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In RPG games objects such as weapons or armor have a certain durability represented by a number. For example a sword has 100/100 Durability. After it becomes 0/100 it means the object is broken.

I want some object condition names like Perfect, Chipped, Good, Broken. I can't think of anything else. I want to have a name for every 10% of durability. I plan to use them for weapons, armor and accessories. Can anyone help me?

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  • Hi Erkaloth. I edited the title of your question to try to better summarize what you are asking. Feel free to Edit further.
    – user
    Commented Jan 9, 2018 at 13:09
  • Have you consulted a thesaurus?
    – Ken Mohnkern
    Commented Jan 9, 2018 at 15:17
  • This reads to me like a request for "what to write" or brainstorming. I am voting to close this question as off-topic.
    – Secespitus
    Commented Jan 10, 2018 at 15:15
  • If this is specifically for a game, you might as well ask on Game Development Stack Exchange.
    – FFN
    Commented Jan 11, 2018 at 21:08
  • It's for a novel. A LitRPG novel.
    – Erkaloth
    Commented Jan 11, 2018 at 21:08

6 Answers 6

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Since you will be using these conditions to describe a variety of weapons, armor, and accessories, the adjectives need to be applicable to all three categories.

That keeps it simple for you, and keeps it simple and consistent for whoever is consuming the story you're creating.

With that in mind, here is my proposal, though I may be returning to make edits.

100% - Pristine
90% - Unblemished/Undamaged
80% - Durable
70% - Tested
60% - Blemished
50% - Worn
40% - Damaged
30% - Weakened
20% - Fragile
10% - Compromised
0% - Unusable

I'll admit, I want a better word for 90%, but I was happy to keep these concise and digestible, all at one word apiece.

Take what you will, ignore what you must.

EDIT
Also, courtesy of Easy Tiger's comment below, here are some meaty options that more than deserve to be considered: scuffed, tarnished, battered, worn-out

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  • 3
    You answered just as I was composing my list! Yours is a better answer, so all I'll do is attach some other, perhaps also useful words: scuffed, tarnished, battered, worn-out
    – Easy Tiger
    Commented Jan 9, 2018 at 18:32
  • @EasyTiger Yes! These words. They are quality. There's such character to them that they really help realize the images associated with varying the conditions.
    – raisinghellyer
    Commented Jan 9, 2018 at 21:43
  • You might want to edit your answer to mention the words or just cite the comment. Comments can be deleted at any time and for any reason. Answer content is far more persistent, especially because of the revision history.
    – Secespitus
    Commented Jan 10, 2018 at 8:53
  • I would say that for your 90% perhaps "flawless". The way I see this is that in RPGs I might carry items that will decay but are not used in battle. Food rots, and it has nothing to do with using it in combat (in fact, I'm told that in combat situations where your opponent is a bard rotted food is a good weapon.). I would also advise changing "tested" to reliable, and swap blemished and worn in placement. Blemished is denoting damage affecting quality, where as worn tends to conjure an image of an old but reliable item that still does it's job... it's just old.
    – hszmv
    Commented Sep 12, 2023 at 14:50
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Usually adjectives are grouped into pairs of opposites such as "good and bad" or "light or dark". We don't really have a word for "10% good" or "70% light", in fact all words that might fall in between the extremes usually have specific meanings: "murky", "grey", or "ashen" all fall somewhere between "light" and "dark", but they aren't one of them more or less bright than the others but rather express different ideas about "neither light nor dark".

If you use existing adjectives to express a meaning they do not commonly have, you will confuse your readers. In your example, I'm not sure whether "good" or "chipped" are supposed to be harder; to me something chipped might still be good, so both might even refer to the same level of hardness.

A better idea for a scale of hardness, instead of finding one adjective for each level of the scale, would be to use pronouns in combination with adjectives in the same way that psychologists do when they construct Likert scales.

Here is an example from a psychological test, illustrating what I mean:

enter image description here

In the same way you could create a scale of hardness:

  1. soft

  2. very soft

  3. somewhat soft

  4. somewhat hard

  5. very hard

  6. hard

If you use additional pronouns such as "most" or adjectives such as "extremly" to further differentiate that scale, you can create 11 different levels of hardness.

You could also use the Mohs scale of mineral hardness as an example and use numbers.

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  • That's not what I meant. I was saying that for each 10% of durability. In RPG games objects such as weapons or armor have a certain durability represented by a number. For example a sword has 100/100 Durability. After it becomes 0/100 it means the object is broken.
    – Erkaloth
    Commented Jan 9, 2018 at 14:19
  • @Erkaloth the example still works though, as you could make a scale going "undamaged", "slightly damaged", (...) "heavily damaged", "critically damaged" and "broken". It doesn't sound as great, but it has the immense advantage that the player will always know where they are on the scale.
    – Pahlavan
    Commented Jan 9, 2018 at 18:50
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What kinds of objects are you naming? Not every word makes sense for every kind of thing, for example you wouldn't call a coat "polished" or "rusty" (or "chipped"), but you might a sword.

It's not too hard to come up with a few general adjectives, such as tattered, damaged, mended, mint, pristine, flawless or even just old and new. The problem you'll likely run into with 10 different designations is that it won't be obvious which ones are better than others, especially around the middle.

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  • I'll use for weapon, armor and accessories
    – Erkaloth
    Commented Jan 9, 2018 at 11:15
  • @Erkaloth You should edit your question with the little button at the end of your post that says "edit" to include any clarifications for other users, such as that you are mainly looking for these categories. If you have a moment please take the tour and visit the help center to learn more about the site. Have fun!
    – Secespitus
    Commented Jan 9, 2018 at 11:31
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In the famous game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Item wear is expressed in 5 (not 10, too bad ;) ) qualities: Battle-Scarred, Well-Worn, Field-Tested, Minimal Wear and Factory New. You might want to use them as a template or add a few more to match your 10% steps. You can draw some inspiration from other games which use item wear.

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I have to agree with User2877 about using adjectives like slightly, mostly, completely, etc. Perhaps you could also add descriptive example words after the category title to demonstrate what conditions are included in that group

New could be followed by shiny, polished, etc.

Highest quality would include strong, hard, durable, etc.

Poor or Very Used may be described with chipped, broken, rusty, etc.

If using categories like Hardest to Softest, you could include familiar examples of specific objects or materials that provide a good mental comparison to the object you are describing (ie diamond, rubber, steel, fur, etc)

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Just wanted to throw in the word "Flawless" For the top of the line side of durability, it might help you move things around if something still doesn't quite satisfy

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