Weapon Descriptions

POLEARMS

A pole arm is, in simplest terms, a weapon on the end of a stick. Pole arms are infantry weapons. The additional reach the pole gives affords the wielder of the weapon the advantage of striking the enemy before he himself can be struck, or holding the enemy at a distance. The ultimate pole arm was the 18-21 foot pike—but an axe blade attached to a 5-foot long haft is just as much a pole arm, so it is already evident to the reader just how wide a number of weapons is encompassed by the term.

THE SPEAR FAMILY

The spear is a dagger set atop a pole. It is so ancient a pole arm that it is not generally mentioned in the class, but the spear is such a weapon. It is principally a thrusting weapon, but if a broad blade is used (such as that often referred to as an ox tongue) it can also have a secondary cutting function, especially when the blade is lengthened considerably. Spears of 12 feet or so in length are often referred to as ash spears in English writings, and when they reach such length, they are often confused with pikes.

Spears can be used as hand or missile weapons. In the latter employment, they might be broken by any creature with 18/00 or greater Strength or against or by one that is massive, i.e. cave bear, hippo, rhino, etc. Intelligent creatures will be 70% likely to use the hurled spear against the hurler if struck by the weapon, 25% likely to break it (the spear must save vs. Crushing blow). Unintelligent creatures will be 25% likely to break it (save as above). [Of course, the target may also ignore the spear in favor of more effective counter-attacks.]

Lance. A lance is a long spear carried by a mounted man. Norman lances were about 12 ft. in length, some less, but later in the Middle Ages the weapon grew to an average length of about 14 ft.—thus effectively giving the horseman about 10 ft. of reach beyond the horse’s head when charging. Just as with the spear and pike, many different heads were attached to the end of the lance shaft to meet the requirements of varying opponents armor. Generally it was a horseman’s weapon and not a true footman’s weapon.

Pike. Although there is no set rule, any spear with a shaft of 15 ft. or longer is considered to be a pike. The pike is designed to deliver a thrusting attack at an opponent at long range, and its great length was used to keep him there, as the weapon was always used in mass. One of the most common form of pike is the awl pike, a strictly piercing weapon, although there are many other forms of blades which were used.

Spetum. The spetum was probably designed to increase both offensive and defensive capabilities of a normal spear. To a sharp, tapering point two blades which point forward at about 45 degrees are added to provide secondary attack modes, deflect opponents’ weapons, and catch and hold opponents at a distance if penetration with one of the blades is not achieved. 

Ranseur. At first glance, a ranseur appears to be a form of spetum, or vice versa, but the purpose of the design of the former weapon is more complex than that of the latter. A ranseur’s secondary blades are backward-hooking projections set well below the large central blade. The spearing function of the weapon is apparent, and the deflection includes the trapping of opponent weapons in the space below the main blade, where a twist of the shaft would apply pressure from it or the secondary projections to either break the caught weapon or disarm its wielder. Additionally, the side projections provide both a means of holding an opponent at long range or of pulling mounted opponents off their horse. Similar weapons (or synonymous names) are chauve souris, ransom, rhonca, roncie, and runka.

Partisan. This form of pole arm is basically a spear—often with an ox tongue blade—to which a pair of small axe heads were added below the dagger blade. To the thrusting stab of the spear was added the defensive use of the side axe blades and their cutting/penetrating potential.

THE (POLE) AXE FAMILY

The axe took many forms and was combined with many basic forms of weapon to make a prolific family, but some of the pole arms bearing the name do not really belong to the genre. The axe has two basic head forms, broad and narrow. The latter form is usually thicker than the other, in order to give it the necessary weight. A related form of the axe is the cleaver, a butchering tool which was adapted for military use also. Many pole arms in the axe and cleaver families also had spear points to provide some secondary thrusting capability, but again the primary use of the weapons of these types was chopping at one’s opponent rather than thrusting toward him.

Halberd. This form of a pole axe is seen as a convex-headed broad axe in early examples, but the head is set at a convenient angle (considering the point where the blade is most likely to impact upon an enemy), so this alone makes it quite distinct from an ordinary long-hafted axe. The whole weapon often reached 8 feet in length. It was also always topped with a fairly long spear point and backed by a spike, which was often angled or hooked slightly downward. The spear point is, of course, designed to keep opponents at bay and deliver a thrusting attack.

