D&D 2024 Armor, Tools, Gear, Mounts & Vehicles: Complete Guide

Introduction

Armor, tools, gear, and transport rarely get the spotlight next to spells or subclass features, but they decide whether your character can survive a fall, pick a lock, pass off a forged letter, or get a wagon of loot home. This guide covers Chapter 6 of the 2024 Player's Handbook outside of weapons: Armor, Tools, Adventuring Gear, Coins, Mounts and Vehicles, and Services, plus the regional gear and mounts in Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerun.

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Armor Categories and Armor Class

Every armor type falls into Light, Medium, or Heavy, and the category sets how long it takes to put on or take off.

Light armor adds your full Dexterity modifier, Medium armor caps it at +2, and Heavy armor ignores it for a flat AC.

Strength and Stealth

If an armor lists a Strength score and yours is lower, the armor reduces your Speed by 10 feet. Stealth Disadvantage doesn't follow the categories neatly. Every Heavy armor has it, and so does Padded Armor, a Light armor. Among Medium armors, Scale Mail and Half Plate Armor have it, while Hide Armor, Chain Shirt, and Breastplate don't. A Dexterity character who wants AC 14 without the Stealth penalty should look at the Breastplate's 400 GP price rather than Scale Mail's 50.

Armor Training

Anyone can put on armor or pick up a Shield, but only characters with training use them well:

• Light, Medium, or Heavy armor without training: Disadvantage on any D20 Test involving Strength or Dexterity, and you can't cast spells.
• Shield without training: no AC benefit.

Your class and other features set your training. A monster has training with any armor in its stat block. A creature can wear only one suit of armor and wield only one Shield at a time.

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Tools: Ability, Utilize, and Craft

Each tool entry lists the Ability used for checks with it, what you can do with it when you take the Utilize action (with a DC), and what you can Craft with it, if anything. Tools with Variants need a separate proficiency for each variant.

Tool proficiency adds your Proficiency Bonus to any ability check made with that tool. If you are also proficient in a skill used with that check, you have Advantage on it. Backgrounds and class features are the usual sources, so pick tools that reinforce your character's story rather than whichever one looks strongest on paper.

Artisan's Tools

Each Artisan's Tools entry needs its own proficiency and crafts a specific list of items (see "Crafting Equipment" in the Player's Handbook). The set is Alchemist's Supplies, Brewer's Supplies, Calligrapher's Supplies, Carpenter's Tools, Cartographer's Tools, Cobbler's Tools, Cook's Utensils, Glassblower's Tools, Jeweler's Tools, Leatherworker's Tools, Mason's Tools, Painter's Supplies, Potter's Tools, Smith's Tools, Tinker's Tools, Weaver's Tools, and Woodcarver's Tools.

A few standouts:

• Smith's Tools (20 GP) craft any Melee weapon except the Club, Greatclub, Quarterstaff, and Whip, every Medium armor except Hide, every Heavy armor, and gear such as Caltrops, Chain, and Grappling Hooks. It is the broadest crafting list in the set.
• Alchemist's Supplies (50 GP) identify a substance or start a fire (DC 15 each) and craft Acid, Alchemist's Fire, Component Pouches, Oil, Paper, and Perfume.
• Leatherworker's Tools (5 GP) craft Hide, Leather, and Studded Leather Armor, the Sling and Whip, and everyday items like backpacks, pouches, quivers, and waterskins.

