Semi-Historical Arms and Armor

The following are some notes about the weapons and armor tables in D&D 5th edition, as they pertain to their relationship to modern understandings of historical arms and armor.

In general, 5th edition is far more accurate to ancient and medieval sources regarding these topics than prior editions, but for the sake of balance and ease of play without the onerous restrictions of reality, there are still some expected incongruences.

This article attempts to explain some particular facets about the use of arms and armor throughout our long, shared history, and to offer some suggestions (imbalanced as they may be) on how such items would have been used in particular times and places.

A note on generalities:

One of the best things 5th edition offers in these tables is the generalization of particular weapons and armor compared to prior editions. Is there a significant, functional difference between a half-, arming sword, backsword, , tulwar, or any other various forms of predominately one-handed pokey and slashy things with 13 inch, sometimes 14 or 20 or even 30 inch ? Well, actually yes, but that level of discrimination is often not noticeable in the granularity of the combat mechanics of most systems, and, more importantly, how modern readers often distinguish them is often anachronistic.

For instance, almost all straight sword-like weapons, be it arming , half-swords, back swords, or even great swords like (but not Messers!) are referred to in ancient and medieval texts (MS I.33, Liberi, etc) as… swords. Just swords. Often when there are references to sword types by specific names (such as a bastard sword, which is often identified as a hand-and-half sword in modern reviews), it is not always clear what that name refers to and popular culture attempts to fill in the blanks.

In modern archeology, arms and armor have been variously categorized by age, function, physical shape, or any number of other salient attributes. Most of it is fairly dry and boring to the uninitiated, so we’ll try to strike a balance

Armor:

General overview:

Now and again the modern reader may ask to himself, “why would someone wear lamellar armor when lamellar is listed in this table right below and is mostly better in every single aspect?” Conversely, game designers sometimes try to ‘balance’ armor and give a disadvantaged one some aspect that is superior in some fashion. Both viewpoints skirt around the historical rationale: there are considerations when acquiring armor (is it legal to wear? Is it comfortable to wear day-to-day? Will it last me a long while? Does it make me look ridiculous in front of my peers?) completely aside from the armor’s protective function.

You will also note that with the change in descriptions of the armor, the armor in each class may seem a bit ‘heavier’ than in the PHB, with examples of plate armor derivatives in medium armor, for example. This, however, should not be interpreted as to mean that soldiers historically wore quite substantial armor across all time periods; to the contrary, the vast majority of soldiers for much of history (especially prior to the Hundred Years War and in any location that is relatively warm) wore quite a ‘light’ assortment of armor.

Statistics: Proficiency: if you wear armor without corresponding proficiency in that type, you suffer disadvantage on all ability checks, saving throws, and attack rolls using strength or dexterity and cannot cast spells, as per the PHB. AC: add to a base of 10.

In general, we will be splitting Armor defense between Armor Class and Damage Reduction, with the idea that (properly designed and made) armor both deflects blows and distributes the energy of a blow away from a striking point and around a larger area.

Strength: equipping armor with a strength score decreases your movement speed per round by 10 feet unless your strength is equal to or greater than that rating, as per the PHB. Properties: varying armors have differentiating factors. DA is disadvantage. DR is damage reduction.

Descriptions:

Light Armor:

Hide/Leather, specifically either Raw Hide or Cuir Boulli: Animal hides, either untanned (rawhide) or tanned (leather), would have likely been used as some form of armor and certainly for clothing, though very few historical examples survive as leather is biodegradable. However, it is unlikely to have been used alone as armor, without reinforcement from metal plates or mail, when those were available and permissible. Tanned, hardened leather is tougher than rawhide, but also more brittle. Cuir Boulli has the consistency similar to a hard, plastic shell.

Buff Coats, protective leather clothing developed in the renaissance and early modern period, is of this type of armor.

Soldier wearing Buff Coat (English Civil War 1642-1651) – John Pettie

Padded Jack/Gambeson: A Gambeson is a quilted, padded jacket (sometimes with trousers) typically made either of cotton (in Egypt and Asia-Minor) or of linen (particularly in medieval Europe). A similar piece of clothing, called the arming doublet or aketon, was worn underneath plate armor and became a civilian fashion in Italy during the late medieval period. Heavy armor comes fitted with an aketon or other padded material. Padded armor of this type was common across the ancient and medieval world, as it was relatively easy to produce and could protect against blades (especially) and arrows. It is known by a variety of names: aketon (medieval French, possibly on loan from Arabic), arming coat, auqueton, gambeson, hacketon, haqueton, panzari (medieval Norse, on loan from Middle Low German), vapnterya, etc.

Padded armor tailored to be worn under other armor was typically 3 lbs or lighter.

Soldier on far left wearing red gambeson, fol. 10r of the Morgan Bible (ca. 1250, Northern France)

Brigandine: A Brigandine is a cloth garment (usually plain-woven fabric or leather) lined with steel plates riveted to the inside of layers of the fabric. Compared to most other armors, it was developed fairly recently during the late 14th century during the transitional period from mail to plate armor in Europe, and as recently as the 15th and 16th centuries in Asia. It was commonly used by Men-at-Arms, and while not as protective as Plate, it was cheaper, easier to make and repair, and offered greater mobility.

Note: the D&D idea of “studded leather” likely arises from the way Brigandine sometimes looks like from the inside; the steel plates between the cloth are sometimes riveted to rounded studs, though these would be on the inside of the armor and are not the protective substance of the armor.

Note: Other armors that are more substantial than Padded but less so than metal armors (such as the famous Linothorax, possibly a linen laminate), would have roughly the same mechanical statistics as Brigandine.

Brigandine – Wendelin Boeheim, 1890

Medium Armor: (aka: lighter or less developed metal armors)

Scale Armor: The earliest forms of metal (that is, typically metal, but sometimes rawhide or leather) body armor is typically of this type; separate pieces of metal (usually bronze, but occasionally iron or tin) sheets, held together by leather thongs and attached to a cloth or leather backing. Surviving examples of these armors suggest that they often consist of chest protection with vambraces and greaves, but typically not more.

Scale armor was predominant on ancient battlefields in Egypt and Western Asia as early as 2500 BC, and remained in use into “” because it is comparatively lighter and more flexible than more rigid armor of the time and “breathes” well, making it suitable for warmer climates. Scale armor, particularly in Europe, began to fall out of favor to Mail during late antiquity.

