Equipment

While stats and skills make up what your character is capable of with their own mind, body, and spirit, this isn't the only component of your character. The tools they use and the resources they have access to are an important part of any event. Simply fending off a zombie can be a lot easier with a metal pole between the zombie and your brains.

Equipment is a bit of a misnomer, in that it does not in this case apply just to physical tools in your possession, but any "tool" of which you have aquired. A Kevlar vest may help reduce harm from a bullet, but it won't reduce your frustration any when dealing with a particularly stubborn person who won't trade away any of his valuable water supplies.

Equipment Stats

Equipment can be useful, and sometimes required, to take an action. Some situations may require tools, and not having them can either make the action more challenging (-2 result) such as picking a lock with improvised items, or impossible (No roll possible) such as trying to drive a car... with no car.

Equipment however can vary in a number of ways. Not all tools are created equal, each is designed for a particular task. Some items are just made more skillfully then others, while others are composed of better base materials. There are three ways this is represented, by overall Quality, Size and Secondary Effects.

In any situation in which you are able to use more then one tool, only add the best held and best worn item's quality bonuses. If any items are below (=) fair quality, their penalties still apply even when you're using a better item alongside them. Secondary effects can be used from both items if they apply to diffrent things, as can any equipment-based perks. (Using a Shield and Armor both of (*) quality would give you a single +2 Result, while using two Shields of (*) Quality would only give you +1 Result between them, but you'd still get the secondary effects and perks of both)

Quality Rank

All equipment, physical or otherwise, follows the same ranking system for how well designed it is overall. A better tool is usualy made with better and more appropriate materials as well as a skilled craftsmen behind them. Such as an aluminum baseball bat, or facts researched from a massive library by someone who's good at writing.

While before the apocalypse, most people could easily find (if not always afford) Decent, Good, or even Great equipment for their general tasks.. such equipment is harder to find when it is no longer being mass produced. With zombies running amok, quality becomes rarer and rarer to find and those that have valuables often guard them zealously.

All items follow the same ranking system for their quality. A set of simple symbols are used so you can identify what an item is capable of at a glance.

• -3(X) an Item with this quality level is broken, it can not be meaningfuly used anymore than as a form of improvisation. It might have scrap value, but in it's current state is useless.
• -2(--) Very Poor quality, an item of this quality is worn or damaged or poorly created in such a way that it imparts a -1 result to any usage of this item.  This is better than nothing.
• -1(-) Poor Quality. An item of this quality is unwieldy, doesn't quite make the connections match, or in some way just isn't well composed which makes it harder to use. -1 Dicepool to actions using this item.
• 0(=) Fair quality. Neither good or bad, something like this just does it's job. There is no benefit or penalty for using such an item.
• 1(+) Decent quality. Such an item is more well designed or intuitive in it's use than usual. More effort was put in to it's design or better materials were avaliable.  +1 Dicepool to actions using this item.
• 2(++) Good quality. Designed for expert use, or at least well made and efficient for a situation. Items of this quality add 1 to the result of checks using them.
• 3(*) Great quality. Items made with particularly innovative designs beyond the standard use for their tool. On top of a +1 result to checks using this item, they have a perk attached to the item it's self. Treat as a character perk, with a Stat level of Rank-1 for strength of effect and Daily uses equal to Rank. If it instead uses mana to fuel daily uses, it possesses Rank-2 Mana of it's own before draining the user.
• 4 or higher: Every rank above 3 repeats ranks 1 through 3. For example, a Rank 5 Tool would be (*++) and have 1 built in perk with +2 Result to checks using the item, while a Rank 7 Tool, as exceptional as it could be, would be (**+), give +2 result, +1 dicepool, and have 2 perks as apart of the item's design.

Equipment Size

Some items are simply easier to carry than others. This is not limited to merely physical equipment; more complicated stratagems or a game of Go are harder to "keep hold of" than simpler ones. The amount of equipment you can carry is split between Physical Equipment, Mental Equipment, and Spiritual Equipment.

