The weapons, armor, relics, tools, and forbidden devices that keep you alive until the galaxy notices.
In Bolt & Blade, wargear is not just equipment.
A lasgun is standard issue. A bolter is authority. A chainsword is intent. Power armor is not bought from a merchant — it is issued, inherited, sanctified, stolen, or earned through blood.
What a character carries says who trusts them, who owns them, and how expendable they are.
Ready to requisition? The full manifest lives in The Armoury.
Wargear is governed by availability, restriction, proficiency, issue source, traits, and risk.
| Rule | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Availability | How difficult the item is to acquire or justify. |
| Restriction | Which race/path, class, faction, or authority can normally access it. |
| Proficiency | Whether the character knows how to use it properly. |
| Issue Source | Who provides it: Munitorum, Inquisition, Ecclesiarchy, Mechanicus, Chapter, black market, and worse. |
| Traits | Special rules like Ammo, Recharge, Burst, Overheat, Power Field, Heavy Weapon. |
| Risk | Some gear is unstable, corrupting, illegal, sacred, heretek, xenos, or politically suicidal. |
Wargear is access, not shopping. A character may know an item exists without having any right to carry it.
| Availability | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Common Issue | Standard, widely available, easy to justify. |
| Restricted Issue | Requires class, faction, rank, patron, training, or story access. |
| Rare Issue | Powerful, uncommon, usually mission-issued, earned, or tightly controlled. |
| Relic | Sacred, ancient, unique, politically important, or irreplaceable. |
| Forbidden | Heretek, xenos, corrupted, illegal, warp-tainted, or spiritually dangerous. |
Examples:
Restriction tags are not all hard locks.
A tag tells you why an item belongs in the world: who normally carries it, who can justify having it, who issued it, and what trouble follows if the wrong person is caught with it.
Some tags are mechanical requirements. Some are story permissions. Some are warnings.
A Guardsman can physically pull the trigger on a boltgun. That does not mean the Munitorum, the Ecclesiarchy, or the Inquisition will be happy about where he got it.
Use restriction tags to answer three questions:
Class tags show which character classes are normally trained, equipped, or expected to use an item. A class tag does not always mean other characters can never use it, but it tells the GM and player who the item was designed for.
Example: a suppression shield may list Arbites because Arbites are trained and issued that gear. Another character might use one through story access, but it is not normal kit.
Race / Path tags show whether an item fits a broad character type such as Human, Forge-Bound Human, or Astartes. Some of these are hard restrictions because the item is physically incompatible, gene-locked, sacred, or built for a different body.
Example: Astartes power armor is Astartes only. It is not just rare armor; it is built for transhuman physiology.
Authority tags show who normally controls, issues, maintains, or authorizes an item. These tags are about permission and story access, not just physical use.
Example: a plasma gun might be Munitorum Issue, Inquisition Issue, or Mechanicus Issue. That means the weapon probably came from a regiment, an inquisitorial patron, a forge temple, battlefield salvage, or theft.
Authority / Source tags describe which institution, patron, market, or forbidden source normally controls access to an item. They do not always stop a character from using the item, but they explain who can issue it legitimately and what consequences may follow if the character has it without permission.
| Restriction Type | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Hard Restricted | The item normally cannot be used unless the character meets the requirement. This is usually physical, biological, sacred, gene-locked, or highly specialized. | Astartes power armor, Sororitas power armor, servo-arm, psychic hood |
| Soft Restricted | The item can be used, but requires story access, training, patronage, battlefield salvage, theft, or consequences. | Boltgun, plasma gun, power sword, carapace armor, rosarius-pattern relic |
| Forbidden | The item can be used, but doing so may trigger Corruption, suspicion, faction consequences, investigation, or worse. | Xenos weapon, heretek device, daemon blade, warp focus |
Class tags: Inquisitor, Sister of Battle, Astartes.
Authority / Source tags: Inquisition Issue, Ecclesiarchy Issue, Chapter Issue.
An Astartes may carry a boltgun as standard wargear. A Sister of Battle may carry one through Ecclesiarchy issue. An Inquisitor may requisition one through authority. A Guardsman can physically use one, but if he has one, the question becomes: who gave it to him, who wants it back, and who is going to ask?
