D&D 5th Edition / Pathfinder, Alternative Rules

This rule replaces the need for items having HP and ability to resist damage.

Hi folks, I'm back again!  Sorry that I don't get posts up very often.  College tends to make finding time for my side projects difficult.

Anyway I'm here with some alternative rules for D&D 5th edition, and possibly Pathfinder if you desire to adapt them.  You see I had a conversation this evening with my nieces boyfriend who runs a tabletop game.  He talked to me about some rules he uses in his games.  Namely that he has all material components and foci be expendable.  So if the character needs to case a spell with a wand then they need to get an object to use as the wand, and then after the spell is cast they now need to get another wand.  It's a little much if you ask me, and basically makes it feel like he's penalizing the the person playing a spell caster.  In his defence he applied a similar tactic to normal weapons and items in that they wear out and eventually need to be replaced as well.

Now I gave this young man some advice, (and considering I'm 37, and he's not even 18, I get to call him that), since I'm an old hand at tabletop gaming and it seems like he is over complicating things for not just himself, but his players as well.  One of the most important rules is to have fun.  And frankly his game didn't sound fun to me, just unnecessarily complex when it didn't need to be.

He gets points for homebrewing some rules.  But as many experience players know, when you start adding more rules to a game it tends to get bogged down.  Another issue I had was his addition of hit locations for attacks.  Not something that is really needed as it again bogs things down.

Advise for him was simple, try to not bog the game down and keep it moving.  To explain this I showed him Hero System.  As you all know I enjoy the flexibility that Hero System grants me for making my characters.  But one of the things I dislike is the lengthy combat.  If you choose to use the hit location rule it does indeed slow things down even more in Hero System.

Your all probably wondering when I'll get to this "alternative rules' part I mentioned.  The idea here was to implement a "Save vs. Death" sort of thing for items.  To keep it even simpler what you did was only require a roll if a critical failure was rolled on the dice.  Get a certain number of these for the weapon/item and it breaks.  It keeps it simple and not at all taxing for players and the GM to remember.

Unfortunately my talk with him wasn't as long as I liked so that I could expand on what these rules could be.

Alternative Rule: Item Durability

When a critical failure is rolled on an attack roll, the object must make a saving throw with a d20.  Difficulty is a 10.
Objects that are well cared for may have half the player's level added to the roll as a bonus.
The number of saves needed before any items breaks can vary.

• Weapons:  The number of saves needed is at a minimum of 3 for any weapon doing 1d4 damage.  Weapons that do 1d6 damage get 4 saves.  Weapons that do 1d8 damage get 5 saves.  Weapons that do 1d10 damage get 6 saves, and weapons that do 1d12 or 2d6 damage (or more) get 7 saves.  For exceptionally solid weapons (like hammers, or maces for example) the GM may wish to grant these weapons an additional saving throw as these items are less likely to break under strain of use.
• Armor:  The number of saves needed is at a minimum of 3 for armor with a base AC of 11 or 12 (or +1 to +3 base bonus in Pathfinder) for light armor.  Armor with a base AC of 12 to 15 (or +4 to +6 or so in Pathfinder) for medium armor, sees the number of saves increased to 4 or 5.  Armor with a base AC of 14 or higher (+6 or higher in Pathfinder) that is heavy armor, sees the number of saves increased between 5 and 7.
• Magical Foci/Non-expendable Material Components:  Typically these are things that should not be broke when used for a spell...but if you need them to then let's do this.  When a spell's attack roll is a critical fail, it can reverberates on the foci item.  The object has only 3 saves to make, but foci items that are especially well made could be granted additional saves (between 1-2).  
• Gear & other items:  It stands to reason that some items don't really get to make this save, such as glass vials that are meant to be broken.  In the place of maybe having a weapon or armor make a save, perhaps an item or piece of gear instead suffers, dependent upon the situation.  Here you will typically apply the same DC 10 roll, and grant 3 saves, may be less depending on the item (but always a minimum of 1).
• Expendables:  These are items like arrows, or the aforementioned glass vials.  These objects are often lost or broken after use.  They can be accidentally broken on occasion too in melee combat.  And in the case of arrows they can occasionally be retrieved.  With an item that has the potential for being retrieved, the GM should look at how many items were expended of the type.  Now the GM should halve the amount and roll 1d4, this is the amount that can be retrieved.  For items that could accidentally be broken a single save is what should be called for.
• Magic Items:  To start, magic items are not supposed to break.  But they typically still can under the right conditions.  In this case, magic items gain a few extra features.  Each enchantment, as well as any bonus to hit/damage that they possess grants a +1 to the weapon's saving throws.  Thus if you have a +2 flaming Longsword then it would potentially have a +3 to its saves.  Now if the weapon fails a save, it will automatically recover that save after a short or long rest.  (Something similar should be appropriate for Pathfinder.)  If the item breaks, it is not outside of the realm of restoring itself.  When all saves are expended any use after that will be its last, and the item will shatter completely as if it were glass.  Thus it's a good idea to put the weapon down/away once it reaches this state so that it can recover.
• Mithril, Adamantine, etc.:  Special metals can increase the resilience of a weapon considerably.  These materials should grant either a +2 or a +4 respectively to their saves.  Additionally the number of saves needed to break them is increased.  Mithril gets an additional 2 saves.  Adamantine however is known for being incredibly durable, and see's its existing saves doubled!  Other special materials that may exist in a setting should follow a similar diagram.

When a save is failed it is a permanent part of the item until the item can be repaired.  When all of its saves are expended the weapon does half its damage, if the player still wishes to use the weapon.  However at this stage the weapon cannot be repaired.  If a save is made the weapon's durability does not decrease (of course).

Normal, typically off screen, item maintenance can restore at least 1 save.  Thi is an activity like sharpening the blade of a sword, banging out dents in armor or oiling leather armor periodically, sewing up holes and so forth.

As for structures...well a save isn't really necessary, unless the GM feels it's warranted.  Structures, or aspects of a structure typically have their own HP and a resistance/reduction to damage in general and to specific parts.  A save using these rules may be called for if damage is ever over a certain threshold.  This could be half the HP of the target, or doing double (or more) in damage that exceeds the any score present that reduces damage.

Well that's it for now folks.  I hope some of you will find this helpful in your games.