Avianmosquito
2016-04-11, 03:26 AM
So, I'm doing a late stone age and borderline bronze age fantasy setting right at the moment. I've got most things ready to go, save for a few systems I haven't figured out (and may scrap), but for the moment I'd just like to run over the weapon list and see if I'm missing anything that really should be present. Below are general weapon categories and what they do, let me know if I'm missing anything obvious.
As a quick note, this *is* a fantasy setting. A lot of these weapons could have been developed in that timeframe, but weren't. There's technological reasons why swords can't be made in this setting, namely extremely primitive metallurgy and a lack of infrastructure making blades beyond a length of about 30cm entirely too easy to bend or break. This is also why broad-headed axes don't appear.
A pole-axe with a narrow head, though? No problem. Sure, they may not have actually made them, but they could have if they ever felt the need. And here, more people are wearing armour, which is exactly what narrow-headed pole-axes were for. Same goes for a pole-hammer. There's no technological reason not to make a hammer with a longer pole, they just didn't because they had no call for it. Here, they might have a call for it. So here, they might make one.
There's also a few weapons in here that never existed or never caught on, but could have been made and here might serve a purpose they didn't in real life. In real life, there's nobody who exists that would find use for a club that's a metre and a half long and almost four kilos, as such a weapon would just be too heavy for a human being to wield effectively. But here we have larger species that might find such a club useful. In real life, two-handed maces were made but never caught on, but here it stands a good chance. (I never really got *why* two-handed maces didn't catch on, really.)
Melee weapons:
Clubs:
Comes in sidearm, one-handed, two-handed, great and giant sizes. (Burda, cudgel, long club, great club, giant club.)
Light weight, low cost.
Low integrity and DR.
Swings are blunt, deal reduced damage but have an attack bonus that grows with skill.
Thrusts are blunt, deal downgraded damage.
A simple wooden club, a piece of wood with a handle, thicker towards the striking end.
Maces:
Comes in sidearm, one-handed and two-handed sizes. (Cavalry mace, war mace, battle mace.)
Medium weight, medium cost.
Low integrity and DR.
Swings are blunt and have a damage bonus that grows with skill.
Thrusts are blunt, deal downgraded damage.
A blunt striking head attached to a wooden shaft.
(I don't like the name of the sidearm version. There's no cavalry here, but that's the historical term for that type of mace.)
(Also, quick note, two-handed maces. They did exist, they existed early, they just never really caught on. Here they might.)
Axes:
Comes in sidearm, one-handed and two-handed sizes. (Hatchet, field axe, long axe.)
Medium weight, medium cost.
Low integrity and DR.
Swings are piercing and have a penetration bonus that grows with skill.
Thrusts are blunt, deal downgraded damage.
A wedge on a stick, built to split and pierce. Intended to be a tool, but tools often make useful weapons.
Hammer:
Comes in sidearm, one-handed and two-handed sizes. (Hammer, war hammer, battle hammer.)
Medium weight, medium cost.
Low integrity and DR.
Swings are blunt and have a penetration bonus that grows with skill.
Thrusts are blunt, deal downgraded damage.
A thin striking head on a stick that focuses the impact into a small area. Mostly a tool, but often just a weapon.
Single-edged blade:
Comes only as a sidearm. (Fighting knife.)
Medium weight, medium cost.
High integrity and DR.
Swings are slashing and have a small attack bonus that grows with skill.
Thrusts are piercing and have a small attack bonus that grows with skill.
A lightly curved single-edged blade with a good cutting edge.
Double-edged blade:
Comes only as a sidearm. (Dagger.)
Medium weight, medium cost.
High integrity and DR.
Swings are slashing.
Thrusts are piercing and have a penetration bonus that grows with skill.
A straight, double-edged blade with a fine point.
Curved blade:
Comes only as a sidearm. (Curved knife.)
Medium weight, medium cost.
High integrity and DR.
Swings are slashing and have a damage bonus that grows with skill.
Thrusts are piercing.
A blade curved back away from the cutting edge, more strongly than in a regular single-edged blade.
Broad blade:
Comes only as a sidearm. (Bolo.)
