Weapon Durability in Dying World Setting

[EggKookoo]

I'm working on creating a post-resource, end-of-days kind of setting for my next 5e campaign. I really want to drive home to the players that resources are scarce. Most of the easy-to-get minerals have been mined and the weapon economy in particular has shifted to upkeep rather than making anything new. New items do get made from time to time but by and large it's a kind of scavenger existence, even among the more highly developed regions of the world. It's rare to see a weapon that isn't a couple of centuries old and that has been handed down as an heirloom.

As part of this, I'm going to introduce an environmental effect that permeates everything. It's a kind of hyper-rust that exists, microbe-like, in the air, water, soil, and really everything. Anything made of metal (steel in particular) has the potential to become "infected" and unless quickly treated will corrode to uselessness within a matter of weeks, if not days. Maintenance isn't particularly difficult but it's something the PCs must be aware of, and it has the potential to bite them if they ignore it. This thing is artificial and most likely the fallout from some near-apocalyptic worldwide event millennia ago, and while it will affect buildings and jewelry and other things, its effect of weapons is probably most important for the players. At the same time, I don't want to bog down the players with "did you maintain your sword?" stuff every session, and if kept most in the fluff side it will lose impact for the players as they'll just start to assume their characters are doing what's necessary to keep everything in good shape. To that end I came up with a mechanic that can rear its head during combat but (hopefully) not complicate things too much. I want it to inform the players' decisions, possibly even helping them decide whether to fight or run.

Oh, on a side note I'm stealing a thematic thing from Planescape: Torment and discouraging the use of sword in place of axes and hammers and polearms. Just for the different non-LotR feel of it. So that explains why this mechanic punishes swords more than other weapons. But without further ado...

Stress Points and Flaws

Each weapon starts with zero stress points. The maximum number of stress points is equal to the weapon's highest possible value on its lowest (or only) damage die.

Example: A shortsword has a maximum of six stress points.

Use the two-handed damage die when determining a versatile weapon's maximum number of stress points.

Gaining Stress Points

If you make a successful attack with a weapon and any of the damage dice results in 1, the weapon gains one stress point.

(Note this is a change from an earlier post, where the stress point was gained if the total dice damage was less than the ability modifier used for the attack.)

Becoming Flawed

Gaining stress points in and of itself has no direct consequence. When the weapon reaches its maximum number of stress points, it becomes flawed. A flawed weapon will be destroyed the next time it deals any amount of damage. The damage is applied before destruction.

Removing Stress Points and Flaws

It takes 15 minutes to remove one stress point. This can be accomplished using smith's tools (and having proficiency with them) and can be done during a long or short rest. An actual rest is not required but the creature making the repairs cannot engage in any other significant activity. Four stress points can be removed during a short rest. This can be applied to a single weapon or spread across multiple weapons. Only one stress point can be removed from a given weapon at a time.

In theory, 32 stress points can be removed during a long rest, but in practice a creature can only spend two of the eight hours of a long rest on non-resting activity before losing the benefits of the long rest. This limits long rests to removing eight stress points.

Stress points cannot be removed from a flawed weapon without first removing the flaw. A weapon's flaw can be removed during a two-hour process, also requiring smith's tools with proficiency, and will cost 100gp of materials. This can be two hours out of a long rest. The weapon will retain all but one of its stress points, which will need to be removed as normal.

If the Mending cantrip is cast on a stressed weapon, it will remove all stress points. If it is cast on a flawed weapon, it will remove the flaw as well as all stress points but only if the caster is proficient with the weapon or attuned to it. If the caster is neither, the weapon appears to be repaired but retains its flawed state.

Exceptions

Weapons that do not rely on metal to deal damage are exempted from this mechanic. This includes the quarterstaff, whip, lance (without metal tip), club, and greatclub.

If the attack roll is a critical hit, the weapon does not gain a stress point regardless of the damage die result. However, a flawed weapon will be destroyed when making a critical hit.

Swords

Swords are especially susceptible to stress and flaws. Whenever a weapon would gain one stress point, it gains a second one if it's a shortsword, greatsword, longsword, rapier, or scimitar.

Magic Weapons

When determining the maximum number of stress points for a weapon, add the to-hit bonus to that value. For example, a +1 shortsword has a maximum of seven stress points instead of six. In the case of a sword (which gains double stress points), any stress points exceeding its maximum are discarded when the weapon becomes flawed. If a +1 shortsword with six stress points receives another, it will reach its maximum of seven stress points and become flawed. The eighth stress point is ignored.

Ranged Weapons

Metal arrowheads and bolts are typically unable to withstand the intense impacts they experience without immediately becoming flawed. A recovered projectile tip will immediately shatter upon a second use just the same as with a flawed melee weapon. Arrowheads and the like do not have stress points but can have their flaws removed using the same process as any other metal weapon, but the time per arrow is reduced to 15 minutes and can be done as part of a short rest.

[Vaern]

I don't especially like this mechanic. It punishes people for having high ability scores. A rogue with 18 dex is guaranteed to break his dagger after 4 rounds of combat. In your world, weapons are much more useful in the hands of bumbling minions who don't know how to use them than in the hands of a skilled fighter.
A high-dexterity characters typically have a focus on striking at weak points which offer less resistance to their attacks and would be less likely to put stress on their weapon. It doesn't make much sense that they'd be more likely to break their knife than some average Joe on the street. Plus, as far as strength-based characters are concerned, it makes more sense that hitting something harder should be more likely to damage the item.
I'd turn your mechanic around completely so that rolling higher than your key ability score causes stress to your weapon. Rolling a natural 1 results in some sort of fumble, such as missing the target and striking the ground, resulting in the item gaining stress (to prevent people from becoming completely immune to the mechanic with high stats and low-damage weapons).

Swords gaining twice as much stress is arbitrary. You're punishing people for choosing a weapon just because you want your world to be different. If you don't want your players using swords, just say that they're extremely rare because they're made entirely out of metal and craftsmen want to use their materials more effectively. Maybe jacking up the price on them to reflect that will keep your players from choosing them, but don't punish them for wanting to use a sword.
Alternatively, rather than making them gain twice as many stress points, make it more likely for them to gain a single stress point instead. That way, they still gain stress faster and push players away from them like you want, but they're still useful for more than two rounds before they need repaired.

Due to the fact that magic items are typically found as random loot and not readily available for purchase in 5E, it would make sense for them to be immune to your rust effect altogether. Say your group kills some kind of beast that doesn't know how to use or maintain equipment at all, then happens to find a magic weapon as random loot in its lair. That weapon will have most likely been sitting there without any sort of upkeep for a considerable amount of time. If the environmental decay destroys most metal in a matter of days or weeks, then any metallic magic item found in these circumstances would already be beyond saving.
Besides, finding a magic sword in a world in which metal is rare and swords are rarer should make your group feel excited and eager to use their new equipment. Yet, the ever looming threat of their new weapon breaking halfway through its first combat undermines that excitement and will likely deter the group from using it at all for fear of wasting precious resources.