More substantial metal barding for horses in the ancient world through the early middle ages typically was of this construction (It is attested to in Shi Jing and was often used for Sassanid-era cataphracts, though the riders were usually in mail). It was easier to manufacture than later period armors, and remained in use among cultures without access to high-quality steel-working centers up until the early modern period. Mycenaean Era armor was typically scale armor, as was Scythian, Ancient Vietnamese, Republic-era Roman Lorica Squamata and Lorica Plumata, Persian “Fish”-scale armor as recounted by , and Japanese gyorin kozane. In other words, this is the type of armor that better equipped soldiers in the Ancient world would wear.

Some forms of Muscle or Heroic Cuirass, body armor (typically of bronze) cast to fit the wearer’s torso and mimic an idealized physical form that was widespread in the 5th and 4th centuries BC, would be mechanically similar to Scale armor, even though they would typically be too cumbersome and costly for typical infantrymen. Although there is some indication it was used in combat (mostly by officers), this type of cuirass was likely reserved for formal events like military reviews or parades.

Chinese scale armors were typically of a “fish-scale”-like pattern made of leather or iron strips during the Han, though they developed into the Mountain and Star Scale armors during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), which would be mechanically more similar to lamellar or even laminar armor.

Footsoldier (presumably) in scale armor.

Mail Shirt/Hauberk/Byrnie: A shirt made of small metal (usually iron or occasionally bronze) rings, linked together to form a mesh. Typically credited as a Celtic invention, mail armor has been found as early as the 4th century BC in Central Europe, and spread quickly throughout Europe, Africa and Asia. Though quite labor-intensive (30,000 rings would have gone into a lorica hamata, a task that would take up to 2 months even with continual slave labor), mail armor very flexible, reliable, strong (particularly against slashing weapons), and, with good maintenance, could be used for several decades. When its weight was distributed across the body, often with the help of a heavy belt, mail could be worn for extended periods of time (a very important consideration), and the constant friction on the rings prevented rust and corrosion. Mail armor was very common on the ancient and medieval battlefields in Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia and in ancient texts is often synonymous with “armor”.

A Hauberk describes a sleeved mail shirt that typically covers up to the mid thigh; a Haubergeon usually refers to a smaller, shorter Hauberk, but historical sources sometimes used them interchangeably.

Not all mail was equally made; one of the major differentiators was whether or not the mail was designed to be worn as secondary armor, below lamellar, plate, or more substantial armor; these could be quite light (the half-sleeved Wallace A1 (early 15th(?) century) weighs 9.87 lbs.). On the other hand a hauberk designed as the sole piece of protection could be much more substantial (the Kungslena hauberk (1208) weighs 33.7 lbs). This entry refers to the latter type: mail as the primary armor.

Taking off a Hauberk, fol. 28r of the Morgan Bible (ca. 1250, Northern France)

Lamellar: Lamellar armor consists of rows of lamellae, small (usually metal) platelets, laced and punched together. Unlike Scale armor, lamellar armor is not attached to a cloth or leather backing, though it is usually worn over a padded undergarment or mail hauberk (which, for mechanical purposes, is part and parcel of this armor). Lamellar was especially popular throughout Western and Eastern Asia into the 16th century. It was the armor of choice for Byzantine heavy cavalry.

Partial, Half or ¾ Plate: Plate armor was sometimes worn without greaves or lower leg protection in order to improve mobility on foot in difficult terrain, to reduce the weight a warhorse must carry, and/or to reduce cost. Swiss mercenaries and Landsknechts in the 15th and 16th centuries often wore “three-quarters” plate, with exposed legs. Typically Half Plate consists of a steel cuirass (back and breastplate) with or without a fauld, tasset or culet, mail skirt, gorget, pauldron (later versions with roundels, besagews, couters), vambraces, and gauntlets. For the purposes of these tables, a helmet is purchased separately.

Mirror armor, a type of partial plate armor used in Asia and Eastern Europe up to the 17th century with a large, round plate shaped like a mirror situated at the abdomen of the wearer, is of this type of armor. There are particular cultural connotations regarding the warding of the evil eye, particularly in Western Asia, that are taken into consideration with the design of mirror armor.

“Three-quarters” plate, Munition Armor of Savoyard style (early 17th century)

Heavy Armor:

Laminar/Banded Plate: Laminar armor is made from overlapping rows or bands of armor plates, as opposed to lamellar, where smaller plates are laced together. The famous Lorica Segmentata is representative of this category of armor. While the Lorica Segmentata was only used for a relatively brief period of time (about 9 BC to 3rd century AD), likely due to the difficulty in maintaining this type of armor during the Migration Period, other forms of Laminar armor remained in use until superseded by plate armor in the 16th century due to the invention of, amongst other innovations, the trip hammer. Later examples of Laminar armor in the 16th and 17th centuries sometimes used sliding rivets to connect the metal plates, forming an animated, highly mobile armor, or anima, an Italian invention. Late examples of samurai armor (those that aren’t lamellar, that is) are of this type of armor.

Lorica Segmentata

A word on “Banded Mail”: in the 19th century, antiquarians such as Fairholt and Hewitt believed that a type of predominately Eastern armor with banded plates (sometimes of leather) sewn on top of mail was worn in ancient times, as shown on a number of effigies and tomb artwork. No surviving artifact suggests that this was the case (compare with plated mail below, where the plates are embedded within the mail, not sewn on top). Much aside from the fact that many depictions had artistic license, those examples were either mostly laminar or splinted armor (see: the Behterets of the Golden Horde), but it remained in popular consciousness (probably because of its inclusion in prior editions of D&D equipment tables).

Lorica Segmentata – Trajan’s Column (113 AD)

Laminar Armor, William Herbet, Earl of Pembroke (1501-1570)

Plated Mail: Plated Mail, also sometimes referred to as Splinted armor, is a type of mail with (usually rectangular) embedded metal plates and was particularly common in Asia and Eastern Europe after the 14th century. Different combinations resemble brigandine, lamellar, or mirror armor (armor with a large, rounded metal plate set at the abdomen. It was used by the Ottomans in Mamluk barding and armor. By the end of the 15th century, this type of armor began to supplant Lamellar (a type of armor that, at first glance, looks very similar) in most cultures that produced it.

Plated and Splinted Mail, bottom left. Transitional armor (plated jack over mail, plated greaves), bottom right.

