Equipment in Hyadian Schism should be marked with a quality next to it. Any equipment not so marked will be assumed to be of average quality.
Instead of keeping track of hit points when equipment is exposed to damage, the quality and material item is made from determines it's save throw and how many ranks of diminishing quality damage it can take. Anything taken below poor quality is considered broken and in most castes destroyed, though sometimes if the GM allows, something might be salvageable from the item.
Items of Master and Expert quality are rare and low quality items are the average. This does depends on the tech level of the the culture you are getting your equipment from as well. Space Alien tech taken directly from the space aliens themselves will be Master or Expert quality. Any such tech that has been in the hands of the typical Carcosan primitive screwhead's hands for long will be of considerably lesser quality. (Such as a ray gun that ends up often being a used as a whisk for Pteradactyl eggs...)
Quality Chart:
Parry or Base Defense exceeded by:
Rating of Item: 01 05 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75
18 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -1R
17 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -1R -2R
16 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -1R -2R -3R
15 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -1R -2R -3R -4R
14 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -1R -2R -3R -4R -5R
13 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -1R -2R -3R -4R -5R -6R
12 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -1R -2R -3R -4R -5R -6R -7R
11 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -1R -2R -3R -4R -5R -6R -7R -8R
10 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -1R -2R -3R -4R -5R -6R -7R -8R -9R
09 --- --- --- --- --- --- -1R -2R -3R -4R -5R -6R -7R -8R BRK BRK
08 --- --- --- --- --- -1R -2R -3R -4R -5R -6R -7R BRK BRK BRK BRK
07 --- --- --- --- -1R -2R -3R -4R -5R -6R BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK
06 --- --- --- -1R -1R -2R -3R -4R -5R BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK
05 --- --- -1R -1R -2R -3R -4R BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK
04 --- --- -1R -1R -2R -3R BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK
03 --- -1R -1R -2R BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK
02 --- -1R -1R BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK
01 BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK BRK