Equipment FAQ

How does equipment work in D&D?

Equipment covers the weapons, armor, shields, tools, adventuring gear, packs, mounts, vehicles, trade goods, and other items a character carries or uses. At character creation, a class and background normally provide starting equipment, or a class may allow starting gold to be spent instead. Each item follows its own rules for cost, weight, damage, Armor Class, properties, proficiency, charges, or special use. Carrying an item does not automatically mean a character is proficient with it.

Equipment is the physical toolkit characters use to interact with the world. Some equipment changes combat statistics directly. Other equipment matters because it creates possibilities during exploration, travel, social scenes, survival, investigation, and problem solving.

Starting equipment comes from character creation

Under the 2014 baseline, class and background determine a character's normal starting gear.

A class can offer choices such as:

  • one weapon or another;
  • one pack or another;
  • armor;
  • a shield;
  • tools;
  • ammunition.

The character records those choices on the character sheet.

The rules also provide a starting-gold alternative for classes that use that option.

The player then purchases equipment from the relevant tables instead of taking the default package.

Equipment has structured properties

Different categories track different information.

A weapon entry can include:

Name Cost Damage Weight Properties

Armor can include:

Name Cost Armor Class Strength requirement Stealth effect Weight

Adventuring gear can have:

Cost Weight special use text

A magic item can instead have:

  • rarity;
  • attunement;
  • charges;
  • command words;
  • spell effects;
  • recharge timing;
  • other special rules.

Do not apply one category's fields to every item.

Carrying is different from using effectively

A character can physically possess a longsword without being proficient with longswords.

A character can put on armor without proficiency.

The rules then determine the consequences.

Weapon proficiency affects the attack roll.

Armor proficiency has much harsher penalties when the character wears armor they are not trained to use.

Weight can matter

The 2014 Basic Rules use carrying capacity based on Strength.

The default carrying-capacity guideline is:

Strength score × 15 pounds

before any specific feature changes that amount.

Some tables choose not to track ordinary encumbrance closely.

That is a campaign choice.

If a campaign ignores or simplifies weight, that choice remains distinct from the published carrying-capacity baseline.

Items interact with action economy

Using equipment may require:

  • part of another action;
  • the Use an Object action;
  • an action specified by the item;
  • a bonus action;
  • a reaction;
  • an attack;
  • longer setup time.

Do not assume that possessing an item lets the character activate it for free.

The item's own rules determine how it is activated and what it does.

Weapons define attack options

A weapon tells you:

  • melee or ranged;
  • damage die;
  • damage type;
  • properties;
  • range where relevant.

Properties such as finesse, heavy, light, loading, reach, thrown, two-handed, versatile, and ammunition can materially change how the weapon functions.

Armor changes AC

Without armor or a shield, a character's normal Armor Class is:

10 + Dexterity modifier

Armor replaces that base calculation with the formula printed for the armor.

A shield normally adds +2 AC when used according to the rules.

Specific class features can provide alternative AC calculations.

When several rules provide alternative ways to calculate AC, they do not normally stack into one combined formula unless the features explicitly say they do.

Tools are not universal skill bonuses

Tool proficiency represents training with a particular tool.

A tool may allow or improve a check when the tool is relevant.

It does not simply add proficiency to every task that sounds vaguely related.

The DM determines which ability and proficiency apply to the actual task.

Mundane and magical equipment are different layers

A normal sword uses the weapon rules.

A magic sword uses the weapon rules plus its magic-item rules.

A potion is not governed only by the Adventuring Gear table because its magic-item entry defines its effect.

A spellcasting focus can replace some material components under spellcasting rules but does not replace costly or consumed components automatically.

Availability is a campaign question

A price in a sourcebook does not mean every settlement has the item for sale.

The DM determines what markets, craftsmen, merchants, military suppliers, temples, guilds, magic-item dealers, or black markets exist in the setting.

Rare equipment may require:

  • travel;
  • contacts;
  • crafting;
  • a quest;
  • special permission;
  • another campaign-specific process.