Semi-Historical Arms and Armor 0.7: The following are some notes about the weapons and armor tables in D&D 5th edition, as they pertain to their relationship to modern academic understandings of historical arms and armor. (Don’t hurt me, I’ve only a minor in anthropology.) 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. tl;dr points: - In the interest of compatibility and minimal interference, most of the changes below are either fluff explanations or minor additions (rather than substitutions) of rules. - Arms and armor are all too heavy. Reduce by 30-50% if anyone cares about counting encumbrance. - Spears and polearms are underrepresented in vanilla. - War-archery takes a lot of strength; conversely, swinging around a sword emphasizes dexterity. Balance is an extremely important part of melee fighting. Falling prone is an invitation to be quickly stabbed to death. - Studded leather is stupid. Armor: We rename armor to fit with the general gist of the fluff descriptions of each armor on p. 142 of the PHB. Rename Studded Leather to Brigandine. Studded leather is an erroneous modern reference to the way the inside of Brigandine looked; steel or iron platelets were studded to the inside of the leather jack and were not generally visible from the outside. It is those metal platelets, and not the studs, that offer the improved protection of that armor over just leather. More extensive forms of armor made from cured, thick leather (cuir bouilli) would also be roughly in this category. Chain Shirt can be referred to as Byrnie/Hauberk, or more generally as a Mail Shirt. It’s a bit ahistorical, but most people know what a chain shirt refers to, and so cultural osmosis wins this time round. Rename Scale Mail to Scale Armor. In general, “scale” armors, with the scale plates attached to a leather or linen back and not (usually) punched together, predate or are concurrent with early mail, and, especially in its earlier usages during the Bronze Age, did not include mail. Mail with scale-shaped iron or steel plates either sandwiched between or attached on top are a much later invention and are not this category of armor. This is amongst the heaviest type of armor used by bronze age infantry. Muscle cuirass, if it was ever used in actual battle, is roughly of this type. Roman Republic-era lorica squamata is of this type of armor. This armor is better suited to warm climes (because it ‘breathes’) compared to more encompassing metal armors and thus continued to be in production well after the introduction and proliferation of mail armor. Rename and replace Ring Mail with Transitional Armor. Ring Mail is ahistorical and only attested to by artistic license, mostly on triumphal arches. Transitional armor is representative of “heavy” armor prior to the rediscovery of trip hammer technology allowing large steel plates to be readily formed. Transitional plate armors show a wide variety of experimentation with plate placement. What separates this armor from later armors is that the plates tended to be smaller and cover fewer areas. Chain Mail. This category also includes Plated Mail or, more generally, Lamellar (but not splint mail, which is ahistorical). Mail as the sole armor (with no plates over it) tends to be quite heavy and thick. Comfortable to wear for long periods of time and quite resilient to rust (due to the constant rubbing of the chains against one another), full suits of mail were so disproportionately common as armor throughout the migration and medieval periods that many contemporary writers simply refer to this equipment as ‘armor’. Plated mail or Lamellar is head-to-toe mail in conjunction with some steel plating, usually along the chest or abdomen as a single set of armor. The type of mail used in this armor is typically somewhat finer and lighter than mail armor used as the primary form of armor. Plates or platelets could be fitted within the layer of mail (as opposed to worn above mail). This armor was common throughout Western and Southern Asia and Eastern Europe throughout the 14th and 15th centuries, up until the modern era. The mail and plate armor was typically worn over some form of padded armor, either linen (in the West) or cotton (in the East). Replace Splint with Splinted Plate, Laminar or Four Mirror Armor. In this armor, steel plates or strips were worn over a full set of mail armor. Often at least two to four large metal plates were used to protect the wearer’s torso/abdomen, sides, and back. The heaviest of high medieval and crusader-era armor is typically of this type. Although the Lorica Segmentata is technically of this category, the lack of full-body mail and armor across joints may bump its protection down a bit. Rename Plate as Late-Medieval Plate, Gothic Plate, Renaissance Plate, or, generically, Heavy Plate. Many depictions of fantasy ‘medieval’ plate armor are inspired by renaissance-period armors. Almost all the armors presented in the PHB are too heavy and are on the high end of spectrum of weights of surviving pieces of armor. Historical armors would typically be in a range from 50% PHB weights up to PHB weights for basically every armor type. Arms: We begin with some player choices that emphasize various historical points, chief among which is the dichotomy between battlefield and personal fighting. There is also the sort of odd melee-strength, ranged- dexterity dichotomy which is also fairly ahistorical. Fighting Style: There are a number of fighting techniques or styles that are not covered in the PHB for various reasons. For instance, many historical martial styles focused on the use of a single-handed weapon in one hand and an open hand in the other without a shield. As depicted in numerous medieval treatises, an open hand would be quite useful, particularly in grappling or deflecting an opposing polearm. In core 5e, this is an objectively poor choice (you’d always take a shield), so some rules are added here to amend that. Fighting Style: Baroque: The following feature can be selected by classes that have the Fighting Style class feature. While you have a melee weapon in one hand and no shield or weapon in the other, that weapon counts as a finesse weapon and you gain +1 AC. Fighting Style: Tempo/Flourish: (this is the late medieval German school of fencing emphasizing unarmored and armored longsword techniques, following 14th century master Johannes Liechtenauer) The following feature can be selected by classes that have the Fighting Style class feature. You are trained to measure the rhythm of battle and counter foes by beating an adversary’s attack. You may treat the following weapons as finesse weapons: quarterstaff, longsword, great sword, estoc, partisan and short spear. If you are not wearing heavy armor, you also gain +1 to attack rolls you make with all melee weapons. Fighting Style: Ward: (again, following Liechtenauer) The following feature can be selected by classes that have the Fighting Style class feature. You have trained extensively in using two-handed weapon stances to counter and deflect enemy attacks. While any warrior has trained in some of these stances, you are a master of them. These stances are particularly formulated for longsword combat, but similar varieties abound for other two-handed weapons. Choose one of the following stances. At 5th, 10th, and 15th level, you may choose an additional stance. Only one stance may be active at a given time. You can switch to a known stance on your turn as a bonus action. At 5th level you can change your stance as a free action on your turn. German Guards: Close/Plow Guard: While you are wielding a weapon in two hands you gain +1 to AC. Low/Fool’s Guard: While you are wielding a weapon in two hands you deal +2 damage on all Opportunity Attacks. You also gain a +2 bonus to initiative. Roof/Day Guard: While you are wielding a weapon in two hands and you roll a critical hit, roll an additional die of damage equal to the weapon’s damage die and add it to the total damage. Ox/Unicorn Guard: While you are wielding a weapon in two hands you have reach (5ft). Near/Tail/Iron Guard: While you are wielding a weapon in two hands, you deal +1 damage. Wrath Guard: While you are wielding a weapon, after a successful melee hit you may immediately use your bonus action to force the hit target to take a Strength saving throw (DC = 8+ proficiency bonus + str or dex mod (your choice)) or be pushed 10ft directly away from you. Italian Guards: Boar’s Tooth Guard: While you are wielding a weapon in two hands and are hit by a melee attack, you may use your reaction to add ½ your proficiency bonus to AC, potentially causing that attack to miss. Crown Guard: While you are wielding a weapon in two hands you gain advantage on strength (athletics) checks to disarm an opponent. Extended Tail Guard: While you are wielding a weapon in two hands, when you make a successful attack, one creature within 5ft of the original target takes str mod or dex mod damage (whichever is highest).