The Dragon Tablets: Iteration Two – Weapons & Armor

Crafted Weapons and Shields by Bethesda

Having talked about rules and races and exploits, we have come to the topic of gear. There will be a couple of posts on gear. And this one will be about weapons and armor. As heroes and adventurers, this is something that will keep you alive when trouble comes knocking. In other words, it is essential to your survival.

In this post, I’m using GURPS Basic Set, GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1 Adventurers, and GURPS Low-Tech for my gear and refer to them as Basic Set, Dungeon Fantasy, and Low-Tech.

Weapons

I’ve taken weapons from the Basic Set and from Low-Tech. The descriptive text and stats are listed there. These weapons may represent more than one real-world weapon or could be complete fantasy. Some weapons may come in a number of varieties and are listed below to show what stats they are using in each variety. Some weapons may not be listed in either volume or might have different stats from those listed, these are listed in the weapon tables below.

Weapons marked with an asterisk (*) come from Marshlands exclusively. Most of the other weapons may have been developed in more than one place.

Axe-Hammer: An Axe-Hammer is similar to a short handled Poleaxe with an axe head on one side and a hammer head on the other.
Axe-Pick: An Axe-Pick is a weapon similar to an axe or a short handled polearm. At the end of the stick, there is an axe head on one side and a pick head on the other.
Cane: A walking stick. Treat it as a Light Club, perhaps with a crook. A lighter cane is treated as Short Staff.
Flying Dart: A throwing blade. Depending on its size, treat it as a Small Throwing Knife or a Large Throwing Knife.

Hammer-Pick: A Hammer-Pick is similar to a hammer, but one of the sides of the head is replaced by a pick.

Metsubushi*: Treat it as a Blowpipe that only can shoot powders at one yard. It’s too fiddly to reload in combat.
Partisan: A spear with spikes at the base of the head that prevents impaled foes from closing with the wielder by running themselves through. Treat it as a Spear that cannot be thrown.
Scimitar: A curved sword. Depending on its size and curvature, treat it as a Shortsword, Cavalry Saber, or a Thrusting Broadsword.
Tachi: A cavalry sword forerunner of the Katana. Depending on its size, treat it as a Cavalry Saber or a Katana.

Modifiers

Balanced: It works as Balanced from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five.
Cheap: It works as Cheap from Low-Tech Chapter Five.
Dragonbone: Melee weapons have the same weight and have a +1 bonus to skill and +2 bonus to damage. It also gives -3 reactions from dragons. +29 CF.
Dragonsteel: Metal weapons weigh the same as steel and have a +1 bonus to skill and +2 bonus to damage. It also gives -3 reactions from The Knights of Celemana and the friends and family of the rightful owner. +29 CF.
Elven: Elven melee weapons and bows have range and damage as if the wielder had +2 to ST.
Entercian Silver: Metal weapons can be made of Entercian Silver to exploit monster Vulnerability, +19 CF. These weapons have normal weight.
Fine: It works as Fine from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five.
Horn: It works as Horn from Low-Tech Chapter Five.
Gnomish: It works as Fine and Orichalcum from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five.
Iron: Not affected by Fine and better quality. Always considered cheap.
Matruskan Steel: It works as Orichalcum. It never dulls. It has half the weight of steel. And gives a +1 bonus to skill and damage. +43 CF.
Meteoric: It works as Meteoric from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five.
Ornate: It works as Ornate from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five.
Poorly Balanced: It works as Cheap from Low-Tech Chapter Five.
Very Fine: It works as Very Fine from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five.
Wood: It works as Wood from Low-Tech Chapter Five.

Dragonbone, Dragonsteel, Entercian Silver, Gnomish, Horn, Iron, Matruskan Steel, Meteoric, and Wood are mutually exclusive. Cheap, Fine, and Very Fine are mutually exclusive. Balanced and Poorly Balanced are mutually exclusive. Demonic, Elven, and Gnomish are mutually exclusive.

Melee Weapon Table

Listed weapons are divided according to the skill needed to wield it competently. Those weapons that are exactly as in the books only have their names listed. While weapons that have been invented or changed have a full table workup.

Weapons marked with an asterisk (*) come from Marshlands exclusively. Most of the other weapons may have been developed in more than one place.