Finally, if this magical rust has plagued your world for millennia, it is not only plausible to think that weapons would be crafted out of different materials, but it should be expected. Likely, people would first seek a metal that's immune to the rust. If no viable substitute can be found, the world would likely revert to crafting stone tools and weapons. Even if stone swords aren't readily available, it's reasonable to think that anything listed as a simple weapon could be fashioned from sticks and stones, as well as any bludgeoning or spear-like weapon in the martial weapons category.

[Garfunion]

A D&D setting that may help you with your post apocalyptic world, would be Dark Sun.
It has alternate weapon materials and weapon break rules.

Also is there still magic in your world and are there any banned classes?

[nineGardens]

So, potentially silly, but potentially serious, would you expect a bunch of bandits to attack and then say, half way through the combat to be "wo wo wo- wait up! Parlay! We need to switch weapons! -Do you guys need to switch weapons? Yeah yeah- I know we're trying to kill you, but these axes are irreplacable man. Can't loot your corpse if your swords bust"



A bit silly, but I'm just trying to imagine how people would treat combat VERY differently if certain items were just sort of... irreplaceable.

Would people even fight with those weapons if they had a choice? (Not just your PCs, but your NPCs also)

[EggKookoo]

I don't especially like this mechanic. It punishes people for having high ability scores. A rogue with 18 dex is guaranteed to break his dagger after 4 rounds of combat. In your world, weapons are much more useful in the hands of bumbling minions who don't know how to use them than in the hands of a skilled fighter.

In my original concept, your weapon got a stress point when any of your damage dice came up a 1, not when the damage dice was less than your ability mod. If I reverted to that, that would mitigate that issue I think.


I'd turn your mechanic around completely so that rolling higher than your key ability score causes stress to your weapon. Rolling a natural 1 results in some sort of fumble, such as missing the target and striking the ground, resulting in the item gaining stress (to prevent people from becoming completely immune to the mechanic with high stats and low-damage weapons).

I was going more for a bad hit being the problem over a strong hit. Like, you hit, but in an odd way that put unexpected stress on the blade or whatever. I didn't want to add a separate stress roll so I thought that if the damage was unusually low that could represent the kind of impact I wanted. This does mean that just absently tapping your weapon against a stone wall is more likely to build up stress points than using it to cleave through your enemies in a shower of blood and glory, but I'm not sure that's entirely unrealistic.

The idea of tying stress points to your ability mod was a late addition. I think going back to it being that you do a "damage fumble" by rolling 1 on your die works better.


Swords gaining twice as much stress is arbitrary. You're punishing people for choosing a weapon just because you want your world to be different. If you don't want your players using swords, just say that they're extremely rare because they're made entirely out of metal and craftsmen want to use their materials more effectively. Maybe jacking up the price on them to reflect that will keep your players from choosing them, but don't punish them for wanting to use a sword.
Alternatively, rather than making them gain twice as many stress points, make it more likely for them to gain a single stress point instead. That way, they still gain stress faster and push players away from them like you want, but they're still useful for more than two rounds before they need repaired.

Declaring swords to be extra rare is no less arbitrary. I wanted the decision to use a sword to be in the players' hands as much as possible. You can use that sword, you'll just have to spend more time keeping it in good condition. Having said that, yes, in the campaign I'd run for this, most of the treasure in the form of magical weapons would be non-swords.


Due to the fact that magic items are typically found as random loot and not readily available for purchase in 5E, it would make sense for them to be immune to your rust effect altogether. Say your group kills some kind of beast that doesn't know how to use or maintain equipment at all, then happens to find a magic weapon as random loot in its lair. That weapon will have most likely been sitting there without any sort of upkeep for a considerable amount of time. If the environmental decay destroys most metal in a matter of days or weeks, then any metallic magic item found in these circumstances would already be beyond saving.

The decay thing isn't always "on." Like I said in the description, it's like an infection. The metal needs to be mistreated or otherwise made susceptible to that infection. The hyper-rust effect is likely magical and obeys some kind of rule or mechanism. Ultimately it's all just a tool for setting flavor, but one that has (hopefully infrequent but significant) mechanical consequences.


Besides, finding a magic sword in a world in which metal is rare and swords are rarer should make your group feel excited and eager to use their new equipment. Yet, the ever looming threat of their new weapon breaking halfway through its first combat undermines that excitement and will likely deter the group from using it at all for fear of wasting precious resources.

I didn't say it outright but when a weapon become flawed, it's visible to the wielder. The weapon would only break if the player chose to continue using it in that state. I mean, the player would have to know the stress/flawed state of their weapons anyway since they'd be seeing the damage dice results.


Finally, if this magical rust has plagued your world for millennia, it is not only plausible to think that weapons would be crafted out of different materials, but it should be expected. Likely, people would first seek a metal that's immune to the rust. If no viable substitute can be found, the world would likely revert to crafting stone tools and weapons. Even if stone swords aren't readily available, it's reasonable to think that anything listed as a simple weapon could be fashioned from sticks and stones, as well as any bludgeoning or spear-like weapon in the martial weapons category.

There would almost certainly be stone weapons or flint daggers. Flint is probably widely used for hunting arrowheads. They might even make up the bulk of beginning adventurer gear. But unless the DM running this world decides to just make all gear out of some alternate material (in which case why bother with this mechanic at all?) the assumption would have to be that metal weapons, maintenance hogs as they are, are still superior if available.

[EggKookoo]

A D&D setting that may help you with your post apocalyptic world, would be Dark Sun.
It has alternate weapon materials and weapon break rules.

I considered Dark Sun but I didn't want to get caught up in a specific world. Is there a 5e conversion for that?

Edit, aha, found one (http://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/S1-JaoT0). I'll take a look.


Also is there still magic in your world and are there any banned classes?

Right now, unless as I develop it more I have to decide otherwise, anything in the PHB is allowed. Lots of fluff changes.

[EggKookoo]

So, potentially silly, but potentially serious, would you expect a bunch of bandits to attack and then say, half way through the combat to be "wo wo wo- wait up! Parlay! We need to switch weapons! -Do you guys need to switch weapons? Yeah yeah- I know we're trying to kill you, but these axes are irreplacable man. Can't loot your corpse if your swords bust"



A bit silly, but I'm just trying to imagine how people would treat combat VERY differently if certain items were just sort of... irreplaceable.

I imagine most martial adventurers would carry multiple weapons and switch out, yes. They wouldn't suddenly turn into Captain Jack Sparrow about it but would be pretty used to the concept.


