Weapons and Armor

Weapons

Melee weapon attacks use strength to attack and cause wounds. Ranged weapon attacks use dexterity to attack and cause wounds, but throwing weapons use dexterity to attack and strength to cause wounds. Using a weapon in a way other than its intended purpose, or using an improvised weapon, gives disadvantage on attack and damage rolls.

• Two-handed melee weapons give advantage on strength rolls to cause wounds.
• Using two one-handed melee weapons gives advantage on attack rolls.
• Throwing weapons can hit close or nearby targets and only require one hand to use. A throwing weapon can be used as a melee weapon, but has disadvantage when doing so.
• Ranged weapons can hit close, nearby, or far away targets, but have disadvantage against close targets. You must spend an action to reload a ranged weapon, though each genre or setting's weapons will have different clip sizes, which determines how often they must be reloaded. Most ranged weapons require two hands to properly use, though some settings include one-handed ranged weapons, such as pistols that can only be used to attack nearby targets.
• Unarmed attacks have disadvantage on attacking and causing wounds, but can use either strength or dexterity.

Armor

• Armor gives advantage on strength rolls to avoid wounds, but gives disadvantage on all dexterity rolls.
• Shields give advantage on dexterity rolls to avoid attacks, but require one hand to use.

Some attacks and the wounds they cause ignore armor and cannot be avoided using a shield, such as mind-affecting spells, poison gas, siege weaponry, or fire.

Enhanced Weapons and Armor

Depending on the genre and setting, enhanced weapons and armor could take the form of prototype science fiction technology to magical fantasy armaments. While this equipment is better than normal items, it never manifests in numerical bonuses or advantage on dice rolls. Instead, enhanced weapons and armor provides new abilities, like a suit of sealed power armor that can also function as an EVA suit or an enchanted sword that can harm undead who are immune to normal weapons. A good rule of thumb to follow is this: If an enhanced weapon or armor would only give a small numerical bonus on rolls using it, it doesn't need to be an enhanced item.