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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 5779223" data-attributes="member: 92305">EXAMPLE...   Here's how I envison this system working. I'll use the scenario from my current game where two young Cimmerian warriors discovered an ancient cave complex in the hills not far from their village. Inhabiting the complex were members of a rival Cimmerian clan. Our two heroes battled their way into the cave (they're looking for a kidnapped clansman--a little 4-year-old-girl) in one fight, then they almost immediately ran into a group that heard the noise. Once through with those enemies, the two blood brothers ventured deeper into the complex, wondering at its ancient cut stone, where they encountered a battle royale in the corridor. Now, when I said this Deterioration Rule is meant to be used after every combat encounter, I mean that to be interpreted loosely. The heroes didn't stop to check any bodies on the way in (they wanted to keep up their momentum, stealth, and surprise advantage), so, as GM, I sure wouldn't bog the game down with a rule like this. Instead, I'd wait until the PCs were in an "after action" phase, such as they were once they took out the third encounter mentioned above. This is when the PCs started to check the bodies for loot and perform Short-Term Care on themselves to heal their wounds. This is when I would check the PCs equipment for deterioration. As for NPCs, I only check their status as the PCs get interested in specific pieces of equipment. If the PCs do not want a dagger, then there's no need to check it.  In the game, the PC Silaigne, mainly used a spear and dirk to fight with, one in each hand. Had he used the dirk for a short time--just to cut a cord or a throat once--then I wouldn't even check it. I'm only interested in the weapons used throughout most of the combat encounter(s). Silaigne fought, two-weapon style, with spear and dirk, so those are the two weapons that I will check for deterioration. There's no reason to check anything else (Silaigne wears no armor at this time). A GM may want to check weapons at the end of each game session, only when the PC's camp, or some other time he deems appropriate. How often is up to the GM and the pace of his game.   The CONAN RPG character sheet looks like this: <img src="http://www.whiskeytangofoxtrot.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/DanioraCharacterSheet.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /> All the weapon stats are listed in the WEAPONS section. It's easy to make note of changing stats. Since shields are often used as weapons in the Conan RPG, I suggest a character's shield be written in as a Weapon. The Hardness and HP you determine for any armor the character may use can easily be provided in the ARMOR AND PROTECTION section of the sheet. So, for Silaigne, I'll roll a d12 for his Cimmerian Dirk (Hardness 10), and I'll roll a d6 for his "Critter Sticker" spear (Hardness 5). I get a 10 on the d12 and a 3 on the d6, which means neither weapon is effected. Boom. We're done with Silaigne. Easy as that. Silaigne is interested in a Battleaxe (Hardness 7) used by one of his foes. Here, I use the Battlefield rule. Thus, I'll roll 2d8 and compare to the weapon's Hardness. I roll a 5 and a 1, for a total of 6. This means the Battleaxe is in fine condition, unspoiled, ready to be taken and used by our hero.     Now, let's look at the other PC, Caelis. Through this fight, Caelis has been throwing javelins and spears. All of these, he found on the enemy. Since the enemy never threw them, there's no need to check for deterioration. Caelis threw them once or twice each, and just for brevity's sake, I decide not to check them. Those weapons are fine. After an intial thrown weapon toss, Caelis usually entered melee with his Clansman. In melee, he use a hatchet (Hardness 5) and a Targe (shield hardness 6). He wore no other armor. Since these items received the most use during the 3 combat encounters played, I'll throw once for the hatched (a d6) and once for the shield, (a d8 ). For the hatchet, I throw a 6, which means the hatchet is reduced by 1 HP. The hatchet only has 2 HP, so the damage is a 50% reduction. Using the rules in From Stone to Steel, this means that two deterioration throws are required. This can be a throw on the hatchet's iron head plus a throw on the hatchet's wooden handle, or two throws on either. The GM can determine this arbitrarily or randomly--whatever he feels is best. I'm going to throw one deterioration effect on the weapon's blade and one on the handle.  For the hatchet's head, I get a result of: -1 to hit. This means the hatchet is now using a -1 modifier in combat because of its damage. The roll on the handle also resutls in: -1 to hit. Thus, the hatchet is now damaged (to the blade and handle) so that the character will be -2 to hit when using it. Thinking quick and creatively, the GM says that the iron blade has broken it's seal on the wood handle so that the blade swivels a bit. This makes the weapon hard to use. The repair is going to require a new handle with the blade reseated and sealed so that it doesn't move. Until then, the weapon is penalized with a -2 to-hit penalty. If the hatchet takes any more damage (it only has 1 HP left), then the seal on the blade will completely break.  The iron head will completly rotate on the axe's handle, making the weapon useless (and with 0 HP).  As for the shield, the d8 resulted in a 3, which means the Targe remains sturdy. To replace the hatchet, Caelis picks up a mace used by his enemy. Hardness 7. Useing the battlefield rule, I roll 2d8, resulting in a total of 6. This means that Caelis has a pristine new weapon to use. Normally, Caelis would drop the hatchet, but it has been established in the game that it has a mirrored blade and was a gift from his father as Caelis approached manhood. Thus, keeping the hatchet, the player makes the appropriate notes on the hatchet's weapon line on the character sheet. Boom. All done.</blockquote>

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