Would people even fight with those weapons if they had a choice? (Not just your PCs, but your NPCs also)

No, but they wouldn't really have a choice. Any alternate materials would produce inferior weapons, otherwise there's no point to a mechanic like this. It's about keeping the players aware of the fragility and rarity of their gear as a way of keeping the flavor of the setting in their minds.

However, as above, I'll probably change it back to my original idea that your weapon only gains a stress point if you roll a 1 on your damage die (or one of them) rather than less than your ability mod. That would make gaining stress points far less common (and less common for bigger weapons). Hopefully that would reduce the Swiss Army gear effect.

[Vaern]

I was going more for a bad hit being the problem over a strong hit. Like, you hit, but in an odd way that put unexpected stress on the blade or whatever. I didn't want to add a separate stress roll so I thought that if the damage was unusually low that could represent the kind of impact I wanted. This does mean that just absently tapping your weapon against a stone wall is more likely to build up stress points than using it to cleave through your enemies in a shower of blood and glory, but I'm not sure that's entirely unrealistic.

The idea of tying stress points to your ability mod was a late addition. I think going back to it being that you do a "damage fumble" by rolling 1 on your die works better.
Ah, that makes more sense. Though, for the sake of simplicity, I'd not worry about the stress mechanic for most actions that doesn't involve rolling dice, so as to prevent absently tapping your weapon on a stone wall like you mentioned from breaking equipment.



Declaring swords to be extra rare is no less arbitrary.
I disagree. The fact that they're made completely out of metal while most other weapons are merely a small chunk mounted on a wooden haft means that crafting a sword is an exceptionally large investment of resources. This would be a perfectly valid reason in your world for blacksmiths to refrain for crafting, for example, a longsword, when the same materials could be used to craft two or three battleaxes or warhammers which do the same 1d8 damage with the same versatile (1d10) property. That's hardly arbitrary, I think.



There would almost certainly be stone weapons or flint daggers. Flint is probably widely used for hunting arrowheads. They might even make up the bulk of beginning adventurer gear. But unless the DM running this world decides to just make all gear out of some alternate material (in which case why bother with this mechanic at all?) the assumption would have to be that metal weapons, maintenance hogs as they are, are still superior if available.
There was a 3.5 book that included a variety of alternate materials and their effects on equipment, with stone and bone weapons both imposing a -2 penalty to both attack and damage rolls, which sounds reasonable to me...
...Except that 5e basically scrapped all of those kinds of little bonuses and penalties in favor of the simplicity of advantage and disadvantage. Applying disadvantage to all attack rolls made with stone weapons sounds a bit harsh to me, but it would work with the system. Maybe make an exception for bludgeoning weapons, since it's kind of hard to mess up bashing someone's face in with a blunt object?

[EggKookoo]

Ah, that makes more sense. Though, for the sake of simplicity, I'd not worry about the stress mechanic for most actions that doesn't involve rolling dice, so as to prevent absently tapping your weapon on a stone wall like you mentioned from breaking equipment.

Oh, sure. In actual gameplay I'd do the same. In fact the mechanic specifically only calls for stress checks whenever you make an attack roll. So I suppose if a player "attacked the wall..."


I disagree. The fact that they're made completely out of metal while most other weapons are merely a small chunk mounted on a wooden haft means that crafting a sword is an exceptionally large investment of resources. This would be a perfectly valid reason in your world for blacksmiths to refrain for crafting, for example, a longsword, when the same materials could be used to craft two or three battleaxes or warhammers which do the same 1d8 damage with the same versatile (1d10) property. That's hardly arbitrary, I think.

It's their disproportionate composition of metal that led to that vulnerability, though. I suppose I could work out mass by metal (and specifically mass by the kind of high-grade metal needed to maintain a quality blade) but that feels cumbersome. So I'm just simplifying into "swords" and "not swords."

I mean, sure, a good battleaxe has probably as much or more metal as a longsword, but most of the axe's metal can be of any quality, and really only the blade edge needs special durability. But the entire blade of the sword has to flex and recover, and maintain a high degree of strength while being thin.

So really it's both reasons. Swords are more vulnerable to this mechanic, and being so tend to be made less.


There was a 3.5 book that included a variety of alternate materials and their effects on equipment, with stone and bone weapons both imposing a -2 penalty to both attack and damage rolls, which sounds reasonable to me...
...Except that 5e basically scrapped all of those kinds of little bonuses and penalties in favor of the simplicity of advantage and disadvantage. Applying disadvantage to all attack rolls made with stone weapons sounds a bit harsh to me, but it would work with the system. Maybe make an exception for bludgeoning weapons, since it's kind of hard to mess up bashing someone's face in with a blunt object?

And after looking at Dark Sun, it seems as though the approach there is to encourage the use of non-metal weapons by imposing some harsh penalties on the metal ones. Penalties to the attack rolls, and the weapon can be destroyed when making a critical hit.

My goal isn't to steer the PCs toward non-metal weapons. That's as easy as just declaring all weapons are bone, stone, or wood. I also don't want the "surprise!" aspect of your weapon just up and breaking when you crit. I want a mechanic that threatens the player as they play, with a buildup toward catastrophe. Something that will help inform their decisions. If weapons have a growing, lurking self-destruction, players (and their PCs) are encouraged to keep fights short. If they can't, they have to deal with that, perhaps by surrendering or working out escape tactics ahead of time.

Of course, to be consistent I may have to come up with a similar mechanic when dealing with metal armor, but maybe keeping it limited to weapons will get the job done. I probably won't get this campaign going until the new year so I won't really know until then.

Edit...

Oh, I see what you were saying. I should provide some reason for players to not use alternate materials. I guess for blunt weapons, yeah, that's not needed. Stone blade weapons would be heavy and prone to chipping. I guess I could impose disadvantage for those. I'm not sure you can really make effective slashing weapons out of wood or even bone. Piercing bone weapons (using teeth? tusks?) might make sense but I think if you hit one with a metal sword, the bone blade wouldn't fare very well.

I think if it became a problem where my players were bypassing this mechanic by using too many non-metal weapons, I could work out some way to compensate (assuming I didn't just fiat it that those items aren't widely available, but I'd hate to resort to that). Maybe bone weapons shatter on a natural 1. Harsh but it'd get the job done.

[Knaight]

I disagree. The fact that they're made completely out of metal while most other weapons are merely a small chunk mounted on a wooden haft means that crafting a sword is an exceptionally large investment of resources. This would be a perfectly valid reason in your world for blacksmiths to refrain for crafting, for example, a longsword, when the same materials could be used to craft two or three battleaxes or warhammers which do the same 1d8 damage with the same versatile (1d10) property. That's hardly arbitrary, I think.

Similarly the swords being long, slim metal rods which will break if eaten through at any point and which are generally exposed to an abnormal amount of stress from flexing makes them breaking more often entirely reasonable. A mace can take a lot more damage before being likely to break (in the metal section, wooden shafts are a different matter), and even something like an axe is generally less fragile.

