Equipment

Common coins come in several different denominations based on the relative worth of the metal from which they are made. The three most common coins are the gold piece (gp), the silver piece (sp), and the copper piece (cp).

With one gold piece, a character can buy a bedroll, 50 feet of good rope, or a goat. A skilled (but not exceptional) artisan can earn one gold piece a day. The gold piece is the standard unit of measure for wealth, even if the coin itself is not commonly used. When merchants discuss deals that involve goods or services worth hundreds or thousands of gold pieces, the transactions don’t usually involve the exchange of individual coins. Rather, the gold piece is a standard measure of value, and the actual exchange is in gold bars, letters of credit, or valuable goods.

One gold piece is worth ten silver pieces, the most prevalent coin among commoners. A silver piece buys a laborer’s work for half a day, a flask of lamp oil, or a night’s rest in a poor inn.

One silver piece is worth ten copper pieces, which are common among laborers and beggars. A single copper piece buys a candle, a torch, or a piece of chalk.

The the platinum piece (pp) is much more rarely used. A platinum piece is worth ten gold pieces.

The astral credit (ac) is the standard currency of the Astral and elemental planes. It is traditionally worth 100 gold pieces, but trading for it on the Mortal is difficult and purveyors on the other planes often want non-gold wealth in exchange. It’s actually based on the excess energy produced by a standard human soul during a day.

A standard coin weighs about a third of an ounce, so fifty coins weigh a pound.

Abstract Costs

Prices and availability vary throughout known lands and even more beyond those lands. Some areas are lacking metals, so heavy armor is more difficult to acquire. Others are highly industrial, so complex items like spyglasses and clocks are relatively cheap. Some relative pricing, however, tends to hold. All of these are priced relative to adventurer wealth, rather than the common folk.

Very Cheap items are generally not worth worrying about cost for, at least for adventurers. They may cost a few copper pieces. Examples include a loaf of cheap bread or a mug of cheap beer. Anyone can pull a branch from a tree and make a functional club.

Cheap items are those that are widely available once you get above the smallest of hamlets; any village with a local blacksmith can supply arrow heads or spear heads, for example. At most, these items cost a few (less than ten) gold pieces.

Moderately Expensive items are harder to come by; you need specialists found only in the larger towns and cities. They may cost anywhere from 10 gp up to about 100 gp. Most weapons and armor fall into this category, as do more specialized mundane items.

Expensive items require true specialists, found only in the largest of cities. These tend to require personal fitting or limited access, meaning you can’t simply walk into a shop and buy one off the rack. Examples include a suit of fitted plate armor, barding for non-traditional mounts, adamantine or mithril items, masterwork items, and, in most areas, mechanical items such as clocks, polished glass lenses, etc. Prices for these start in the hundreds of gold pieces and go up from there.

Very Expensive items require one-of-a-kind services. Most magic items are of this kind (especially those without a listed formula). Generally, these cannot be bought or sold; in the rare occasions where you can (such as at limited-access auctions), the prices are in the tens of thousands of gold pieces.

Selling Treasure

Opportunities abound to find treasure, equipment, weapons, armor, and more in the dungeons you explore. Normally, you can sell your treasures and trinkets when you return to a town or other settlement, provided that you can find buyers and merchants interested in your loot.

Arms, Armor, and Other Equipment

As a general rule, undamaged weapons, armor, and other equipment fetch half their cost when sold in a market. Weapons and armor used by monsters are rarely in good enough condition to sell or use.

Magic Items

Selling magic items is problematic. Finding someone to buy a potion or a scroll isn’t too hard, but other items are out of the realm of most but the wealthiest nobles or large organizations. Likewise, aside from potions and a few Journeyman magic items, you won’t normally come across magic items or spells to purchase. The value of magic is far beyond simple gold and should always be treated as such.

Gems, Jewelry, and Art Objects

These items retain their full value in the marketplace, and you can either trade them in for coin or use them as currency for other transactions. For exceptionally valuable treasures, the GM might require you to find a buyer in a large town or larger community first.

Trade Goods

Many people conduct transactions through barter. Like gems and art objects, trade goods—bars of iron, bags of salt, livestock, and so on—retain their full value in the market and can be used as currency.

Armor

Quartus is a vast tapestry made up of many different cultures, each with its own technology level and historical development path. For this reason, adventurers have access to a variety of armor types, ranging from leather armor to chain mail to costly plate armor, with several other kinds of armor in between. Remember that you cannot cast spells while wearing armor unless you have a feature that specifically allows doing so. Most forms of armor are commonly worn with a helmet of some kind, ranging from a simple boiled-leather cap to a full on bascinet, and this protection is included in the armor’s rating, as are normal gloves and boots. Magical helms, boots, and gloves can replace those normally worn; they do not change the AC of the armor unless they specifically say they do.

NIH takes a slightly abstracted view of the mechanics of armor; it does not have a list of specific armor types. Instead, it provides three categories and a set of properties within those categories. Each category (heavy, medium, and light), sets the base AC formula for armors of that type (including whether to add a contribution from your Dexterity modifier). Properties modify this number with tradeoffs such as imposing disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) or adding Strength requirements. Some properties mostly interact with other rules, such as the Metallic property, which allows certain modifications and disallows others, while changing how some spells (such as shocking grasp) affect the wearer.

Armor categories

Heavy Armor

Heavy armor is generally metallic in nature and covers the critical areas of the body with layered protection. It trades mobility for protection. Of all the armor types, it has the highest potential AC, but doesn’t benefit by default from Dexterity. Wearers of heavy armor don’t dodge blows as much as let them glance off the curved plates and surfaces of their armor. Heavy armor almost always includes an underlaying layer of padding (a gambeson), a helmet, heavy gloves or gauntlets, and leg protection in the form of greaves or heavy reinforced leather pants and boots or sabatons. These extras are sometimes integrated with the core protection, presenting a particularly hard-to-harm target. Without any modifications, heavy armor jingles and clanks, making stealth more difficult.

Examples of heavy armor might include:

• A full suit of chain, including a coif and chain gloves and boots.
• A full suit of plate armor.
• A suit of lamellar armor, such as what was worn by late-era samurai.

Base Armor Class (Heavy Armor). Your AC while wearing heavy armor equals 16. You do not add any Dexterity modifier to your AC unless your armor is Masterwork.

Default Properties (Heavy Armor). Heavy armor defaults to Metallic, Cumbersome (+1), and Loud.