Axe/Mace

Weapons from the books: Axe, Hatchet, Khopesh, Knobbed Club, Mace, Pick, Sickle, Small Axe, Small Mace, Small Throwing Axe, and Throwing Axe.

Weapon	Damage	Reach	Parry	Cost	Weight	ST	Notes
Axe-Hammer or	sw+3 cut sw+3 cr	1 1	0U 0U	$100 -	6 -	12 12
Axe-Pick or	sw+2 cut sw+2 imp	1 1	0U 0U	$80 -	5 -	10 10	[3, 4]
Hammer-Pick or	sw+3 cr sw+2 imp	1 1	0U 0U	$100 -	6 -	12 12	[3, 4]

Brawling, DX

Weapons from the books: Backsword, Blackjack, Combat Fan and Cutlass.

Brawling, Karate, DX

Weapons from the books: Tonfa*.

Broadsword

Weapons from the books: Backsword, Cavalry Saber, Dao*, Edged Rapier, Jian*, Jo*, Katana*, Khopesh, Large Falchion, Late Katana*, Light Club, Thrusting Bastard Sword, Thrusting Broadsword.

Flail

Weapons from the books: Bolas, Flail, Morning Star, Nunchaku*, and Weighted Scarf.

Garrote

Weapons from the books: Garrote and Weighted Scarf.

Jitte/Sai

Weapons from the books: Sai*.

Knife

Weapons from the books: Dagger, Kukri, Large Knife, Long Knife, Main-Gauche, Short Baton, Small Knife, and Wooden Stake.

Kusari

Weapons from the books: Chain Whip, Kusari*, and Kusarigama*.

Lance

Weapons from the books: Lance.

Main-Gauche

Weapons from the books: Main-Gauche and Sai*.

Polearm

Weapons from the books: Dueling Glaive, Dueling Halberd, Glaive, Halberd, Naginata*, Oar, Poleaxe, Pollaxe.

Rapier

Weapons from the books: Jian*, Edged Rapier, Light Edged Rapier, Light Rapier, and Rapier.

Saber

Weapons from the books: Saber.

Shield

Weapons from the books: Shield Bash, Long Spike, Sharp Edge, and Spike.

Shortsword

Weapons from the books: Baton, Cutlass, Falchion, Long Knife, Short Baton, Shortsword, and Small Falchion.

Smallsword

Weapons from the books: Dress Smallsword, Short Staff, and Smallsword.

Spear

Weapons from the books: Heavy Spear, Javelin, Long Spear, Pike, Short Spear, Spear, Trident.

Staff

Weapons from the books: Dueling Polearm, Jo*, Long Staff, Quarterstaff.

Tonfa

Weapons from the books: Tonfa.

Two-Handed Axe/Mace

Weapons from the books: Great Axe, Long Axe, Mace, Maul, Scythe, Throwing Axe, Warhammer.

Weapon	Damage	Reach	Parry	Cost	Weight	ST	Notes
Tow-Handed Axe-Hammer or	sw+3 cut sw+4 cr	1 1	0U 0U	$120 -	7 -	12‡ 12‡
Two-Handed Axe-Pick or	sw+3 cut sw+4 imp	1 1	0U 0U	$100 -	7 -	12‡ 12‡	[3, 4]
Two-Handed Hammer-Pick or	sw+4 cr sw+4 imp	1 1	0U 0U	$100 -	7 -	12‡ 12‡	[3, 4]

Two-Handed Flail 

Weapons from the books: Flail and Three-Part Staff.

Two-Handed Sword

Weapons from the books: Jo*, Katana*, Late Katana*, Naginata*, Quarterstaff, Thrusting Bastard Sword, and Thrusting Greatsword

Whip

Weapons from the books: Light Whip and Whip.

Ranged Weapon Table

Listed weapons are divided according to the skill needed to wield it competently. Those weapons that are exactly as in the books only have their names listed. While weapons that have been invented or changed have a full table workup.

Weapons marked with an asterisk (*) come from Marshlands exclusively. Most of the other weapons may have been developed in more than one place.