[Anymage]

One option to make metal weapons seem more special would be to either state that base weapon stats apply to the nonmetal versions and that metal is good enough to count as the base for +1 or better weapons, or else that metal's versatility and longevity combine with magic's ability to enhance versatility and longevity such that most metal gets invested into magic weapons. Because the way things stand now, you heavily discourage getting used to using one signature weapon, and strongly encourage them to look for a nonmetal alternative that gets the job done best; slap a big rock on top of a big stick, see if you can get away with calling it a maul, and if so just keep using that.

The other holes big enough to drive a truck through are the part where you just encourage more people to use casters who don't have to worry about their equipment breaking, and that one easily spammable cantrip repairs all stress short of the flawed state. This turns weapon stress into bookkeeping that only really matters for martial characters in the midst of one specific fight.

If I wanted to add a resource depletion element to the game, I'd add the ability to stress a spellcasting focus, so everybody is playing the same durability game. Then I'd take a page from Dark Sun; metal weapons are better all around, but too pricey for most characters to reasonably consider. Renewables like bone, stone, and wood are more likely to break and harder to maintain, but that's balanced by the fact that finding or making another one is significantly cheaper. All of this does, though, again add an extra layer of bookkeeping. And include the possibility of a super swingy turn where someone's defining combat tool is removed from play.

[EggKookoo]

So I should state here that the main goal of this isn't to cause players to lose their favorite weapons. In a perfect gaming world, I would say something like "metal weapons tend to susceptible to catastrophic failure if used poorly in combat and not maintained properly between fights" and let the roleplaying aspects of the game handle it. Players would remember to mention that they're inspecting, oiling, polishing, and otherwise taking care of their weapons during rests. They would worry about making sure they got good attack rolls, which would imply a nice straight deep slice or a solid thwack, without needing to be prompted for it.

In my experience, that perfect table doesn't exist. My players always need a bit of crunch to remind them. Just a bit, not too much. I don't blame them for this: I'm the same way. If the DM tells me my sword needs to be handled with care, I would do my best to roleplay it that way. But if there's no consequence when I lapse, it won't take long before I stop paying attention to it. If the DM then hits me with a surprise and my weapon shatters, I guess I'll accept it but I'll feel let down. I would have preferred a degrading status -- almost like HP for the weapon -- that would function as a persistent reminder that I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing.


One option to make metal weapons seem more special would be to either state that base weapon stats apply to the nonmetal versions and that metal is good enough to count as the base for +1 or better weapons, or else that metal's versatility and longevity combine with magic's ability to enhance versatility and longevity such that most metal gets invested into magic weapons. Because the way things stand now, you heavily discourage getting used to using one signature weapon, and strongly encourage them to look for a nonmetal alternative that gets the job done best; slap a big rock on top of a big stick, see if you can get away with calling it a maul, and if so just keep using that.

Yeah, I need to come up with something credible to justify why most people don't use some alternative. One thing that feels right to me is that bone and possibly stone weapons don't fare so well against medium and heavy armor. Maybe disadvantage for nonmetal weapons against medium or heavy armor, and maybe they can't crit against the same?

I'm wary of getting too complex.


The other holes big enough to drive a truck through are the part where you just encourage more people to use casters who don't have to worry about their equipment breaking, and that one easily spammable cantrip repairs all stress short of the flawed state. This turns weapon stress into bookkeeping that only really matters for martial characters in the midst of one specific fight.

If the party ends up leaning very heavily toward casters, I can handle that by giving them encounters that work against that. But honestly I wouldn't mind that -- it would just be their way of adapting to the setting.

I could remove the bit about Mending if that makes it too easy.


If I wanted to add a resource depletion element to the game, I'd add the ability to stress a spellcasting focus, so everybody is playing the same durability game. Then I'd take a page from Dark Sun; metal weapons are better all around, but too pricey for most characters to reasonably consider. Renewables like bone, stone, and wood are more likely to break and harder to maintain, but that's balanced by the fact that finding or making another one is significantly cheaper. All of this does, though, again add an extra layer of bookkeeping. And include the possibility of a super swingy turn where someone's defining combat tool is removed from play.

I'm not opposed to the idea that spellcasting focii are susceptible to this mechanic. I'd have to work out the specifics.

[MoleMage]

One option for the other materials to make them less desirable is to give them the same durability rules as metal: flint, bones, and stone are brittle, wood can rot if not properly cared for, etc. The difference is that if you break a flint axe, you can replace it, unlike metal which is extraordinarily rare.

Now a flint axe is more likely to be used when weapon quality isn't important because hey, at least if it breaks fighting goblins you can replace it. But when it really matters, you break out the metal because losing your weapon is better than dying.

[EggKookoo]

One option for the other materials to make them less desirable is to give them the same durability rules as metal: flint, bones, and stone are brittle, wood can rot if not properly cared for, etc. The difference is that if you break a flint axe, you can replace it, unlike metal which is extraordinarily rare.

Now a flint axe is more likely to be used when weapon quality isn't important because hey, at least if it breaks fighting goblins you can replace it. But when it really matters, you break out the metal because losing your weapon is better than dying.

It's not a bad idea. The main goal here is to have a constant reminder about the state of the world. If the players choose to use inferior weapons and save their good ones for important fights, that's fine. Just as much as them deciding to go mostly caster. It flavors the game.

[Kane0]

An idea I came up with a while ago that tries to balance the streamlined 5e philosophy with an equipment management minigame:

Weapons/Armor/[thing you want to scarcify] all have a number of charges (essentially health)
Using a piece of equipment in one combat (or one round of combat if you want to be harsh) drains 1 use/HP from the item
An item that is reduced to 0 charges/HP is broken beyond repair
Standard items have 5 uses/HP, poor quality 3, masterwork 7, magic 10
You can tend to an item during a rest, which requires proficiency in an appropriate tool and restores a number of charges/HP equal to proficiency bonus. You can tend to one item as part of a short rest and up to three as part of a long rest.
A Mending spell instantly restores one charge/HP, but cannot raise charges/HP above 3

And to make it interesting from the players point of view:
You can choose to spend one charge/HP from a weapon to turn a hit you make against a creature into a critical hit
You can choose to spend two charges/HP from armor or a shield to turn a critical hit against you into a regular hit

If you wanted metal items to be extra fragile, give them one or two less charges/HP

[Garfunion]

Taking the ideas that have been posted here in this thread.

I tried to keep the 6 encounter day in mind, when creating this system. I also tried to make it as simple as possible.

••••Durability Score••••
Every item that you use during combat will suffer some amount of durability damage.