Bardiche. This very broad and heavy axe links the poleaxes to the pole cleavers as a sort of transitional step between the two forms, although its only obvious use is as a military arm. A bardiche head ranged from about 2 feet to over 3 feet in length, and it was attached to its haft with two rings or a single one in those examples where the blade is shorter and backed with a hammer head or spike. 

Voulge. Place a hefty cleaver at the end of a long, stout shaft, and the leverage which the pole gives the wielder will enable him to cleave through armor. The voulge has no provision to keep the enemy at a distance in its simple form, but if the top front or back edge is ground down so as to provide a pointed or dagger-like tip, the weapon assumes a more complete form. The voulge was sometimes backed with a spike or hooked spike to make a crude guisarme-voulge, a combination-form weapon which will be discussed later.

OTHER POLEARMS

Fauchard. This weapon is a development of the scythe or sickle. Set upon a long pole, the curving blade of a fauchard could be used for both cutting and thrusting. 

Glaive. The glaive is a knife-bladed spear. It has the thrusting function of the spear and the secondary cutting function of the convex blade of the knife. The weapon was rapidly enlarged in the blade in order to give it a greater cutting function as well as a cleaving attack. 

Guisarme. Medieval peasants discovered that their pruning hooks made reasonably effective pole arms. The guisarme was furnished with a sharp cutting edge along its convex side, probably from reverse spike to hook. The spike, of course, could be used to penetrate armor when the weapon was swung, and the curved hook provided an ample means of pulling horsemen to the ground. 

Military Fork. The lowly hay fork was straightened and strengthened to provide a very potent weapon, the military fork. This pole arm had two efficient piercing points, for holding off an enemy, and sometimes a shorter third tine in the crotch of the fork, so that opponents were channeled into a third attack. 

Lucern hammer. This weapon is very similar to the halberd, but the spike on its end was generally longer than that of a halberd, and instead of an axe head the Lucern hammer featured a smaller, hammer-like head with three prongs. 

Bec de corbin. At first glance, a bec de corbin might be mistaken for a Lucern hammer, but important functional differences can be noted. Its heavy, crow’s-beak blade was designed to puncture the heavy plate armor common to upper-class warriors. In this weapon the beak is the major feature. This is backed by a flat hammer head, or by a clawed head somewhat similar to that of a Lucern hammer, and the end spike is more blade-like and far shorter than the awl spike of the Lucern hammer, for the latter weapon was not so specialized.

COMBINATION POLEARMS

These varieties of pole arms were developed to compensate for weakness of simpler weapons or to enhance already powerful ones.

Fauchard-fork. There were two general forms of this combination weapon. The first followed the typical fauchard form, with a single spike set to project from the back of the scythe blade. The second reversed the scythe blade so as to have its concave cutting edge face toward the opponent, the blade being more curved and sicklelike, and a spike tipping the pole end (or projecting from the scythe blade).

Glaive-guisarme. To the heavier and longer glaive head was added a guisarme hook to enable the wielder to jerk horsemen from their seats.

Guisarme-voulge. This pole arm is similar to a Lochaber axe (essentially a voulge with an added hook), but the hook is formed from the blade of the voulge itself, not added separately. Guisarme-voulges featured the pointed tip or spike so as to make the weapon as all-purpose as possible.

Bill-guisarme. There are quite a number of designs of the bill-guisarme. Each type has the following features: 1.) a sharp spear or awl point; 2.) a large hook formed from the body of the weapon; 3.) a back spike for armor penetration; and 4.) several sharpened edges. Some forms of the bill-guisarme have a sufficiently heavy blade and cutting edges placed so that they are actually voulge-like. The scorpion is one typical form of the bill-guisarme.

OTHER WEAPONS

Aklys. The aklys is a weighted, shortish club with a stout thong attached to the butt. While it can be used as a hand-held striking weapon, its principal employment is as a missile. Once hurled, the aklys may be retrieved by its thong. Of the hits scored with this weapon, 5% will be of the sort which entangle the target individual. If the target is Man-sized or smaller, it will be dismounted or jerked to its knees or side (if not bipedal), at the wielder's option. Conversely, if the target is Larger than man-sized, its actions might well jerk the aklys thrower prone. The weapon is tied to the wielder by a thong or cord of about 10 feet in length. When a hit is scored, a subsequent roll of 20 indicates entanglement. This condition persists until a round can be spent disentangling the aklys and thong, the thong is broken, the thong is severed (which requires 2 points of cutting damage), or the wielder somehow manages to divest himself or herself of the fastened line. Since the thong is usually secured to the wrist or gauntlet, such action can prove to be difficult.

