The Armoury

Copyright © 1998-2004 Ken St-Cyr. All rights reserved. This is a work in progress.

What follows is a list of typical weapon and armour types for use in the world of Madoria. The weapons in this game are restricted to those appearing no later than the 14th century; i.e., prior to the use of gunpowder in war. The terms here are not necessarily period, but are intended only to be unambiguous. Indeed, during the Middle Ages many words were used interchangeably to describe the same or different weapons and armour pieces.

Armour

ARMOUR PIECES
TypeDescriptionPenDmg CoveragePenaltyWgt
SL10Leather Jack 15-2 C,B,A4%
SL14Leather Coat 15-2 C,B,A,L6%
CB4Cuirbouilli Greaves 18-4 L2% ea
CB2Cuirbouilli Vambraces 18-4 A1% ea
CB8Cuirbouilli Cuirass 18-4 C,B-1 AGL5%
RL10Ring Jack 20-3 C,B,A10%
RL14Ring Coat 20-3 C,B,A,L13%
BZ10Bezanted Jack 20-3 C,B,A10%
BZ14Bezanted Coat 20-3 C,B,A,L13%
ML8Mail Habergeon 25-4 C,B14%
ML14Mail Hauberk 25-4 C,B,A,L17%
MS8Scale Habergeon 23-5 C,B17%
MS14Scale Hauberk 23-5 C,B,A,L-2 AGL23%
LM4Lamellar Greaves 30-6 L4% ea
LM2Lamellar Vambraces 30-6 A2% ea
LM8Lamellar Coat 30-6 C,B-2 AGL11%
PL4Plate Greaves 35-8 L6% ea
PL2Plate Vambraces 35-8 A4% ea
PL8Brigandine (Coat) 30-7 C,B-3 AGL15%
SL0Leather Helmet/Hood 15-2 (H)1%
SL1Leather Mask 15-2 H-1 PER1%
CB0Cuirbouilli Helmet 18-4 (H)1%
ML0Mail Coif 25-4 (H)2%
PL0Metal Helmet 35-8 (H)3%
PL1Visored Helm 30-8 H-3 PER4%
Coverage indicates locations protected by the armour. A=arm, B=belly, C=chest, H=head, (H)=head (open face), L=leg
Pen(etration) impact to exceed for blow to be considered penetrating
Dmg is modifier to damage roll
Penalty always applies to the attribute task modifier, not directly to attribute.
Wgt is weight of armour expressed as a percentage of body weight.

Some well-made armours may increase the wearer's Defense by a small amount, due to its ability to enhance the deflection of incoming blows. Likewise, poorly fit armour may decrease the wearer's mobility and perception. This game makes the simplifying assumption that characters are familiar with the armour they wear. Unfamiliar armours do not increase Defense but may decrease mobility and perception even if not poorly fit.

Armour Material Descriptions:

Bezanted: Cloth or leather sewn or rivetted with small, non-overlapping metal plates.

Brigandine: Also called “coat of plates,” this armour is made of shaped pieces of metal rivetted onto leather.

Cuirbouilli: Leather hardened by boiling it in wax.

Lamellar: A more advanced form of scale armour, in which the scales are longer, interlaced, and not sewn to a fabric.

Leather: Tanned and prepared animal skin.

Mail: A fabric of interwoven metal rings. One wears mail over a padded garment. The term maille is Middle French, brought into English in the 14th century (Hundred Years' War). The term chain mail is probably anachronistic, and at least redundant.

Plate: Armour made of shaped metal pieces, not attached to any backing. It is still assumed to be worn over a padded garment.

Ring: An earlier, or simply cheaper, form of mail, in which the links are larger and sewn onto a leather backing.

Scale: Armour made from overlapping scales sewn onto cloth or leather.

Shields

Shields provide a bonus to the wielder's skill for defensive purposes only. The Defensive DM given may be split (if greater than +1) among multiple opponents, otherwise they apply to a single opponent only.

SHIELD TYPES
DescriptionRangeDefensePen Dmg TypeDmg
Mod
Wgt (kg)
Buckler 0+1+2B+12
Target 0+1+2B+23
Heater 0+2+3B+23
Kite Shield 0+3+3B+34
Tower Shield 0+3+3B+35

Range in two-meter hexes.
Penetration, Dmg Type, and Dmg Mod apply when the shield is used as a weapon.
Wgt is weight of shield in kilograms. Shields are wooden, reinforced with iron.