Arms & Armor
All weapons and armor individually have a maximum Durability Score of 20. Any ranged weapons that uses ammunition does not have a Durability Score. When an item reaches a Durability Score of 0 it is broken and non-repairable.
When you roll initiative (unless stated otherwise), your armor that you are wearing and weapon(s) you use, will take one point of durability damage.
This effect only happens once after initiative is rolled.

Spell Component Pouch
Mundane spellcasting focuses cannot be used to replace the need for material spell components.
A spellcaster must use a spell component pouch in order to cast spells that require a material component. Spell component pouches begin with a Durability Score of 25. If a spell component pouch has a 0 Durability Score, the spellcaster cannot cast any spells that require a material component. If a spell requires a costly material component, you still must provide that component.
When a spell requires the use of a material component (consumed or not), one point of durability is removed from the spell component pouch.

••••THE RUST••••
Is an extraordinary force that can affect any item made mostly of metal(any).
Any time a metal item is exposed to fresh air or surface(above ground) water, it can get damaged by THE RUST. At the end of a long rest, these items must roll a d20 + their current (including temporary points) Durability Score against a DC15. On a failed roll the item takes 2 durability damage.
Metal ammunition does not need to make a THE RUST damage resist roll.

Repair & Re-supply
In order to determine the repair and re-supply cost of durability damage, take the base cost of the item and divided it by the maximum Durability Score it can have. This will give you the cost to repair or re-supply one durability damage.

Arms & Armor Field Kit (50gp)
This 10 pound field kit can be used to reduce the durability damage a weapon or suit or armor takes. It has 20 uses.
Simple care: you may spend one use of this kit during a short or long rest to give up to two items one temporary point of durability.
Expert care(trained only): you may spend one use of this kit during a long rest to give up to 5 items two temporary points of durability.


••••Extras••••
This section contains additional detail and alternative ideas for the system I have presented above.

Arm & Armor
Alternatively after initiative is rolled, the first time you are hit with a melee or ranged attack. Your armor that you are wearing takes one point of durability damage. The first time you hit with your weapon(s), it take one point of durability damage.

Spellcasting Focus
A magic item that can be used as a spellcasting focus and you can attuned to, can be used to replace the material component cost for spells. If I spell has a costly material component you must still provide the component.
The most common of such magic items have a maximum of 5 charges that can be spent to replace a material component. When you cast a spell that requires a material component you may choose to spend a charge from the magic item instead of your spell component pouch. At the end of a long rest, roll a d6 to determine how many charges are restored. If you roll a 6, all charges are restored plus the item gains one temporary charge.

Metal is Rare
Items mostly made out of metal cost four times their base value. Any metal weapon that would cost less than 20gp after multiplying the base cost by four, now cost 20gp. One piece of ammunition that uses metal, cost 1gp.

•Metal Armor: When you would be hit with a critical hit. You may spend one durability damage on the metal armor you are wearing to change the critical hit to a normal hit.
•Metal Weapon: When you attack with a metal weapon, before the d20 is roll. You may spend one durability damage on the weapon you are using to change its critical hit range for 20 to 16-20. The attack still must hit after applying all hit modifiers.
•Metal Ammunition: Using metal ammunition gives your ranged weapon a critical hit range of 16-20. The attack still must hit after applying all hit modifiers. Hit or miss the metal ammunition is no-recoverable.

Shields
Shields do not have the standard Durability Score, instead shields have a Temporary Durability Score of 20. This means a shield cannot be repaired or gain any temporary durability points.
When your armor would take durability damage, you may instead have your shield take the damage.

Magical Metal Items
If a metal item is magical, it gains advantage on d20 to resist THE RUST durability damage.

Treasure Hunters Oil (100gp)
This 4 ounce vial of magic oil can protect up to 1000gp worth of metal treasure against the effects of THE RUST. This protection lasts up to 10 days. Applying this oil to a weapon or armor makes it unusable for the duration. You may spend one hour to remove the oil from an item, losing its protection from THE RUST.

Mending Cantrip
If the caster is proficient in tools that would allow them to create armor and weapons. They may cast the mending cantrip and spend one use of an Arms & Armor field kit to restore one durability damage, to one weapon or suit of armor. The caster can not use this cantrip on the same item until after the caster take a long rest.

Alternative Materials
An item that is mostly made from metal can be made from an alternative non-metal material. Weapons and armor made from an alternative material have a maximum Durability Score of 12. Ammunition made from alternative material are non-recoverable. The statistics and cost of these items use the same values as their counterparts listed in the PHB.

Concentrated THE RUST Zones.
When metal items have been exposed to a concentrated THE RUST zone, the DC is 25. The ocean and nearby areas are concentrated THE RUST zones. Any area with a creatures that have effects that can damage items is also a concentrated THE RUST zone.

[MoleMage]

I like version 2 a lot more. I think it is fitting all of your goals without being too much overhead.

I have some ideas for how to increase class interaction with these features, which you can take or leave. If you take them you may want to fill in the missing classes (except Monk who already feels pretty good about this whole situation, and maybe limit the Druid one to Circles other than Moon for the same reason). Honestly these aren't needed to make your system work, I just thought of them when I read it.

All class features relating to durability unlock at level 5.

Barbarian: Whenever you complete a long rest, choose a non-metallic weapon you possess to grant 8 temporary durability to. You may expend extra durability from non-metal weapons in order to increase critical range as though they were metal.

Bard: You may expend a use of your Bardic Inspiration as a bonus action in order to infuse a musical instrument you are holding and proficient in with magical energies. Roll the die. For a number of rounds equal to the result of the die, you can use your instrument in place of spell components without a listed GP cost.

Fighter: Whenever you complete a short or a long rest, you can grant one weapon and one suit of armor or shield you possess a single temporary durability. This temporary durability stacks with those granted by an Arms and Armor Field Kit.

Paladin: Whenever you use your Divine Smite feature with a metallic weapon, it does not lose a durability for that attack. You cannot gain this benefit if you spent extra durability in order to increase the chance of a critical hit.

Sorcerer: Whenever you spend one or more Sorcery points to apply metamagic effects to a spell, you do not need to provide material components for that spell unless they have a listed GP value. You may spend a single sorcery point to activate this feature even if you do not apply metamagic.

Warlock: Your patron's Pact Boon has a number of temporary durability equal to the highest level Pact Magic spell slot you possess. You may expend a temporary durability from your Pact Boon to cast a spell without providing material components that do not have a listed GP cost. These temporary durability are restored whenever you complete a long rest.


If you like this, I recommend that Druid and Wizard should get a feature that modifies when they pay spell component costs, Rogue should get one for weapon durability or ammunition, Ranger should get one for weapon durability or ammunition, and Cleric should get either component or weapon durability based on Domain (Divine Strike: weapons, Potent Cantrips: spells). Gives a little bit more class identity to the mechanics.

[EggKookoo]

Taking the ideas that have been posted here in this thread.


I like version 2 a lot more. I think it is fitting all of your goals without being too much overhead.

