Consolidated AD&D Weapon Characteristics List

Having spent the last few days down a research rabbit hole, I ended up compiling a chart of AD&D weapon characteristics, adding some "missing" entries and modifying (and in some cases combining) all of the canonical weapons. Having done the work, I figured I might as well share it. I'm reasonably confident I've captured pretty much every common (or even not-so-common) military weapon used in Europe and the Near East during the Middle Ages (c. 500-1500 CE) and have also included a fair sampling of earlier, later, and non-European weapons to the extent they overlap and correspond with an existing entry or otherwise seem like they might be fun and relevant to include in a fantasy game. 

In addition to compiling book data, I've also incorporated an assortment of my own house rules, including stat minimums for various weapons (already implicit in AD&D due to the notes about certain types of mercenary soldiers being unable to use heavy weapons), my simplified take on the weapon vs AC adjustment table (previously seen in Foster's Miscellany Vol. 1) and my new notion that certain types of daggers and swords with elaborate hilts should provide a parrying bonus when used defensively (in hopes of perhaps making parrying an actual viable defensive tactic, which is not the case under the official rules). 

It's probably too later for me to introduce this list in my current campaign (not least because I'm sure the players would howl in protest that some of their weapons' damage has been reduced) but if I ever start another fresh AD&D campaign after this one I'm likely to use this as the canonical list.

A. AXES

1. Hatchet [francisca, horseman’s axe, tomahawk]: dmg 1d6/1d4
Fast (SF 4), can be thrown (Min Str 9, Dex 11: ROF 1, range 1/2/3), can be used in off-hand

2. Axe, long [Dane axe, sparth axe] (2H*) Min Str 9 (13 for 1H use): dmg 1d8/1d8
Bonus vs chain/banded/splint (+2) [slow (SF 7)]

3. Axe, pole [bardiche, ono, voulge] (2H) Min Str 11: dmg 2d4/1d10
Reach (5’), bonus vs chain/banded/splint (+2) [slow (SF 8), space requirement (5’)]

4. Halberd [bill, lochaber axe, roncone, scorpion] (2H) Min Str 13: dmg 1d10/2d6
Reach (6’), bonus vs chain/banded/splint (+2), can dismount (Min Dex 9), can be set vs. charging horses [very slow (SF 9), space requirement (5’)]


B. BLUDGEONS

1. Club (C,T): dmg 1d6/1d3
Fast (SF 4), can be thrown (ROF 1, range 1/2/3), can stun

2. Stick, fighting [jo stick] (C,M,T) Min Dex 9: dmg 1d6/1d3
Very fast (SF 2), can stun, can be used in off-hand [ineffective vs armor (disadvantage vs chain or heavier)]

3. Jitte (C) Min Dex 11: dmg 1d3/1d3
Very fast (SF 2), can stun, can disarm 1H weapons

4. Hammer (C) Min Str 9: dmg 1d4+1/1d4
Fast (SF 4), can be thrown (Min Str 9, Dex 11: ROF 1, range 1/2/3), can be used in off-hand

5. Mace, light [horseman’s mace] (C) Min Str 9: dmg 1d6/1d4
Bonus vs plate (+2 vs plate mail, +3 vs field/full plate)

6. Mace, heavy [footman’s mace] (2H*) (C) Min Str 9 (13 for 1H use): dmg 1d6+1/1d6
Bonus vs plate (+2 vs plate mail, +3 vs field/full plate) [slow (SF 7)]

7. Maul (2H) (C) Min Str 11: dmg 1d8/1d8
[slow (SF 8), space requirement (5’)]

8. Morning-star [godendag, tetsubo] (2H) (C) Min Str 11: dmg 2d4/1d6+1
Reach (5’) [slow (SF 7), space requirement (5’)]

9. Staff, quarter [bo stick] (2H) (C,M) Min Str 9, Dex 9: dmg 1d6/1d6
Fast (SF 4), reach (6’), can stun [ineffective vs armor (disadvantage vs chain or heavier)]


C. FLAILS

1. Nunchaku (C,T) Min Dex 11: dmg 1d4+1/1d4
Fast (SF 3), can stun [ineffective vs armor (disadvantage vs chain or heavier)]

2. Flail, ball and chain [horseman’s flail] (C) Min Str 9, Dex 11: dmg 1d4+1/1d4+1
Ignores shields

3. Flail, military [footman’s flail] (2H) (C) Min Str 11, Dex 9: dmg 1d6+1/2d4
Ignores shields [slow (SF 7), space requirement (6’)]

