The Black Powder Armory · Chapter 3

Qualities

This book uses twenty-seven qualities. Ten come from the Exodus NDS core rules and are listed for reference. Seventeen are given in full. One of them, Slow Match, is new; the rest were first published elsewhere in the Exodus NDS line and are reprinted so this book stands alone.

Passive qualities are always on. Active qualities are triggered by spending Boons from a successful attack. Ranked qualities carry a number. Drawback qualities make the item worse and are not optional.

Core Qualities Used in This Book

Quality	Ranked	In brief
Accurate	Yes	Add X Boon Dice to attacks
Auto-Fire	No	Add 1 Trial Die to the attack. On a hit, spend 2 Boons per extra hit at full weapon damage, on the original target or one within Short range of it
Blast	Yes	Spend 2 Boons to deal X damage to others Engaged with the target
Burn	Yes	Spend 2 Boons; the target suffers X Wounds at the start of each of its turns until an action ends it
Defensive	Yes	Add X Melee Defense while the item is readied
Inaccurate	Yes	Add X Bane Dice to attacks
Limited Ammo	Yes	X shots before it must be reloaded. Reloading is a maneuver unless the entry says otherwise
Linked	Yes	After a hit, spend 2 Boons per extra hit on the same target, up to X times
Pierce	Yes	Ignore X points of Resistance
Vicious	Yes	Add +X to Critical Injury rolls caused by the weapon

Qualities Given in Full

Breach X

A quality of personal-scale weapons built to defeat armour. Against a vehicle or a structure, multiply the weapon's damage and Successes by X and divide by 10 for its Hull damage, and ignore X points of the target's Armor. Against a person the weapon deals its printed damage. No weapon has both Breach and Siege. The Heavy Armory has the full rule.

Concealable X

Add X Bane Dice to checks made to find this item when it is deliberately hidden on the wearer's person. An item with no rating cannot be hidden on the body.

Crew X

The weapon needs X people to work it. Each person short adds 1 Bane Die to attacks and 1 maneuver to its Prepare.

Cumbersome X

The user needs Might X. A user with lower Might adds Bane Dice equal to the shortfall to every check made with the weapon, or to every physical check made while wearing the armour.

A long gun fired from a rest, a wall, or a gunwale ignores its Cumbersome rating.

Deflecting X (type)

Armour only. Attacks of the named damage type add X Bane Dice. Deflecting from more than one source does not stack above 2.

Disorient X

Spend 2 Boons. The target gains the Disoriented condition for X rounds.

Emplaced

The weapon is fixed to a mount. It cannot be moved and fired in the same round, and it prints no Encumbrance.

Ensnare X

Spend 2 Boons. The target is Immobilized. Breaking free is an action: an Athletics or Reflexes check at a difficulty set by X (1 Average, 2 Hard, 3 Severe).

Helm X

Armour only. Reduce every Critical Injury roll against the wearer by X times 10, to a minimum of 1.

Knockdown

Spend 2 Boons. The target falls Prone.

Prepare X

The weapon must be loaded or readied before it can be used. The wielder spends X maneuvers, which need not all be in one turn. A firearm with Prepare must be prepared again after every shot.

For a thrown entry, Prepare is lighting the fuse. For a placed charge, it is the maneuvers needed to set it.

A firearm with Prepare is carried loaded. The first shot of a fight is free.

Reach

The weapon may attack at Short range with its melee skill. Attacks made with it at Engaged range add 1 Bane Die.

Siege X

A quality of personal-scale weapons that deal mass damage, first published in The Ranged Armory. Multiply the weapon's damage and Successes by X. Against a person that is its damage. Against a vehicle or a structure, divide by 10 for its Hull damage, which is then reduced by Armor. The Heavy Armory has the full rule.

Slow Match

The weapon fires only while a length of burning match cord is fitted to it. It cannot be fired in rain. Lighting the match is a maneuver with a flame to hand and an action without one. A lit match is visible at night out to Long range and adds 2 Bane Dice to the carrier's Stealth checks.

Slow Match is new in this book.

Stun Damage

All damage dealt by this weapon is applied to Strain, not Wounds. A Stun Damage weapon cannot inflict a Critical Injury.

Unreliable

If an attack with this weapon generates 2 or more Bane or a Calamity, the weapon misfires. It cannot be fired until an action is spent clearing it. A misfired firearm is still loaded.

This is the core rules' Overheat quality under the name a firearm earns.

Vulnerable X (type)

Armour only. Against attacks of the named damage type, reduce this armour's Resistance bonus by X, to a minimum of 0. Resistance from Might is never reduced. Natural attacks do not trigger Vulnerable.