Improvised Equipment

Player Creativity:

The improvised equipment rules are rather open-ended. It is expected that the player give a creative or at least descriptive name to each piece of improvised weaponry they use. So rather than having a 'medium improvised slashing weapon', a character might wield a 'bladed hockey stick'. And instead of 'improvised armour with medium coverage, moderate materials, and high craftsmanship', Behzed wears 'studded tire tread armour'. (You get the idea.)

Improvised Weapons:

Sometimes objects not crafted to be weapons nonetheless see use in combat. Ancient items are often used opportunistically as weapons, such as tire irons and parking meters. These rules also give creative players a chance to create their own signature weapons. Refer to the following table for weapons of this type:

Improvised Melee Weapons

	Simple Weapon		Basic Archaic		Advanced Archaic
Weapon Size	Damage	Crit	Damage	Crit	Damage	Crit	Range	Weight
Small	1d2	20	1d4	20	1d6	19-20	-	2 lb
Medium	1d4	20	1d6	20	1d8	19-20	-	4 lb
Large	1d6	20	1d8	20	1d10	19-20	-	8 lb

Improvised Thrown Weapons *

	Simple Weapon		Basic Archaic		Advanced Archaic
Weapon Size	Damage	Crit	Damage	Crit	Damage	Crit	Range	Weight
Small	1	20	1d2	20	1d4	19-20	Short	2 lb
Medium	1d2	20	1d4	20	1d6	19-20	Short	4 lb
Large	1d4	20	1d6	20	1d8	19-20	Short	8 lb

* Or weapons with some other special property (such as reach, subdual damage, or a double weapon).

The basic game philosophy for improvised weapons is that the ability of the wielder is more important than the nature of the weapon. Thus, an improvised weapon that does only 1d4 points of damage when wielded by one character could do 1d8 damage in the hands of another. On the above charts, refer to the wielder's level of proficiency across the top (Simple Weapons, Basic Archaic Weapons, or Advanced Archaic Weapons) and cross-reference weapon size to determine the damage level and crit range for a given improvised weapon.

Size: This designates the size of the creature for which it was designed and determines the base damage and weight of the weapon.

Damage Type: The player must choose whether the improvised item inflicts bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage.

Very shoddy work can result in poor quality weapons with additional penalties, while extremely skilled craftsfolk can also attempt to create mastercraft-quality improvised weapons. See the Special Equipment page for details.

A number of potential improvised weapons are already included in the weapons lists, such as sticks, pipes, spiked clubs, etc. These often have superior properties than improvised weapons constructed from the rules on this page. Use the stats provided on the tables for these weapons.

Talents and Improvised Weapons:

To simulate the importance of scavenged weapons in Ground Zero, any talent or special ability which can apply to weapons of a specific type (chosen by the player) apply to improvised weapons in general, if they are selected as the focus for that talent or ability. Thus, an enforcer who chose Weapon Focus (Improvised Weapons) could use its benefits with all improvised weapons.

Improvised Armour:

Likewise, armour composed of bits of random materials, from tire treads to trash can lids, is a staple of the post-apocalyptic genre. Players are encouraged to be creative when describing such forms of protection. Use the following rules for armour of this type:

Coverage: To determine the properties of a suit of improvised armour, first decide how much coverage the armour provides. Coverage is defined as either minimal, moderate, or full. Coverage determines whether the armour is light, medium, or heavy (as well as its base weight); and defines the base defense bonus and armour penalty.

Minimal Coverage: The armour covers roughly one-quarter of the character, such as a t-shirt or arm and leg greaves. Minimal coverage grants +1 to the defense bonus and confers a -1 armour penalty. The armour is considered light and has a base weight of 10 lbs.
Medium Coverage: The armour protects one-half or more of the character, such as a full set of leggings or a long jacket. The defense bonus of moderate coverage is +3 and it confers a -3 armour penalty. The armour is considered medium and has a base weight of 25 lbs.
Full Coverage: Nine-tenths or more of the character is covered by the armour, perhaps everything but the hands and face. Full coverage grants a +5 defense bonus and confers a -5 armour penalty. The armour is considered heavy and has a base weight of 40 lbs.

Material Type: Once the armour's coverage has been chosen, describe its materials of construction. For game purposes, determine whether the type of material is light, moderate, or heavy. Like the armour coverage, each type of material has an inherent defense bonus and armour penalty associated with it.

Light Materials: Light materials include wood, soft metals, bone, and plastic. Light materials have no defense bonus or armour penalty.
Moderate Materials: Hard plastics, thick rubber like a tire tread, thin but hard metal plates, and even treated wood can be used as moderate materials. They have a defense bonus of +1 and an armour penalty of -1. Add 5 lbs to the armour weight.
Hard Materials: Hard materials include heavy metals, bits of pre-Crash or advanced materials, and the bones of exceptionally strong or large creatures. The defense bonus of hard materials is +2 and the armour penalty is -2. Add 10 lbs to the armour weight.

Craftsmanship: The last element in defining improvised armour is its craftsmanship. There are three levels of craftsmanship - poor, average, and high - which affect the armour penalty and maximum dodge bonus.

Poor Craftsmanship: Such armour requires a Craft (Metalworking) check against DC 10 to be made. Poor construction worsens the armour penalty by one.
Average Craftsmanship: Constructing such armour requires a Craft (Metalworking) check against DC 15. Average quality worksmanship does not modify the armour penalty.
High Craftsmanship: With a successful Craft (Metalworking) check against DC 20, high quality improvised armour can be made. The armour penalty is improved by one.

Crunching the Numbers: Refering to the values given above, determine the defense bonus, armour penalty, the armour type (light, medium, or heavy), and total weight of the improvised armour. The maximum dodge bonus is equal to 6 minus the armour penalty (minimum of +0).

As with improvised weapons, shoddy or skilled work can result in low quality or mastercraft improvised armour. See the Special Equipment page for details.

For Example: Behzed has improvised armour constructed from studded tire treads. It has medium coverage (+3 defense, -3 armour penalty), is made of moderate materials (+1 defense, -1 armour penalty), and is of high craftsmanship (armour penalty improved by 1). Thus, the medium armour grants +4 defense, has a maximum dodge bonus of +3, an armour penalty of -3, and weighs a total of 30 lbs.