Armour Types and Weapon Types

Armour
Full suits of plate armour during the Renaissance were made from tempered steel. Wearers retained their mobility and so were able to run, roll, jump, climb, and move freely due to the even weight distribution of the armour and its careful articulation around all joints. Consequently the campaign will not be using armour types to determine whether or not a user's movement speed or skills are impeded, but instead will rely upon encumbrance and weight.

Armour Quality
All armour has a hit die of 6 notches. Armour receives a notch whenever an opponent's attack roll is equal to or succeeds its armour quality. After three points of wear, the item becomes damaged and therefore less effective (-1 to AC in all categories). Additionally, every time a damaged item takes wear, there is a 1 in 6 chance that it is ruined outright (jumps immediately to six points of wear). Six points of wear indicate that an item is ruined (falls apart, snaps in half, etc). Repair costs are 1/6 of new cost of weapon quality per point of wear.

Resistance to Damage Types
Furthermore different armour types will have slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning AC bonuses to defend against corresponding weapon types in order to reflect ideas like hauberks/chainmail being able to resist slashing damage while not being able to resist bludgeoning damage. Some weapons have multiple types available such as the bec de corbin, which can be used for thrusting (piercing) as a balanced two-handed weapon or for bludgeoning/piercing as an unbalanced two-handed weapon.

Weapons
The argument and material for the melee weapon types is credited to Charles Taylors' writing on Spells and Steel.



Weapon Quality
Melee and ranged weapons have a hit die of 6 notches. Weapons receive a notch when a character rolls equal to or below their quality when attacking, bashing doors, and so forth. After three points of wear an item becomes damaged and therefore less effective (-1 to attack rolls for weapons). Additionally, every time a damaged item takes wear, there is a 1 in 6 chance that it is ruined outright (jumps immediately to six points of wear). Six points of wear indicate that an item is ruined (falls apart, snaps in half, etc). Repair costs are 1/6 of new cost of weapon quality per point of wear.

Melee Combinations
Some weapons such as the arming sword, parrying dagger, and side-sword can be used as off-handed weapons. Off-handed weapons can be used alongside one-handed weapons to help control the flow of combat. Since an off-handed weapon is used to control the flow of combat rather than to deal additional damage, it does not qualify as two-weapon fighting.

Shields are used in combat to redirect the flow of another weapon or, in a worst case scenario, to absorb the full blow of another weapon. While the shield does not have the same ability to control the flow of combat as an off-handed weapon, it does provide less room for error in providing protection for the user.

Ranged Weapons
Not all ranged weapons were capable of being ready to use instantly. The crossbow could stay in a readied position indefinitely, but ranged weapons like the bow were not able to stay drawn for long periods of time, and the arquebus as a matchlock weapon required timing with its slow-burning matches.