Tired of your characters or world's cultures using the same old sword? Looking for something to really spice up your character and make them stand out. Today's post will be focusing on some unique weapons from history that break the mold along with suggestions on how to rule them.
Picture your typical adventurer. They're probably all heroic looking, or if they're one of mine they're probably a tiefling or dwarf. What weapon are they using? Probably a sword. Maybe an ax. Once in awhile, a mace, spear, or hammer. Your weapon of choice might be for either a mechanical reason (you want that rapier for your Dex based paladin) or for flavor reasons (You like the way a battle ax sounds for a dwarf fighter). In my opinion, your weapon choice helps with the flavoring of a character and is as much a part of them as other parts. Mythical weapons are in folklore and legends, be it Excalibur, Mjolnir, or Masamune, are often a major part of the characters that accompany them. Your weapon will also appear in any art you do or have commissioned, so you should be able to pick something cool and unique!
During my time studying history, I took great joy in spending time studying pre-modern weapons and how they worked, and I can certainly say there are a lot more different kinds of weapons than what the PHB lays out for you. This is not just for players either! Dungeon masters and world builders alike, I hope you can look to this to find weapons to use for the cultures you are crafting for your settings that the players will be going through. As we look at a variety of these different weapons, I will also provide ways to rule them to fit within the parameters of the game and keep them balanced. Of course, my ruling ideas are only suggestions. You can rule these weapons however you damn well please at your table, and I would love to hear your ideas! Let's take a look.
Katar
We are going to start with something you may be familiar with and a little easier to rule. You may have seen it used for characters and in other editions. Also known as a 'punch dagger' or 'push dagger,' the katar's origins are of South Asia, and it is one of the most well known weapons from India. When fighting with a katar, the technique is similar to boxing in that you need to be quick to dodge your opponent's attacks and aim for their head and upper body.
A rogue, monk, or any other very agile character would be well suited to using a katar. They should move fluidly and smoothly, ducking in and out of combat and striking as the opportunity would present itself.
Ruling the katar is rather simple. Just rule it as a dagger.
Bagh Nakh (Tiger Claws)
I have had players who use unarmed strikes ask me if they could purchase weapons such as brass knuckles or cestus to increase their unarmed damage. I am not a Dungeon Master to get upset or turn down a good idea. Offering an additional way to up unarmed damage isn't necessarily a bad idea either, especially for players who want to play an unarmed combatant without making a monk, such as my grappler build I made a few weeks ago.
One such solution is another weapon with origins in India; the Bagh Nakh, also known as the tiger claws. They worked similarly to brass knuckles, but had blades put on them to allow for slashing attacks that did more damage to fleshy humans than fists normally would. Some were made in such a way that they could be concealed and brought out, much like an actual tiger's claws.
These claws add a nice alternative for increasing a player's unarmed damage without having to take levels in monk. If you want to be a Dnd version of Wolverine, these are certainly for you.
Ruling Bagh Nakh poses some interesting ideas. I would rule them as unarmed weapons that perhaps take the place of say enchanted gloves/gauntlets and you can't hold a weapon while using them. They would change your unarmed attacks to slashing and would cause them to either deal 1d4 or 1d6. I would also make it so that these weapons have to be crafted or obtained through less conventional means.
Hook Swords
We have another Asian weapon with the hook swords. You may have seen these before. Originating from northern styles of Chinese martial arts, the origin of the hook swords is often debated by scholars. The blades may be sharpened or dull, and are often used in pairs. They are known for not being easy weapons to use and taking lots of practice to use properly and even more time to master them. Someone really skilled with them could use the hooks to link the blades and increase their reach with the blades. This made them fairly uncommonly used, but what better person to use them than your Dungeons and Dragons character!?
The hook swords would fit with any character you have that you want to have a bit of an East Asian motif with. They'd fit well with any character that wants to dual wield swords and be flashy with their attacks. You have plenty of pointy ends to work with to really dazzle your fellow players (and possible viewers/listeners) with awesome attack descriptions straight out of a kung fu movie.
The difficulty of ruling hook swords will depend on just what the Dungeon Master will allow to be done with them. To allow the flashy hooking of the blades to make a singular, flexible blade would be difficult to rule, but let's try something. First, rule them as scimitars. They are meant to be duel wielded, and should have both finesse and light. Perhaps add a three per short rest ability that allows the character to link the swords together if they have a high enough Dexterity score (say 16?) to allow an attack to have reach. Otherwise, require an acrobatics/sleight of hand or any other fitting Dexterity check to allow the player to attempt to link the swords with a failure disarming them. These weapons will have to specially crafted by a skilled smith or obtained through other unconventional means.
Gun Stock War Club
You may remember this weapon if you have seen Last of the Mohicans as the weapon used by Chingachgook. The gun stock war club is of North American Native American origin and gets its name from the fact that it looks like the stock of a rifle. Many historians believe that Native Americans came up with the weapon when they saw how colonists used their rifles as bludgeoning weapons after firing them. Others say Native Americans modified rifles they had obtained. Regardless, it is a cool weapon, and watching the aforementioned Last of the Mohicans will show you how effective it can be and how it can be used in a fluid, and interesting manner despite its stocky appearance. It also can be thrown to great effect to just add icing on the cake.
The gun stock war club is perfect for any character that you want to have a Native American vibe with. It fits the ascetic of an outlander, frontiers person, or nature dweller very well. A character I am going to be playing lives in a world with powder arms, and uses one of these because he modified a firearm he found on the battlefield.
