Equipment

Your class and background determine your starting equipment, including weapons, armor, and other adventuring gear. As you advance in levels, you gain more gold, which you can spend on better equipment.

Starting Equipment

When you create your character, you receive equipment based on your class and background. Your class determines your weapon proficiencies, armor proficiencies, and starting gear. Your background provides additional equipment, tools, and gold.

Wealth

Most wealth is not in coins. It is measured in gold pieces (gp). Each gold piece is worth ten silver pieces (sp). Each silver piece is worth ten copper pieces (cp).

In addition, unusual coins made from other precious metals exist in some D&D worlds, but they are so rare that they are not a good standard for measuring wealth.

Buying Equipment

You can buy equipment from shops, merchants, and other vendors. The prices listed in equipment tables are typical market prices. In some locations, prices might be higher or lower due to availability, demand, or local economic conditions.

Selling 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.

Weapon Properties

Many weapons have special properties related to their use, as shown in the Weapons table.

Ammunition

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 to make a melee attack, you treat the weapon as an improvised weapon (see "Improvised Weapons" in Combat). A sling must be loaded to deal any damage when used in this way.

Finesse

When making an attack with a finesse weapon, you use your choice of your Strength or Dexterity modifier for the attack and damage rolls. You must use the same modifier for both rolls.

Heavy

Small creatures have disadvantage on attack rolls with heavy weapons. A heavy weapon's size and bulk make it too large for a Small creature to use effectively.

Light

A light weapon is small and easy to handle, making it ideal for use when fighting with two weapons. See the rules for two-weapon fighting in Combat.

Loading

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.

Range

A weapon that can be used to make a ranged attack has a range shown in parentheses after the ammunition or thrown property. The range 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.

Reach

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.

Special

A weapon with the special property has unusual rules governing its use, explained in the weapon's description (see Items/Mundane/Weapons).

Thrown

If a weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon to make a ranged attack. 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. For example, if you throw a handaxe, you use your Strength, but if you throw a dagger, you can use either your Strength or your Dexterity, since the dagger has the finesse property.

Two-Handed

This weapon requires two hands when you attack with it.

Versatile

This weapon can be used with one or two hands. A damage value in parentheses appears with the property—the damage when the weapon is used with two hands to make a melee attack.

Armor

Armor protects its wearer from attacks. The armor you wear determines your base Armor Class. See Items/Mundane/Armor for complete armor tables and descriptions.

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 that you lack proficiency with, you have disadvantage on any ability check, saving throw, or attack roll that involves Strength or Dexterity, and you can't cast spells.

Donning and Doffing Armor

The time it takes to don or doff armor depends on its type:

Light Armor: 1 minute
Medium Armor: 5 minutes
Heavy Armor: 10 minutes
Shield: 1 action

Armor Categories

Armor is divided into three categories: light armor, medium armor, and heavy armor. Many warriors supplement their armor with a shield.

Light Armor: Made from supple and thin materials, light armor favors agile adventurers since it offers some protection without sacrificing mobility. If you wear light armor, you add your Dexterity modifier to the base number from your armor type to determine your Armor Class.

Medium Armor: Medium armor offers more protection than light armor, but it also impairs movement more. If you wear medium armor, you add your Dexterity modifier, to a maximum of +2, to the base number from your armor type to determine your Armor Class.

Heavy Armor: Heavier armor interferes with the wearer's ability to move quickly, stealthily, and freely. If the Armor table shows "Str 13" or "Str 15" in the Strength column for an armor type, the armor reduces the wearer's speed by 10 feet unless the wearer has a Strength score equal to or higher than the listed score.

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.

Adventuring Gear

Adventuring gear includes a variety of items that are useful during exploration, social interaction, and problem-solving. See Items/Mundane/Mundane Items for a complete list of adventuring gear, tools, and other equipment.

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 fine set of 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 race, class, background, or feats give you proficiency with certain tools. Proficiency with a tool lets you 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 something intricate with woodcarver's tools, or a Strength check to make something out of particularly hard wood.

Mounts and Vehicles

For information on mounts and vehicles, see Items/Mundane/Mounts and Vehicles.

Magic Items

For information on magic items, see Items/Magic/General Magic Items, Items/Magic/Magic Weapons, and Items/Magic/Magic Armor.