Minoa Weapons Catalogue

I must apologise for the delay in this post; at least one player has been expecting it before the next session, and now we only have two days to go. Life pulls me in different directions, and I haven’t put any thought into D&D this week. The following is the exposition on weapons our party is likely to use, encounter or purchase in the Kingdom of Minoa. The chart below lists the weapons by specific name; more detailed descriptions within categories will follow. Prices vary from settlement to settlement and are not listed here.

                     Weapon                           Type  Weight  Speed  Damage

Battle Axe	S	8.5	8	2d6
Bow	P	2	7	1d6
Club	B	5	4	1d4
Dagger	P	1	2	1d4
Doru	P	4	6	1d6
Gladius	P	2	3	2d4
Hand or throwing axe	S	3	4	1d6
Javelin	P	2	4	1d6
Knife	S/P	0.25	2	1d3
Makhaira	S	6.25	7	1d12
Sarissa	P	6.5	10	2d8
Sickle	S	1.25	4	1d4+1
Sling	B	0.30	6	1d4+1
Staff	B	7	6	1d4+1
Trident	P	7.5	7	1d4+2
Xiphos	S/P	3.5	5	1d6+1
Whip	S	2	8	1d4

 

Yes, I still use weapon speeds. This dynamic has been discounted by just about every DM whose work I respect, but it has served us well in our campaign so far. The main argument seems to be that if it were statistically probable to get in more damage by a sum total of wee stabs with a knife compared to thrusts with a decent sword, we would have historical examples of battalions of knife-wielding foot soldiers confidently facing equal numbers of swordsmen. This seems to me a slippery-slope argument. In fact we have seen cases of swordsmen going up against pikemen with varied results, and in the case of something so unwieldy as a halberd, the polearm is almost useless in one-on-one combat despite its hefty damage roll. (I am open to debate on this matter, but I’ll refrain from searching for links that illustrate my point unless someone specifically requests to argue with me about it.)

Axes. Both types listed here are of the double-edged variety (in contrast to the single-edged type favoured by early Scandanavians), with a medium-length shaft fitted into a bronze head and some leather binding. The hand axe is suitable either as a melee or missile weapon; it is assumed that characters proficient with it are able to throw it with reasonable aim from a fair distance. Logic would dictate that both distance and accuracy be determined by arm strength, and when I get around to it I will have a table for these in relation to STR score. Melee combat is much simpler, with only the straight attack and damage rolls required. The battle axe is generally of a length approximating the height of the wielder, which makes it slow but with considerable heft to cause great damage.

Bow. The only type of bow available is, for our purposes, nearly the same as what is normally termed a ‘short bow’; the long bow has not been invented yet. In appearance it is a recurve type (convex at the leather-bound handle in the middle, with a concave curve on either side reaching toward the tied end of the string.

Club. The cheapest bludgeoning weapon often made of cypress wood, which is ubiquitous on the island and far more likely to be made into a bludgeoning weapon than any of the heavier woods used in staff and spear construction. It’s worth noting that when players see the word ‘club’ on a list of equipment, they tend to think the thing carried by cavemen in cartoons and the like: a massive, rounded end that tapers into a narrow grip for the hand. What you’d have in actuality is more like a good-sized stick: a simple straight wooden shaft, quick through the air, but not hefty enough to cause a lot of damage. It has always seemed ridiculous to me that both a club and a sword had the same weapon speed and the same 1d6 damage. Why would anyone spend money on a sword, much less go to the trouble of sheathing, oiling and sharpening it?

Sickle. This is a farm implement generally only favoured as a weapon by hierophants of agricultural deities. Warrior types are unlikely to carry it, and sorcerers prefer staves and daggers. It is quick and lightweight, but combatants must be in very close proximity for it to be effective. It is generally made entirely of bronze, but may be fixed with a wooden handle.

Sling. This is a pouch in the middle of two lengths of woven leather cord, and usually uses lead bullets made by a blacksmith. It is not generally deadly unless a critical hit is made, but a called shot at the standard penalty allows an automatic critical hit if successful.

Small Arms. The dagger features an elongated triangular iron blade on a bronze guard of negligible width connected to a rounded base by a narrow handle. It can only be used as a piercing weapon. The knife has a single sharp edge that can be used either to slash or to thrust. It deals relatively low damage, but it has the advantage of being concealable, accessible in a variety of locations, and lightweight.

Spears. This category includes the doru, the javelin, and the sarissa; all are made of cornel or ash wood and tipped with iron. The doru is the standard infantry weapon, approximately ten feet in length and equipped with a minor head called a saruoter on the reverse end which could serve to plant the spear in the ground, function as a secondary tip in case the main tip breaks off, or finish off wounded enemy soldiers. The doru is a one-handed melee weapon normally used in conjunction with a shield; it does not travel well if thrown. For throwing, the javelin is preferred. At the larger end is the sarissa, a two-handed weapon that may be as long as twenty feet or more. In appearance it resembles a larger doru, but is generally used in formation as a polearm; it is unlikely to appear in small skirmishes.

Staff. The item gripped by the Minoan sorcerer tends to be bronze, not wood, and usually has a ball (or some more finely crafted design) on the head, with its length gradually tapering. It is effective as a bludgeoning weapon, but suffers bending and warping if used too much in this capacity. (Wooden staves may appear in Minoa, but their damage will be only 1d4, and they might have speeds of 4, 5, or greater, depending on their construction and condition.)

Swords. The xiphos is the soldier’s secondary weapon of choice, after the doru. It has a flat, short, leaflike double-edged blade suitable for both thrusting and slashing. Players may declare which type of attack they wish to make before rolling the dice. The baldric slung over the left arm is the most popular means of carrying the xiphos. Generally they are around two feet in length.

The makhaira is significantly longer, with a single expanded convex edge suitable only to slashing attacks. As such it is the preferred weapon of the cavalry, at least on the Greek mainland; few mounts are available in Minoa, and as a consequence the makhaira is rarely seen, although swordsmiths in any of the four capital cities will have them on display. They may be up to four feet in length.

The gladius is the shortest of the swords. It features a fairly wide and sharply tipped blade normally used for thrusting attacks, but can also be used as a slashing weapon if desired. If a character makes a slashing attack, it must be done as a called shot at the standard penalty. The grip of this weapon is narrow relative to the short guard and round base, making it easier to grip than the other two types of swords, for a more deadly attack if the roll is successful.

Trident. This is another weapon more often used by hierophants of specific deities (usually Poseidon) than warriors. It is long and heavy, with three arrow-shaped prongs that deal additional damage when pulled out of a wound, granting a +2 on all successful attacks.

Whip. As rightly observed by one of our players during the last session, the whip is both slow and not very dangerous. It never made sense for a PC to spend a proficiency on whip use, and in all my runnings I have presented a whip-wielding foe to the party only one time, and this was because there was a very specific type of magic attached to it that made it useful in this case. Most appearances of this weapon in the game will be restricted to animal training and punishment functions.