Plated Mail Armor and Barding, Syrian, Iranian and Turkish, 1450-1550, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY

Plate Armor: Full suits of plate armor developed out of 13th century European coats of plate over mail, slowly adding more and more plate, reaching a peak during the late middle ages and renaissance period. The wearer remained relatively agile and could jump and run. While any armor does hinder mobility to some degree, custom- made plate armor (though, see Munition Armor, below), distributed weight across the wearer’s body (unlike mail), and allowed a great deal of mobility.

It is, in general, more difficult to make armor out of large, shaped plates than smaller ones, so the development of plate armor is intimately tied to improvements in metallurgy as well as the development of massive water-wheel powered hammers, known as trip or helve hammers. Though these tools were in use in Rome and China as early as in the 1st century AD (and were important in the proliferation of Laminar armors such as lorica segmentata), the crises of the 3rd century, collapse of the Han, and the Migration era disrupted industrial production of this level throughout much of Eurasia until roughly the 12th century.

Plated Armor comes with plate gauntlets. For the purposes of these tables, helms are purchased separately.

Full Plate Armor and Barding. Sigismund II Augustus (1548-1569)

Helmets:

Mail Coif: Close fitting mail cap covering the top, back, sides of the head, neck and the shoulders, but leaving the face exposed.

Steel Cap: This entry covers all forms of generally open-faced helmets.

Great Helm: This entry covers all forms of fully enclosed steel helmets from the early 13th century up until the 16th century. A Great Helm comes with a visor. With the visor down, the helm provides a +2 to AC and disadvantage on perception checks; with the visor up, the helm only provides +1 to AC but no disadvantage on perception checks.

Armor Light Armor Cost Armor Class (AC) STR Weight Properties (gp) Hide or Leather 10 +1+dex mod - 4-7 lbs. Padded 10 +1+dex mod - 6-8 lbs. Brigandine 40 +2+dex mod - 13-15 lbs.

Medium Armor Scale Armor 50 +2+dex mod (max 11 22-44 lbs. DA (stealth), DR 1 (bludgeoning) 2) Mail 50 +3+dex mod (max - 20-30 lbs. DA (stealth), DR 1 (slashing) 2) Lamellar Armor 350 +3+dex mod (max 12 20-30 lbs. DR 1 (bludgeoning, slashing) 1) Half-Plate 700 +3+dex mod (max 12 20-45 lbs. DA (stealth), DR 1 (bludgeoning), 2) DR 2 (slashing)

Heavy Armor Laminar Armor 500 +3+dex mod (max 12 15-30 lbs. DA (stealth), DR 1 (bludgeoning), 2) DR 2 (slashing) Plated Mail 650 +4+dex mod (max 13 20-40 lbs. DA (stealth), DR 1 (bludgeoning, 1) piercing), DR 2 (slashing) Plate Armor 1,500 +4+dex mod (max 14 35-55 lbs. DA (stealth), DR 1 (bludgeoning, 2) piercing), DR 3 (slashing)

Shield Buckler* 5 +1 - 2 lbs. Light, deals 1d4 bludgeoning Shield/Targe 10 +2 - 4-6 lbs. 1d6 bludgeoning Heavy Shield/Pavise 35 +3 14 22-50 lbs. DA (dexterity), DR 1 (all), counts as cover

Helmet Mail Coif 15 +1 - 1-4 lbs. Counts as light armor Steel Cap 15 +1 - 2-5 lbs. Counts as medium armor Great Helm 250 +2 (+1 with visor 12 2-5 lbs. Counts as heavy armor, DA up) (perception) (with visor down)

* Do note that medieval European bucklers are much smaller than they are commonly described as in popular fiction and do not provide significant protection against anything other than to deflect an incoming melee blow from, say, a mace or sword.

A note on numbers: in general, the idea is that the max AC at each level should be roughly in line with the PHB, but it requires greater investment (into dexterity) or comes with additional drawbacks (DA (perception) with a great helm. In return, armors provide some level of damage reduction. However, depending on the armor, some weapons were specifically designed to defeat certain armors.

Mechanical rationale: Armor is designed to deflect blows away from the user (hence the increase to AC) as well as to absorb or divert the energy of the blow (hence the increased DR). As is the case with most competitions, there was a historical arms race between arms and armor. As armor improved, particular weapons became popular as a counter; large axes were prevalent in Western Europe circa AD 1000 because such weapons could cause structural failure of mail. Fast forward a few hundred years and the proliferation of larger and larger plates on armor forced a proliferation of specialty anti-armor weapons, such as war-hammers.

Arms:

Simple vs. Martial: As with many aspects of life, social and legal convention often dictated what an individual may wear just as much as cost or weight concerns. In particular, in many city-states across the world in pre-industrial times, it was often illegal for the common man to wear a sword, just as some modern nation-states may ban the open carrying of rifles. The sword, apart from any other common weapon (/bow/axe), had no other purpose than to kill a man, and was thus viewed as a high-status instrument (even when they became increasingly cheap and prevalent during the late middle-ages).

In addition, “martial” weapons with the exception of some swords, were typically too large and cumbersome to be carried around while one went about their daily duties, and thus not openly carried except on the battlefield or by guards. At the end of this article are some more historical anecdotes as well as some tables to help ‘spice’ up legal tenants regarding the carrying of weaponry and armor in your fantasy world.

Open Handed Fighting: As it is in D&D 5th Edition, if a melee fighting character is using a one-handed weapon in one hand and has a free hand, there’s no real reason not to use a shield. Historically, this was not always the case. An open (preferentially gauntleted, even though the palm of a gauntlet was not armored) hand could prove to be very useful, particularly in parrying or grappling against a polearm weapon or preventing the momentum of an enemy swing.

Any character that is proficient in martial weapons will have access to the following:

Open parry: if engaged in combat with a creature within reach (typically 5ft) of your hand (that is, not the reach of the weapon) and you have a free hand that has not been used for your Action (that is, not taken advantage of the use of the higher damage Versatile profile), you may, as a bonus action, designate one creature within hand reach. If that creature is no more than one size category larger than you and has strength or dexterity no more than 5 more than yours (choose lowest), then that creature has Disadvantage on its next (1) melee attack against you.

At level 5 and above, you may use Open Parry as a reaction once per round rather than as a bonus action.

