Equipment in the Galactic Guide is designed to be used and abused, however it does have a limited life span. Equipment can be damaged, hacked, infected or simply fail due to wear and tear.
The following rules cover how equipment can be repaired, how glitches occur and how to harden equipment against glitches.
Quality is a sliding scale from 0 to 6, where 0 is broken and 6 is brand new. General equipment starts at quality level 6 and can be reduced by damage, glitches or hacking.
Certain Techglomerate Gear can have a Quality as high as 7 or even 8, this gear can take a few extra knocks and bangs before becoming glitchy.
When equipment is damaged, the quality rating is reduced by 1 point. If the quality rating reaches 0, the equipment is considered broken and no longer functions.
A Glitch occurs when a piece of equipment takes a lot of damage, is hacked, infected or fails in some way. Depending on the nature of the glitch it can spread to take down an entire system.
Combat gear can and is often hardened against glitches though they can still occur if equipment is not maintained, tuned or takes damage.
All Equipment starts life with a quality rating of 6, unless specified otherwise.
When a piece of equipment is damaged, the quality rating is reduced by 1 point. If the quality rating reaches 0, the equipment is considered broken and no longer functions.
When a piece of equipment is used, it can become Glitchy. This happens when the equipment is damaged, hacked or infected. The DM can decide when this occurs, but generally it happens when a player rolls a 1 on the Wild die or an attacker rolls a 6.
If a player rolls a 1 on the Wild die, or an attacker rolls a 6, the DM can chose to have the equipment in use become Glitchy in which case the quality rating drops by 1 point (5).
If the glitch formed due to damage, normally the player would gain (Resistance) from the damage as the equipment absorb the remainder.
Glitched equipment has a cumulative 1/6 change of failing each time it's used, check this only when it matters or once per encounter for weapons.
The DM can decide when a piece of equipment becomes Glitchy, but generally it happens when a player rolls a 1 on the Wild die or an attacker rolls a 6.
Simply have the player roll the wild dice if the number is greater than the remaining Quality something bad happens.
Every time it does glitch, it fails in some way ( DM discretion) the quality decreases (5-4-3-2-1) and the chance of further failure increases, and so on to minimum quality level of 0 (Broken).
Clearing a Glitch
Sometimes the story will tell you how a glitch can be cleared, such as a piece of equipment that has been hacked or infected. In these cases, the player must take an appropriate action or skill check to clear the glitch. If you want something a little more proscriptive, the difference between the players Glitch roll and Quality is the number of actions required to clear the glitch.
Tech-Heads refer to this number as the glitch level.
Once an item reaches Broken with a quality level of 0, it is worthless and no longer functions.
Repair TL = 10 + (Security Level × 15) + (Glitch Level × 10)
Glitch Level = 6 - Current Quality. Higher tech and more damage = harder repair. See Engineering - Repair for the full table.
A trained Engineer can harden equipment against glitches, preventing cascading failures and making the gear harder to hack.
Hardened items do not glitch under normal use. If severely damaged, they shut down cleanly rather than cascading to other equipment. Hacking hardened equipment is significantly harder; +10 to hack Target Number.
Equipment repair follows standardized procedures across all categories including Military, Electronics, Mechanical systems, Vehicles, and Spacecraft. Engineers trained in any repair category can provide the "Aid Another" action to grant advantage on repair rolls.
Repair difficulty depends on the item's Security Level (how complex) and its Glitch Level (how broken):
Repair TL = 10 + (Security Level × 15) + (Glitch Level × 10)
Where Glitch Level = 6 - Current Quality. See Engineering - Repair for the full Sec Level × Glitch Level table.
Cannibalization: If you have two similar items, you can scrap one to repair another. Roll against the item with the highest quality - success adds the scrapped item's quality to the repaired one (maximum 6). Excess quality becomes spare parts.
Workshop Benefits: Access to a proper workshop provides skill bonuses and fabrication allowances for creating missing parts or even entirely new items, depending on how well-stocked the facility is.
| Rest Tier | Engineer Can Do |
|---|---|
| Stim Break | Repair 1 DR on 1 armor (any type). Attach accessories to weapons. Quick Repair feat: +1 DR (2 total) |
| Lockdown | Repair 6 DR across squad. Improve 1 weapon Quality per hour. Attempt Quality repair rolls. Vehicle/mechanical repair at GM discretion |
| R&R | Full repairs. All equipment restored |
See Resting for full recovery rules and Skills - Engineering Repair for further information and modifiers.