Equipment

Equipment: Armour and Protection

The table below contains a list of armour and other protective equipment. Armour comes in different categories:

•         Simple Armours. If you have training with simple armour, you can use these armours without penalty. Simple armours are thick clothes with protective layers made from fabric, leathers, and hide.

•         Medium Armours. If you have training with medium armour, you can use these armours without penalty. Medium armours consist of simple armours paired with more protective layers covering the torse.

•         Heavy Armours. If you have training with heavy armour, you can use these armours without penalty. Heavy armours are protective armours that cover the whole body, made from metal and similar sturdy materials.

•          Helmet. If you have training with medium armour, you also have training with helmets and can gain the armour class bonus while wearing a helmet. Helmets that offer additional protection to armour are full helmets often made from metal that cover the wearers face. You can only benefit from one helmet at a time.

•         Shields. If you have training with shields, you can use a shield’s special property and gain the armour class bonus while wielding a shield. A shield is made from wood or metal and is carried in one hand. You can only benefit from one shield at a time.

The armour table shows the cost, weight, and other properties of the common types of armour, shields and helmets used in a fantasy story.

Armour Lists

Shield and Helmet Special Properties

Small Shield

A character can don or doff a small shield as part of changing their weapons. A small shield only adds its bonus to armour class against melee attacks.

Regular Shield

A character wielding a regular shield can use it to offer protection to other creatures. A character wielding a regular shield can use their reaction when a creature adjacent to them is being targeted by a melee attack to give the attacking creature disadvantage on the attack roll. The character must be able to see the attacking creature.

Tower Shield

Any friendly creature that would normally benefit from half cover from the character that wields the tower shield, instead gains three-quarters cover from a character that wields a tower shield. In addition, a character that wields a tower shield can use a reaction, when hit by a ranged attack, to change armour class bonus for wielding a shield to +5 (instead of the normal +2) against the triggering attack, potentially turning the hit into a miss.

When you unequip a tower shield or as an action when you have a tower shield in your possession, you can set it up as an obstacle in an unoccupied space within reach. While set as an obstacle, the shield grants three-quarters cover to creatures behind it. Any creature that moves into the shield’s space can knock the shield over (no action required).

Helmet

Wearing a helmet gives the wearer disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight or hearing.

Armour Properties

This section presents rules for armour, shields, and helmets.

Armour training

Anyone can put on a suit of armour. Only those trained in the armour’s use know how to wear it effectively, however classes, perks and feats may give you training with different types of armour. If you wear armour that you lack training with, you have disadvantage on any ability check and saving throw that involves Strength or Dexterity, as well as attack rolls.

If you wield a shield or a helmet you do not have training with, you do not get its armour bonus and cannot use any of its special properties.

Spell Failure

Wearing armour can interfere with the casting of spells certain spells unless the wearer has special training in doing so. Spells with somatic components that are cast with a spell slot cannot be cast while wearing armour unless the wearer has a feature that explicitly allows them to do so (this ability is often found under a class’s spellcasting ability called ‘armoured casting’).

Armour Class (AC)

Armour (as well as shield and helmets) protects its wearer from attacks. The armour you wear determines your base Armour Class. Heavy armours give a fixed armour class as listed in the armour class column. Light and medium armours give a lower armour class but allows the wearer to benefit from some or all their Dexterity modifier when calculating their armour class.

Damage Reduction

In addition to its armour class, some armours further reduce the force of harmful blows. While wearing an amour that provides damage reduction, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage rolls against you are reduced by an amount equal the damage reduction when you are hit by an attack.

Strength Requirement

Heavier armour interferes with the wearer’s ability to move quickly, stealthily, and freely. If the Armor table shows a numeric value (such as “13”) in the Strength column for an armour type:

•          The armour reduces the wearer’s speed by 10 feet unless the wearer has a Strength score equal to or higher than the listed score.

•          An armour with a Strength requirement always increases the DC of Strength (athletics) checks to swim by 5.

Athletics

If the Armor table shows "Disadvantage" in the Athletics column, the wearer has disadvantage on Strength (athletics) checks to climb and swim.

Stealth

If the Armour table shows "Disadvantage" in the stealth column, the wearer has disadvantage on Dexterity (stealth) checks.

Donning Armour

The time required to don armour depends on its type:

•          Light Armour. It takes 1 action to put on or take off light armour.

•          Medium Armour. It takes 1 minute to put on or take off medium armour.

•          Heavy Armour. It takes 10 minutes to put on or take off light armour.

•          Shield and Helmet. It takes 1 action to equip and unequip a shield (except a small shield).