Very heavy, medium cost.
High integrity and DR.
Swings are slashing, do increased damage and have a damage bonus that grows with skill.
Thrusts are piercing and do increased damage.
Takes longer to draw than other similar-sized weapons.
A broad single-edged blade that bulges towards the tip. Deadly and an effective tool, but heavy, expensive and hard to draw.
Quickdraw blade:
Comes only as a sidearm. (Quickdraw knife.)
Medium weight, medium cost.
High integrity and DR.
Swings are slashing.
Thrusts are piercing.
Slightly reduced reach.
Takes less time to draw than other similar-sized weapons, less time as skill increases.
Last skill rank allows the user to attack while drawing.
A short, thick, lightly curved blade with a squared tip and a loose scabbard, very quick on the draw.
Polearms:
As a quick note, polearms have a lot more reach than melee weapons, but are heavier, have lower integrity, no DR and cannot be worn. They are generally better when you're actually in a fight, but there's good reasons not to carry them.
Pole:
Comes in miniature, one-handed, two-handed, great and giant size. (Rod, sceptre, staff, great staff, giant staff.)
Light weight, low cost.
Swings are blunt and deal reduced damage.
Thrusts are blunt and deal downgraded damage, but have an attack bonus that grows with skill.
Longest reach.
Just a simple wooden pole, with nothing special about it. Its long reach does help make up for its low power, however.
Spear:
Comes in miniature, one-handed and two-handed sizes. (Javelin, short spear and long spear.)
Medium weight, medium cost.
Swings are slashing and deal reduced damage.
Thrusts are piercing and have a penetration bonus that grows with skill.
Longest reach.
A pole with a sharp head on it, used primarily for stabbing things. The most common type of polearm, and for good reason.
Pole-axe (narrow):
Comes in miniature, one-handed and two-handed sizes. (Gnomish pole-axe, halfling pole-axe and pole-axe.)
Medium weight, medium cost.
Swings are piercing and have a penetration bonus that grows with skill.
Thrusts are blunt and deal downgraded damage.
Long reach.
A long pole with an axe head on it, twice as long as the melee version but with a smaller head to keep it wieldable.
Pole-hammer:
Comes in miniature, one-handed and two-handed sizes. (Gnomish pole-hammer, halfling pole-hammer and pole-hammer.)
Medium weight, medium cost.
Swings are blunt and have a penetration bonus that grows with skill.
Thrusts are blunt and deal downgraded damage.
Long reach.
A long pole with an hammer head on it, twice as long as the melee version but with a smaller head to keep it wieldable.
(If you're confused as to why they make the heads smaller on the longer weapons, it's because the weight of a regular hammer head that much further out would be very difficult to control, and very slow to accelerate, as the point of balance would be very far from your hands. The smaller heads shift the point of balance much closer to the hands, which reduces striking power but allows you to actually control the weapon, which is much more valuable anyway.)
Ranged weapons:
Boy, this is going to be a short category.
Light bows:
Compared to slings, they remain accurate up to longer range, lose power slower over distance, can reach farther opponents before they have time to react and fly farther before hitting the ground. Their damage improves from strength faster, but hits a cap at a very small value, then gains penetration instead until that also hits a cap at a small value, so their damage may as well be fixed. They will generally be more powerful for low-strength characters in addition to having longer range, but they are less powerful for high-strength characters have a much slower rate of fire. They are also heavier, more expensive, and cannot be worn.
Slings:
Compared to bows, they remain accurate up to a much shorter range, lose power more quickly over distance, can't fly as far without giving enemies time to react and don't fly as far before hitting the ground. Their damage improves from strength slower, but there is no cap and no point where it switches to providing penetration. Slings can be fire faster, do more damage for high-strength characters, deal damage types (either bludgeon or puncture) that are effective against metal armour that would give bows trouble, are lighter and can be worn so that they don't have to be carried in the hand. While they are overall inferior weapons most of the time, they have a wide variety of niche uses and are definitely less of a burden to their user, making them good emergency ranged weapons. Almost every adventurer carries a sling, because they have effectively no reason not to.