Tags are not just restrictions. Tags are permission, training, faction access, suspicion, and plot hooks. Restrictions should support story, not kill fun — if the table wants someone to carry something they should not have, that is not a rules failure. That is a plot hook.
Wargear entries are written to answer three questions:
Some fields are mechanical. Others are narrative. A weapon's Damage tells you what dice to roll. Its Availability tells you how rare it is. Its Restrictions tell you who can normally justify carrying it. Its Notes tell you what kind of trouble follows it into the story.
A wargear entry is not a shop receipt. It is a battlefield record, supply tag, authorization stamp, and warning label.
| Field | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Name | The item's name. |
| Category | The broad type of item, such as Bolt Weapon, Medium Armor, Tool, Relic, Augmetic, or Forbidden Wargear. |
| Damage | The dice and damage type used when the item hits or affects a target. Weapons use this field. |
| Defense | The protection value provided by armor or defensive gear. Armor uses this field instead of Damage. |
| Range | The item's effective range. For weapons, this usually shows normal range and long range. |
| Type | The armor or item type, such as Light Armor, Medium Armor, Heavy Armor, Tool, Field Kit, or Relic. |
| Traits | Special rules attached to the item, such as Magazine, Recharge, Burst, Overheat, Chain, Power Field, or Forbidden. |
| Availability | How difficult the item is to acquire or justify. Common Issue is easy. Rare Issue, Relic, and Forbidden items require story access or consequences. |
| Restrictions | Who normally has access to the item. This may include race/path, class, faction, or authority tags. Restrictions are not always hard locks. |
| Ammo | Magazine capacity and feed type. Attacks consume rounds; Reloading is a Bonus Action. Las weapons feed from rechargeable power packs. |
| Uses | How often the item can be used, if limited. Some tools may be at-will; others may have charges, doses, or scene limits. |
| Effect | What the item does if it is not a weapon or armor. Tools, relics, augmetics, and field gear usually use this field. |
| Notes | Extra context, story hooks, limitations, warnings, or flavor that matters during play. |
Weapon entries focus on combat performance. Players should look at:
A Boltgun deals strong damage and has dangerous traits, but its Rare Issue availability and authority restrictions mean it is not ordinary battlefield kit for most humans.
Armor entries focus on protection and access. Players should look at:
Carapace Armor gives better protection than common flak armor, but it is Restricted Issue. Arbites, Inquisitorial agents, elite troops, or military specialists can justify it more easily than an ordinary civilian.
Wargear entries cover tools, relics, augmetics, field gear, and special devices. Players should look at:
An Auspex is not mainly a weapon. Its value comes from what it detects, who knows how to use it, and what the GM decides it reveals at the worst possible time.
▸ Example Weapon Entry
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Name | Boltgun |
| Category | Bolt Weapon |
| Damage | 1d12 piercing |
| Range | 100/400 |
| Traits | Ammo, Detonator, Heavy Recoil |
| Availability | Rare Issue |
| Restrictions | Astartes, Inquisition, Ecclesiarchy |
| Ammo | Magazine 24 |
| Notes | Explosive shells, politically loud, difficult to justify for ordinary troops |
▸ Example Armor Entry
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Name | Carapace Armor |
| Defense | 15 + Agility modifier (max 2, provisional) |
| Type | Medium Armor |
| Traits | Durable, bulky (provisional) |
| Availability | Restricted Issue |
| Restrictions | Arbites, Inquisition, elite Guardsman, military specialists |
| Notes | Standard for lawkeepers and elite formations |
▸ Example Field Wargear Entry
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Name | Auspex |
| Category | Tool |
| Effect | Detect motion or life signs nearby |
| Uses | At-will, or limited once equipment rules land |
| Availability | Restricted Issue |
| Restrictions | Inquisition, Mechanicus, Arbites, military specialists |
| Notes | The auspex always finds something at the worst time |
Wargear in Bolt & Blade is built around five principles:
The weapon in your hands is not just equipment. It is evidence.