Other Tools

Outside the Artisan's set, several tools support specific character types:

• Thieves' Tools (25 GP) - pick a lock or disarm a trap (DC 15 each).
• Disguise Kit (25 GP) - apply makeup (DC 10); crafts Costumes.
• Forgery Kit (15 GP) - mimic up to 10 words of someone's handwriting (DC 15) or duplicate a wax seal (DC 20).
• Herbalism Kit (5 GP) - identify a plant (DC 10); crafts Antitoxin, Candles, Healer's Kits, and Potions of Healing.
• Navigator's Tools (25 GP) - plot a course (DC 10) or determine position by stargazing (DC 15).
• Poisoner's Kit (50 GP) - detect a poisoned object (DC 10); crafts Basic Poison.
• Musical Instrument - variants are bagpipes, drum, dulcimer, flute, horn, lute, lyre, pan flute, shawm, and viol; play a known tune (DC 10) or improvise a song (DC 15).
• Gaming Set - variants are dice (1 SP), dragonchess (1 GP), playing cards (5 SP), and three-dragon ante (1 GP); discern whether someone is cheating (DC 10) or win the game (DC 20).

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Adventuring Gear Worth Knowing

The Adventuring Gear list runs alphabetically. Most items explain themselves (rope, a bedroll, a sack), but a handful carry combat or exploration rules that are easy to miss.

Best Adventuring Gear Picks, Rated

● Best   ● Good   ● Situational

Healer's Kit (5 GP) - ● Best. Ten uses. As a Utilize action, one use stabilizes an Unconscious creature at 0 Hit Points with no Wisdom (Medicine) check. Every party should carry one.

Alchemist's Fire (50 GP) - ● Best. Replace one attack in the Attack action with a throw at a creature or object within 20 feet. On a failed Dexterity save (DC 8 plus your Dexterity modifier and Proficiency Bonus), the target takes 1d4 Fire damage and starts burning. A cheap way for a non-caster to set something on fire.

Acid (25 GP) - ● Good. Same throwing rules as Alchemist's Fire, but 2d6 Acid damage on a failed save and no ongoing burn.

Antitoxin (50 GP) - ● Good. Drink it as a Bonus Action for Advantage on saving throws to avoid or end the Poisoned condition for 1 hour. Worth carrying into any dungeon with known poison.

Holy Water (25 GP) - ● Good. Thrown like Acid, it deals 2d8 Radiant damage on a failed save, but only to a Fiend or an Undead. Narrow, but strong for the price.

Grappling Hook (2 GP) - ● Situational. As a Utilize action, throw it at a catch within 50 feet; it holds on a DC 15 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check, and you can climb a Rope tied to it. Irrelevant most sessions, vital the one time a wall shows up.

Signal Whistle (5 CP) - ● Situational. Heard up to 600 feet away when blown as a Utilize action. It solves "how does the split party regroup" better than shouting.

Equipment Packs

Instead of itemizing dozens of small items, the 2024 rules bundle common loadouts into packs: Burglar's Pack, Diplomat's Pack (39 GP), Dungeoneer's Pack (12 GP), Entertainer's Pack (40 GP), Explorer's Pack (10 GP), Priest's Pack, and Scholar's Pack. The Explorer's Pack, for example, holds a Backpack, Bedroll, 2 flasks of Oil, 10 days of Rations, Rope, a Tinderbox, 10 Torches, and a Waterskin. Buy the pack that matches your concept instead of hand-picking two dozen line items.

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Coins

The Gold Piece is the game's main coin, and the others are valued against it:

A coin weighs about a third of an ounce, so fifty coins weigh a pound regardless of denomination. Equipment sells for half its cost; trade goods and valuables such as gems and art objects keep their full value.

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Mounts and Vehicles

Crossing a continent, open water, or the sky is its own small rules subsystem in Chapter 6. The PHB is blunt about what a mount is for: it can speed wilderness travel, but its main job is carrying gear that would otherwise slow you down.

Mounts and Carrying Capacity

The animals' stat blocks are in the PHB's appendix B. Pulling a vehicle multiplies capacity: an animal pulling a carriage, cart, chariot, sled, or wagon can move up to five times its base carrying capacity, including the vehicle's weight. When several animals pull the same vehicle, add their capacities together first. A Mule at 8 GP carries almost as much as a Draft Horse, which makes it the best-value pack animal on the table.