Wow, these are both very well thought out. Very cool.

I'm concerned about adding any significant complexity. I was trying to avoid adding any new rolls or really even any new qualities such as durability. That's why a weapon's stress point max (which I guess could be considered its durability) is just tied to its damage die. Fewer separate scales for the player to worry about. I can see how it might make weapons too fragile -- a dagger has only 4 "durability" which can seem pretty low. But that was offset by only losing (or gaining, in the sense of stress points) on unusual die rolls. When I run the numbers it's possible my weapons are too fragile, but that's solvable by giving them two points per max damage die toward their max stress. This would mean a short sword would become flawed after six hits (on average), but a hand axe would only become flawed after 12.

I also didn't want durability to be a simple attrition thing, in the sense that every hit docked a point or whatever. I want the players to not know if a hit will dock a point, to increase a sense of risk. I'm not a fan of the kind of calculations a player might do if they could predict the durability loss. "Well, I know I have 4 durability left in this weapon, so I'll use my remaining 4 hits to do XYZ." Ideally the player would just be caught unaware by the weapon suddenly breaking, but that feels unfair and unfun. So I created a not-entirely-deterministic way of displaying the weapon's increasing stress, so the player could make a judgment call. Maybe the player with one stress point left can hope for a good damage die roll. Maybe the dice work against the player and the weapon gains all its stress points in short order. I like that combination of unpredictability and anticipation.

Having said all that, I really do like the idea of creating features for some classes to help them manage weapon stress. In particular it would be cool to give some martial classes the ability to remove the special penalty on some swords, or to even use something like a bonus action to reverse out an accrued stress point. Definitely something to think about. I don't think I'd give such features to classes outright but more to specific subclasses, and only then about a handful of them. It might be a way to discourage the players from going all-caster in an attempt to bypass this. In the end that kind of thing would depend on which classes my players pick.

[EggKookoo]

Ok, after reading through the various suggestions and ideas in this thread, I have an updated version of the mechanic. Just a reminder that this is meant to convey a general sense of decay and scarcity in a post-peak, dying Earth kind of setting. I don't think I'd use it in a more conventional D&D setting, but of course that's all subjective.

The Mar

Ages ago, a mystical catastophe devastated the world. In the fallout, a kind of magical super-rust emerged and quickly spread across land and sea. Visible most often at dusk and dawn as an everpresent scarlet dust, it persists in soil, flora, and the water supply. It is harmless to life and inert to most substances, but it will ultimately consume any metal and has a special affinity for iron and steel. Without constant upkeep, any exposed metal will slowly dull and pit, and if left untreated will develop fatal discontinuities or even fractures deep within.

The Mar's rate of effect is difficult to predict. Some metal can sit covered with the reddish dust for years and remain only superficially affected. Other pieces appear clean and pure, but under intense stress can reveal deep, fatal flaws. It appears that the Mar attacks metal that is frequently struck, flexed, or exposed to temperature extremes. Heating metal to liquid will typically purge any embedded Mar dust, but even regular inspection, cleaning, oiling, and buffing can ward off the worst of its effects... for a time.

Non-ferrous metal is likewise affected, but appears less susceptible to sudden fractures and failures. Copper, silver, lead, and other metals less suitable for weapons or armor exhibit as much etching from the effects of the Mar, but tend to last longer before utter disintegration. Swords and other long-bladed weaponry are especially vulnerable, as their qualities depend on a large constituency of high-quality steel. Axes and hammers use less refined steel by weight -- mostly for the leading edge or head. Such equipment is more resilient, although the amount of punishment any weapon endures is sufficient to give the Mar an inroad to its eventual destruction.

Stress

Each weapon type has an amount of Mar-based stress it can endure before disaster strikes. This is expressed as stress points. An unaffected weapon has zero stress points, and each weapon type has a maximum number of stress points it can accumulate before it is in danger of breaking. This is known as the weapon's maximum stress. This number is equal to twice the maximum result on its damage die. For example, a battleaxe deals 1d8 weapon damage, and therefore has a maximum stress of 16.

If a weapon has more than one damage die, such as a maul, combine both dice to determine its maximum stress. A maul deals 2d6 weapon damage, and therefore has a maximum stress of 24. A weapon with the versatile property uses its two-handed damage die when calculating its maximum stress.

If the wielder has a feature that allows additional damage dice to be added to a weapon attack (such as Divine Strike or Sneak Attack), these dice are not counted when determining the weapon's maximum stress. If a weapon itself deals additional damage due to a magical or special property, these dice are also not considered for its maximum stress unless they are explicitly referred to as weapon damage dice in the item's description, or if the item specifies that they count.

If a weapon has a magical property that grants it a to-hit bonus, add the bonus to the weapon's maximum damage die result before doubling it. For example, a +1 battleaxe has a maximum stress of 18 (8 + 1, doubled).

Some weapons are exempt from this mechanic as they do not rely on metal for either their structural integrity or ability to deal damage. These weapons are, but no limited to: club, greatclub, lance (if no metal tip), quarterstaff, and whip.

Gaining Stress

A weapon gains a stress point whenever any of its weapon damage dice results in a 1, prior to any modifiers. This represents a hit, but a bad or awkward one that applies imperfect stress on the weapon. The weapon continues to function normally, including dealing damage, but the malformed strike has begun a process that, if left untreated, will result in total failure. There is no limit to the number of stress points the weapon can gain in a turn or a round. If multiple attacks are made on a single turn, each of those attacks has the potential to accrue a stress point.

If a feature allows the reroll of the weapon damage die, use the rerolled value to determine if a stress point is gained. For example, Great Weapon Fighting allows the wielder reroll damage if the initial result is a 1 or 2. The weapon only gains a stress point if the rerolled result is 1.

Bladed weapons are especially vulnerable to the Mar. Whenever one of these weapons gains a stress point, it also gains a second. Affected weapon types are: greatsword, longsword, rapier, scimitar, shortsword, and sickle (daggers are not subject to this vulnerability due to their small size).

In addition, if the wielder is not proficient with the weapon, it will gain one additional stress point whenever it gains any. Thus, a shortsword in the hands of a non-proficient wielder will gain three stress points when rolling a 1 on its weapon damage die.

If the attack roll is a critical hit, no stress points are gained regardless of the weapon damage die result.

When a weapon reaches maximum stress, it has become flawed.

Removing Stress

Stress points can be removed from a weapon during a long or short rest.

To remove stress points from a weapon during a short rest, roll the weapon's damage die. If you are proficient with the weapon, you may add your proficiency bonus to the roll. The resulting number is subtracted from the weapon's stress points, to a minimum of zero. You must have smith's tools and be proficient with them to attempt this. Per short rest, you may make this roll a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier. If your Intelligence modifier is 0 or lower, you cannot attempt to repair a weapon in this fashion. You may make multiple rolls for a single weapon or repair multiple weapons, but each roll can only be applied to a single weapon. You can only remove stress points this way if the weapon is not flawed, and you cannot remove a flaw from a weapon during a short rest.