Light Armor

Light armor isn’t so much about deflecting blows as keeping incidental contact from opening your skin. It is made of heavy cloth, leather, and other reinforcements and rarely metal. Wearers rely on their evasion more than on their armor to avoid the worst of enemy attacks. It prioritizes freedom of movement over protection. As a result, the total armor class for wearers of light armor is lower than for heavy or medium armor and more investment into Dexterity is required. Light armor generally pairs with a leather helmet, light gloves, and boots.

Examples of light armor might include:

• A buff coat (heavy leather coat worn originally as an underlay for heavier armor but then alone once heavy armor declined)
• A padded cloth gambeson, worn alone.
• Fantasy leather armor.

Base Armor Class (Light Armor). Your AC while wearing light armor equals 11 + your Dexterity modifier (even if negative).

Default Properties (Light Armor). Light armor has no default properties.

Medium Armor

Medium armor is a compromise between heavy and light armor. More protective than light armor with a smaller Dexterity investment for maximum results, but less so than heavy. Usually made of metal, it covers less than heavy armor (often just the torso, shoulders, and hips) and sometimes only covers the front of the body. Helmet, boots, gloves, etc. are present and heavier than light armor, but not integrated into the core and usually just reinforced leather or cloth.

Examples of medium armor might include:

• A Spanish conquistador’s breastplate
• A brigandine (small plates of metal sandwiched between and riveted to a cloth and leather coat)
• A chain shirt, covering only the torso, shoulders, and hips.

Base Armor Class (Medium Armor). Your AC while wearing medium armor equals 14 + your Dexterity modifier (max +2).

Default Properties (Medium Armor). Medium armor defaults to Metallic.

Armor Properties

The following is a complete list of the properties armor can have. Additional armor class provided by different properties does not stack.

Cumbersome (+X)

Cumbersome armor requires physical strength and training to maneuver in and especially fight and move in for long periods. If you wear Cumbersome armor and your Strength modifier is not at least equal to the value in parentheses, you make attack rolls and Dexterity saving throws and checks at disadvantage.

If a type of armor does not have Cumbersome by default, adding Cumbersome with X = 1 or more increases the base armor class by 1. If it does have Cumbersome (+1) by default (ie heavy armor), increasing it to +2 or higher increases the base armor class by 1 per additional point of Strength required, with a maximum bonus of +2 for Cumbersome (+3).

Loud

Loud armor jingles, rattles, or otherwise is hard to move stealthily in. You have disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks while wearing Loud armor.

If a type of armor does not have Loud by default, adding Loud increases the base armor class by 1.

Metallic

Metallic armor is primarily made of plates or sheets of metal. This property has no intrinsic effects, but some spells (such as shocking grasp or heat metal), monster features, and exotic materials treat Metallic armor differently than non-metallic armor.

Armor Proficiency

Anyone can put on a suit of armor or strap a shield to an arm. Only those proficient in the armor’s use know how to wear it effectively, however. Your class gives you proficiency with certain types of armor. If you wear armor or wield a shield that you lack proficiency with, you have disadvantage on any ability check, saving throw, or attack roll that involves Strength or Dexterity.

Armor Class (AC)

Armor protects its wearer from attacks. The armor (and shield) you wear determines your base Armor Class calculation. If you have a feature (such as Unarmored Defense) that provides an alternate calculation, you must pick and choose which one you use.

Price

The more protective armors are more expensive. Armors made of exotic materials or masterwork armors are even more expensive and hard to acquire. Generally, light armor is Cheap (a few gold and available in most settlements), medium armor is Moderately Expensive (low hundreds of gold pieces and available only large towns and above), and heavy armor is Extremely Expensive (high hundreds to low thousands of gold pieces, available only in major cities).

Masterwork armor costs at least twice as much as the base armor and generally requires a specialized crafter. Exotic materials require providing the materials, finding a specialized crafter, and increase the cost by a variable amount depending on the material.

Shields

A shield is made from wood or metal and is carried in one hand. Wielding a shield increases your Armor Class by 2. You can benefit from only one shield at a time. You can grasp an item in the same hand, but you cannot effectively wield a weapon or cast a spell with the hand that is occupied.

Shields are Cheap.

Getting Into and Out of Armor

The time it takes to don or doff armor depends on the armor’s category.

Don

This is the time it takes to put on armor. You benefit from the armor’s AC only if you take the full time to don the suit of armor.

Doff

This is the time it takes to take off armor. If you have help, reduce this time by half.

Fantastic Materials: Armor

Cow leather, cloth, iron, steel. Wood or iron for shields. These are the normal materials used for armor, and what makes up the entries above. Adventures take place in fantastic worlds, and those worlds have many different exotic materials. The table below shows a few of these exotic materials. Each one applies to a particular type of armor (either a category such as heavy armor or property), has a rarity roughly corresponding to the tier in which you can expect to find them, and an effect or effects.

Additionally, Masterwork armor can be crafted by particularly skilled craftsmen. It costs twice the normal price, but reduces the cost of the Deflect action by 1 STA. Masterwork heavy and medium armor also allows you to add an additional point of your Dexterity bonus (if positive) to your AC. This raises the contribution from Dexterity for heavy armor to +1 max.

Adamantine

This dark, dull-black metal is quite dense (about twice the density of iron). When used in heavy armor, it doubles the weight but makes critical hits act like normal hits (not dealing any additional damage or other effects). Such armor gains Cumbersome (+3) with the attendant change in base AC if it doesn’t already have it.

Formula. To craft Adamantine Armor, you must procure one-quarter of the weight of the armor in refined adamantine metal (three-quarters of the weight in raw adamantine ore). The cost of the crafting is twice the base price of the armor, four times if you wish to have masterwork adamantine armor. Crafting adamantine armor requires a +3 proficiency bonus (+4 if you are crafting masterwork) and proficiency in smith’s tools.

Exotic Chitin and Scales

When skinned carefully, exotic chitin (such as from an ankheg or land shark) or scales (such as from a dragon) can be worked into Metallic armor that has a maximum Cumbersome rating of +1. Such armor loses the Metallic property, and if the creature had immunity to a particular damage type (like a blue dragon’s immunity to lightning damage), the wearer gains resistance to that type.

Exotic Leather

When skinned carefully and properly tanned, exotic leathers and hides can be made into light armor. Such armor has its base armor class increased by 1 over similar armor made with normal materials.