Weapons

WEAPON TYPES
WeaponRangeAtk
Mod
Dmg
Type
Dmg
Mod
WgtSkill
Axe, Battle 1+1C+131.5Axe
Axe, Great 1+1C+152.5Greataxe
Axe, Rider's 00C+101Axe
Bill 20C
P
+13
+10
3.5Polearm
Bludgeon 10B+132Greatclub
Club 00B+81Club
Club, Ironshod 00B+101Club
Dagger 0+1P+30.5Knife
Flail, Military 2-1B+132Flail
Flail, Rider's 1-1B+51.5Flail
Glaive 20C
P
+15
+10
3Polearm
Hammer, War 20B+84.5Polearm
Hammer, Rider's 10B+52.5Axe
Knife 0+1P+00.3Knife
Mace, Flanged 10B+81.5Club
Mace, Spiked 10P+91.5Club
Pike 4-1P+155Spear
Scimitar 1+1C+81.5Scimitar
Spear 20P+102Spear
Spear, Long 30P+133Spear
Staff, Ironshod 20B+132Staff
Staff, Quarter 10B+102Staff
Sword, Cutting 10C+81.5Sword
Sword, Great 20C+133Greatsword
Sword, Long 10C+101.5Sword
Sword, Short 00C
P
+5
+3
1Shortsword
Sword, Thrusting 1+1P+51Sword

Range in two-meter hexes.
Atk Mod affects only rolls to hit.
Damage Types: B = blunt, C = cutting, P = puncturing.
Wgt is weight of weapon in kilograms.
“Great” weapons, polearms, long spear, and staves require two hands to use.

Weapon Descriptions:

Axe, Battle: A one-handed footman's axe.

Axe, Great: A two-handed footman's axe.

Axe, Rider's: A light, one-handed rider's axe.

Bill: A polearm with an axe-like head and a thrusting spike; like the gisarme or vouge; basically an early form of halberd. Use spear damage when thrusting.

Bludgeon: A two-handed, spiked mace.

Club: A one-handed stick used as a weapon.

Club, Ironshod: A club reinforced by an iron ferrule. A light mace, perhaps.

Dagger: A long, double-edged knife.

Flail, Military: A military version of the threshing tool, with a spiked head; the multi-headed versions with spiked balls appear to be too late in period for this game (i.e., post-medieval). Some varieties of these are sometimes called morningstars, but this term is not used to avoid confusion with the non-flexible weapon of the same name.

Flail, Rider's: A short-handled version of the military flail.

Glaive: A polearm with a knife-like head designed for cutting and thrusting; also, the fauchard. Use spear damage when thrusting.

Hammer, War: A polearm with a metal hammerhead (the “martel”) attached to one end; not the armor-piercing variety with the clawed head and the beak — those are too late in period.

Hammer, Rider's: A short-handled and one-handed version of the war hammer, for use by riders.

Knife: A short thrusting blade, typically single-edged; a paring tool or eating utensil.

Mace, Flanged: A club with a flanged metal head.

Mace, Spiked: A club with a spiked metal head, including the morningstar.

Pike: A very long spear, like the sarissa. The term “pike” is 17th century, but the weapon it describes is very old. Sarissa seems too specific, and “very long spear&rdquo is lame, so pike it is.

Scimitar: A curved sword designed for hacking or cutting.

Spear: A one-and-a-half handed thrusting polearm.

Spear, Long: A two-handed thrusting polearm.

Staff, Ironshod: An iron-shod staff.

Staff, Quarter: A two-handed stick.

[SWORD]

Sword, Cutting: A straight sword, with a length tailored to the wielder, designed for chopping attacks. Note that the term “broadsword,” sometimes used in RPGs for generic cutting swords, is a 17th century term describing a particular weapon, specifically, a double-edged, basket-hilted sword. Though the broadsword of the 17th c. is descended from earlier double-edged straight swords, the cutting sword of the game represents are larger range of weapons that nevertheless have similar characteristics in use.

Sword, Cut-and-Thrust: A straight sword designed for both cutting and thrusting attacks. The wielder may choose either attack type, or may allow a random choice. Use the stats for the cutting sword or thrusting sword depending on how this weapon is used. Cut-and-thrust swords, because of their generalized nature, tend to be of lower quality than specialized weapons.