4. Whip (T) Min Str 9, Dex 9: dmg 1d2/1
Reach (10’), entangles [space requirement (6’), ineffective vs armor (no damage vs chain or heavier, entangles only)]

5. Chain (C) Min Dex 13: dmg 1d4/1d3
Reach (10’), entangles [space requirement (5’), ineffective vs armor (no damage vs chain or heavier, entangle only)]

6. Sickle-chain [kusari-gama] (2H) (T) Min Dex 13: dmg 1d4+1/1d4
Reach (10’), entangles


D. KNIVES

1. Knife (M,T): dmg 1d3/1d2
Very fast (SF 2), can be thrown (Min Dex 11: ROF 2, range 1/2/3), can be used in off-hand, can disarm knives

2. Dagger [kris, misericorde, poignard, rondel, stiletto, tanto] (M,T): dmg 1d4/1d3
Very fast (SF 2), can be thrown (Min Dex 11: ROF 2, range 1/2/3), can be used in off-hand, bonus vs chain & plate (+2 vs chain or plate mail, +3 vs field/full plate if opponent is prone), can disarm knives & daggers

3. Dagger, parrying [main-gauche] (T) Min Dex 11: dmg 1d4/1d3
Very fast (SF 2), parry bonus (+1 to AC when used to parry instead of attack), can be used in off-hand, can disarm knives & daggers

4. Dagger, sword-breaking [sai] (T) Min Dex 11: dmg 1d4/1d3
Very fast (SF 2), can disarm 1H weapons and break knives, daggers & 1H swords, can be used in off-hand

5. Sickle [falx, kama] (T): dmg 1d4+1/1d4
Fast (SF 4)


E. PICKS

1. Pick, military [crow-bill, fang, horseman’s pick, zaghnal] Min Str 9: dmg 1d4+1/1d4
Bonus vs plate (+2 vs plate mail, +3 vs field/full plate)

2. Pick, heavy [footman’s pick] (2H*) Min Str 9 (13 for 1H use): dmg 1d6+1/2d4
Bonus vs plate (+2 vs plate mail, +3 vs field/full plate) [slow (SF 7)]

3. Pole-hammer [bec de corbin, Lucerne hammer] (2H) Min Str 11: dmg 2d4/1d6
Reach (5’), bonus vs plate (+2 vs plate mail, +3 vs field/full plate) [very slow (SF 9), space requirement (5’)]


F. SPEARS

1. Spear, short: dmg 1d6/1d8
Reach (6’), can be set vs. charging men or horses, can be thrown (Min Str 9, Dex 9: ROF 1, range 1/2/3), bonus vs chain & plate (+2 vs chain & plate mail, +3 vs field/full plate if opponent prone)

2. Spear, long [pike, sarissa] (2H) Min Str 9: dmg 1d6/1d12
Reach (12’+), can be set vs. charging men or horses, bonus vs chain & plate (+2 vs chain & plate mail, +3 vs field/full plate if opponent prone) [slow to very slow (SF 8+)]

3. Lance: dmg 1d6/1d8 (light horse), 1d6+1/2d6 (medium horse) or 2d4+1/3d6 (heavy horse)
Reach (10’+), double damage on mounted charge [can only be used while mounted]

4. Trident (2H*) Min Str 9 (13 for 1H use): dmg 1d6+1/2d4
Reach (5’), can disarm any weapon (Min Dex 11)

5. Fauchard [guisarme, war scythe] (2H) Min Str 11: dmg 1d6/1d8
Reach (6’), can dismount (Min Dex 9) [slow (SF 8)]

6. Glaive [naginata] (2H) Min Str 9: dmg 1d6/1d10
Reach (8’), can be set vs charging horses [slow (SF 8)]

7. Fork, military (2H) Min Str 11: dmg 1d8/2d4
Reach (7’), can dismount (Min Dex 9), can be set vs. charging horses [slow (SF 7)]

8. Man-catcher (2H) Min Str 11, Dex 9: dmg 1d2/1d2
Reach (8’), entangles [slow (SF 7)]

9. Ranseur [Chauve-souris, korseke, ox-tongue, partisan, spetum, spontoon] (2H) Min Str 11: dmg 2d4/2d6
Reach (8’), can dismount (Min Dex 9), can disarm (Min Dex 11), can be set vs. charging horses [slow (SF 8)]


G. SWORDS

1. Sword, short [baselard, gladius, wakizashi, xiphos] (T) Min Dex 9: dmg 1d6/1d8
Fast (SF 3], can disarm knives, daggers & short swords