Bo stick. A bo (stick) is a long staff-like weapon. Bo are typically around 5-9 ft. long and are used in martial arts. The bo is usually made with hard wood, such as red or white oak, although bamboo can be used. The bo may be tapered in that it can be thicker in the center than at the ends. Bo sticks may be round, square, hexagonal or octagonal depending on the style of martial arts being used. While the average size of a bo is around 5 ft., they can be constructed as long as 9 ft.

Bow, Composite. A composite bow is made up of layers or wood, bone, and sinew (this is the “composite”). They are more difficult to make than a one-piece bow (often called a “self” bow), hence the greater cost. Composite bows offer two advantages over self bows: They are more powerful for their size; a long self bow is longer than a man is tall; a long composite bow has about the same range but is only about 4 ft. long. Composite bows can be specially built to allow for Strength bonuses.

Harpoon. This weapon is a form of throwing spear with the head socket detachable in most cases. The head is fastened to a line so as to secure the target creature to the wielder or some object, provided the weapon strikes home. Against most targets, a hit from the harpoon indicates that the barbed head is buried or snagged. (See aklys above for details of this entangling effect, unless the harpoon line is secured to some stout object.) Naturally, the line attached to the harpoon must be of sufficient length to allow hurling to the range needed.

Furthermore, this line must be able to run freely when the weapon is hurled (and possibly subsequently moved away with at great rapidity).

In general, the following guidelines can be used when dealing with harpoon hits:

If the target creature has an Intelligence of not less than 2, and likewise has some means of effectuating dislodgement of the weapon head or severance of the line, a saving throw versus Poison is allowed. Success indicates the victim has freed itself. Failure indicates continued attachment, 1 point additional damage, and the possibility that the victim will be dragged 1" closer to the harpooner if the wielder so desires and the victim is of a size, weight, and strength which enables the harpooner to do so.

Flails. The threshing flail, a wooden handle with another billet of wood attached to it by a swivel or several links of chain, was easily adapted and modified to become a ghastly weapon. Horsemen commonly employed a short-handed flail with one or more chains ending in smooth or spiked iron balls. The peasant’s tool made a far more effective weapon when swung by a strong man. From a heavy shaft of about 3 to 4 feet in length was hung one or two rods of metal shod and spiked wood or iron. The whole weapon was over 4-5 feet long and had tremendous penetration and crushing power.

Jo stick. A jo (stick) is an approximately three to four ft. long wooden staff or stick, used in martial arts. The jo staff is shorter and quite a bit thicker than the bo (sometimes having a tapered end almost resembling a modern bat) usable in one hand and often used in pairs.

Morningstar. This club adaptation was typically a heavy wooden haft from 3-foot to 5-foot or more in length, atop which was set a cylinder, barrel, or truncated cone, also of wood, metal-bound, and set with vicious metal spikes. Also called the holy water sprinkler (or godentag), it was a favorite of the peasants, for it was easy to make and could lay low the best armored opponent at a blow. 

Spiked Buckler. The spiked buckler is the only effective form of the armed shield, for larger ones are too difficult to move quickly, and their projections form too easy a hold for opponents. The spiked buckler functions defensively as a standard buckler, capable of aiding the wielder's protection from one attack. Well-made spiked bucklers will have an edged spike, although the effective attack is by buckler thrust and seldom, if ever, a slash. When the wielder is fighting within arm's length of an opponent, the spiked buckler can be used for a separate attack during the round. Such attack is always made after the initial weapon attack, if any. Only one such extra attack per round is possible. If the spiked buckler is a second attack mode, the attack is made at -2 hit probability, this penalty cumulative with any others which are applicable.

Sword, Falchion. The falchion gets its name from its slightly curved, vaguely sickle-like shape. While it could be treated as a scimitar (which term generally encompasses such sword forms as sabre, yatagan, and tulwar), many medieval European falchions were much heavier and the point was actually used for thrusting. It has, there-fore, been included in the forms of swords possible in an expanded AD&D game campaign. The Dungeon Master should assume that 25% of magic broadswords are falchions.