Are the weapons and armor found in your ancient dungeons fresh out of the smithy and masterfully balanced? Or do you have decrepited and rusty armor and weapons strewn about? It'd add more trips to the villages crafters I think, repairing weapons that are warped, unbalanced, chipped or lightly rusted; If the metal doesn't fall apart during transport due to brittleness. Wooden shafts or shields that look pristine could reveal waterlogging or termite infestation after closer inspection and be rendered useless. Maybe paying the crafters to refit armour that is a size too big or to replace worn leather straps holding your newly found breast-plate or shield together?

Then again the weapons may be assembled poorly, a loose fitting hilt/shaft here or there and the odd material diluting/replacement when the ideal materials aren't in ready supply or maybe the odd pommel or armor section/rivets has fallen off, to be lost forever or found nearby? (All pieces blown apart separately after an explosive battle?) Maybe the odd training/decorative sword; or weapons made for the size of giants/fairies.

Quote from: GiantToenail on July 29, 2023, 02:27:35 AM
Are the weapons and armor found in your ancient dungeons fresh out of the smithy and masterfully balanced? Or do you have decrepited and rusty armor and weapons strewn about? It'd add more trips to the villages crafters I think, repairing weapons that are warped, unbalanced, chipped or lightly rusted; If the metal doesn't fall apart during transport due to brittleness. Wooden shafts or shields that look pristine could reveal waterlogging or termite infestation after closer inspection and be rendered useless. Maybe paying the crafters to refit armour that is a size too big or to replace worn leather straps holding your newly found breast-plate or shield together?

Then again the weapons may be assembled poorly, a loose fitting hilt/shaft here or there and the odd material diluting/replacement when the ideal materials aren't in ready supply or maybe the odd pommel or armor section/rivets has fallen off, to be lost forever or found nearby? (All pieces blown apart separately after an explosive battle?) Maybe the odd training/decorative sword; or weapons made for the size of giants/fairies.

The ruins in my world are mostly two centuries and anything that isn't just rubble is likely sealed off from the environment in some way (the setting is post-post-apocalyptic with magic being poorly understood pre-cataclysm superscience) so most of what's left tends to be about as intact as something left in a sealed cool dry dark container would be.

Metal is generally fine, though possibly a bit marred if it was in a foam lined case which decomposed over the centuries, plastics are probably brittle, etc.

But at the same time, the main reason for going into the ruins in the first place is to recover the "magic" from it and the previous superscience relied on a planetary nanocloud that could transmit power and rearrange molecules so advanced equipment with self-maintenance features is one of the main features (the sword doesn't only self-sharpen, it regrows lost chips from its edge) of items that have survived in the ruins.