Barding

Barding is armor built for a mount. Any armor on the Armor table can be bought as barding for four times the normal cost, and it weighs twice as much. That puts Plate barding at 6,000 GP and 130 pounds, so save it for a mount the party means to keep alive through many fights.

Saddles

A saddle comes with the bit, bridle, reins, and other tack needed to use it.

• Riding Saddle (10 GP, 25 lb.) - the everyday option.
• Military Saddle (20 GP, 30 lb.) - Advantage on any ability check you make to remain mounted.
• Exotic Saddle (60 GP, 40 lb.) - required to ride an aquatic or a flying mount.

Tack, Harness, and Drawn Vehicles

Drawn vehicles need an animal (or a team) to pull them, and their own weight counts against the team's fivefold capacity. A Cart is the cheapest way to haul loot; a Wagon carries more but eats 400 pounds of the team's capacity before any cargo goes in.

Airborne and Waterborne Vehicles

Rules that apply across the table:

• Speed: a ship sailing against a strong wind moves at half speed, and in a dead calm, waterborne ships can't move under sail and must be rowed. Keelboats and Rowboats are for lakes and rivers: going downstream, add the current's speed (typically 3 miles per hour); they can't be rowed against any significant current, but draft animals on the shore can pull them upstream. A Rowboat weighs 100 pounds and can be carried.
• Crew: any ship larger than a Keelboat or Rowboat needs the listed number of skilled hirelings to function.
• Passengers: the table counts Small and Medium passengers in hammocks. A ship fitted with private accommodations carries one-fifth as many. A hammock usually costs 5 SP per day, and a small private cabin about 2 GP per day.
• Damage Threshold: where a ship has one, the table lists it.

Ship Repair

A damaged ship can be repaired while it is berthed. Each Hit Point takes 1 day and costs 20 GP for materials and labor. Where supplies and skilled labor are plentiful, such as a city shipyard, both the time and the cost are halved. At full price, patching 100 Hit Points on a Sailing Ship means 2,000 GP and more than three months in dock, so the city shipyard discount is worth a detour.

Running an Eberron campaign? Elemental airships add their own crew-station, piloting, and in-flight repair rules on top of this baseline; see the Eberron Magic Items and Airships Guide.

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Services and Lifestyle Expenses

Lifestyle expenses cover lodging, food, equipment maintenance, and other necessities. At the start of each week or month (the DM's choice), you pick a lifestyle and pay for it:

Lifestyles have no built-in consequences, but the DM can factor your choice into the risks you face and how others see your character. Pick the tier that fits your character and the campaign's current circumstances.

For getting around, the Travel table prices a coach ride between towns at 3 CP per mile, a coach ride within a city at 1 CP per mile, a road or gate toll at 1 CP, and a ship's passage at 1 SP per mile.

Hot Take: The Mule is the most underrated purchase in Chapter 6. For 8 GP it carries 420 pounds, only 120 less than a Draft Horse at more than six times the price, and a Mule pulling a Cart can move 2,100 pounds, cart included. Most parties should buy a Mule and a Cart before they buy anyone a Breastplate.

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Forgotten Realms: Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog

Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerun adds a regional catalog sold through Aurora's Emporium shops. It includes setting-specific purchasable gear, mounts, travel services, and other options; use the individual entry when the campaign includes its region.