Arms Name Cost Damage Damage Type Weight Properties Simple Melee Club - 1d4 Bludgeoning 2 lbs. Light Dagger 2 gp 1d4 Piercing 1 lb. Finesse, light, thrown (20/60) Dart/Piercer 1 gp 1d3 Piercing - Finesse, light, thrown (30/60) Hand Axe 5 gp 1d6 Slashing 2 lbs. Axe, light, thrown (20/60) Javelin 2 gp 1d6 Piercing 2 lbs. Thrown (30/120) Mace (Steel) 8 gp 1d6 Bludgeoning 2.5 lbs. Hammer 2 gp 1d6 Bludgeoning 3 lbs. Reach, versatile (1d8) Sickle/Farm 1 gp 1d4 Slashing 2 lbs. Light implements Spear 1 gp 1d6 Piercing 3 lbs. Reach, thrown (10/30), versatile (1d8) War-club 2 gp 1d6 Bludgeoning 5 lbs. Hammer, versatile (1d8) Unarmed - 1 Bludgeoning - -

Simple Ranged Bow, hunting 25 gp 1d6 Piercing 2 lbs. Ammunition (range 80/320), two- handed Crossbow, light 25 gp 1d8 Piercing 5 lbs. Ammunition (range 80/320), loading, two-handed Sling 1 sp 1d4 Bludgeoning - Ammunition (range 30/120)

Martial Melee Arming Sword/Back 15 gp 1d8 Slashing 2.5 lbs. Sword, versatile (1d10) Sword/ Battle Axe 15 gp 1d8 Slashing 4 lbs. Axe, mail-breaker, versatile (1d10), mail-breaker 20 gp 1d0 Piercing 4.5 lbs. Half-sword, sword, two-handed Flail 10 gp 1d8 Bludgeoning 2 lbs. Great-Axe (double- 30 gp 1d12 Slashing 7 lbs. Axe, heavy, mail-breaker, two-handed bited) Greatsword 50 gp 2d6 Slashing 4-7 lbs. Deep wound or half-sword*, heavy, sword, two-handed 10 gp 1d12 Piercing 6 lbs. DA (enemies within 5 ft), two-handed when not mounted Long Sword 25 gp 1d10 Slashing 3 lbs. Deep wound or half-sword*, two- handed, versatile (1d12) Maul Hammer 2d6 Bludgeoning 8 lbs. Back-breaker, hammer, heavy, two- handed Morningstar 1d8 Piercing 4 lbs. Hammer / 1d6 Piercing or 4 lbs. Flourish, reach, thrown (10/30), Slashing versatile (1d8) Polearm 20 gp 1d10 Special 5 lbs. Heavy, reach, two-handed, polearm** (specialized) 25 gp 1d8 Piercing 2 lbs. Finesse, flourish, sword or 15 gp 1d6 Piercing 1 lbs. Finesse, flourish, sword Side-Sword 25 gp 1d6 Slashing 3 lbs. Finesse, light, sword Short Sword 20 gp 1d6 Piercing 2 lbs. Finesse, light, sword 1d6 Piercing 4 lbs. Thrown (range 20/60), versatile (1d8) War-Pick/War- 1d8 Piercing or 2 lbs. Hammer, versatile (1d10) hammer bludgeoning Whip 1d4 Slashing 3 lbs. Finesse, reach, light

Martial Ranged Blowgun Crossbow, hand Crossbow, heavy Longbow Net * Larger Double-edged swords gain Half-Sword. Larger Single-edged swords gain Deep Wound ** polearms have polearm modifications (see below)

Notes: Weapon descriptions can be found at the end of this article. Here we simply present some more salient aspects to keep in mind:

Most weapon weights are slightly less than what they appear in the PHB, which closer matches surviving historical artifacts and accounts. There are some slight changes:

Quarterstaff: The quarterstaff, whose name likely derives from the fact that a proper quarterstaff of the late medieval period would be cut from one section of a quartered tree trunk (you don’t want to use the center of the tree as the wood there is the softest), is a bit more substantial an investment than the PHB makes it out to be.

Swords: D&D has typically broken down swords into two types: “long” and “short”, with some variation for uncommon (from a European standpoint) or specialist swords. This is slightly problematic, for 2 reasons.

The term “short” sword is typically absent from most pre-modern sources, but we’ll retain this as a catch-all terminology for bladed weapons with blades between 1 and 2 feet long. Some texts refer to such sidearms as long knives or long daggers. Examples include the famous , as well as Seax, Xiphos, Baselard, , and Dirk.

The “” of popular imagination, however, is not the longsword of antiquity; the sword that popular culture typically envisions as a “longsword” is really termed an “arming sword”; a principally single-handed, cruciform hilt, straight double-edged with a 27 to 32 inch blade that could be used with two hands in a pinch.

Actual, historical Longswords, on the other hand, were much longer; they were primarily two-handed straight double-edged swords (though they could be used in one hand for certain maneuvers) with 35 to 43 inch blades. As Longswords became more prevalent in the late medieval and renaissance periods, the arming sword became a sidearm and was called as a “short sword”, though, in comparison with earlier swords, the arming sword is actually fairly substantial.

Therefore, these rules rename D&D ‘longswords’ as arming swords, and add longswords as an intermediary weapon between arming swords and Greatswords.

Special Rules: in general, these additional rules will only affect heavier weapons, critical hits and offer some variation for particularly esoteric weaponry.

Axes: On critical hit, roll an additional (1) die of damage and add it to the total.

Hammer: On a critical hit, the target must make a constitution save against the damage dealt or be stunned for 1 round.

Sword: Increase the critical hit range by 1 step (19-20 without additional features). Normal: critical hits on a roll of 20.

Back-breaker – popular connotations of very large hammer-like weapons were typically ahistorical, as their immense weight away from the fulcrum would have made them impractical and wastefully tiring to use for any amount of time. However, if they were ever used, they would have been devastating to even the most armored opponents. Back-breaker weapons ignore up to 1 points of DR (bludgeoning). On a critical hit, the target must pass a Fortitude save with DC equal to the damage dealt or suffer from 1 level of exhaustion. If you have Superiority Die, you may spend a Superiority Die on a critical hit to add a Superiority Die to damage and force a dexterity save or fall prone.