Mythril

Silvery and light, mythril is one of the more well-known special materials. When used to make Metallic armor, it decreases the weight to half of its normal value and the armor is immune to corrosion (including from corrosive creatures). If the armor had Cumbersome, its rating decreases by 1 without changing the base armor class. Additionally, the armor loses the Loud property if it had it, also without changing the base armor class.

Formula. To craft mithral armor, you must procure one-quarter of the weight of the armor in refined mithral metal (three-quarters of the weight in raw mithral ore). The cost of the crafting is twice the base price of the armor or four times if you wish to have masterwork mithral armor. Crafting mithral armor requires a +3 proficiency bonus (+4 if you are crafting masterwork) and proficiency in smith’s tools.

Weapons

Your class grants proficiency in one or more categories of weapons. When you make an attack with a weapon, you use either your Melee Attack Modifier or your Ranged Attack modifier depending on the type of weapon, regardless of whether you have proficiency or not. If you do not have proficiency in that type of weapon, you make your attack at disadvantage and cannot use any of the beneficial weapon properties of the weapon. Your class also either grants Advanced weapon skill or Basic weapon skill. This determines the base damage done by your weapon, before modifiers from the properties.

Weapon Skill

Basic weapon skill means that your melee and ranged weapons deal 1d6 + the appropriate ability modifier (Strength for melee, Dexterity for ranged) damage of the type set by the category. This can be modified by weapon properties.

Advanced weapon skill means that your melee weapons deal 1d10 + your Strength modifier damage and your ranged weapons deal 1d8 + your Dexterity modifier damage, both of the type set by the category. This can be modified by weapon properties.

If you have the Nimble Strike or the Weapon Versatility feature, you can use Dexterity instead of Strength (Nimble Strike) for melee weapons and Strength instead of Dexterity (Weapon Versatility) for ranged weapons. Note that the damage done does not depend on the type of attack, but on the type of weapon. Throwing a dagger (a light blade with the Thrown property) uses your Melee Attack Modifier and Strength by default.

Weapon Categories

The categories are:

• Bashing
• Exotic
• Hafted
• Heavy Blades
• Light Blades
• Ranged

Bashing Weapons

Bashing melee weapons are things like clubs, knuckle-dusters, maces, war hammers, quarterstaffs, etc. They all deal bludgeoning damage and have two properties of your choice from Battering, Light, Reach, Parrying, and Two-handed. As usual, no adjustment to damage can increase the damage beyond 1d12 or decrease it below 1d4.

Bashing weapons tend to be very Cheap, at least at their most primitive. A cane or walking stick makes a decent club, after all.

Exotic Weapons

Exotic weapons are those that don’t fit neatly into other categories. They are most often characterized by being their own ammunition. Kunai, throwing stars, vials of acid or alchemist’s fire, as well as whips fall into this category. They all have the Special property which defines their damage, damage type and other restrictions and behaviors. Most of them have the Concealable and Thrown properties as well.

Exotic weapons tend to be quite Expensive, although some classes have ways of producing them fairly cheaply. Whips are the exception, being Cheap.

Hafted Weapons

Hafted melee weapons are things like axes (hand or battle), flails, halberds, spears, and most other polearms. They are distinguished by having a separate head and haft; the latter often of wood while the head is usually metal. They can deal your choice of slashing, bludgeoning, or piercing damage. They have two properties of your choice from Battering, Cleaving, Light, Reach, Thrown, or Two Handed. As usual, no adjustment to damage can increase the damage beyond 1d12 or decrease it below 1d4.

Hafted weapons tend to be Cheap (for the simple ones) and Moderate (for the more expensive ones). The amount of metal involved is small, and spears can be made quite effortlessly.

Heavy Blades

Heavy blades are things like scimitars, long swords (more formally arming swords), greatswords, katanas, nanginatas, etc. They can either stab or slash (and many can do both) but are hard to conceal on your person. They deal your choice of slashing and piercing damage and have either the Cleaving or Parrying property. They also have up to two other properties of your choice from Reach, Two Handed, Parrying, Precise, or Cleaving. As usual, no adjustment to damage can increase the damage beyond 1d12 or decrease it below 1d4.

Heavy blades tend to be the most expensive non-Exotic weapons, with the largest of them being Expensive. They require specialized techniques to forge and substantial amounts of good metal.

Light Blades

Light blades are things like daggers, shortswords, kukri, wakizashi, and sickles or kama. They are easy to conceal on your person and often used as an off-hand or thrown weapon. They deal your choice of piercing or slashing damage and have the Concealable property and up to two other properties of your choice from Light, Parrying, Precise, or Thrown. As usual, no adjustment to damage can increase the damage beyond 1d12 or decrease it below 1d4.

Light blades are Moderate in cost; most smiths can turn out a knife or dagger, but not as cheap as most hafted weapons.

Ranged Weapons

Ranged weapons are the entire gamut of normal bows, crossbows, and slings. They always have the Ammunition property and deal your choice of piercing or bludgeoning damage. They also can have two of your choice properties from Loading, Precise, Reinforced, and Two Handed. As usual, no adjustment to damage can increase the damage beyond 1d12 or decrease it below 1d4.

Ranged weapons range from very Expensive (crossbows) to quite cheap (slings). Wyrmhold has crossbows as fairly standard equipment, being a highly industrial society, while Kotimaa relies on the bow, lovingly crafted by artisans.

Weapon Properties

Many weapons have special properties related to their use, as shown in the Weapons table. These properties may modify the damage rolled for the weapon. As usual, no adjustment to damage can increase the damage beyond 1d12 or decrease it below 1d4.

The damage dies step as follows: 1d4 $\leftrightarrow ︎$ 1d6 $\leftrightarrow ︎$ 1d8 $\leftrightarrow ︎$ 1d10 $\leftrightarrow ︎$ 1d12.

Ammunition

Damage Die Change: N/A

You can use a weapon that has the ammunition property to make a ranged attack only if you have ammunition to fire from the weapon. Each time you attack with the weapon, you expend one piece of ammunition. Drawing the ammunition from a quiver, case, or other container is part of the attack (you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon). At the end of the battle, you can recover half your expended ammunition by taking a minute to search the battlefield.

If you use a weapon that has the Ammunition property but not the Reinforced property to make a melee attack, you treat the weapon as an improvised weapon (see “Improvised Weapons” later in the section). A sling must be loaded to deal any damage when used in this way.

