Arcydea uses a custom set of weapons, armor, spellcasting focuses, and general equipment, and it uses some modified rules for proficiencies. Unlike other D&D campaigns, you will not start off with the best gear you can and then wait to acquire magical items. Instead, you begin with limited means and may have to save during your adventures just to outfit your character fully with what you might consider basic equipment. Over the course of the campaign, while you will find magical items and rare treasures, you will also be able to upgrade your character with mundane equipment that improves on the basic equipment you started the campaign with.

• Armor and Shields
• Weapons
• Firearms and Beam Weapons
• Ammunition
• Tools
• Poisons
• Material Assets
• Expenses
• Investments

Masterwork armaments are finely-built examples of arms and armor, so exceptional that they warrant special rules related to their enhanced effectiveness. Masterwork armaments each take on a bonus property, selected from a limited list.

Masterwork armaments are originally crafted as such; a weapon or suit of armor cannot be made masterwork after its creation. Masterwork armaments take on a slightly different shape or construction to justify their enhanced features, and are obviously of superior craftsmanship. The DM should moderate the design of masterwork armaments to ensure that the additional modification makes sense as applied.

A masterwork suit of armor has 1 additional armor property that the armor does not already possess: Any masterwork suit of armor can add the absorbent, efficient, enclosed, layered, lightweight, quick-escape, or reinforced armor property. A masterwork suit of heavy armor may instead add the hardened armor property.

A masterwork buckler, pavise, shield, or tower shield can only add the hardened or lightweight armor property.

A masterwork weapon has 1 additional weapon property that the weapon does not normally possess: Melee weapons may add the alternate (one type), deadly, defensive, disarming, fine, high-critical, or tripping property. If it already has the thrown property, it may instead add accurate or aerodynamic.

If it does not have the two-handed property, a melee weapon that normally inflicts 1d6 or more damage can instead be made versatile, increasing the normal damage die by one size or half size, as appropriate. (A 1d6 becomes a 1d8. A 1d8+1 becomes a 1d10+1. A 2d4 becomes a 2d5. And so on.) Ammunition or charging weapons may only add accurate, aerodynamic, deadly, fine, or high-critical.

A masterwork suit of light or medium armor costs 150 gp more than a standard version, as does a masterwork shield of any sort. A masterwork suit of heavy armor or a masterwork weapon costs an additional 300 gp.

Crafting a masterwork armament requires proficiency with the appropriate artisan’s tools (leatherworker’s tools, smith’s tools, or woodcarver’s tools) and additional crafting time as indicated by the item’s increased market value.

Masterwork armaments are recognized as true works of art by skilled warriors and artisans, and as such can be resold (to the right buyer) for full value.

A skilled smith should be able to add other minerals to a weapon for 100 gp, or 10 gp for a piece of ammunition. The process includes replacing, coating, or alloying the existing metal components. Alternately, a character can perform the craft herself using smith’s tools, taking 20 days for a weapon or 2 days for a piece of ammunition. This option is useful if the characters encounter a source of mystic material. It might also be useful if you employ monsters with new and exotic immunities, resistances, or vulnerabilities. Perhaps you use fey creatures that are vulnerable to cold iron or your shadowlands monsters are resistant to nonmagical attacks not made with jade-infused weapons.

Whatever the case, the players should have to supply or purchase the raw materials needed, in addition to the smith’s fee or their own crafting time. It requires about 2 pounds of the metal (or 20 standard gemstones powdered among other material) to integrate with a weapon’s striking surfaces.

The Trade Goods (Trade Bars) chart shows the value per pound for some well-known metals. (The cost for silvered and adamantined weapons varies slightly from these calculations.)

It doesn’t make sense when an upgrade uses more weight of metal than the entire weapon. If you wish, you can halve these material requirements for any weapon that already weighs only 1 pound or less, like a dagger.

Likewise, you can peg the cost of an alternate material piece of ammunition to its equivalent weight in material (plus 10 gp) for each. For example, a gold-treated arrow would cost 10 gp for the labor and 2½ gp for the material (1/20th of a pound of gold, the same weight as an arrow).

You can apply these adjustments to silvered or adamantined weapons too, if you desire.

Based on the existing material in this section, you may also create custom options for when you happen to have metal or animal skin handy and want to transform it into armor, weapons, spellcasting focuses, etc. First, consider the material and its comparable quality to existing options.

As noted in the Traits list, you can have Inferior quality items for half normal value, or Masterwork quality items for triple normal value. Typically, craftsmen aspire to masterwork quality in their work, and only churn out inferior scrap when they're desperate to turn out munition-grade armor for a large army in a hurry or when a particular project hasn't gone too well.

Leather (AC 11) and Boiled Leather / Hide (AC 12) are two constructions based upon cowhide (cow having an AC of 10). As such, one can get comfortable leather-equivalent products by adding 1 to the natural armor AC of a creature (its AC after removing any Dexterity bonuses), and less comfortable, more sturdy materials by adding 2 to the natural armor AC of a creature. Chitinous or scaled creatures may instead be made into natural versions of scale mail or similar armor by adding 3 to the natural armor AC of a creature, using the beast's chitin, bones, or scales instead of metal plating. People are notorious for turning dragons into magnificent suits of armor, something which all dragons despise despite the practicality of it.

Some basic examples:

(): Uses metal reinforcement for its AC.

Materials may have additional properties relative to their source; If the creature happens to be from a cold climate, feel free to add Cold-Weather levels to it appropriate to the temperatures the creature is native to, for example, while the skin of something resistant to acid might also retain that quality when converted into armor. These material properties may make items crafted from them more valuable.