2. Sword-gauntlet [manople, pata] Min Dex 11: dmg 1d6/1d8
AC bonus (+1 unless wearing plate), can disarm 1H weapons

3. Falchion [cutlass, falcata, kopis, kukri, machete, seax] (T) Min Str 9: dmg 1d6+1/2d4
Can disarm knives, daggers & 1H swords

4. Sword, broad [jian, spatha, Viking sword] (T) Min Str 9: dmg 2d4/1d6+1
Can disarm knives, daggers & 1H swords

5. Sword, long [arming sword, knightly sword, side-sword] (T) Min Str 9: dmg 1d8/1d10
Parry bonus (+1 to AC when used to parry instead of attack), can disarm knives, daggers & 1H swords

6. Scimitar [dao, katana, kilij, saber, shamshir, tachi, tulwar, yatagan] (T) Min Str 9, Dex 11: dmg 1d8/1d8
Fast (SF 4); bonus vs no armor & leather (+1)

7. Rapier (T) Min Dex 13: 1d8/1d10
Fast (SF 4), parry bonus (+1 to AC when used to parry instead of attack), can disarm knives, daggers & 1H swords

8. Khopesh [rhomphaia] Min Str 11: dmg 2d4/1d6
Can snag weapons (Min Dex 11) [very slow (SF 9)]

9. Sword, bastard (2H*) Min Str 11 (13 for 1H use): dmg 2d4/1d12 (2H) or 1d8/1d10 (1H)
Parry bonus (+1 to AC when used to parry instead of attack)

10. Estoc (2H*) Min Str 11 (13 for 1H use): dmg 2d4/1d12 (2H) or 1d8/1d10 (1H)
Bonus vs plate (+2 vs plate mail, +3 vs vs field/full plate)

11. Sword, great [claymore, flamberge, nodachi, two-handed sword, zweihander] (2H) Min Str 13: dmg 1d10/2d8
Reach (6’), parry bonus (+1 to AC when used to parry instead of attack) [very slow (SF 10), space requirement (6’)]


H. MISCELLANEOUS HAND-HELD WEAPONS

1. Knuckles, brass [cestus] (T): dmg 1d3/1d3
Very fast (SF 1), can stun, can be used in off-hand [ineffective vs armor (disadvantage vs chain or heavier)]

2. Buckler, spiked Min Dex 11: dmg 1d4/1d3
Fast (SF 4), AC bonus (+1), can be used in off-hand

3. Caltrop (M, T): dmg 1/1d2
[must be placed in advance; not usable in melee]

4. Claw, fighting [bagh nakh] (T) Min Dex 9: dmg 1d4/1d3
Very fast (SF 2), can be used in off-hand [ineffective vs armor (disadvantage vs chain or heavier)]

5. Garrote (T) Min Dex 11: dmg 1d4/1d6
Very fast (SF 2), strangles [can only attack by surprise from behind, ineffective vs armor (target must have exposed neck)]

6. Sap [blackjack] (C,T) Min Dex 9: dmg 1d2/1d2
Very fast (SF 2), KO’s [ineffective vs armor (disadvantage vs any armor)]


I. BOWS

1. Bow, short (2H) Min Dex 9: dmg 1d6/1d6
ROF 2, Range 5/10/15; capable of indirect fire

2. Bow, composite, short [horse bow] (2H) Min Str 11, Dex 9: dmg 1d6/1d6
ROF 2, Range 5/10/18; capable of indirect fire, can be used from horseback, bonus vs no armor & leather (+1)

3. Bow, long (2H) Min Str 13, Dex 9: dmg 1d6/1d6
ROF 2, Range 7/14/21; capable of indirect fire, bonus vs no armor & leather (+1)

4. Bow, composite, long [daikyu] (2H) Min Str 11, Dex 9: dmg 1d6/1d6
ROF 2, Range 6/21/21; capable of indirect fire, usable from horseback, bonus vs no armor & leather (+1)

5. Bow, pellet (2H) (T) Min Dex 11: dmg 1d4+1/1d6+1
ROF 1, Range 6/12/18


J. CROSSBOWS

1. Crossbow, hand (T): dmg 1d3/1d2
ROF 1, Range 2/4/6

2. Crossbow, light (2H): dmg 1d4+1/1d4+1
ROF 1, Range 6/12/18; can be used from horseback, bonus vs no armor & leather (+1)

3. Crossbow, heavy [arbalest] (2H) Min Str 11: dmg 1d6+1/2d4
ROF ½; Range 8/16/24; bonus to hit vs all opponents (+2)

4. Crossbow, repeating [cho-ko-nu] (2H): dmg 1d4/1d4
ROF 2; Range 4/8/12 [magazine holds 10 shots, then 2 rounds to reload, or 1 round to reload 1d4 shots]