Physical Equipment represents the tools you physically have possession of. Whether that be a crowbar, or a very nice leather coat. Bigger and Heavier items are harder to carry around, with such items having more "Size"

Mental Equipment represents the mental notes, facts, and strategies you can keep in mind at once. You don't "forget" what you are not "Carrying" so much that this is how much you have memorized on-hand. Such 'equipment' is usualy stored in books and other sources of storable media for reviewing when you need to refresh your memory, just because you don't remember it clearly doesn't mean you forget about it completely, only that you can only keep track of so much at once.

Spiritual Equipment represents the connections, reputations, feelings, and other stuff that is hard to define in a tangitable matter. Being able to "carry" is an abstract amount of how well you're keeping up to date with people and things. Such as keeping your reptuation in shape, or meditating more often. Sometimes these things can be put aside for a peirod of time when you have more then you can manage, just like physical and mental equipment.

The amount you can actually carry is stat dependent as well. First, there is your total Carrying Capacity for all the tools you have on your character at once. Next, there is your Equipped Tools. What tools you have actively held and ready to be used in a situation. Each tool has a Size, with harder to carry items counting against your Carrying Compacity and potenitally Equipped Tools limit.

The amount of equipment you can possess on your person at any one time, or your Carrying Capacity is separate for Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Equipment. Your Carrying Capacity for any one of these three is equal to your Main Stat*2+Power. An Example would be having a 4 in Spirit, and 3 in Power, giving you 11 total size worth of Social 'equipment' you could keep track of at any time. You can go over this amount, but suffer a penalty to your Physical, Mental, or Spiritual actions while trying to do so. For every time equal to your Energy you go over this amount, you suffer -2 to your Dicepool for related actions as you're weighted down, mixing up the wrong facts, or overextending your personality.

The amount of tools you can have equiped at the momment for an event at hand is static, and only rarely changed. Tools are either Carried, Held, or Worn. Tools that need to be actively used (Such as a crowbar, shield, or baseball bat) are Held. This is for any Skillful, Offensive, or Defensive Tool. Tools that work passively such as one's Armor or Reputation are Worn. Any tool not currently being used is Carried.

• You may have 1 Heavy Held Tool, or 2 Medium/Light Held Tools Equipped at once. Switching an item from Held to Carried or Carried to Held costs 1/2 its Size in AP. Thus to switch to a new tool, you would need to put away your current tool(s) and draw the new one.
• You may only have 1  Equiped Worn Tool. Changing between Worn tools requires you to spend a total of Size*5+10 AP and is usualy done before or after an event where one does not need to worry about the AP cost. Someone else can spend their AP to help you at 2 AP cost per 1 given. Held Worn Tools are twice their weight while not equiped. It's hard carrying around a bunch of bulky armor or keeping multiple active reputations going.

Secondary Effects

Most items are designed for a particular purpose, and may possess secondary effects to make them better at their designed purpose. Secondary effects are listed as part of the tool's description and may include a bonus to Power when determining damage or being able to use them faster, including other effects.  The following list suggests effects at (=), (+) and (++) quality.

Basic Tools:

Base Stats:

• Light Tools: Size 1; No Secondary Effect, Minor Effect
• Medium Tools: Size 3; +1 Power for Damage calculation; Moderate Effect
• Heavy Tools: Size 5; +3 Power for Damage calculations; +1 AP Cost to use(Only when there is an AP cost); Heavy Effect;

Secondary Effects:

• Example Tool("Shorthand Name"): Example of what tool does (Size based effect)
• Skillful Tools("Tool"): Used to fulfill a part of a non-contested action. (Nothing, +1 Dicepool Bonus, +1 Result Bonus)
• Offensive Tools("Weapon"): Used as part of an action used on someone else. (Nothing, -1 Shock Threshold, -2 Shockthreshold & +1 Shock Dealt)
• Defensive Tools("Shields"): Used to actively defend one's self from an action used by someone else. (Nothing, Ignore Staggered once; Can't be staggered)
• Protective Tools("Armor"): Has a passive effect on providing protection against damage rather then requiring active use. (+2 Damage Soak, +1 Damage Reduction/-1 Mobility, +2 Damage Reduction/-3 Mobility/-1 Event Accuracy) Only 1 set of Protective tools can be "Worn" at a time, and some may not apply to other situations. Protective Tools are designed for a particular environment, and are treated as 1 step lower outside of their environment. (Fire resistant clothing isn't necessarily meant to endure combat stress, and a great reputation in one community is less effective elsewhere)