Boy, that was a short category.
And that's it. Let me know what if there's any weapons of that era, or that could be produced by people with little or no infrastructure who are just barely capable of using metal, that I am missing.
As a quick note, this *is* a fantasy setting. A lot of these weapons could have been developed in that timeframe, but weren't. There's technological reasons why swords can't be made in this setting, namely extremely primitive metallurgy and a lack of infrastructure making blades beyond a length of about 30cm entirely too easy to bend or break. This is also why broad-headed axes don't appear.
A pole-axe with a narrow head, though? No problem. Sure, they may not have actually made them, but they could have if they ever felt the need. And here, more people are wearing armour, which is exactly what narrow-headed pole-axes were for. Same goes for a pole-hammer. There's no technological reason not to make a hammer with a longer pole, they just didn't because they had no call for it. Here, they might have a call for it. So here, they might make one.
There's also a few weapons in here that never existed or never caught on, but could have been made and here might serve a purpose they didn't in real life. In real life, there's nobody who exists that would find use for a club that's a metre and a half long and almost four kilos, as such a weapon would just be too heavy for a human being to wield effectively. But here we have larger species that might find such a club useful. In real life, two-handed maces were made but never caught on, but here it stands a good chance. (I never really got *why* two-handed maces didn't catch on, really.)
Melee weapons:
Clubs:
Comes in sidearm, one-handed, two-handed, great and giant sizes. (Burda, cudgel, long club, great club, giant club.)
Light weight, low cost.
Low integrity and DR.
Swings are blunt, deal reduced damage but have an attack bonus that grows with skill.
Thrusts are blunt, deal downgraded damage.
A simple wooden club, a piece of wood with a handle, thicker towards the striking end.
Maces:
Comes in sidearm, one-handed and two-handed sizes. (Cavalry mace, war mace, battle mace.)
Medium weight, medium cost.
Low integrity and DR.
Swings are blunt and have a damage bonus that grows with skill.
Thrusts are blunt, deal downgraded damage.
A blunt striking head attached to a wooden shaft.
(I don't like the name of the sidearm version. There's no cavalry here, but that's the historical term for that type of mace.)
(Also, quick note, two-handed maces. They did exist, they existed early, they just never really caught on. Here they might.)
Axes:
Comes in sidearm, one-handed and two-handed sizes. (Hatchet, field axe, long axe.)
Medium weight, medium cost.
Low integrity and DR.
Swings are piercing and have a penetration bonus that grows with skill.
Thrusts are blunt, deal downgraded damage.
A wedge on a stick, built to split and pierce. Intended to be a tool, but tools often make useful weapons.
Hammer:
Comes in sidearm, one-handed and two-handed sizes. (Hammer, war hammer, battle hammer.)
Medium weight, medium cost.
Low integrity and DR.
Swings are blunt and have a penetration bonus that grows with skill.
Thrusts are blunt, deal downgraded damage.
A thin striking head on a stick that focuses the impact into a small area. Mostly a tool, but often just a weapon.
Single-edged blade:
Comes only as a sidearm. (Fighting knife.)
Medium weight, medium cost.
High integrity and DR.
Swings are slashing and have a small attack bonus that grows with skill.
Thrusts are piercing and have a small attack bonus that grows with skill.
A lightly curved single-edged blade with a good cutting edge.
Double-edged blade:
Comes only as a sidearm. (Dagger.)
Medium weight, medium cost.
High integrity and DR.
Swings are slashing.
Thrusts are piercing and have a penetration bonus that grows with skill.
A straight, double-edged blade with a fine point.
Curved blade:
Comes only as a sidearm. (Curved knife.)
Medium weight, medium cost.
High integrity and DR.
Swings are slashing and have a damage bonus that grows with skill.
Thrusts are piercing.
A blade curved back away from the cutting edge, more strongly than in a regular single-edged blade.
Broad blade:
Comes only as a sidearm. (Bolo.)
Very heavy, medium cost.
High integrity and DR.
Swings are slashing, do increased damage and have a damage bonus that grows with skill.
Thrusts are piercing and do increased damage.