Battering

Damage Die Change: N/A

When you miss on an attack with a Battering weapon and do not roll a 1, the target still takes damage equal to your proficiency bonus.

Cleaving

Damage Die Change: N/A

Once per turn when you hit with a Cleaving weapon, you can attempt to carry some of the damage onto another target within your reach. If you do so, compare the initial attack roll to the new target’s AC. If it hits, they take the same damage as the initial target.

Concealable

Damage Die Change: N/A

Concealable weapons can be hidden in clothing with a successful Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check.

Light

Damage Die Change: −1 step

A light weapon is small and easy to handle, making it ideal for use when fighting with two weapons. When you wield a light weapon in each hand and take the Attack action, you can make an extra attack as long as you make attacks with each weapon. This extra attack does not add your ability modifier to the damage dealt.

Loading

Damage Die Change: +1 step

Because of the time required to load this weapon, you can fire only one piece of ammunition from it when you use an action, bonus action, or reaction to fire it, regardless of the number of attacks you can normally make.

Parrying

Damage Die Change: N/A

When you take the Deflect action while wielding a parrying weapon, you no longer expend your reaction. Once you use this property, you cannot do so again until the start of your next turn. As a result, if you take the Deflect action twice, you must expend your reaction the second time.

Precise

Damage Die Change: N/A

These weapons are well adapted to finding the gaps in heavily-armored foes. When you make an attack with a precise weapon and have advantage, you score a critical hit on a 19 or 20.

Reach

Damage Die Change: N/A

This weapon adds 5 feet to your reach when you attack with it, as well as when determining your reach for opportunity attacks with it. Note that the default reach is 5 feet. Except for the whip Exotic weapon, all Reach weapons must also be Two Handed.

Special

Damage Die Change: Special (damage as listed)

A weapon with the special property has unusual rules governing its use, explained in the weapon’s description (see “Special Weapons” later in this section).

Thrown

Damage Die Change: N/A

If a weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon to make an attack at larger range. If the weapon is a melee weapon, you use the same ability modifier for that attack roll and damage roll that you would use for a melee attack with the weapon. The range is defined the same way as it is for a ranged weapon, but this remains a melee attack.

Two-Handed

Damage Die Change: +1 step

This weapon requires two hands when you attack with it. You can hold it in one hand, however. Two-handed weapons cannot be concealed barring invisibility.

Improvised Weapons

Sometimes characters don’t have their weapons and have to attack with whatever is at hand. An improvised weapon includes any object you can wield in one or two hands, such as broken glass, a table leg, a frying pan, a wagon wheel, or a dead goblin.

Often, an improvised weapon is similar to an actual weapon and can be treated as such. For example, a table leg is akin to a club. At the GM’s option, a character proficient with a weapon can use a similar object as if it were that weapon and gain the benefits of proficiency, although the weapon still lacks any other properties.

An object that bears no resemblance to a weapon deals 1d4 damage (the GM assigns a damage type appropriate to the object). If a character uses a ranged weapon to make a melee attack, or throws a melee weapon that does not have the thrown property, it also deals 1d4 damage. An improvised thrown weapon has a normal range of 20 feet and a long range of 60 feet. Such attacks are always made at disadvantage due to lacking proficiency.

Weapon Range

Ranged and thrown weapons have listed ranges. The ranges lists two numbers. The first is the weapon’s normal range in feet, and the second indicates the weapon’s long range. When attacking a target beyond normal range, you have disadvantage on the attack roll. You can’t attack a target beyond the weapon’s long range. Ranged weapons have a range of 80/320, while Thrown weapons have a range of 30/90.

Silvered Weapons

Some monsters are particularly susceptible to silver weapons, so cautious adventurers invest extra coin to plate their weapons with silver. You can silver a single weapon or ten pieces of ammunition for 100 gp. This cost represents not only the price of the silver, but the time and expertise needed to add silver to the weapon without making it less effective.

Fantastic Materials: Weapons

Some weapons are particularly finely crafted. Only the most skilled craftsmen can craft masterwork items. Many magic weapons are only available as masterwork. Masterwork weapons allow you to add your proficiency bonus to the damage dealt and cost 10x the normal price, after including any cost from special materials. Many weapons with magical enchantments are masterwork.

Additionally, weapons can be made out of exotic materials just like armor can. This is much more expensive than regular steel, but can add unusual effects. Most of these materials require quests to find a source (including possibly negotiating access to an existing source) of the material, as well as a craftsman capable of working them. The rarity, effect, and application of each material can be found on the table.

Adamantine

This dark, dull-black metal is quite dense (about twice the density of iron). It takes an expert to work it into effective weapons. Weapons forged from adamantine deal maximum damage to objects, ignore construct damage resistance, but cannot be effectively wielded by anyone without at least STR +3.

Ignitite

This red and black stone can be ground up and alloyed with steel to make weapons. Such weapons deal 1d6 additional fire damage on hit. These weapons ignite flammable materials (like a flint and tinder) and must be sheathed in non-flammable cases or sheaths.

Mythril

Silvery and light, mythril is one of the more well-known special materials. When used to craft weapons, their weight is halved and they become immune to rusting (including from corrosive monsters). They also count as silvered. Weapons without the Two-Handed property gain the Light property, and Thrown mythril weapons have a normal range equal to their long range.

Necrite

An oily jet-black stone formed when obsidian is exposed to substantial abyssal influence, it can be powdered and alloyed with steel to form weapons that trap spirits. Such weapons deal 1d6 additional necrotic damage on hit. Killing blows from necrite weapons trap incorporeal creatures, allowing them to be forced to answer one question when asked by the holder of the weapon within 1 minute of their destruction. This acts as the Voice the Voiceless incantation.

Special Weapons

Weapons with special rules are described here.

Alchemist’s Fire

This sticky, adhesive fluid ignites when exposed to air. On a hit, the target takes 2d4 fire damage immediately and 1d4 fire damage at the start of each of its turns. A creature can end this damage by using its action to make a DC 10 Dexterity check to extinguish the flames.

Blowgun

These needles don’t do much damage by themselves but make excellent vehicles for poison and are particularly hard to notice. When you make an attack with a blowgun and are Hidden, you do not reveal yourself if you miss. In addition, you can poison up to 20 blowgun darts with a single vial of poison and do so as part of the action required to make the attack.

Holy Water

If the target is a fiend or undead or has a special vulnerability to damage from silvered weapons, it takes 2d6 radiant damage and counts as having been struck by a silvered weapon. Any devout individual may create holy water by performing a special ritual. The ritual takes 1 hour to perform and consumes 25 gp worth of powdered silver.