Blowpipe

Weapons from the books: Blowpipe

Bolas

Weapons from the books: Bolas

Bow

Weapons from the books: Longbow, Reflex Bow, Regular Bow, Short Bow, Straight Composite Bow, Tubular Bow

Cloak

Weapons from the books: Heavy Cloak and Light Cloak.

Crossbow

Weapons from the books: Composite Crossbow, Crossbow, Fowling Crossbow, Hunting Crossbow, Military Crossbow, Pistol Crossbow*, Repeating Crossbow*, Siege Crossbow

Net

Weapons from the books: Large Net and Melee Net.

Sling

Weapons from the books: Heavy Sling, Sling, and Staff Sling.

Thrown Weapon (Axe/Mace)

Weapons from the books: Hatchet, Mace, Small Mace, Small Throwing Axe, and Throwing Axe.

Thrown Weapon (Dart)

Weapons from the books: Throwing Dart

Thrown Weapon (Harpoon)

Weapons from the books: Harpoon

Thrown Weapon (Knife)

Weapons from the books: Dagger, Large Knife, Large Throwing Knife, Sai*, Small Knife, Small Throwing Knife, and Wooden Stake.

Thrown Weapon (Shuriken)

Weapons from the books: Spike Shuriken*, Star Shuriken*.

Thrown Weapon (Spear)

Weapons from the books: Javelin and Spear.

Thrown Weapon (Stick)

Weapons from the books: Boomerang and Throwing Stick.

Heroic Armor set by JophieIS

Armor

The Elder Scrolls have a lot of different types of armor that at various times have been classified in various ways. GURPS have different types of armor too, though not as many, and I want those two lists to work together. One way to do that would be to make GURPS rules for each of the armors in TES. That seems like too much work to me. Especially in this step by step, iteration-based, creative process that I’m using. So let’s not do that.

Another way would be using the more limited list of GURPS stated armors while giving the player freedom enough to define what that means. Or in other words, to some extent, design their own armor. Buy something on the list, use its DR, cost, and weight, but decide for yourself what the armor looks like. This way, TES armors that look different and have different names, but have similar stats, can be covered by one GURPS armor set.

Secondly, allowing armors of other materials than ordinary cloth/fur, leather, and steel will change the stats of those armors and allow them to fulfill the roles of additional armor.

Modifiers

Demonic: It works as Dwarven from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five, but it works up to DR +4 which weighs 1.8 times as much and is CF +4.
Dragonbone: It works as Dragonhide from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five, for any plate armor.
Dragonhide: It works as Dragonhide from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five, for all hard leather armors and all scale armors.
Dragonsteel: It works as Dragonhide from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five, but for all metal armor and gives -3 reaction from Knights of Celemana and friends and family of the rightful owner instead of from dragons.
Entercian Silver: It works as Thieves’ from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five, but it ignores encumbrance for all reasons, +9 CF.
Elven: Any armor can be Elven. If the base armor has divided DR, Elven armor uses the higher DR for all damage. Other armor has +1 DR. All Elven armor has 3/4 normal weight. Split DR armor is +12 CF and other armor is +49 CF.
Fine: It works as Fine from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five.
Giant Spider Silk: It works as Giant Spider Silk from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five.
Gnomish: Any metal armor can be Gnomish. It either works as Orichalcum from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five or it doubles the DR for +99 CF.
Iron: Any metal armor can be made of iron. It has the listed weight, but counts as cheap.
Matruskan Steel: Any metal armor can be made out of Matruskan Steel. It otherwise works as Orichalcum from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five.
Meteoric: It works as Meteoric from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five.
Ornate: It works as Ornate from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five.
Spiked: It works as Spiked from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five.

Dragonhide, Dragonsteel, Enterican Silver, Giant Spider Silk, Gnomish, Iron, Matruskan Steel, and Meteoric are mutually exclusive. Demonic, Elven, and Gnomish are mutually exclusive. Armor made of Entercian Silver cannot be Ornate.

