Tourneys and jousting

[The Colonel]

Perhaps the 'lance breaks' effect could be a damage limiter - you hit hard enough and it shatters, like a medieval equivalent of the pressure sensor in the end of a fencing sword to detect whether your hit was good or not.
Just pick a damage level to shatter it at and maybe a small element of uncertainty.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

Perhaps the 'lance breaks' effect could be a damage limiter - you hit hard enough and it shatters, like a medieval equivalent of the pressure sensor in the end of a fencing sword to detect whether your hit was good or not.
Just pick a damage level to shatter it at and maybe a small element of uncertainty.

RAW is that it shatters at 15 points of damage. I'm considering how to add that small element of uncertainty. Well, that and whether it ought to be a small element.

It's not as if all the lances are identical or there's some quality control agency out there testing them. They break, yes, but it shouldn't be all that easy to predict.