 strider13x Mar 30, 2015 8:52:10	Part of why Fighters get more HP and larger HD is Armor Use, the training to use armor to reflect blows! Again, genre emmulation! Rogues HP may represent more luck and dodging, Clerics HP may represent divine favor, Barbarians HP is pure toughness.   When a PC losses HP, ask them how the HP were lost. Every blow is deadly to lesser men! You may be surprised at how different players describe the ability to stay alive. Some will say the armor deflected it, some will narrowly avoid it. Then when HD are spent you have a basis for narrating how they recovered! Use clues the players give you, use HP to represent whatever you need them to tell an effective story!
#15 EmpactWB Mar 30, 2015 10:55:14	If you want a more mechanical answer:   If the attack roll was less than 10 + Dexterity bonus to AC, the attack was a total miss (either poor aim by the attacker or dodged by the target). If the attack roll was at least 10 + Dexterity bonus to AC but less than Armor Class + Dexterity bonus to AC, the attack glanced off the armor. If the attack roll was at least Armor Class + Dexterity bonus to AC but less than Armor Class + Dexterity bonus to AC + Shield, the attack glanced off the shield. If the attack roll was at least Armor Class + Dexterity bonus to AC + Shield and still missed, it was prevented by whatever feature allowed for it. If the attack roll was at least Armor Class + Dexterity bonus to AC + Shield and hit, they were hit. Kind of a duh moment, but hey, crazy people read the rules sometimes and omitting it might be bad.   Even without using the armor degradation rules, I might use this to describe my monsters missing or being missed when I run game.
#16 Byakugan01 Mar 31, 2015 1:03:25	I just figured the rules for repairing and maintaining your gear were rolled into the lifestyle expenses.  It is assumed your stuff gets dented and dinged, then when back in civilization you repair it.