Damage to Armor

It's easiest in a campaign just not to worry about the damage that armor and shields are taking. It's presumed that characters go on adventures, get in fights, and during some of their off-hours they repair their armor.

If you want know precisely how much damage a piece of armor can take before being destroyed, and how to repair damaged armor (without the PCs necessarily having to do so themselves), you can use the following rules.

Damage Points

Every time a character wearing armor is hit and damaged by an attack, his armor takes damage, too. It takes 1 Damage Point per blow that hits. If an attack hits for 1 point of damage, the armor takes 1 DP. If an attack hits for 10 points of damage, the armor takes 1 DP.

Shields only take damage when the character successfully Parries with a Shield. Each time he parries an attack that would have hit him, his shield takes 1 DP.

Helms only take damage when the character is hit with a Called Shot to the Head or a Sap maneuver. Each time the character wearing a helm is hit with such an attack, the helm takes 1 DP.

When a piece of armor drops to 0 DP, it falls apart and is ruined; it cannot be repaired. So long as it has 1 DP it can be repaired.

Armor has the following DP:

Armor Type
AC
DP
Banded Mail
4
30
Barding


Chain
5
50
Full plate
2
80
Full scale
6
40
Half


brigandine
7
30
Half padded
9
10
Half scale
7
30
Leather/


Padded
8
20
Brigandine
6
20
Bronze plate
4
30
Chain mail
5
25
Field Plate
2
40
Full plate
1
45
Gladiator


Gallic
7
15
Samnite
5
25
Thracian
9
5
Helms


Cap
+0
5
Coif
+0
15
Close-Faced*
+0
25
Great
+0
35
Open-Faced
+0
20
Hide armor
6
20
Leather armor
8
10
Padded armor
8
10
Plate mail
3
35
Ring mail
7
15
Scale mail
6
20
Shields


Body
+1
35
Buckler
+1
10
Medium
+1
25
Small
+1
10
Splint mail
4
30
Studded


leather
7
15

* Includes basinet, galea, myrmillo

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