Armor Table

The following table presents the stats for available armor. The first line is cost, the second is weight. In Low-Tech, only the cost and weight for the torso is listed and there’s a table with percentages to calculate weight and cost for the rest of the body. For ease of use, I have made those calculations already. Though I have made all armors lighter than they were in Low-Tech.
Armor: The type of armor.
DR: How much the armor protects. This is not listed for armors taken from the books to avoid fair use issues. This is just a tool to help those that have the books, they are not supposed to supplant them.
Head: Covers the entire head, except the face. Unless the full face is included.
Body: Covers neck, torso, and groin. Breastplates cover only from the front and are half price and weight.
Arms: Covers the arms.
Hands: Covers the hands.
Legs: Covers the legs.
Feat: Covers the feet. If the shin cost and weight is included, the boots end just below the knees.
Suit: Covers your entire body.
Page: The page in Low-Tech where you can find this type of armor in the armor table. The DR and notes may be the most interesting as those are not listed here.
On Your Own: Arms, Hands, Legs, and Feet come in pairs. If you only want one of them, you can get them for half cost and weight.
Description: You buy the armor and you determine what it looks like. Some of the modifiers mentioned above may limit your design options.

Armor	DR	Head (Full Face)	Body	Arms	Hands	Legs	Feet (+ Shins)	Suit	Page
Padded Cloth or Fur		$10 (+$5) 1 (+ 0.5)	$53 5.3	$25 2.5	$5 0.5	$50 5	$5 (+$25) 0.5 (+ 2.5)	$150 15	LT110
Medium Leather Weight		$20 (+$10) 2 (+1)	$105 10.5	$50 5	$10 1	$100 10	$10(+$50) 1 (+5)	$300 30	LT110
Light Layered Cloth		$30 (+$15) 2 (+1)	$158 10.5	$75 5	$15 1	$150 10	$15(+$75) 1 (+ 5)	$450 30	LT110
Light Layered Leather		$24 (+$12) 2.4 (+ 1.2)	$126 12.6	$60 6	$12 1.2	$120 12	$12(+$60) 1.2 (+ 6)	$360 36	LT110
Medium Hardened Leather		$25 (+$13) 2.5 (+ 1.3)	$132 13.2	$63 6.3	$13 1.3	$125 12.5	$13(+$63) 1.3 (+ 6.3)	$375 37.5	LT110
Light Mail Weight		$100(+$50) 2 (+ 1)	$525 10.5	$250 5	$50 1	$500 10	$50(+$250) 1 (+ 5)	$1,500 30	LT110
Light Scale Weight		$64 (+$32) 2.6 (+ 1.3)	$336 13.7	$160 6.5	$32 1.3	$320 13	$32(+$160) 1.3 (+ 6.5)	$960 39	LT110
Heavy Leather Weight		$40 (+$20) 3.2 (+ 1.6)	$210 16.8	$100 0.8	$20 1.6	$200 16	$20(+$100) 1,6 (+ 8)	$600 48	LT110
Jack of Plates Weight		$60 (+$30) 3 (+ 1.5)	$315 15.8	$150 7.5	$30 1.5	$300 15	$30 +$150) 1.5 (+ 7.5)	$900 45	LT110
Heavy Hardened Leather		$50 (+$25) 4 (+ 2)	$263 21	$125 10	$25 2	$250 20	$25(+$125) 2 (+ 10)	$750 60	LT110
Horn Weight		$50 (+$25) 4 (+ 2)	$263 21	$125 10	$25 2	$250 20	$25(+$125) 2 (+ 10)	$750 60	LT110
Light Segmented Plate		$120(+$60) 2.6 (+ 1.3)	$630 13.7	$300 6.5	$60 1.3	$600 13	$60(+$300) 1.3 (+ 6.5)	$1,800 39	LT111
Light Brigandine Weight		$180(+$90) 1.6 (+ 0.8)	$945 8.4	$450 4	$90 0.8	$900 8	$90(+$450) 0.8 (+ 4)	$2,700 16	LT111
Light Plate Weight		$200(+$100) 1.4 (+ 0.7)	$1,050 7.4	$500 3.5	$100 0.7	$1,000 7	$100(+$500) 0.7 (+ 3.5)	$3,000 21	LT111
Fine Mail Weight		$180 (+$90) 2.5 (+ 1.3)	$945 13	$450 6.3	$90 1.3	$900 12.5	$90 (+$450) 1.3 (+6.3)	$2,700 37.5	LT111
Heavy Layered Leather		$106 (+$53) 6 (+ 3)	$551 31	$263 15	$53 3	$525 30	$53 (+$263) 3 (+ 15)	$1,575 90	LT110
Heavy Layered Cloth		$120 (+$60) 4.8 (+ 2.4)	$630 25	$300 12	$60 2.4	$600 24	$60 (+$300) 2.4 (+ 12)	$1,800 72	LT110
Heavy Mail Weight		$240(+$120) 2.6 (+ 1.3)	$1260 13.7	$600 6.5	$120 1.3	$1,200 13	$120(+$600) 1.3 (6.5)	$3,600 39	LT111
Mail and Plates Weight		$200(+$100) 3.2 (+ 1.6)	$1,050 16.8	$500 8	$100 1.6	$1,000 16	$100(+$500) 1.6 (+ 8)	$3,000 48	LT111
Heavy Scale Weight		$220(+$110) 6.4 (+ 3.2)	$1,155 33.6	$550 16	$110 3.2	$1,100 32	$110(+$550) 3.2 (+ 16)	$3,300 96	LT110
Heavy Segmented Plate		$240(+$120) 5.2 (+ 2.6)	$1260 27.3	$600 13	$120 2.6	$1,200 26	$120(+$600) 2.6 (+ 13)	$3,600 78	LT111
Medium Brigandine		$360(+$180) 3.2 (+ 1.6)	$1,890 16.8	$900 8	$180 1.6	$1,800 16	$180(+$900) 1.6 (+ 8)	$5,400 48	LT111
Jousting Mail Weight		$300(+$150) 4.8 (+2.4)	$1,575 25.2	$750 12	$150 2.4	$1,500 24	$150(+$750) 2.4 (+ 12)	$4,500 72	LT111
Medium Plate Weight		$500(+$250) 3.2 (+ 1.6)	$2,625 16.8	$1,250 8	$250 1.6	$2,500 16	$250(+$1,250) 1.6 (+ 8)	$7,500 48	LT111
Heavy Plate Weight		$800(+$400) 5.2 (+ 2.6)	$4,200 27.3	$2,000 13	$400 2.6	$4,000 26	$400(+$2,000) 2.6 (+ 13)	$12,000 78	LT111