Trident

Critical hits made with this weapon grapple the enemy until the end of your next turn (escape DC 8 + your attack bonus with the trident).

Whip

While wielding a whip, you have advantage on ability checks made to push someone prone (ie trip them) and when you do so, you can choose to pull them 5 ft closer to you as part of that same attack.

Adventuring Gear

This section describes items that have special rules or require further explanation. Each item has a cost associated with it—either a specific price (rarely) or a relative price (cheap, moderate, or expensive). Under most circumstances, cheap items are readily available in most places and cost less than a gold piece, while moderate cost items are generally only available in large towns and cities and cost tens of gold. Expensive items are only available in specialized shops, usually in large cities only, and cost hundreds of gold pieces.

Arcane Focus

Cost: Moderate

An arcane focus is a special item—an orb, a crystal, a rod, a specially constructed staff, a wand-like length of wood, or some similar item— designed to channel the power of arcane spells. An arcanist can use such an item as a spellcasting focus.

Ball Bearings

Cost: Moderate

As an action, you can spill these tiny metal balls from their pouch to cover a level, square area that is 10 feet on a side. A Medium or smaller creature moving across the covered area must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone. A creature who treats the affected area as difficult terrain (consuming 10 feet of movement to cross the 5 foot space) doesn’t need to make the save; neither does a Large or larger creature.

Bedroll

Cost: Cheap

A bedroll consists of blankets and other padding, plus the ties and covers to keep them secure on the road. You cannot regain hit dice during a long rest unless you are sleeping on a bedroll or the equivalent.

Block and Tackle

Cost: Moderate

A set of pulleys with a cable threaded through them and a hook to attach to objects, a block and tackle allows you to hoist up to four times the weight you can normally lift.

Book

Cost: Expensive

A book might contain poetry, historical accounts, information pertaining to a particular field of lore, diagrams and notes on gnomish contraptions, or just about anything else that can be represented using text or pictures.

Caltrops

Cost: Expensive

As an action, you can spread a bag of caltrops to cover a square area that is 5 feet on a side. Any creature that enters the area must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or stop moving this turn and take 1 piercing damage. Taking this damage reduces the creature’s walking speed by 10 feet until the creature regains at least 1 hit point. A Medium or smaller creature who treats the affected area as difficult terrain (consuming 10 feet of movement to cross the 5 foot space) doesn’t need to make the save.

Candle

Cost: Cheap

For 1 hour, a candle sheds bright light in a 5-foot radius and dim light for an additional 5 feet.

Case, Map or Scroll

Cost: Cheap

This cylindrical leather case can hold up to ten rolled-up sheets of paper or five rolled-up sheets of parchment. Without such a case, documents are at risk of being damaged by weather, immersion, or other accidents.

Chain

Cost: Expensive

A chain has 10 hit points. It can be burst with a successful DC 20 Strength check. It can be used to restrain a Large or smaller creature; tying someone up imposes the restrained condition and requires an action. If the target isn’t incapacitated, they can resist and make a Strength (Athletics) check opposed by your Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check, negating the attempt on a success.

Climber’s Kit

Cost: Expensive

A climber’s kit includes special pitons, boot tips, gloves, and a harness. You can use the climber’s kit as an action to anchor yourself; when you do, you can’t fall more than 25 feet from the point where you anchored yourself, and you can’t climb more than 25 feet away from that point without undoing the anchor.

Alternatively, you can use it and expend your rope as an action to leave anchors and rope for other climbers. Anyone climbing by means of a rope left in such a manner makes any necessary checks at advantage and twice as fast as normal.

Component Pouch

Cost: 50 gp

A component pouch is a small, watertight leather belt pouch that has compartments to hold all the material components and other special items you need to cast your spells, except for those components that have a specific cost (as indicated in a spell’s description).

Crowbar

Cost: Cheap

Using a crowbar grants advantage to Strength checks where the crowbar’s leverage can be applied.

Fishing Tackle

Cost: Moderate

This kit includes a wooden rod, silken line, corkwood bobbers, steel hooks, lead sinkers, velvet lures, and narrow netting. With one of these and access to fish-bearing waters, a person can catch enough fish to feed themselves for a day with a DC 13 Dexterity (Perception) check. Otherwise, the difficulty of the task is entirely up to the GM.

Healer’s Kit

Cost: Moderate

This kit is a leather pouch containing bandages, salves, and splints. The kit has ten uses. As an action, you can expend one use of the kit to stabilize a creature that has 0 hit points, without needing to make a Wisdom (Medicine) check.

Holy Symbol

Cost: Cheap

A holy symbol is a representation of a god or pantheon. It might be an amulet depicting a symbol representing a deity, the same symbol carefully engraved or inlaid as an emblem on a shield, or a tiny box holding a fragment of a sacred relic. To use the symbol as a focus, the caster must hold it in hand, wear it visibly, or bear it on a shield.

Hunting Trap

Cost: Moderate

When you use your action to set it, this trap forms a saw-toothed steel ring that snaps shut when a creature steps on a pressure plate in the center. The trap is affixed by a heavy chain to an immobile object, such as a tree or a spike driven into the ground. A creature that steps on the plate must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or take 1d4 piercing damage and stop moving. Thereafter, until the creature breaks free of the trap, its movement is limited by the length of the chain (typically 3 feet long). A creature can use its action to make a DC 13 Strength check, freeing itself or another creature within its reach on a success. Each failed check deals 1 piercing damage to the trapped creature.

Lamp

Cost: Cheap

A lamp casts bright light in a 15-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet. Once lit, it burns for 6 hours on a flask (1 pint) of oil.

Lantern, Bullseye

Cost: Moderate

A bullseye lantern casts bright light in a 60-foot cone and dim light for an additional 60 feet. Once lit, it burns for 6 hours on a flask (1 pint) of oil.

Lantern, Hooded

Cost: Moderate

A hooded lantern casts bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet. Once lit, it burns for 6 hours on a flask (1 pint) of oil. As an action, you can lower the hood, reducing the light to dim light in a 5-foot radius.

Lock

Cost: Varies by quality

A key is provided with the lock. Without the key, a creature proficient with thieves’ tools can pick this lock with a successful DC 15 Dexterity check. Your GM may decide that better locks are available for higher prices.