During a long rest, you may remove all stress points from a number of weapons equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 0) as long as you are in possession of and proficient with smith's tools. You may instead opt to remove a flaw from a single weapon (see Flawed Weapons).

EDIT: Garfunion posted a better way to do this here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?570924-Weapon-Durability-in-Dying-World-Setting&p=23433955#post23433955). I'm leaving the old description but as far as I'm concerned his approach is "official."

Flawed Weapons

A flawed weapon is one in which cumulative stress has built up to cause a dangerous fault in the metal. A flawed weapon will function normally, but the next time the wielder uses it to cause weapon damage, it becomes destroyed (the damage is applied before destruction). The Mar has penetrated to the weapon's core and eaten away at the integrity of the metal. It cannot be repaired short of a magical effect.

While a critical hit will not add stress to a weapon regardless of the damage die result, it will still destroy a flawed weapon. The hit still counts as a critical.

Removing Flaws

A weapon can have its flaw removed during a long rest. To do so, you must be proficient with the weapon and be in possession of and be proficient with smith's tools. This process will also remove half of the weapon's stress points (round up). You can remove the flaw from only one weapon per long rest in this fashion, and you cannot do this during the same long rest that you remove stress points. Another creature may include the weapon you removed the flaw from in the selection of weapons it removes stress from during the same long rest.

A blacksmith may also remove a flaw from a weapon. This is usually has a one-day turnaround and will cost 10%-40% of the weapon's value.

EDIT: Likewise, Garfunion had an interesting approach here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?570924-Weapon-Durability-in-Dying-World-Setting&p=23433955#post23433955). Again, I'll leave the old one here for context.

Ranged Weapons

Ranged weapons in and of themselves are not subject to this mechanic. Metal used for arrowheads and bolt tips are vulnerable to the Mar. Due to the intense stresses placed on these objects, any time an arrow or bolt is shot it becomes flawed. This effect is applied whether the projectile hits or misses (even a miss will eventually strike something), but if it hits any damage is still applied.

If recovered, a flawed arrowhead or bolt tip will immediately shatter the next time it successfully hits a creature or intended target (misses with flawed projectiles merely retain their flawed status).

You cannot repair arrowheads or crossbow bolt tips, but the metal can be melted down to form new versions. This process can be done during a long rest as long as you have access to smith's tools and are proficient with them. You can restore or recreate as many projectiles as your Intelligence score per long rest, but you cannot do this during the same rest that you remove stress or flaws from any other items.

[EggKookoo]

Just for fun I also created some class-specific rules for how to handle the Mar. This is overkill for my purposes, but once I started it kind of kept going on its own. I made a point to not add new features but just modify or latch onto existing one. My goal was to give martial classes some mitigation of the effects of the mechanic and to also prevent a situation where using a signature feature was too risky. I tried not to allow any class or subclass the ability to just bypass the mechanic altogether. Hopefully I succeeded there. Okay, well, here we go...

Class Features

Certain classes have features that modify or mitigate the effects of the Mar.


Barbarian: Path of the Beserker

Frenzy: If you are in the midst of frenzying and you make a critical attack roll with a flawed weapon, the weapon is not destroyed but still retains its flawed status.


Bard: College of Swords

Blade Flourish: If the attack roll made with this feature is successful and the weapon damage die roll is greater than 1, the weapon you made the attack with is exempt from gaining stress points until the end of your next turn.

Bard: College of Valor

Combat Inspiration: If a creature adds one of your Bardic Inspiration dice to its damage roll, and that die result is greater than 1, that attack will not generate stress points regardless of the weapon damage die result.


Cleric: Forge Domain

Blessing of the Forge: If you use this feature on a flawed weapon, it will lose its flawed status as well as all of its stress points. You can use this feature on magical weapons. It conveys no additional magic but it will still repair the weapon.

Cleric: War Domain

Channel Divinity: Guided Strike: When you use this feature, the attack will not generate stress regardless of the weapon damage die result.


Fighter

Extra Attack: You cannot gain more than one stress point for a single weapon on your turn as a result of using this feature. Further, if your weapon becomes flawed while using this feature and you still have attacks remaining with it, you may complete all of the attacks before the weapon becomes destroyed.

Fighter: Battle Master

Relentless: When you use this feature, instead of regaining one superiority die, you may instead opt to remove one stress point from one weapon you are currently wielding, as long as the weapon is not flawed. You must have gained the stress point at some time after rolling initiative for the current fight.

Fighter: Cavalier

Warding Maneuver: If you use this feature with a weapon and you roll a 1 with the 1d8, your weapon will gain a stress point.

Fighter: Eldritch Knight

Weapon Bond: Select one of your bonded weapons. Whenever you complete a short rest, that weapon will be cleared of all stress points automatically, unless it is flawed. You can change which of your bonded weapons gains this benefit after a long rest.

Fighter: Samurai

Fighting Spirit: When you use this feature to give yourself advantage on weapon attack rolls, those attacks cannot cause the weapon to gain stress points.


Monk: Way of the Kensai

Path of the Kensai: Kensai Weapons: This maximum stress of your kensai weapons increases by your Wisdom modifier.

One with the Blade: Deft Strike: When you use this feature, your weapon cannot gain stress points.

Sharpen the Blade: When you use this feature, your weapon cannot gain stress points.


Paladin

Divine Smite: Whenever you use this feature and at least one of your radiant damage dice comes up the maximum value, you will remove one stress point (to a minimum of 0). If the weapon has no stress points, this feature will counteract the gaining of any stress points if a weapon damage die result in the same attack is 1. In addition, striking an undead creature or a fiend will never cause your weapon to gain a stress point. You cannot use this feature on a flawed weapon.

Extra Attack: You cannot gain more than one stress point for a single weapon on your turn as a result of using this feature.

Paladin: Oath of Conquest

Invincible Conqueror: The additional attacks you make on your turn while using this feature will not cause your weapon to gain stress points.

Paladin: Oath of Devotion

Channel Divinity: Sacred Weapon: Your sacred weapon will not gain stress points for the duration of the feature. If you strike an undead creature or fiend with a flawed sacred weapon, the weapon will not be destroyed but will retain its flawed state.

Paladin: Oath of Vengeance

Channel Divinity: Vow of Enmity: When you gain advantage against a creature using this feature, your weapon will not gain stress points.


Ranger

Extra Attack: You cannot gain more than one stress point for a single weapon on your turn as a result of using this feature.

Foe Slayer: If you add your Wisdom modifier to the damage roll of your attack, and your Wisdom modifier is +1 or greater, your weapon will not gain a stress point if the weapon damage die result is 1.