Gear and Clothing

• Adventurer's Ring (250 GP, Dalelands Wares) - a Common ring whose flame gives off no heat and burns no fuel, shedding Bright Light in a 20-foot radius and Dim Light for 20 feet beyond while its cover is open. A Bonus Action opens or closes the cover. It is a hands-free light source with no oil to spill.
• Bright Fungal Cloak (25 GP) / Warm Fungal Clothing (15 GP), Icewind Dale Wares - both are woven with a pound of edible fungus. The cloak can be furled or unfurled as a Bonus Action and sheds Bright Light in a 5-foot radius and Dim Light for 5 feet beyond while unfurled. The clothing gives automatic success on saves against extreme cold. Eat all the fungus and either becomes mundane Traveler's Clothes.
• Desert Clothing (10 GP, Calimshan Wares) - automatic success on saves against extreme heat, as long as you aren't wearing Medium or Heavy armor.
• Devil Mask (25 GP, Baldur's Gate Wares) - other creatures have Disadvantage on Intelligence (Investigation) and Wisdom (Insight) checks to discern your true identity or intentions.
• Garb of Light and Shadow (50 GP, Moonshae Isles Wares) - Advantage on checks to influence Fey of one Domain of Delight, such as the Gloaming Court or the Summer Court.
• Genie Robe (50 GP, Calimshan Wares) - Advantage on checks to influence Elementals tied to one Elemental Plane (Air, Earth, Fire, or Water).
• Locking Spellbook (35 GP, Dalelands Wares) - a 100-page Spellbook with a lock and key; picking it takes a Utilize action, Thieves' Tools, and a DC 15 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check.
• Monster Camouflage (50 GP, Icewind Dale Wares) - makes you look like a Beast or Monstrosity. Seeing through it takes the Study action and a DC 10 Intelligence (Investigation or Nature) check, with Advantage within 30 feet and automatic success if you do something the monster couldn't.
• Winter Camouflage (50 GP, Icewind Dale Wares) - Advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks while worn in an appropriate environment.
• Prosthetic Limb (0 GP, Calimshan Wares) - Aurora's Emporium offers one at no cost to anyone who needs it.

The catalog also sells three Musical Instrument variants, all Moonshae Isles Wares: the Bandore (65 GP, 3 lb.), Cittern (65 GP, 2 lb.), and Yarting (40 GP, 2 lb.).

Mounts, Vehicles, and Travel Services

• Axe Beak and Sled Dog (50 GP each, Icewind Dale Wares) - 210-pound carrying capacity each, sold as sled teams; they use the Axe Beak and Wolf stat blocks. A sled dog pulling a sled alone must take a Short Rest after 1 hour or gain a level of Exhaustion.
• Flying Snake (25 GP, Baldur's Gate Wares) - a 60-pound-capacity pet using the Flying Snake stat block, supplied through the Zhentarim and trained to deliver messages.
• Covered Wagon (250 GP, 1,300 lb., Dalelands Wares) - a Wagon under durable canvas; a creature riding inside has Three-Quarters Cover.
• Black Coach Service (1 GP per trip, Baldur's Gate Wares) - each coach is a Carriage keyed to a sigil sequence. A passenger can take a Magic action to dial another coach's sequence and teleport everyone inside to it (the teleport fails if that coach is occupied), or dial a random sequence to reach a random coach in the fleet.
• Sled Services (4 GP per day, Icewind Dale Wares) - a driver using the Scout stat block with a sled and a team of six axe beaks or sled dogs, for travel around Icewind Dale, the High Ice, and the Great Glacier; contracts run per journey, half paid up front.

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Related D&D 2024 Equipment Guides

• D&D 2024 Weapon Mastery Guide - every weapon, damage die, and Mastery property (the Weapons table lives there, not here)
• Best D&D 2024 Magic Items Guide - magic-item use and item-specific advice
• Equipment & Magic Items Hub - the full cluster in one place

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Bottom Line

Armor training shapes your options more than raw AC math: a trained character in Studded Leather often does better than an untrained one in Plate. Choose tool proficiencies on purpose, since the Ability, Utilize, and Craft entries give each tool a different job, and keep a Healer's Kit in the party's shared inventory. For travel, capacity matters more than speed: a Mule and a Cart haul most parties' loot, a Military Saddle keeps a rider in place, an Exotic Saddle is required the moment a mount flies or swims, and a ship needs a crew, a budget for repairs, and a port with a shipyard.