Takes longer to draw than other similar-sized weapons.
A broad single-edged blade that bulges towards the tip. Deadly and an effective tool, but heavy, expensive and hard to draw.
Quickdraw blade:
Comes only as a sidearm. (Quickdraw knife.)
Medium weight, medium cost.
High integrity and DR.
Swings are slashing.
Thrusts are piercing.
Slightly reduced reach.
Takes less time to draw than other similar-sized weapons, less time as skill increases.
Last skill rank allows the user to attack while drawing.
A short, thick, lightly curved blade with a squared tip and a loose scabbard, very quick on the draw.
Polearms:
As a quick note, polearms have a lot more reach than melee weapons, but are heavier, have lower integrity, no DR and cannot be worn. They are generally better when you're actually in a fight, but there's good reasons not to carry them.
Pole:
Comes in miniature, one-handed, two-handed, great and giant size. (Rod, sceptre, staff, great staff, giant staff.)
Light weight, low cost.
Swings are blunt and deal reduced damage.
Thrusts are blunt and deal downgraded damage, but have an attack bonus that grows with skill.
Longest reach.
Just a simple wooden pole, with nothing special about it. Its long reach does help make up for its low power, however.
Spear:
Comes in miniature, one-handed and two-handed sizes. (Javelin, short spear and long spear.)
Medium weight, medium cost.
Swings are slashing and deal reduced damage.
Thrusts are piercing and have a penetration bonus that grows with skill.
Longest reach.
A pole with a sharp head on it, used primarily for stabbing things. The most common type of polearm, and for good reason.
Pole-axe (narrow):
Comes in miniature, one-handed and two-handed sizes. (Gnomish pole-axe, halfling pole-axe and pole-axe.)
Medium weight, medium cost.
Swings are piercing and have a penetration bonus that grows with skill.
Thrusts are blunt and deal downgraded damage.
Long reach.
A long pole with an axe head on it, twice as long as the melee version but with a smaller head to keep it wieldable.
Pole-hammer:
Comes in miniature, one-handed and two-handed sizes. (Gnomish pole-hammer, halfling pole-hammer and pole-hammer.)
Medium weight, medium cost.
Swings are blunt and have a penetration bonus that grows with skill.
Thrusts are blunt and deal downgraded damage.
Long reach.
A long pole with an hammer head on it, twice as long as the melee version but with a smaller head to keep it wieldable.
(If you're confused as to why they make the heads smaller on the longer weapons, it's because the weight of a regular hammer head that much further out would be very difficult to control, and very slow to accelerate, as the point of balance would be very far from your hands. The smaller heads shift the point of balance much closer to the hands, which reduces striking power but allows you to actually control the weapon, which is much more valuable anyway.)
Ranged weapons:
Boy, this is going to be a short category.
Light bows:
Compared to slings, they remain accurate up to longer range, lose power slower over distance, can reach farther opponents before they have time to react and fly farther before hitting the ground. Their damage improves from strength faster, but hits a cap at a very small value, then gains penetration instead until that also hits a cap at a small value, so their damage may as well be fixed. They will generally be more powerful for low-strength characters in addition to having longer range, but they are less powerful for high-strength characters have a much slower rate of fire. They are also heavier, more expensive, and cannot be worn.
Slings:
Compared to bows, they remain accurate up to a much shorter range, lose power more quickly over distance, can't fly as far without giving enemies time to react and don't fly as far before hitting the ground. Their damage improves from strength slower, but there is no cap and no point where it switches to providing penetration. Slings can be fire faster, do more damage for high-strength characters, deal damage types (either bludgeon or puncture) that are effective against metal armour that would give bows trouble, are lighter and can be worn so that they don't have to be carried in the hand. While they are overall inferior weapons most of the time, they have a wide variety of niche uses and are definitely less of a burden to their user, making them good emergency ranged weapons. Almost every adventurer carries a sling, because they have effectively no reason not to.
Boy, that was a short category.
And that's it. Let me know what if there's any weapons of that era, or that could be produced by people with little or no infrastructure who are just barely capable of using metal, that I am missing.