Ranger: Gloom Hunter

Dread Ambusher: The additional attack you make as part of this feature cannot cause your weapon to gain stress points.

Ranger: Hunter

Defensive Tactics: Whirlwind Attack: You cannot gain more than one weapon stress point for a weapon using this feature. Further, if your weapon becomes flawed while using this feature and you still have attacks remaining with it, you may complete all of the attacks before the weapon becomes destroyed.

Ranger: Monster Slayer

Slayer's Prey: The attacks you make using this feature cannot cause your weapon to gain stress points. Note that this only applies to the first attack per turn made against the selected creature.


Revised Ranger

Extra Attack: You cannot gain more than one stress point for a single weapon on your turn as a result of using this feature.

Favored Enemy: An attack made against your favored enemy will never cause your weapon to gain a stress point.

Foe Slayer: If you add your Wisdom modifier to the damage roll of your attack, and your Wisdom modifier is +1 or greater, your weapon will not gain a stress point if the weapon damage die result is 1.


Rogue: Inquisitive

Insightful Fighting: When you use this feature to make a Sneak Attack against a creature, your weapon cannot gain a stress point.

Rogue: Scout

Ambush Master: After you use this feature, any further attacks made by anyone against the creature you hit cannot generate stress points. This lasts until the effects of this feature end at the start of your next turn. Note the initial strike that begins the benefit of this feature does not count.

Sudden Strike: A single weapon cannot gain more than one stress point per turn as a result of using this feature.

Rogue: Swashbuckler

Master Duelist: At 17th level when you gain this feature, the special vulnerability to stress exhibited by swords no longer applies to you.


Warlock

Pact of the Blade: If you create your own weapon, it is not subject to this mechanic. If you use an existing weapon, it is vulnerable to the Mar as is normal for its type and properties. Howerver, if you dismiss the weapon and leave it dismissed for at least one hour, and it is not flawed, any accumulated stress points will be cleared from it when you re-summon it.

Eldritch Smite: If you use this feature when making an attack, your weapon cannot gain stress points.

[Garfunion]

I like what you have done with The Mar.
However, I feel the the process of removing stress points should be less arduous. Creating a simple maintenance kit for weapons (like the headers kit) that allows the “average” adventure to maintain a weapon they are proficient with, would be easier.

Or perhaps this kit can instead provide temporary stress point for the day. This represents a form of upkeep and daily care.

I also feel that the process of removing the flawed condition from a weapon should require a forge or other magical sources.

How do The Mar affect armor?

[EggKookoo]

I like what you have done with The Mar.
However, I feel the the process of removing stress points should be less arduous. Creating a simple maintenance kit for weapons (like the headers kit) that allows the “average” adventure to maintain a weapon they are proficient with, would be easier.

What if we just remove the tool requirement and you can remove stress points if you're merely proficient with the weapon?


I also feel that the process of removing the flawed condition from a weapon should require a forge or other magical sources.

I don't disagree but I'm wary of creating a specific "remove flaw" magical process, and I want to give the players a way to remove flaws in the field.


How do The Mar affect armor?

Logically it should, but I'm also trying to avoid a creep effect. It really should affect a whole bunch of things but I'm less interested in modeling it perfectly but rather using it as a tool for immersion. I guess you could basically use the same kind of mechanic where a critical hit adds a stress point to armor, and after a certain number of stress points (maybe twice the character's AC while wearing it?) it becomes flawed. It's the kind of thing that I would implement if the weapon mechanic turns out to be not enough to get the idea across.

[Garfunion]

What if we just remove the tool requirement and you can remove stress points if you're merely proficient with the weapon?
Well not only that but, what is the PC actually doing to the weapon?

Weapon field kit
This 5lb kit, contains soap, polish, oil, small file, whetstone, and rags. During a short or long rest, you may use this kit to remove some stress from a weapon you are proficient with. Upon doing so, you remove two points of stress from the weapon. If you are proficient with smith’s tools you may add your proficiency bonus to the amount of stress removed.

Mending Spell
Additional bullet for the spell.
During a short or long rest you may cast this spell on a weapon to remove one stress point. (One hour for one weapon.)

The reason for the low stress removal number is to ensure that The Mar is a threat to the weapon. How often will a one really show up on a damage roll? Additionally if you can roll the same damage die to remove stress, you could remove all stress entirely. It is ok for a PC to stop using a weapon, so they can take time to remove stress from the weapon.
I’m also trying to keep things simple.



I don't disagree but I'm wary of creating a specific "remove flaw" magical process, and I want to give the players a way to remove flaws in the field. In my mind, a weapon would need to be heated up until glowing. To properly remove the flaw. You would still need smith’s tools (& proficiency in them) and proficiency in the weapon to repair the flaw. But this takes time (1 hour per 1lb of weapon) and a forge/heat. So creating a pit forge(1 hour) or any spell that does prolong fire damage could work in a pinch.
The Heat Metal spell could be used too, but the PC must be the one doing the repairs and casting the spell. Allowing them to repair one weapon per casting every hour.

I’m not trying to make it realistic, just trying to make sure the PC knows the task will be arduous.

[EggKookoo]

Well not only that but, what is the PC actually doing to the weapon?

Weapon field kit
This 5lb kit, contains soap, polish, oil, small file, whetstone, and rags. During a short or long rest, you may use this kit to remove some stress from a weapon you are proficient with. Upon doing so, you remove two points of stress from the weapon. If you are proficient with smith’s tools you may add your proficiency bonus to the amount of stress removed.

Mending Spell
Additional bullet for the spell.
During a short or long rest you may cast this spell on a weapon to remove one stress point. (One hour for one weapon.)

Okay, I can deal with that.


In my mind, a weapon would need to be heated up until glowing. To properly remove the flaw. You would still need smith’s tools (& proficiency in them) and proficiency in the weapon to repair the flaw. But this takes time (10 minute per 1lb of metal should be good)* and a forge/heat. So any spell that does prolong fire damage or Heat Metal spell could work in a pinch.
I’m not trying to make it realistic, just trying to make sure the PC knows the task will be arduous.
*the time it takes to heat the metal to glowing.

That's interesting. I wasn't really visualizing a flaw as anything aside from some severe damage, but what if it represented the Mar reaching the core of the metal? Then it's literally heating it to glowing, specifically to drive out the Mar. I like that.

[Garfunion]

That's interesting. I wasn't really visualizing a flaw as anything aside from some severe damage, but what if it represented the Mar reaching the core of the metal? Then it's literally heating it to glowing, specifically to drive out the Mar. I like that. Yep, in my mind a flaw is too risky. The chances of The Mar infecting the core is too great.

I made some changes to my last paragraph, if you wanted to use the mechanics that I suggested.

[EggKookoo]

Sold!

When I get some time I'll update the description above.