So, you're taking a mid-afternoon stroll through Dangirland, content in the knowledge that nothing can possibly hurt you, when you come across a lone adventurer engaged in combat with a grey orc. Suddenly, the grey orc steps into your path and accosts you! "Is there something I can help you with?" you sneer derisively, knowing no mere orc will breach your defenses. By way of reply, the orc leaps toward you, swinging his mace! Years of battle-trained reflexes have your shield intercepting the blow before your mind fully registers the arrogance displayed by the the little pig..

  <*crunch*>

The orc never comes close to doing you any actual damage, and you casually prepare a spell to finish him off. Moments later, when the little bits of orc flesh cease drifting down through the air, you prepare to go on your way and the lone combatant, secure in the knowledge that he did enough damage to the orc to have learned something from the fight, speaks up: "Thx 4 ur help, d00d. Bummer about ur shield." He then wanders off.

After a moment's translation, it registers on you that your left hand is empty! Eh!? What was that crunch you heard? Where is your shield!? Must...ASSIST...!

Before you do, you might want to understand the basics of breakage, so you have a leg to stand on (or a shield to block with).

[Note: at this time, breakage is still in a beta-testing phase, so no actual items are lost.]

[Other note: No d00dz were harmed in the creation of this story, unfortunately.]


What is breakage?

Breakage is the term used to describe what happens (or can potentially happen) when a weapon and another weapon (or a piece of armor) violently intercept one another in combat. This is known as a clash. Each weapon base, armor subgroup, armor accessory, shield type, etc, has its own strength and durability factor, which is what determines how quickly the item degenerates from normal wear-and-tear and whether it simply snaps altogether.

Example:

A hobgoblin thrusts with a rapier at you!
  AS: +24 vs DS: +166 with AvD: +39 + d100 roll: +51 = -52
   A clean miss.
  Rapier clashes with dark steel longsword!
  [STR/DU: 30/100 vs. 80/205, d100(Open)= 38]

Clashing items are shown in order, so from this, we can see that the hobgoblin's rapier has a strength (STR) rating of 30 and a durability (DU) rating of 100, and my steel longsword has a strength rating of 80 and a durability rating of 205. Strength ratings do not go higher than 99, but durability ratings can go at least as high as 800. The d100 roll shown is the system's test to see whether the lower strength item (in this case, the rapier) undergoes catastrophic failure (more commonly referred to as 'snapping in two'). If the d100 exceeds the item's durability rating, the item is gone.

[Note: The fact that it is an open roll means that on a high roll, generally >95, another d100 is rolled and added to the result. With very good (or bad) luck, it is possible to get several open-ended rolls in a row, creating a result of 300 or higher, so no item is theoretically safe from catastrophic failure, but the odds are very slim indeed of losing something with a durability of 300 or better, if the item is maintained properly (see Integrity later).]

What causes breakage?

The first situation causing a clash is a failed attempt to attack (e.g. a clean miss). It is generally accepted that in such an occurrence, there is a 50% chance of a clash happening, and that is further divided into a half-and-half chance of your left or right hand item clashing (generally, this means shield or weapon, but you two-weapon users can appreciate the distinction). Thus, on a d100 roll to check for a clash, the results could be depicted this way:

Note that we are not shown the d100 roll to determine whether a clash occurs, so the graph above is simply an example, not indicative of the actual d100 results.

If no clash occurs, then you have a "wiffle" where the attacker simply missed completely, or the defender was able to dance back out of arm's length, whichever you prefer. Example:

A hobgoblin thrusts with a rapier at you!
  AS: +16 vs DS: +166 with AvD: +39 + d100 roll: +66 = -45
   A clean miss.
   Not even close.

As you can see, no clash occurred here.

If a clash occurs, the strength of the two items is compared. If both items have an equal strength rating, then both are tested for breakage; otherwise, only the item with the lower strength rating is tested. Examples:

You swing a short sword at a kobold!
  AS: +0 vs DS: +34 with AvD: +36 + d100 roll: +56 = +58
   A clean miss.
  Short sword clashes with short sword!
  [STR/DU: 70/185 vs. 70/185, d100(Open)= 28, d100(Open)= 5]

There are two separate d100 rolls, because both items have equal strength ratings, therefore both are being tested for catastrophic failure. In the event of equal strengths, the first roll will be for the attacker's item.

A hobgoblin thrusts with a rapier at you!
  AS: +24 vs DS: +166 with AvD: +39 + d100 roll: +51 = -52
   A clean miss.
  Rapier clashes with dark steel longsword!
  [STR/DU: 30/100 vs. 80/205, d100(Open)= 38]

The d100 roll of 38 is being applied to the hobgoblin's rapier, because its strength (30) is lower than my steel longsword's strength (80).