Deep Wound – single-edged blades seemed to have been historically used as ‘pushing’ (particularly in Western Asian traditions) or ‘drawing’ weapons (Western Europe and Eastern Asia), which would have left quite large wounds on unarmored or lightly armored opponents. Unlike wounds caused by thrusting weapons (those that weren’t immediately disabling, at least), these gashes would not as quickly reseal.

Increase the critical hit range by 1 step. This rule stacks with the Sword special rule.

Flourish – a light and very agile weapon whose edge or tip moves further and faster than the wielder’s hand movements can be very disorientating to defend against. As a bonus action once per short rest you can Flourish, choosing 1 creature within 5 feet; you have advantage against that character on your next attack roll. If this attack hits and you have Superiority Dice, you may spend a Superiority Die to add Superiority Die damage to the attack and force the target to make a Wisdom Save or suffer from Blindness towards your character (and only that character) for 1 round.

Half-sword – large double-edged two-handed swords were developed during the renaissance primarily to break formations; upon entering a pike formation, it is speculated that the user held the sword along the ricasso, or blunted edge of the sword close to the hilt, and use the estoc, longsword, or greatsword as a polearm. In this fashion, the weapon deals piercing damage and can be thrust so that it has Reach 10ft. If you have Superiority Die, on any successful hit you may spend a Superiority Die to add Superiority Die to damage and force a hit enemy to make a Strength Saving Throw or be pushed back 10 feet.

Heavy – in addition to the stated rules in the PHB, Heavy weapons ignore the first point (1) of damage reduction (all).

Mail-breaker – large pendulum weapons were exceedingly effective at causing structural failure of mail. Mail-breaker weapons ignore the up to 1 points of DR (slashing). On a critical hit, Mail-breaker weapons ignore up to 5 points of DR (all). If you have Superiority Die, you may spend a Superiority Die on a critical hit to add a Superiority Die to that damage and force the target to take a Constitution Check or be Paralyzed for 1 round.

Polearm – polearms may take polearm modifications.

Strength Rating – Bows, especially war-bows, require tremendous strength to use and some bows were designed to take advantage of massive draw weights. These bows were very difficult to use for someone who lacked the strength and constant training to master them.

A bow may be manufactured to have a strength rating (typically from +0 to +3) for no extra cost. A character using a bow that has a strength modifier equal to or greater than the strength rating of a bow will deal extra damage equal to the value of the strength rating. A character using a bow who has a strength modifier less than the strength rating deals one point less damage for each point of difference between his strength modifier and the rating of the bow.

For example:

Ulla, a great warrior with strength 18, uses a strength rating +3 bow. Because she has a strength modifier of +4, she will deal the strength rating of the bow, or +3 damage. Any additional strength modifier is lost.

Mord, a poor 6 year old stableboy just starting to use a bow has strength 10, so when he uses that same strength rating +3 bow, he deals 3 points less of damage than he would otherwise.

Modifications:

Blade modifications: Weapons with tapered blades designed for thrusting or slashing (Daggers and any weapon with the keyword Sword) can take the following variations:

Single Edge: Single Edge swords are, in general, easier and cheaper to produce than double-edged swords, and with some changes in technique or with a small edge at the tip opposite the blade (on the false edge of the blade), it could still be as effective. There are two other primary advantages to single-edged blades: 1) they could carry a curve, and was thus very effective on horseback in ride-by-attacks, and 2) because there is only a single edge, the distance between where the sword blade is thickest to the cutting edge can be longer than on a double-edged sword of equal width. What this allows is a much more acute (shallow) angle of the blade, which, at least hypothetically, allows for better slicing through soft tissue.

Single edged straight arming swords in Europe were known as Back Swords and curved ones are typically known as sabers, or , and tulwars further East. Far Eastern single-edge curved longswords included the (and all its variations), the zulfikar, as well as later versions of the .

Smaller single-edged bladed weapons are not different enough from double-edged ones to warrant separate rules. Large Single-Edged swords (as noted in the table above) have the Deep Wound special rule.

Double Edge: Double edged swords can make “reverse blows”, or attacks with the false edge of the blade, as described in Meyer (11r, v), which makes reverse attacks from double-edged swords slightly faster to achieve than with a single-edged weapon. Double edged swords are also much better than single-edged swords for piercing and also easier to remove from a pierced foe; this follows the evolution of swords in general from bronze daggers from the 3rd millennia BC.

Following the development of extensive hilt protection in the early renaissance, however, most European swords, single or double-edged, became essentially mono-directional.

Large Double-Edged swords (as noted in the table above) have the Half-Sword special rule.

Polearms: Polearms are often highly specialized weapons with modifications for different tasks. A polearm will typically have two or three different bits or heads at one or both ends. At the price indicated in the table, a polearm is equipped with one (1) of the following heads at no extra cost or weight. Additional heads increase cost and weight. Generally, a polearm can be fitted with up to 3 heads per end (though very few weapons outside of ceremonial or judicial trial weapons have heads at both ends).

- Axe head (slashing damage, special rules (Axe), +1 gp, +1 lbs) - Blade head (slashing damage, special rules (Sword), +1 gp, +1 lbs) - Greataxe head (this head deals 1d12 slashing damage, special rules (Axe, Mail-Breaker), +10 gp, +2 lbs) - Greatblade head (this head deals 1d12 slashing damage, special rules (Sword, Deep Wound), +15 gp, +1.5 lbs) - Spear point/Spike (piercing damage, +1 gp, +1 lbs) - Curved Hook/Thorn or Crow’s beak () (piercing damage, +5 gp, +1 lbs, double proficiency on trip/disarm attempts) - Hammer head (bludgeoning damage, special rules (Hammer), +5 gp, +1 lbs) - Maul/Great hammer head (this head deals 2d6 bludgeoning damage, special rules (Hammer, Back- Breaker), +15 gp, +5 lbs)

The following are examples of polearms with varying heads:

Danish Axe, Sparth Axe, or : polearm with a heavy, crescent-shaped Axe or Greataxe head.

Fauchard, , , , Svärdstav: polearm with Blade or Greatblade head in either concave () or convex (Glaive) positions. Later also add a Spear point as a second head). Polearms with secondary concave-edged blades are sometimes given names with –Fauchard attached afterwards.

Guisarmes: polearms designed for dismounting horsemen, with a Curved Hook. Bladed polearms with hooks are often given names with – attached afterwards, such as a Volge-.

Corseque or : polearms with three-bladed head, typically a Spear point and two blade heads.