Magnifying Glass

Cost: Expensive

This lens allows a closer look at small objects. It is also useful as a substitute for flint and steel when starting fires. Lighting a fire with a magnifying glass requires light as bright as sunlight to focus, tinder to ignite, and about 5 minutes for the fire to ignite. A magnifying glass grants advantage on any ability check made to appraise or inspect an item that is small or highly detailed.

Manacles

Cost: Moderate

These metal restraints can bind a Small or Medium creature. Escaping the manacles requires a successful DC 20 Dexterity check. Breaking them requires a successful DC 20 Strength check. Each set of manacles comes with one key. Without the key, a creature proficient with thieves’ tools can use them to pick the manacles’ lock with a successful DC 15 Dexterity check. Manacles have 15 hit points.

Net

Cost: Moderate

As an action, throw the net at a creature within 15 ft. The target must make a Dexterity saving throw with a DC of 8 + your Strength modifier + your proficiency bonus if you have proficiency in martial weapons. A creature that fails the save is restrained until it is freed. A net has no effect on creatures that are formless, or creatures that are Huge or larger. A creature can use its action to make a DC 10 Strength check, freeing itself or another creature within its reach on a success. Dealing 5 slashing damage to the net (AC 10) also frees the creature without harming it, ending the effect and destroying the net.

Oil

Cost: Cheap

Oil usually comes in a clay flask that holds 1 pint. As an action, you can splash the oil in this flask onto a creature within 5 feet of you or throw it up to 20 feet, shattering it on impact. Make a ranged attack against a target creature or object, treating the oil as an improvised weapon. On a hit, the target is covered in oil. If the target takes any fire damage before the oil dries (after 1 minute), the oil catches fire for two rounds. The target takes an additional 5 fire damage at the start of each of its turns while on fire. You can also pour a flask of oil on the ground to cover a 5-foot-square area, provided that the surface is level. If lit, the oil burns for 2 rounds and deals 5 fire damage to any creature that enters the area or ends its turn in the area. A creature can take this damage only once per turn.

Poison, Basic

Cost: Moderate

You can use the poison in this vial to coat one slashing or piercing weapon or up to three pieces of ammunition. Applying the poison takes an action. A creature hit by the poisoned weapon or ammunition takes an additional 1d4 poison damage. Once applied, the poison retains potency for 1 minute before drying.

Potion of Healing

Cost: 50 gp

A character who drinks the magical red fluid in this vial regains 2d4 + 2 hit points. Drinking a potion takes a bonus action; administering it to another takes an action.

Quiver, Ammunition Pouch, Crossbow Bolt Case

Cost: Cheap

A quiver can hold up to 20 arrows, an ammunition pouch can hold 20 sling bullets or 50 blowgun darts, and a bolt case can hold up to 20 bolts. Without a quiver or other ammunition case, it takes a bonus action to reload a weapon with the Ammunition property from loose ammunition.

Ram, Portable

Cost: Expensive

You can use a portable ram to break down doors. When doing so, you gain a +4 bonus on the Strength check. One other character can help you use the ram, giving you advantage on this check.

Rations

Cost: Cheap:

Rations consist of dry foods suitable for extended travel, including jerky, dried fruit, hardtack, and nuts. Under normal conditions, a Medium creature must eat 1 lb of rations or other food and 1 gallon of water over the course of a day to benefit from a long rest. On the third, 6th, and every subsequent third day without sufficient food, you gain a level of exhaustion. These ranks can only be removed when you complete a long rest after eating enough food.

Rope

Cost: Moderate

Rope, whether made of hemp or silk, has 2 hit points and can be burst with a DC 17 Strength check. Tying someone up imposes the restrained condition and requires an action. If the target isn’t incapacitated, they can resist and make a Strength (Athletics) check opposed by your Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check, negating the attempt on a success.

Scale, Merchant’s

Cost: Expensive

A scale includes a small balance, pans, and a suitable assortment of weights up to 2 pounds. With it, you can measure the exact weight of small objects, such as raw precious metals or trade goods, to help determine their worth.

Shamanic Focus

Cost: Cheap

A shamanic focus might be a sprig of mistletoe or holly, a wand or scepter made of yew or another special wood, a staff drawn whole out of a living tree, or a totem object incorporating feathers, fur, bones, and teeth from sacred animals. A shaman can use such an object as a spellcasting focus.

Spyglass

Cost: Expensive

Objects viewed through a spyglass are magnified to twice their size, making them visible from one step further away (see Visibility in the core rules).

Tent

Cost: Cheap

A simple and portable canvas shelter, a tent sleeps two and protects from the elements. Without one, sleeping outside in inclement weather requires a DC 10 Constitution saving throw; on a failure, you do not gain the benefit of a long rest.

Tinderbox

Cost: Cheap

This small container holds flint, fire steel, and tinder (usually dry cloth soaked in light oil) used to kindle a fire. Using it to light a torch—or anything else with abundant, exposed fuel—takes an action. Lighting any other fire takes 1 minute.

Torch

Cost: Cheap

A torch burns for 1 hour, providing bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet. If you make a melee attack with a burning torch and hit, it deals 1 fire damage.

You can also strap items, such as a bedroll or a coil of rope, to the outside of a backpack. This does not count against the weight limit.

Equipment Packs

The starting equipment you get from your class includes a collection of useful adventuring gear, put together in a pack. The contents of these packs are listed here. If you are buying your starting equipment, you can purchase a pack for the price shown, which might be cheaper than buying the items individually.

Burglar’s Pack (16 gp)

Includes a backpack, a bag of 1,000 ball bearings, 10 feet of string, a bell, 5 candles, a crowbar, a hammer, 10 pitons, a hooded lantern, 2 flasks of oil, 5 days rations, a tinderbox, and a waterskin. The pack also has 50 feet of hempen rope strapped to the side of it.

Diplomat’s Pack (39 gp)

Includes a chest, 2 cases for maps and scrolls, a set of fine clothes, a bottle of ink, an ink pen, a lamp, 2 flasks of oil, 5 sheets of paper, a vial of perfume, sealing wax, and soap.

Dungeoneer’s Pack (12 gp)

Includes a backpack, a crowbar, a hammer, 10 pitons, 10 torches, a tinderbox, 10 days of rations, and a waterskin. The pack also has 50 feet of hempen rope strapped to the side of it.

Entertainer’s Pack (40 gp)

Includes a backpack, a bedroll, 2 costumes, 5 candles, 5 days of rations, a waterskin, and a disguise kit.