K. SLINGS

1. Sling (T) Min Dex 11: dmg 1d4/1d4 (stone) or 1d4+1/1d6+1 (bullet)
ROF 1, Range 4/8/16 (stone) or 5/10/20 (bullet)

2. Sling, staff (2H) (C) Min Str 9, Dex 11: dmg 1d8/2d4 (stone) or 2d4/2d4+1 (bullet)
ROF ½, Range -/6/9; always fires indirectly (min. 3” distance, no short range) [space requirement (6’)]


L. MISCELLANEOUS HURLED WEAPONS AND MISSILES

1. Aklys Min Dex 9: dmg 1d6/1d3
ROF 1, Range 1/-/-; entangles, drags

2. Blowgun (2H) Min Dex 11: dmg 1/1
ROF 2, Range 1/2/3 [ineffective vs armor (disadvantage vs all armor)]

3. Bolas (C) Min Str 9, Dex 13: dmg 1d3/1d2
ROF 1, Range 1.5/3/4.5; entangles

4. Boomerang (C) Min Dex 11: 1d3/1d3
ROF 1, range 2/4/6; missed attack returns to wielder’s hand [ineffective vs armor (disadvantage vs chain or heavier)]

5. Chakram Min Dex 11: dmg 1d4/1d4
ROF 2, Range 2/4/6

6. Dart [plumbata] (M,T) Min Dex 9: dmg 1d3/1d2
ROF 3, Range 1.5/3/4.5

7. Harpoon Min Str 11, Dex 9: dmg 1d6/2d4
ROF 1, range 1/2/3; drags

8. Javelin [assegai, pilum] Min Str 9, Dex 9: dmg 1d6/1d6
ROF 1, Range 2/4/6; capable of indirect fire

9. Lasso (C) Min Str 9, Dex 13: dmg -/-
ROF ½, Range 1/2/3; entangles, drags, ignores armor [space requirement (8’)]

10. Net (C) Min Str 11, Dex 11: dmg -/-
ROF ½, Range 1/2/3; entangles, ignores armor [space requirement (10’)]

11. Rock, thrown (C,M,T): dmg 1d2/1d2
ROF 2, Range 1.5/3/4.5; can stun [ineffective vs. armor (disadvantage vs chain or heavier)]

12. Shuriken (T) Min Dex 13: dmg 1d3/1d2 (large) or 1d2/1 (small)
ROF 3 (large) or 4 (small), Range 0.5/1/1.5 [ineffective vs. armor (disadvantage vs all armor)]

13. Spear-thrower [atl-atl] Min Dex 9: dmg 1d6/1d6
ROF 1, range 3/6/9; capable of indirect fire

 

Weather in the Yatil Mountains

The players in my D&D campaign will soon be headed into the Yatil Mountains in search of the lost treasure hoard of the Archmage Iggwilv (see module S4: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth). An adventure set among high mountain passes really calls out for guidelines for handling weather and temperature, which the published module doesn't speak to at all (except for the perfunctory inclusion of avalanches and rockslides on the random encounter table). The World of Greyhawk boxed set of course has a set of tables for determining weather, but they are famously unwieldy, at least for realtime at-the-table use. 

In order to remedy that, I made my own set of weather tables for the Yatil Mountains (similar to the weather table in Brink of Calamity which I assume all of you are familiar with - daily [or as often as you feel ike making them] rolls to determine temperature, cloud cover/precipitation, and wind speed, all scaled to match the chart in the Control Weather spell on p. 52 of the 1st edition AD&D Players Handbook) and present them here for the use of anyone else who might be considering running that adventure (or any other adventure set in an environment roughly analogous climate-wise to the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains): 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xPXlRu_e5sjj7ScvYYJvYKoMpDuEDjSZ/view?usp=sharing

Enjoy!

Zock Bock Radio return engagement

 German AD&D superfan and podcast host Settembrini (who already had me on his show a couple-three years back) recently completed a two-year-long run through the famous/infamous Temple of Elemental Evil module and in celebration of that invited me back onto the show for a long (too long?) discursive conversation about all things TOEE - its history, its merits and flaws, and both of of experienced playing through it. I had fun recording it but cant vouch for how entertaining listening to it will be for anyone not as deeply into the weeds of this stuff as the two of us. But hey, all you have to lose by listening is a few hours of your life! Check it out here: https://pesa-nexus.de/2025/09/02/episode-63-english-the-temple-of-elemental-evil-w-trent-smith/

Brink of Calamity “deal of the day” at DriveThruRPG for June 12th

Hi all,

Quick note to let everybody know that Brink of Calamity is going to be the DriveThruRPG “Deal of the Day” on Thursday June 12th. PDF will be priced at $6 (60% off the regular price of $14.99) and I’ll also manually reprice the print edition to have the same margin (I can’t reduce the fixed printing costs but it should be around $16).