Halberd or : polearm with an Axe head, a Spike, and a Hook

Bec de corbin or Lucerne Hammer: polearm with Hook, Hammer head, and Spear point; its designation depended on which head was the primary tool for the weapo.

Fluff Modifications: These things were historical but don’t provide a significant difference in the granularity of D&D’s combat system.

Hilt modifications: In Western Europe in particular, sword hilts became increasingly complex throughout the late middle ages and into the renaissance, starting with small modifications such as the nagel, or nail, on such weapons as the Messer, and developing into ringlets, and eventually to such things as basket hilts.

The increased protection of the striking hand changed neutral stances from often being held behind or above the head to being far more forward and close to the opponent.

Chappe – a piece of leather fitted to the crossguard. Rationale is unknown but it is likely it was used as a seal on the scabbard to prevent rainwater from touching the blade.

Langets: Weapons with wooden handles (particularly polearms, warhammers, and earlier maces) sometimes have riveted bits of metal called Langets along the side to increase durability against parried blows, which may otherwise eventually compromise the weapon’s integrity.

Tassels: Tassels, usually of horse hair, are occasionally found on (particularly eastern) Asian weaponry, most notably just behind the spear-point of the , and attached to . Supposedly they were useful in distracting an enemy from being able to see or grab the tip, though there are sparse records of whether or not that actually worked in massed combat. They were, however, useful in soaking blood and preventing it from getting onto the wooden shaft of a spear, which would make it slick (if wet) or sticky (if dried).

Materials for Arms and Armor:

D&D generally assumes that the arms and armor presented were forged from the most common materials in Western Europe during the period in which those artifacts were found. That is, we see mostly hides and leathers for lighter armors, and some form of iron or steel for most heavier armor and arms. This is, however, a fairly narrow band of time, and throughout history, various different materials were used. Not all of these materials have different mechanical rules, however, and (apart from more mythological items) most are fairly minor and probably will not come up in many campaigns.

Some historically rare materials are included as well, as well as extrapolations of mythological materials.

All iron and steel items have an AC of 19 (DMG p. 246)

Note: the “material” used for weapons refers primarily for its striking proportion; a steel-hafted mace and a wooden-hafted mace with langets would generally function identically in the granularity of this game.

Bone: Bone, while tremendously dense, made for a relatively poor material for war once iron became widespread. In pre-historical times, however, elk or deer bone may have been used in (probably ceremonial/burial) armor and bone chips were certainly used as hunting implements.

Many mythologies consider the idea of living creatures to have a certain special spirituality separate from non-living, and as such, items made out of Bone may be particularly receptive to certain magicks. Characters creating magic items out of Bone can spend double the usual gold worth (25 -> 50gp) per day to craft it so long as the character can justify the particular magical connotation of doing so (ex: a bone staff for a necromancer).

Bone items (common) have an AC of 15 (DMG p. 246).

Wood: Sharpened hardwood can make for a sufficient edge in areas of the world where metallurgy is either not as developed or ores are very difficult to come by. While a wooden weapon may be expected to be damaged hitting against steel weapons, it is in fact quite difficult to sufficiently damage a well-made wooden weapon of any sufficient thickness to the point where it would become unserviceable. Furthermore, when wielded in hand there is generally sufficient “give” in the wrist to dissipate most of the energy.

Many indigenous tribes in Oceania would supplement wood weapons with Shark teeth or Obsidian.

Wood items (common) have an AC of 15 (DMG p. 246)

Stone: Stone has been in constant use by various hominin species for at least 3.4 million years and stone tools do not become supplanted until the advent of metalworking between 6,000 and 2,000 BC, at the very edge of history.

Stone items (common) have an AC of 17 (DMG p. 246)

The following are some stone items that may be found in prehistoric settings: Name Cost Damage Damage Type Weight Properties Approx. dates Simple Melee Oldowan Chooper - 1d4 Bludgeoning 1 lb. Light, thrown 2.6 mya – 1.7 mya or Hammerstone or Slashing (20/60) Acheulean - 1d4 Slashing 1 lb. Light 1.76 mya – 100,000 Handaxe years ago Mousterian Flake - 1d4 Slashing or 1 lb. Light 600,000-40,000 Knives Piercing years ago Aurignacian Core - 1d6 Slashing 2 lbs. Light 380,000 years ago- Blade 29,000 BC Magdalenain - 1d6 Piercing 2 lbs. Light, thrown ~17,000 BC -12,000 Microlith (20/60) BC Notes: Larger stone implements from any time period that require one or two hands to use may be counted as Clubs or Greatclubs.

Cost is a tricky issue; we know very little about social structures in pre-history, but the quality of workmanship of some items seem to indicate that, at the latest, professional specialization for things such as tanning, cobbling, and toolmaking were fairly widespread by 30,000-40,000 BC.

It should be noted that the Oldowan tool industry and most probably the Acheulean industry were not a modern human (as in homo sapiens sapiens) invention. Acheulean tools were the dominant technology for the vast majority of .

Mousterian tools were a style of predominantly flint tools associated primarily by Homo neanderthalensis in Europe that were also used by anatomically modern humans in North Africa and the Levant.

Roughly 200,000 years ago, humans became “anatomically modern”, meaning that their appearance would have been roughly consistent with the present array of phenotypes. Around this period there is the appearance of stone blades (where a hard hammer percussion stone chips away the stone and leaves a sharpened core) as opposed to the prior use of sharpened flakes (from the same process as just described).

Composite tools of stone spearpoints and arrowheads appear closer to the beginning of historical records, and required greater skill in manufacturing small flakes.

Obsidian: In certain cultures near volcanically active regions, obsidian is often added to wooden clubs or other weapons due to their sharpness. While very brittle, it fractures with extraordinarily sharp edges, which can break off and become imbedded in a target.

Weapons (uncommon) made out of Obsidian deal slashing or piercing damage, even if the weapon is bludgeoning. On a critical hit against fleshy targets (DM’s discretion), the hit target must take a Fortitude save vs. DC 14 or suffer 1 HP damage every minute from embedded shards of obsidian. Removing the shards requires a Medicine check vs. DC12 and 10 minutes.

