The Basics
The process of upgrading a piece of equipment always has a number of basic requirements regardless of its type. The following general rules apply when upgrading equipment using this supplement:
- Upgrades take the form of tags. Tags add new properties to equipment.
- Each tag is unique and can only be applied to a piece of equipment once.
- Upgrading a piece of equipment with a a new tag can only be performed by a dedicated NPC crafts-person of the appropriate discipline in a workshop environment.
- Upgrading a piece of equipment with a new tag is a skilled endeavor, taking anywhere from an hour to more than a week depending on the task. Track progress using Usage Dice: a 1st-tier tag requires Ud4 of work, 2nd-tier requires Ud6, 3rd-tier requires Ud8. After each 8-hour work period, roll the Usage Die. On a 1–2, downgrade one step. On a 1–2 on Ud4, the upgrade is complete.
- On your adventures, you may come across equipment already possessing tags; either for sale, offered as rewards, or available through other means.
Upgrading and Magic Items
Due to their extraordinary artisanship and magical reinforcement, magic items can't be modified using normal artisanal methods. As such, the upgrades presented in this chapter can't be applied to magic items. See Upgrading Armor and Upgrading Weapons for the full upgrade rules.
Furthermore, none of the upgrades presented in this supplement confer "magic item" status to a piece of equipment, though certain upgrades may result in a piece of equipment being considered magical under certain circumstances.