If you haven’t bought it yet, or know somebody you think might be interested in buying it, tomorrow will be the day to do it. 

36 units sold on day one

Not big Kickstarter-type numbers or anything but still pretty personally gratifying to me, because 1) it'a more copies than the first book sold on its first day, 2) it was enough to get me at least briefly into the Top 20 at DriveThruRPG, and 3) this earned me enough to clear my production costs. So even if I never sell another unit of this at least I won’t have lost any money on it. And that means from here on out it’s all profit, baby!

Also, a thread about the book was created at Dragonsfoot for people to share their thoughts and reactions and plans for modifying and using the content in their own games, and to ask me questions and berate me for everything they think I did wrong or stupidly. Follow this link directly to the specific thread so you don't get accidentally pulled into an acrimonious debate about the 1E initiative rules or demi-human level limits ;) 

Brink of Calamity live for sale!

As of about 15 minutes ago Brink of Calamity is finally live for sale at DriveThruRPG in both (softcover) print and pdf versions. Note that DriveThruRPG is increasingly their print costs substantially on April 1st and the price of the print version of this book will go up by $3 to compensate (from $22 to $25), so if you're planning to buy the print version and want to save $3 you should place your order today, tomorrow, or Monday at the latest.

Since the adventure assumes you're using the rules and content from The Heroic Legendarium anyone who doesn't already have that should consider buying the pdf bundle that includes both titles at a substantial discount over buying them separately.

This book has been long in gestation and I had doubts at several points whether I would ever get it across the finish line (and I suspect some of you readers did as well) but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out and hope people who read about the Perlammo Salt Mines on Prince of Nothing's blog way back in September 2022 will consider it to have been worth the wait. 

Also, while I'm here, I wanted to note for posterity that at some point last fall The Heroic Legendarium became a Gold bestseller at DriveThruRPG (meaning over 500 paid sales on their platform), which is pretty nice. I'm surprised by how it continues to sell, and actually sells as many or more copies per month now as it was 2 years ago, which I can only assume is coming 100% from positive word of mouth because I'm certainly not doing anything to promote it.

Brink of Calamity proofs ordered

Hello, blog family. It’s been a minute. I’m happy to inform you all that I’ve just ordered a proof copy of Brink of Calamity from DriveThruRPG. When I receive it, assuming it doesn’t look like total ass, it will go live for sale. About 18 months later than originally intended but, hey, we all do our best. 

It’s 180 pages (about 30 of which are a revised/expanded version of Melonath Falls, the rest new) and will be $14.99 in pdf or $21.99 for softcover print (+ pdf for nothing extra - if you get the print version you’ll also want the pdf to print out table copies of the maps because they’re in the back of the book so using them in play would be a hassle). It includes all of the art Gabor Lux commissioned for the Hungarian-language version of Melonath Falls plus a bunch of PD stuff and some material from my late father’s sketchbooks but nothing AI-generated. About half of the maps (including a really beautiful wilderness map) were drawn by Sean Stone, the rest are by me (alas) - the dungeon maps were rendered with DungeonScrawl but the town and building maps and dungeon cross-sections are scans of my hand-drawn originals, which will hopefully be at least legible (we’ll see when the proof arrives). 

The playtest campaign is still going (session #29 coming up next week; the PCs are mostly 5th & 6th level now) so there’s a LOT to play through here, but hopefully there’s enough modular stuff that people who don’t want to commit to running the entire campaign will be able to strip-mine out for their own games. 

I put a lot of love and effort into writing and producing this thing and am pretty proud of how it turned out and excited that it’s so close to the finish line. I hope you’ll buy it when it goes live and enjoy reading and playing it. 

Update 2/6/25: the proof copy arrived. The good news is that 99% of it looks great - all of the art rendered really well, the inner margin is tight but not fatally so, the formatting looks decent. The bad news is that, as I feared, the hand-drawn maps aren’t legible so they will need to be redone - at least re-scanned, possibly re-drawn - and then the whole thing needs to go back through the upload and approval process so unfortunately it’s probably not going to go live for sake for another month or so. Ugh. Sorry if I got people’s hopes up. I was really hoping it would come out okay but it didn’t.