Copper: During the transition between the Stone Age (Neolithic) to the (c.6,000-5,000 BC), there is a gradual introduction of the use of Copper in cultures throughout Europe and Western Asia. This period is called Calcolithic (literally “copper stone”). Copper is relatively abundant, its ores relatively pure, and is easy to work with. The civilizations that produced copper artifacts, sitting just at the edge of history, were already quite complicated and developed; copper artifacts from ~3,000 BC show casting, cold forging, polishing, and sharpening techniques.

Bronze: When modern historians refer to “bronze” artifacts, they are referencing a diversity of “copper alloy” pieces with varying compositions. Bronze is generally copper with 12% or less tin, though earlier artifacts from the 5th to 3rd millennium BC were typically of copper and arsenic. Except for two known ancient sites (in Thailand and Iran), copper and tin ore deposits are not found together, so the presence of Bronze historically required trade across substantial distances and its production would be indicative of the formation of city- states. Bronze blades typically have lower tin percentages, typically around 5%.

Bronze is generally harder than wrought iron and not susceptible to rust but was supplanted by iron because iron was both easier to locate and easier to process.

Brass: Brass is a copper alloy consisting of copper and zinc. In pre-industrial times, brass was made when heated zinc vapor reacted with copper in a cementation process. The use of brass was fairly widespread in arms and armor throughout “classical antiquity”, though not much is known about its use during the migration period thereafter. Brass artifacts with zinc contents over 12% have a distinctly golden color to them.

The oldest deliberately manufactured artifacts (~3,000 BC), however, have zinc percentages much lower than what would be expected from the cementation process. This is likely what ancient writers referred to as Orichalcum (see below).

Orichalcum: “Mountain copper”, attested to by Critias (460-403 BC) is likely a type of brass (copper and zinc alloy), possibly at first naturally occurring in rare amounts, possibly similar to Aich’s alloy (60% copper, 36% zinc, 1% tin, 2% iron) (used in the marine industry for its resistance to corrosion and toughness) or to Gunmetal (88% copper, 10% tin, 2% zinc). Regardless of its formulation, it is often referred to as having a reddish- golden hue and compared to contemporary materials (bronze, mostly), would have had significantly less friction when slid against another material.

Iron: Iron-based weaponry seems to have had scattered origins throughout Egypt, India, and Mesopotamia, though few early artifacts remain, due to corrosion. Some of the earlier implements were actually meteoric iron (from their high nickel content) and thus not manufactured. The production of iron seems to have begun in the intermediate bronze age (~2000-3000 BC) but did not displace bronze for several centuries.

Early iron was typically produced in a Bloomery, a simple type of furnace that heats the raw iron ore (iron oxides mixed with silicates) above the melting temperature of the impurities, but not of the iron itself, whereupon the impurities are separated into a slag and the two (the slag and iron, called sponge iron) are hammered (consolidated/shingled) into wrought iron. These bloomeries had been used for some centuries (if not millennia) to produce bronze items as well.

Wrought iron is the iron that is referred to in Western histories, as cast iron was not introduced into Western Europe from East Asia until the 15th century. This alternative way of producing iron, however, is likely related to the relatively poor quality of iron ores in Asia, and estimated yearly industrial output of iron of the contemporaneous Roman Empire and Han Dynasty (~85,000 T and ~5,000 T, respectively) reflects that (Craddock, 2008 and Wagner, 2001).

Cast iron is the product of allowing more carbon (2-4%) into melting iron, and is usually the product of blast furnaces, which supplanted bloomeries by the Medieval period. Cast iron is more brittle than wrought iron.

Ancient Steel: Firstly, it should be noted that all the steels that are used in historical references are very much different than the steel that modern readers appreciate today. These materials are from a time before the invention of blister steel or crucible steel in the 17th century.

Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon (usually ~2% by weight), sometimes in the presence of other elements. Compared to iron it has higher tensile strength (it can be stretched longer before breaking) but lower ductility (that is, steel will crack or shatter more easily). Steel could be produced by improperly removing the impurities when producing iron, thereby allowing some carbon to remain. By around 1800 to 1400 BC steel making became an industry for many civilizations. This early bloomery produced steel was supplanted in more complex civilizations by the last few centuries BC as techniques such as quenching and crucible production allowed for higher carbon-content steels.

Pattern Welding, better known as folded steel, most often identified with the Celts, Vikings, and, much, much later, the Japanese, was the result of necessity due to inconsistent and often unsuitable iron outputs from bloomeries, which was related to poor iron ore quality. After the Norman conquest of England in 1066 (roughly denoting the end of the Viking Age), pattern welding slowly fell out of favor in Europe as better iron ore deposits were exploited.

This type of steel remained the steel that most Asian civilizations used straight through to the industrial age.

Wotz Steel: Wotz Steel, from Southern India (Tamil Nandu, in particular) and Sri Lanka, was renowned for its sharpness and toughness. Known as Seric Iron at the time, this steel had a high carbon content (about 6.67% for cementite) and clusters of Fe3C particles increased its hardness and at the same time produced a swirling banding pattern (of intermixed ferrite and cementite) which would later be attributed to Damascus steel. Wotz steel was heavily favored and traded between India and the Middle East and Europe, and remained an expensive source of high-quality steel throughout the middle ages prior to the wide proliferation of Toledo steel.

Toledo Steel/Hard Steel: Toledo Steel, from Toledo, Spain, was famed for it’s very high quality alloy and unusual hardness. Toledo had been a steelmaking center since at least 500 BC, and its steel was highly valued amongst Roman Legions, but, as with many industries, became isolated during the Migration Period. It isn’t until around the time of the Hundred Year’s War (1337-1453) that this form of hard steel becomes widespread and manufactured in mass quantities.

Toledo Steel is the most common steel that Western medieval cultures would have used.

Damascus Steel:

Based on Wootz Steel, Damascus Steel was reputed to be extraordinarily tough, resilient and sharp. An industry for this type of metalworking thrived in Damascus between the 3rd and 17th centuries AD. After this period production steadily declined and the process to produce these blades has since been lost, due to a combination of loss of trade routes, the British Raj, and, perhaps most interestingly, the increasing purity of the iron ores that lacked the trace elements required to make it.

Damascus Steel items (rare) have an AC of 20.

Meteoric Iron/Sky Metal/Thunderbolt Iron: Metallic meteoroids were held in high regard across many peoples and civilizations both for their religious/spiritual connotations and for the presence of elements that are otherwise rare in the Earth’s crust (particularly nickel and iridium). It is also, apart from very minor amounts of Telluric iron (of which there is only a single major deposit in the world, in Greenland), the only source of naturally occurring native iron metal (that is, non-oxidized iron) on Earth’s surface.