Explorer’s Pack (10 gp)

Includes a backpack, a bedroll, a mess kit, a tinderbox, 10 torches, 10 days of rations, and a waterskin. The pack also has 50 feet of hempen rope strapped to the side of it.

Priest’s Pack (19 gp)

Includes a backpack, a blanket, 10 candles, a tinderbox, an alms box, 2 blocks of incense, a censer, vestments, 2 days of rations, and a waterskin.

Scholar’s Pack (40 gp)

Includes a backpack, a book of lore, a bottle of ink, an ink pen, 10 sheets of parchment, a little bag of sand, and a small knife.

Tools

A tool helps you to do something you couldn’t otherwise do, such as craft or repair an item, forge a document, or pick a lock. Your lineage, culture, class, and background may give you proficiency with certain tools. Proficiency with a tool allows you to add your proficiency bonus to any ability check you make using that tool. Tool use is not tied to a single ability, since proficiency with a tool represents broader knowledge of its use. For example, the GM might ask you to make a Dexterity check to carve a fine detail with your woodcarver’s tools, or a Strength check to make something out of particularly hard wood.

Artisan’s Tools

These special tools include the items needed to pursue a craft or trade. The table shows examples of the most common types of tools, each providing items related to a single craft. Proficiency with a set of artisan’s tools lets you add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks you make using the tools in your craft. Each type of artisan’s tools requires a separate proficiency.

Disguise Kit

This pouch of cosmetics, hair dye, and small props lets you create disguises that change your physical appearance. Proficiency with this kit lets you add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks you make to create a visual disguise.

Forgery Kit

This small box contains a variety of papers and parchments, pens and inks, seals and sealing wax, gold and silver leaf, and other supplies necessary to create convincing forgeries of physical documents. Proficiency with this kit lets you add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks you make to create a physical forgery of a document.

Gaming Set

This item encompasses a wide range of game pieces, including dice and decks of cards (for games such as Three-Dragon Ante). A few common examples appear on the Tools table, but other kinds of gaming sets exist. If you are proficient with a gaming set, you can add your proficiency bonus to ability checks you make to play a game with that set. Each type of gaming set requires a separate proficiency.

Herbalism Kit

This kit contains a variety of instruments such as clippers, mortar and pestle, and pouches and vials used by herbalists to create remedies and potions. Proficiency with this kit lets you add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks you make to identify or apply herbs. Also, proficiency with this kit is required to create antitoxin and potions of healing.

Musical Instrument

Several of the most common types of musical instruments are shown on the table as examples. If you have proficiency with a given musical instrument, you can add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks you make to play music with the instrument. Each type of musical instrument requires a separate proficiency.

Navigator’s Tools

This set of instruments is used for navigation at sea. Proficiency with navigator’s tools lets you chart a ship’s course and follow navigation charts. In addition, these tools allow you to add your proficiency bonus to any ability check you make to avoid getting lost at sea.

Poisoner’s Kit

A poisoner’s kit includes the vials, chemicals, and other equipment necessary for the creation of poisons. Proficiency with this kit lets you add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks you make to craft or use poisons.

Thieves’ Tools

This set of tools includes a small file, a set of lock picks, a small mirror mounted on a metal handle, a set of narrow-bladed scissors, and a pair of pliers. Proficiency with these tools lets you add your proficiency bonus to any ability checks you make to disarm traps or open locks.

Mounts and Vehicles

A good mount can help you move more quickly through the wilderness, but its primary purpose is to carry the gear that would otherwise slow you down. The Mounts and Other Animals table shows each animal’s speed and base carrying capacity.

An animal pulling a carriage, cart, chariot, sled, or wagon can move weight up to five times its base carrying capacity, including the weight of the vehicle. If multiple animals pull the same vehicle, they can add their carrying capacity together.

Mounts other than those listed here may be available during play, but they are rare and not normally available for purchase. These include flying mounts (pegasi, griffons, hippogriffs, and similar animals) and even aquatic mounts (giant sea horses, for example). Acquiring such a mount often means securing an egg and raising the creature yourself, making a bargain with a powerful entity, or negotiating with the mount itself.

Barding

Barding is armor designed to protect an animal’s head, neck, chest, and body. Any type of armor shown on the Armor table can be purchased as barding. The cost is four times the equivalent armor made for humanoids, and it weighs twice as much.

Saddles

A military saddle braces the rider, helping you keep your seat on an active mount in battle. It gives you advantage on any check you make to remain mounted. An exotic saddle is required for riding any aquatic or flying mount.

Vehicle Proficiency

If you have proficiency with a certain kind of vehicle (land or water), you can add your proficiency bonus to any check you make to control that kind of vehicle in difficult circumstances.

Rowed Vessels

Keelboats and rowboats are used on lakes and rivers. If going downstream, add the speed of the current (typically 3 miles per hour) to the speed of the vehicle. These vehicles can’t be rowed against any significant current, but they can be pulled upstream by draft animals on the shores. A rowboat weighs 100 pounds, in case adventurers carry it over land.

Trade Goods

Most wealth is not in coins. It is measured in livestock, grain, land, rights to collect taxes, or rights to resources (such as a mine or a forest).

Guilds, nobles, and royalty regulate trade. Chartered companies are granted rights to conduct trade along certain routes, to send merchant ships to various ports, or to buy or sell specific goods. Guilds set prices for the goods or services that they control, and determine who may or may not offer those goods and services. Merchants commonly exchange trade goods without using currency. The Trade Goods table shows the value of commonly exchanged goods.

Expenses

When not descending into the depths of the earth, exploring ruins for lost treasures, or waging war against the encroaching darkness, adventurers face more mundane realities. Even in a fantastical world, people require basic necessities such as shelter, sustenance, and clothing. These things cost money, although some lifestyles cost more than others.

Lifestyle Expenses

Lifestyle expenses provide you with a simple way to account for the cost of living in a fantasy world. They cover your accommodations, food and drink, and all your other necessities. Furthermore, expenses cover the cost of maintaining your equipment so you can be ready when adventure next calls.

At the start of each week or month (your choice), choose a lifestyle from the Expenses table and pay the price to sustain that lifestyle. The prices listed are per day, so if you wish to calculate the cost of your chosen lifestyle over a thirty-two-day period (one Quartus month), multiply the listed price by 32. Your lifestyle might change from one period to the next, based on the funds you have at your disposal, or you might maintain the same lifestyle throughout your character’s career.