Some sources of skin and hide, particularly from sentient beings, are strongly frowned upon or forbidden in all but the most evil climates.

In most cases, steel armor is considered the benchmark by which other armors should be compared. As such, any changes in armor class, weight, etc should be based upon the steel version of a construction.

Aside from ceremonial uses, bronze weapons and armor tend to appear only in cultures where iron is rare, but copper and tin are not. Bronze armor is sometimes worn by poor knights, those who need to keep up appearances by wearing plated armor but cannot afford the real thing.

A suit of splint, plate, half plate, or a breastplate can be made with bronze instead of iron. Bronze is softer than iron and a bit less protective when used to make armor. Bronze manufacture therefore reduces the armor’s protection by 1 point.

Any weapon or ammunition normally made wholly (or mostly) with iron can instead be made with bronze. Bronze weapons have trouble holding a sharp edge. This applies a –1 penalty to damage rolls with bronze piercing or slashing weapons or ammunition.

Bronze-made armaments costs three-quarters of the price of normal, iron-made version.

Some primitive cultures lack the tools and techniques to fashion armaments out of metal, treated leather, and similar high-grade materials. For others, such materials are too rare or expensive to acquire. Such societies often turn to alternative — particularly nonmetal — materials to construct their armor and weapons.

Ersatz armor materials are often taken from fierce armored monsters like bulettes or braxats; they include plate segments cut from armored shells, interwoven and reinforced with rings of tough cartilage, or hard lacquered scales. Additional connective materials include bone, cord, and cured plant byproducts. Ersatz weapons are made of similar materials as well as obsidian, bone, wood, horn, antler, stone, and crystal.

Almost any normal armor or weapon can be made of alternative materials, even those not normally crafted from metal. Weapons that have the charging or ammunition weapon properties cannot be made with ersatz materials, but their ammunition can be.

Ersatz armaments cost one-quarter their normal, listed prices. Such gear initially performs as well as the real thing, but its fragility is quickly exposed if used for any significant period. Each piece of ersatz equipment is burdened with the ersatz armor property or the ersatz weapon property.

A skilled smith with access to this rare material can add adamantine components to a weapon to improve its ability to break objects. A hit against an object with an adamantine weapon is automatically a critical hit, and the material improves the weapon’s performance against certain construct creatures. Adamantine ammunition does not break in battle; each piece can be recovered after a fight.

You can adamantine a single weapon for 500 gp (or 1 piece of ammunition for 50 gp.) This cost represents the price of the adamantine and the expertise needed to add adamantine to the weapon without making it less effective.

A skilled smith can add silver components to the striking surfaces of a weapon without degrading the weapon’s performance. Such weapons affect creatures that are normally immune to or resistant to damage from non-silver weapons.

You can silver a single weapon for 100 gp (or 1 piece of ammunition for 10 gp). This cost represents not only the price of the silver, but the time and expertise needed to add silver to the weapon without making it less effective.

Sling bullets and firearm loads are simply molded lumps of metal. Although the melting temperature of silver is much higher than that of lead, crafting silver bullets is mostly just a matter of filling molds with molten metal.

With this optional rule, sling bullets and firearm loads of pure silver can be made for a much lower cost than other silver ammunition. When silver weapons are really needed, having the adventurers collect silver and craft their own ammunition can add a compelling element to the story.

Crafting a batch of 20 leaden-type sling bullets requires 75 silver coins (or 1.5 pounds weight) in material, beyond the normal cost to craft the ammunition. Under this system, the added cost does not increase the ammunition’s market value for the purposes of crafting time. This means the set of 20 sling bullets can be made in about half an hour using smith’s tools.

Firearm loads are weightier, require more precise measurement, and are harder to craft. A batch of 10 ball or shot loads requires 100 silver coins (or 2 pounds weight) in material, beyond the normal cost to craft the ammunition. A set of 10 early firearm loads can be made using jeweler’s tools in about 5 hours. Using advanced firearm crafting techniques with a gun repair kit, this takes only 1 hour.

While there are literally as many types of wood as there are types of tree and plant, this covers unique woods that are best for use in making protection when metal is not satisfactory, or for making magical foci to channel one's energy properly.

While most adventurers know the difference between cotton and wool, and maybe even silk, there are other fabrics available for someone who wants to improve their clothing options.

Usually the only sort of stone adventurers care about is gemstone, which has value based on its purity and ability to channel magical energy, as well as the quality of the cut. However, especially when dealing with unusual materials, it is useful to have some basis for comparison to stone.

Items can be made from the same materials available for weapons, armor, and structures, with similar effects on performance, quality, and cost. Specific examples will be called out when relevant.

Focus. This item can be used as a magical focus. The specific type of item determines the type of focus, as set by its Origin. If a focus is used two-handed, all cantrips cast using it receive a 50% boost to range and a +1 bonus to DC, attack rolls or damage. In addition, Focus adds to DC, attack rolls, or damage based on their bonus.

Origin. What nature the item has, which usually determines who is most likely to use it.

Versatile. A versatile item can be used in one or two hands, often providing bonuses when used in two hands.

Two-Handed. A two-handed item requires both hands to use properly. Some items that can be used in one or two hands provide bonuses when used two-handed.

Spellcasting Focus: A spellcasting focus is a special item designed to channel the power of spells. Sorcerers, warlocks, and wizards use arcane focuses, druids use druidic focuses, and clerics and paladins use holy focuses (typically holy symbols). To use the symbol in this way, the caster must hold it in hand, wear it visibly, or bear it on a shield.

Orb of Shielding: A special type of spellcasting focus that reduces damage from incoming sources depending on the type of stone used in the crafting.