Ruling the gun stock war club will offer some interesting issues, but none that require any difficult hurdling like the hook swords. First off, I would rule it as a battle ax, making it a one handed weapon with versatile. Then, I would allow the damage type on the weapon to be switched between the slashing of a normal ax, and bludgeoning like a club. Although damage type between these two is usually not a big deal, it does make a difference in some situations, so I would rule it as a bonus or move action to switch the type of damage you're dealing.
Tonfa
You might recognize the tonfa. It looks like night sticks used by the cops (Even though they've been phased out for collapsible batons). The weapon night sticks are based off of come from Okinawa, Japan, though this origin is often debated. The weapon can be gripped in three ways; 1. The natural grip has the wielder hold the tonfa from the handle sticking out, holding the club part against the forearms. 2) It can be held on the shaft below the natural grips to use the the grips as a hook for disarming. 3) It can be hold from the bottom and used as a rather regular club.
Being a weapon based off of martial arts, the tonfa fits the mantra of a monk very well. You can flavor them as a way that the monk can block, say a battleaxe, without their arms getting cut up. You can also now have your town watch use night sticks, and if someone gives you a hard time about them being a modern weapon, you read it here on Kobold Stew; They work in a medieval setting!
Ruling the tonfa isn't going to be too difficult if you don't want to worry too much about swapping grips. Just rule them like regular clubs. If grip swapping is going to be an issued because someone wants to get creative and use the natural grip as a means to disarm an opponent, call it a bonus action.
Bec de Corbin
Our only European entry in this post (a lot of the weapons described in the PHB are of European or mixed origins) is the bec de corbin. Imagine if a halberd and a warhammer go together and had a terrifying baby. That's a bec de corbin. French for "beak of the crow" or "raven's beak," the bec de corbin was a polearm often used similar in design to the lucerne hammer, or a pole axe. The hammer part was used for heavily armored opponents with the beak used to pierce through weaker armor and dismounting horse riding combatants, so cavaliers beware.
Bec de corbins make a nice addition to a solider style character. It's role for dismounting and smashing armor really fits into the idea of a soldier style character using this weapon. Perhaps a cleric who wants to use a warhammer with a little more reach might opt for a bec de corbin. A crusading paladin might also use one. You can spice up your city guards by arming them with some bec de corbins, the bludgeoning being a better alternative than slicing up citizens with a halberd.
Ruing the bec de corbin can be simple if you like. Call it a halberd that deals bludgeoning damage instead of slashing damage. Personally, I feel halberds should have versatility in what types of damage it can use because it often does have spear points, much like the bec de corbin, but that's an argument for a different post.
Macuahuitl
Perhaps one of the oldest weapons on the list, the Macuahuitl comes from the Aztecs of the Mesoamerica. The name of it is Aztec for "hand wood." It is made as a flat club of sorts, but the sides are lined with prismatic blades, usually made out of obsidian. Obsidian can be made to an edge sharper than steel and is very effective at cutting. The Macauahuitl was capable of decapitating a person with ease. Talk about good stuff. Sadly, it did not fair well against metal armor, but despite its sharpness, obsidian is not as hard as steel. Regardless, this is a fantasy game where we toss out a bunch of realism, so work with me here.
This weapon is great for a character you want to give an Aztec feel to. It really fits the "traditional weapon" vibe. Druids who want to be able to cut stuff without using steel, look no further than here. All natural materials here baby. Barbarains might really dig this weapon as the Aztecs were pretty unarmored warriors themselves.
Ruling this bad boy shouldn't be too difficult. Honestly, I'd rule it as a sword. Make it a long sword, greatsword, scimitar... whatever you need to fit your character mechanically. It isn't super interesting mechanically, but at the table, describing your characters traditional weapon will be cool. Plus, all the rare stones and materials in a fantasy setting offer really cool crafting ideas for this weapon.
Hunga Munga
Coming from Africa, hopefully these aren't blessing your rains. It is also known as a mamble, and unfortunately is our only ranged weapon on this list. They are a sort of hybrid of an ax and a knife, and they are often used for throwing. The curves and spikes make it so they hurt going in and hurt even more coming out. They were often a sign of status for their owners. Their unique appearance alone makes them intriguing and should make you raise an eyebrow for a character you may be making.
The hunga munga fits well with any character you want to have a sort of African culture vibe with. With the recent buzz with Black Panther surely inspiring many, why not have your character use a traditional African weapon? Any character that uses throwing knives will love to add this to their arsenal.
You can rule them as throwing knives for the sake of simplicity. Perhaps mix in a bit of throwing ax if you are feeling adventurous.
Like swords, many ranged weapons really have not varied enough to warrant a special mention in this post. Bows and crossbows alike were common across the world. Sure you had slings that shot darts or crossbows that hurled rocks, but nothing really worth mentioning. Bows have you covered in the PHB here.
Of course, as I mentioned, the rules are suggestions. Rule them how you like. I would put plenty more weapons on here if I really wanted, but just describing all the different kinds of swords out there would take an encyclopedia on its own. Go out and find interesting weapons to bring back to your table and wow your fellow players with. There are lots of books and resources out there full to the brim of pictures and information on them!
I hope you got a kick out of looking at some different weapons to give a try. Perhaps one of your characters will find one in their paws, or your world will find a place for them to be used.
Until next time,
Happy Gaming,
Uncle Puddins
Comments