Desolation by Greymalkin Games added gear quality and degradation to the Ubiquity Roleplaying System. The setting is a post-apocalyptic fantasy where finding functional gear is a pretty big deal. As the underlying system is intended to be fast and easy to use, the system they came up with to emulate the wear and tear of hard use was equally fast.
Essentially, items are assessed when obtained (found, taken, bought, etc) as being in one of three Conditions: Good, Worn, or Broken. Found items, or items stored in poor environments are generally considered to be Worn. Items in use for which the skill roll botches (critical failure) are downgraded one condition level. This allows GMs to quickly asssess quality of items and degrade them as required.
Continued use of an item after downgrading its condition is allowable at GM discretion (such as using a worn arrow, attacking with a broken sword, or cutting wood with what's left of a broken saw) at a reduced level of effectiveness.
The GM's discretion is required for determining if and how an item's degradation affects its performance. Simple guidance was provided such as suggesting a broken sword might be reduced in damage, perhaps as much as to be that of a dagger.
The primary focus was on speed of play and utility,however, so the core of the idea was the three condition levels with each being a step worse. This applied to all objects. A glass bottle, when of the Worn condition, might be cracked and leak, while a dagger might be dull. That same bottle would be useless as a container when Broken (though it might be good as an improvised weapon), but the dagger could have a little death left in it.