Sword, Great: A two-handed footman's sword. Note that the hand-and-a-half sword (a.k.a. bastard sword) is not included in this game because it is a 15th+ century weapon.

Sword, Long: A one-handed rider's sword; a war sword. The term “flamberge” also may refer to this kind of sword. (The wavy sword is called the “flambard”).

Sword, Short: A short footman's sword or a long dagger, designed for thrusting. The gladius is the best example.

Sword, Thrusting: A straight footman's sword, with a length tailored to the wielder, designed for thrusting attacks. The earliest European swords, developing from the dagger, were of this type.


Ammunition

BOW, CROSSBOW, AND SLING AMMUNITION
Ammo TypeDmg
Type
Imp
Mod
Wgt
Arrow, BodkinP+20.05
Arrow, BroadP+00.05
Arrow, IncendiaryZ+00.07
Bolt, HeavyP+20.09
Bolt, LightP+00.07
Sling Bullet, LeadB+20.5
Sling Bullet, StoneB+00.1

Arrow, Bodkin: The standard war arrow, designed for piercing armour. Bodkins vary according to the type of armour they are design to pierce (i.e., either plate armour or mail), but no such distinctions are made in this game.

Arrow, Broad: A hunting arrow with a broadpoint head. Broad arrows may be barbed (called barbels). Barbels that penetrate the target will cause additional damage if removed. Another modification is rankling, that is, designing the head that it will break off and remain embedded in the target.

Pile: A type of hunting arrow with a blunt head. Piles are ineffective against large game and useless for inflicting damage in combat. They are intended to discourage poaching.

Bows

An archer may fire a bow once per round. Archers with skill level of 10+ may fire twice per round.

BOW WEAPONS
Draw
Weight
Min STR Base RangeExtreme
Range
Base
Impact
Wgt (kg)
25-kg918100121
30-kg1021120141
35-kg1124140161
40-kg1227160181
45-kg1330180201

Draw Weight is the amount of force required to draw the bowstring back a typical distance. Self bows tend to be constructed with pulls at the lower ranges; composite bows tend to be constructed at the higher ranges, even going off the chart. By comparison, the English longbow is supposedly a 45-kg bow.
Base and Extreme Range in two-meter hexes.
Penetration and Dmg Mod are added to the Pen and Dmg Mod, respectively, of the arrow type at base range. Reduce penetration by 1 per increment of base range.

Crossbows

Crossbows may be fired at any time during a round, but then must be reloaded.

CROSSBOWS
WeaponReload TimeBase RangeExtreme RangeBase
Impact
Wgt
Crossbow, Light2 rounds21120154
Crossbow, Heavy3 rounds24140186
Crossbow, Composite 3 rounds27160205

Base and Extreme Range in two-meter hexes.
Wgt is weight of crossbow in kilograms. Light and heavy crossbows are military weapons of primitive (solid wood) construction. Composite crossbows have bows made from horn and wood. The steel crossbow is not used in this game, since its use would tend to force many weapons and armour into obsolescence.

Slings

SLINGS AND SLING-LIKE WEAPONS
WeaponRangeDmg
Type
Base
Impact
Wgt
Bolas10B1310
Sling10by ammo type180.25
Staff Sling20by ammo type202

Base Range in two-meter hexes.
Wgt is weight of weapon in kilograms.

Other Missile Weapons

MISCELLANEOUS MISSILE WEAPONS
WeaponBase
Range
Dmg
Type
Imp
Mod
Wgt
Blowgun6P!11
HatchetTD/5C+51
JavelinTD/7.5P+81.5
KnifeTD/3P+50.3
SpearTD/10P+102

Base Range is in two-meter hexes.
TD is character's base throwing distance.
Wgt is weight of weapon in kilograms.

Selected Works

This is by no means the complete list of references used, just the important ones.

Blair, C. and L. Tarrasuk, eds. Complete Encyclopedia of Arms and Weapons (New York, 1979)

Contamine, P. War in the Middle Ages (New York, 1989)

Stone, G. C. A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms in All Countries and in All Times (Portland, Me., 1934)


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Last modified Tue, Sep 28, 2004
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