How to Dress in Town

Most heroes are prudent enough to wear armor in the field, but wearing armor in town is asking for trouble. Unless you have a job that requires you to wear armor in town. Wearing any armor in town gives you -1 penalty to reactions. If the armor is made of metal or your face is covered, that becomes -2. And if both of those are true, the penalty becomes -4.

Shields

As with the armor section, there are various kinds of shields both in TES and in GURPS and we are going to use the same method as for the armors when we design them. And in the same way, players will get to determine what they look like.

Modifiers

Balanced: It works as Balanced from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five.
Demonic: It works as Dwarven from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five.
Dragonhide: It works as Dragonhide from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five, but for hide shields.
Dragonsteel: It works as Dragonhide from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five, but for metal shields and gives -3 reaction from Knights of Celemana and friends and family of the rightful owner instead of from dragons.
Elven: Shields have +1 DR and 3/4 normal weight for +49 CF.
Fine: It works as Fine from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five.
Giant Spider Silk: It works as Giant Spider Silk from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five, but for cloaks.
Gnomish: It works as Orichalcum from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five.
Laminated: It adds 20% to HP for +1 CF.
Matruskan Steel: It works as Orichalcum from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five.
Meteoric: It works as Meteoric from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five.
Mirrored: It works as Mirrored from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five.
Ornate: It works as Ornate from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five.
Spiked: It works as Spiked from Dungeon Fantasy Chapter Five, but for shields.

Shield Table

The following table presents the stats for available shields. The table headings have been taken from B287 and the shields themselves from Low-Tech. Most shields have had their weight altered.

Shield	Cost	Weight	Notes
Argive Shield	$120	12	[2]
Heater Shield	$75	10	[3]
Kite Shield	$120	14	[3]
Large Shield, Heavy	$90	16	[2, 3]
Large Shield, Light	$68	8	[1]
Medium Shield, Heavy	$60	11	[2, 3]
Medium Shield, Light	$45	6	[1]
Small Shield, Heavy	$40	5	[2, 3]
Small Shield, Light	$30	3	[1]