You swing a faenor-edged dark steel longsword at a hobgoblin!
  AS: +0 vs DS: +69 with AvD: +42 + d100 roll: +25 = -2
   A clean miss.
  Dark steel longsword clashes with wooden shield!
  [STR/DU: 80/205 vs. 45/155, d100(Open)= 41]

The d100 roll of 41 is being applied to the hobgoblin's wooden shield, because its strength (45) is lower than my steel longsword's strength (80).

The above tests all have something in common: an actual hit was not scored by the attacker. In the event the attacker hits the defender, the defender's weapon and shield will not be tested for breakage, but armor will be, if the attack lands on a body part which is covered. This includes armor accessories.

Examples:

H>ambush orc right eye
You leap from hiding to attack!
You swing a black bone-hilted dagger at a greater orc!
  AS: +434 vs DS: +0 with AvD: +20 + d100 roll: +59 = +513
   ... and hit for 92 points of damage!
   Strike to the eye penetrates skull, ocular fluid sprays widely!
The greater orc screams one last time and dies.
  Bone-hilted dagger clashes with double leather!
  [STR/DU: 33/235 vs. 35/120, d100(Open)= 90]

Double leather covers the entire body, so any hit that lands on a target wearing full coverage armor will result in a clash.

You swing a faenor-edged dark steel longsword at a hobgoblin!
  AS: +100 vs DS: -5 with AvD: +42 + d100 roll: +41 = +188
   ... and hit for 31 points of damage!
   Shot pierces a wrist!
The hobgoblin lets out a final scream and goes still.
  Dark steel longsword clashes with arm greaves!
  [STR/DU: 80/205 vs. 20/551, d100(Open)= 33]

This unlucky hobgoblin was wearing light leather, which does not cover the arms. However, he was also wearing arm greaves, so when I poked him through the wrist, my longsword struck those.

You swing a dagger at Krenick!
  AS: +63 vs DS: +68 with AvD: +20 + d100 roll: +95 = +110
   ... and hit for 6 points of damage!
   Slash to Krenick's right leg hits high!
   Kinda makes your knees weak, huh?
  Dagger clashes with double leather!
  [STR/DU: 18/195 vs. 35/120, d100(Open)= 43]

My talented assistant Krenick is wearing double leather and leg greaves in this example. However, as you can see, only the double leather clashes with the dagger. Stacking armor accessories on top of normal armor coverage changes nothing but the amount of weight you are carrying.

Catastrophic Failure and Item Integrity

Catastrophic failure occurs when, during a clash, a d100 roll exceeds the item's durability rating. When this happens, the item will be destroyed and removed from the game.

A kobold swings a short sword at you!
  AS: +6 vs DS: +166 with AvD: +35 + d100 roll: +20 = -105
   A clean miss.
  Short sword clashes with faenor buckler!
  [STR/DU: 70/185 vs. 45/155, d100(Open)= 170]

  The faenor buckler would have splintered and be rendered totally useless!

Note that the open d100 roll must have exceeded 100, thereby gaining a second d100 roll added to the first, with the total of the two equalling 170. Since this is greater than my faenor buckler's durability rating of 155, the buckler would be nothing more than elven scrap metal in my hand, if breakage were fully implemented.

Integrity describes the current state of your weapon. Any piece of equipment used in combat will show normal wear and tear as time goes by. The more durable the item, the longer it can generally go without being maintained, but all combat equipment needs occasional maintainence to help avoid catastrophic failure. You can look at your item and see what condition it is currently in. For example:

>examine shield
You determine current state of the reinforced shield to be at 97.19% integrity.
You see nothing unusual.

This reinforced shield has nothing to worry about, currently, outside of a lucky shot destroying it completely. However, as integrity of an item continues to drop through normal clashes and wear and tear, the chance of catastrophic failure increases.

The Dirty Lowdown

Besides simply being more realistic than having indestructible items, breakage is one way of attempting to curtail Elanthia's hyperinflated economy and flooded enchanting market. Because people have no real outlet for their money, they stockpile more and more of it; having to replace items lost to breakage will alleviate this to some extent, bringing prices back down to more favorable levels.

That said, what can you do to avoid it? The obvious answers are, get new equipment if yours seems fragile. A high strength rating is definitely preferable over a high durability, since most creatures' equipment will not be strong enough to test yours for breakage. Exceptions to this are creatures which wear heavy armor, which has very high natural strength, and the glaes clubs carried by pyrothags, which have a strength of 99, thereby being able to break anything in the game. The other choice is simply to be prepared to spend time and money maintaining your equipment. How this will be done is still a mystery to everyone; it has been stated that breakage will not be fully implemented until a means of fixing equipment is also available. This could include the forging skill, as well as various guild skills.


~Amerlise Vinsaile
Priestess of Andelas