Weapon and Armor Degredation

One of the things that makes Midnight different from other settings is the lack of abundant equipment, weapons, and armor. In a typical D&D game, players can easily stop by the local blacksmith’s shop and pick up a new sword or suit of armor. Not so, in Midnight. These rules emphasize the importance of obtaining fresh weapons and armor in the game.

Whenever a character attacks an enemy and rolls a natural 1, he must immediately roll a secondary attack. This happens in much the same way critical hits are resolved. The confirmation roll uses all of the same modifiers as the original roll but does no damage. If the character manages to hit on the second roll the character fails to do any damage to his target and has managed to damage his weapon. The weapon may have struck his opponent’s weapon in mid-swing, been deflected by his opponent’s shield, or hit a particularly hard armor plate. The exact result is up to the DM.

What this means in game terms, is that the character’s weapon’s hardness rating is reduced by 1. Once the weapon’s hardness rating has worn down to 0, the weapon begins taking hit point damage at the same rate. If the confirmation roll results in yet another natural 1, the character’s weapon is instantly damaged beyond use.

If the character is attacking an unarmed and unarmored target, he does not risk damaging his weapons. Creatures with a natural armor bonus of +5 or greater are considered armored for this purpose. Unarmored or unarmed creatures simply don’t have a weapon or protection capable of damaging their opponent’s weapons.

Magical weapons are not subject to the same rules governing degradation as normal weapons. Magical weapons only risk damage when used against opponents wielding a magical weapon, or wearing magical armor, with an enchantment bonus of +1 greater than the character’s weapon. Every 4 points of natural armor a creature has is equal to a +1 enchantment bonus. So a creature with +16 natural armor is considered to have +4 armor when determining weapon degradation.

Weapons forged of mithral are considered +1 magical weapons. This +1 stacks with any other enchantment bonuses. Adamantine weapons are treated just like mithral, but have a +2 bonus. Covenant weapons are treated as having a +1 enhancement bonus for these purposes even if they normally would not.

Whenever a character suffers a critical hit from a natural 20, the Armor Bonus granted by his armor is reduced by 1 and the armor’s Armor Check Penalty is increased by 1 as damaged plates are knocked loose, straps are cut, slivers of chainmail hang loose, etc.

Like magical weapons, magical armor is immune to damage made by weapons of lesser or equal magical enchantment. Creatures that have damage reduction are capable of damaging magical armor as if their natural attacks were the same as whatever weapons are needed to bypass their own damage reduction. Example: A creature with DR 5/+1 would have natural attacks capable of damaging +1 armor.

Armor composed primarily of mithral is considered +1 magical armor when determining the possibility of armor degradation. This +1 stacks with any other enchantment bonuses.

Adamantine armor is treated just like mithral, but has a +2 bonus. Covenant armor is treated as having a +1 enhancement bonus for these purposes even if it normally would not.