Prior to Iron Age, Meteoric iron was the primary source of iron that could be made into tools and often was the province of nobility and the elite. As such, it takes on a mythological status in the eyes of even medieval viewers.

Meteoric arms and armor (very rare) have an AC of 21 and always count as magical against Aberrations and furthermore deals +2d6 damage against such creatures.

Cold Iron/Cold Steel: An archaic and anachronistic term for iron, Cold Steel referred to traditional beliefs/superstitions that “cold iron” could repel malevolent supernatural creatures, particularly ghosts, witches, or, most commonly, fairies. Generally it is not specified in the stories as to what cold iron actually is; it may refer to cold-worked (i.e. wrought) iron, which was not as common anymore by the time these traditions were most prevalent, or it could just refer to any iron at all. For the purposes of this article, we will assume the mythological origin, that some iron is a particular bane to the Faerie.

Cold Iron weapons (rare) always count as magical against Fey and deal +2d6 damage against such creatures.

Mithril: Mithril owes its popularity partially to the fact that the Tolkien estate never trademarked the name, and thus we have references to it in D&D. It is described as being a silvery substance that could be beaten like copper, polished like glass, and yet was lighter and harder than tempered steel (paraphrased, LOTR, Book II, Chapter 4).

Items made out of Mithril have an AC of 21 (DMG p.246). Armor (medium or heavy), uncommon. A Mithril chain or breastplate can be worn under normal clothes. Mithril armor does not have DA (stealth) or strength checks. Furthermore (as in, not in RAW), Mithril items weigh half their normal listed amount.

Adamant/Adamantine: Adamantine has historically been used in reference to a wide variety of particularly hard materials, regardless of their actual composition. By the Medieval period Adamantine became traditionally regarded as a reference to diamond, and also confused/corroborated with lodestones, which was noted at the time by contemporary scholars such as Thomas Browne (Pseudodoxia Epidemica, 1672).

Armor (medium or heavy, uncommon) made out of Adamantine have +2 DR (all) and ignore critical hits (they become normal hits). The armor itself has AC 23 (DMG p. 246) Weapons (uncommon) made out of Adamantine ignore the first 3 points of DR/+1.

Dwarven Metal: Armor (heavy, very rare) made out of Dwarven Metal has +2 to AC. In addition, if an effect moves you against your will you may use your reaction to reduce the distance traveled by 10 ft. Weapons (melee only, very rare) made out of Dwarven Metal ignore the first 2 points of DR/+1.

Dragonscale: Armor (medium, heavy, very rare) made out of a dragon’s scales have +1 AC, and have advantage on saving throws against Frightful Presence and breath weapons of dragons as per the table below. Additionally, as an action, you can magically sense the distance and direction of the closest dragon of the same type as the armor. This action cannot be used again until the next dawn.

Dragonsteel:

A staple of many fantasy (and religious and cultural) genres is the idea of a past Golden age, where the supremacy of one’s culture was undeniable. In many of these fictions, dragons or other great beasts play a pivotal role. Dragonsteel is the result of rare metals forged with the heat of a dragon’s breath.

Weapons (metal striking weapon, legendary) made out of Dragonsteel gain +3 to attack bonus and damage.

Quality of Arms and Armor:

As is the case often with archeological ruins, those artifacts that survive sometimes do so because an individual found that it had sufficient worth to be kept in good condition, whether because of its significance or for its craftsmanship or sentimental reasons. Poorly or quickly made armor or houses, for instance, would often be recycled for their materials. What happens is that the surviving examples of arms and armor tends to be of fairly high quality, and usually tailor-made for persons of great wealth and power.

Apart from some examples of mass burial where the looters did not remove armor, we usually don’t see, for example, shoddy plate armor, with chunks of ill-fitting steel almost haphazardly riveted as word of a siege arrives. That level of craftsmanship, however, would be the norm, particularly in less developed areas.

In addition to Masterwork versions of arms and armor, there are also Poor quality versions, as well as mass- produced Munitions armor.

Legal, Cultural, and Practical Issues (Messing around with a Messer): A Messer is a long-bladed (~20 inches), single edge weapon often with a short concave edge on the blunted end toward the tip and a flaring Nagel perpendicular to the cross guard. To the modern viewer it looks like a sword, but because of the construction of its tang it was, by Germanic law, a “knife”, and thus, unlike a sword, legal for the common peasant to wear.

For our purposes, the point of the Messer is that the considerations for what weapon to have is not simply down to “how much damage it does” or how well it works with a given class feature. Historically, legal and cultural traditions played a huge role, as did how heavy and comfortable a weapon was to wear. People didn’t walk around everyday wielding unless they wanted to attract a good deal of unwanted attention.

For instance, take the famous Hispanic Gladius; earlier Gladius had a prominent curvature to the distal point of the blade, the famous characteristic of the weapon. What was interesting was the later development of triangle-shaped bits towards the cross-guard of the weapon. What were they for? Greater integrity? Better weight distribution?

Well, as it turns out, your scabbard has to be wide enough for the tip of the blade, and if the blade closer to the hilt is thinner, then it rattles around in the scabbard a lot. And as any modern soldier will tell you, loose gear is extraordinarily annoying. This is actually an important consideration, as the vast majority of militia and drawn up soldiers in the ancient and medieval world (apart from career soldiers, of course) would likely never get into a single battlefield fight in their entire lives.

It is also worth noting that swords, particularly one-handed swords, were secondary weapons throughout the ancient world, similar to a pistol (in both functionality and public fascination) to a modern soldier today; generally a combination of some reach weapon (either with or without a shield) would be the primary battlefield instrument for the majority of foot-soldiers.

Random rants: Ammunition: Arrows: - Hunting Arrows: typical arrows designed for hunting - War-Arrows: arrows designed to kill a man had heavier arrowheads and thicker shafts. These features, in turn, required a heavier bow with greater draw weight in order to lob these arrows to any significant range. These arrows were also, in general, constructed as to have the arrowhead separate from the shaft upon a hit, whether on target or on the ground, so that they could not be reused by the enemy to shoot back. - Armor-Piercing Arrows: despite their name, arrows designed to pierce the increasingly common mail armor were not particularly effective against the best protection offered in 15th and 16th century battlefields, plate.