Your lifestyle choice can have consequences. Maintaining a wealthy lifestyle might help you make contacts with the rich and powerful, though you run the risk of attracting thieves. Likewise, living frugally might help you avoid criminals, but you are unlikely to make powerful connections.

Wretched. You live in inhumane conditions. With no place to call home, you shelter wherever you can, sneaking into barns, huddling in old crates, and relying on the good graces of people better off than you. A wretched lifestyle presents abundant dangers. Violence, disease, and hunger follow you wherever you go. Other wretched people covet your armor, weapons, and adventuring gear, which represent a fortune by their standards. You are beneath the notice of most people.

Squalid. You live in a leaky stable, a mud-floored hut just outside town, or a vermin-infested boarding house in the worst part of town. You have shelter from the elements, but you live in a desperate and often violent environment, in places rife with disease, hunger, and misfortune. You are beneath the notice of most people, and you have few legal protections. Most people at this lifestyle level have suffered some terrible setback. They might be disturbed, marked as exiles, or suffer from disease.

Poor. A poor lifestyle means going without the comforts available in a stable community. Simple food and lodgings, threadbare clothing, and unpredictable conditions result in a sufficient, though probably unpleasant, experience. Your accommodations might be a room in a flophouse or in the common room above a tavern. You benefit from some legal protections, but you still have to contend with violence, crime, and disease. People at this lifestyle level tend to be unskilled laborers, costermongers, peddlers, thieves, mercenaries, and other disreputable types.

Modest. A modest lifestyle keeps you out of the slums and ensures that you can maintain your equipment. You live in an older part of town, renting a room in a boarding house, inn, or temple. You don’t go hungry or thirsty, and your living conditions are clean, if simple. Ordinary people living modest lifestyles include soldiers with families, laborers, students, priests, hedge wizards, and the like.

Comfortable. Choosing a comfortable lifestyle means that you can afford nicer clothing and can easily maintain your equipment. You live in a small cottage in a middle-class neighborhood or in a private room at a fine inn. You associate with merchants, skilled tradespeople, and military officers.

Wealthy. Choosing a wealthy lifestyle means living a life of luxury, though you might not have achieved the social status associated with the old money of nobility or royalty. You live a lifestyle comparable to that of a highly successful merchant, a favored servant of the royalty, or the owner of a few small businesses. You have respectable lodgings, usually a spacious home in a good part of town or a comfortable suite at a fine inn. You likely have a small staff of servants.

Aristocratic. You live a life of plenty and comfort. You move in circles populated by the most powerful people in the community. You have excellent lodgings, perhaps a townhouse in the nicest part of town or rooms in the finest inn. You dine at the best restaurants, retain the most skilled and fashionable tailor, and have servants attending to your every need. You receive invitations to the social gatherings of the rich and powerful, and spend evenings in the company of politicians, guild leaders, high priests, and nobility. You must also contend with the highest levels of deceit and treachery. The wealthier you are, the greater the chance you will be drawn into political intrigue as a pawn or participant.

Self-Sufficiency

The expenses and lifestyles described here assume that you are spending your time between adventures in town, availing yourself of whatever services you can afford—paying for food and shelter, paying townspeople to sharpen your sword and repair your armor, and so on. Some characters, though, might prefer to spend their time away from civilization, sustaining themselves in the wild by hunting, foraging, and repairing their own gear.

Maintaining this kind of lifestyle doesn’t require you to spend any coin, but it is time-consuming. If you spend your time between adventures practicing a profession, you can eke out the equivalent of a poor lifestyle. Proficiency in the Survival skill lets you live at the equivalent of a comfortable lifestyle.

Food, Drink, and Lodging

The Food, Drink, and Lodging table gives prices for individual food items and a single night’s lodging. These prices are included in your total lifestyle expenses.

Services

Adventurers can pay non-player characters to assist them or act on their behalf in a variety of circumstances. Most such hirelings have fairly ordinary skills, while others are masters of a craft or art, and a few are experts with specialized adventuring skills.

Some of the most basic types of hirelings appear on the Services table. Other common hirelings include any of the wide variety of people who inhabit a typical town or city, when the adventurers pay them to perform a specific task. A armsman might commission a blacksmith to forge a special sword. A musically-inclined character might pay a tailor to make exquisite clothing for an upcoming performance in front of the duke.

Other hirelings provide more expert or dangerous services. Mercenary soldiers paid to help the adventurers take on a hobgoblin army are hirelings, as are sages hired to research ancient or esoteric lore. If a high-level adventurer establishes a stronghold of some kind, he or she might hire a whole staff of servants and agents to run the place, from a castellan or steward to menial laborers to keep the stables clean. These hirelings often enjoy a long-term contract that includes a place to live within the stronghold as part of the offered compensation.

Skilled hirelings include anyone hired to perform a service that involves a proficiency (including weapon, tool, or skill): a mercenary, artisan, scribe, and so on. The pay shown is a minimum; some expert hirelings require more pay and hazardous situations generally require a danger bonus (usually triple the usual pay or a share in the loot). Untrained hirelings are hired for menial work that requires no particular skill and can include laborers, porters, maids, and similar workers. They generally will not accompany a party into especially dangerous situations

Spellcasting Services

People who are able to cast spells don’t fall into the category of ordinary hirelings. It might be possible to find someone willing to cast a spell in exchange for coin or favors, but it is rarely easy and no established pay rates exist. As a rule, the higher the power of the desired spell, the harder it is to find someone who can cast it and the more it costs.

Hiring someone to cast a relatively common spell or incantation, such as cure wounds or identify, is easy enough in a city or town, and might cost 10 to 50 gold pieces (plus the cost of any expensive material components). Finding someone able and willing to cast a higher-power spell might involve traveling to a large city, perhaps one with a university or prominent temple. Once found, the spellcaster will often ask for a service instead of payment—the kind of service that only adventurers can provide, such as retrieving a rare item from a dangerous locale or traversing a monster-infested wilderness to deliver something important to a distant settlement. Powerful spell-casters rarely need more coin, but mostly-disposable help is always in demand.

As a general rule (with wide variation), you can find people willing to cast spells for pay based on the size of the settlement: those that require 2 AET or less can be found in most villages, 3 AET or less in most towns, and 5 AET or less in cities. You’re highly unlikely to find anyone willing to take coin for spells costing more than 5 AET or incantations above the Adventurer rank.