Low Armour Settings

Custom armour for special occasions not covered in this post.
Stephen Cartwright for Usborne.

This isn't about historical accuracy/realism, but gameable fiction using a D&D adjacent system.

In my setting defaults, armour is usually low availability/use because that's the fiction I'm going for, and I'll support that with whatever makes sense - fashion, scarcity of materials or knowledge, lack of need, relative local stability, market forces and legal systems (both malevolent and benign).

Bear in mind I came to some of this via using a 3d6 Hit Roll with capped AC and assuming a low level campaign, so even though the numbers aren't that different to regular d20 play, they could break down at higher levels.

Metal Suit Armour is Expensive.

While armour prices generally rise across D&D editions, plate is cheap in BECMI and a suit of full armour (BECMI Master set) is only 250gp - still cheaper than plate in AD&D.. 

Using the 1e AD&D Lankhmar setting as a starting point, chain is x4 the listed cost and plate is unique, beyond the means of common adventurers (so maybe costing the equivalent of XP to reach 2nd level). Little-remembered UK rpg Dragonroar gives price of plate as 600 to 6,000 without commentary.

This is not because metal is especially scarce or because the technology isn't up to it, but because you need one of a dwindling number of specialists to make it, or because it belongs or belonged to someone important. Except for maybe the military during an actual war, there aren't workshops churning out suits of mail and plate.

Leather/Light Armour.

This type of armour exists in all settings except where there is no armour at all. Usually leather, or cloth, or padded, but can be reskinned as whatever you like (even mail or plate) as long as it's Light and protects as such. 

Includes robust clothing, crude animal hides and furs, catsuits, hazmat, otherwise impractical chainmail bikinis - whatever marks out the character as being armoured as opposed to not. 

Helmets and Shields.

Though shields have fallen out of common use, the buckler is still used for fighting practice and is readily available. 

Helmets, bucklers and parrying daggers as in this post. Helmets will be open as standard, but visors etc can be fitted easily enough.

Common Armour Types.

Relatively generic, covering approximately 17th/18th Century European pseudohistorical period (Hammer Horror-ish), but related examples exist in non-Euro settings and both earlier and later.

No prices, because it will vary place-to-place, time-to-time and depend on how fancy you want your goods.

• Leather Jack/Jerkin gives +1 AC and encumbers as Unarmoured. Basically a padded leather vest or jacket.

• Soldier's Coat gives +1 AC, but encumbers as Light armour. This is a gambeson or buff coat.

• Jack of Plates/Brigandine gives +1 AC, encumbers as Medium armour, but gives a 1 on d6 save vs. crits. Layers of cloth/leather reinforced with bits of metal plate (rivetted or sewn).

• Breastplate gives +2 AC and a save vs. crit, encumbers as Medium armour. Sometimes impractically ornate and expensive and just for show.

• Mail Shirt gives +3 AC, encumbers as Heavy armour. This is old fashioned kit, the armour of unrefined barbarians.

• Heavy Breastplate isn't necessarily available, but would be +4 AC Heavy armour with a crit save. Very old fashioned or worn by monsters.

You can wear a Leather Jack, Jack of Plates or Mail Shirt under a Soldier's Coat to stack the benefits.

You can do the same with a Breastplate and a Leather Jack or Soldier's Coat.

If you're wearing a Helmet with your Jack of Plates or Breastplate, you get the save vs. crit from both - so either roll twice or save on 1-2.

I'm assuming padding under the Mail Shirt as standard, but you could allow layering with a Leather Jack for total +4 AC.

Commentary.

Dark Sun pits non-metal vs. metal, but isn't necessarily a low armour setting. 

A Mighty Fortress provides for a specific historical period. Lamentations of the Flame Princess runs with this - with room for adventurers in plate and chain because they're monsters and weirdos.

Orcs of Thar gives rules for armour made of scraps (I think there were other BECMI/RC supplements that used this or a variation on it). I don't think this sits well alongside the primary armour system - maybe for a pure scavenger game. 

Lankhmar - City of Adventure firmly places one of the formative D&D texts in low armour territory, and this supplement (or at least the 1e AD&D character conversion section) is one of my touchstones for thinking about D&D adjacent gaming.

Again, usual caveats that this might all have been done before, done better or should just have played Runequest/ WFRP.

Bonus Extra.

And not just for low armour settings.

Leather, chain or plate on their own give +2 AC and are Light armour (chain shirt, breastplate etc), but you can layer them up to +6 - leather/padded under chain and/or plate.

Cost is cumulative for each layer.

This also leaves room to add optional  +1 AC armour pieces, such as tassets or an alternative to the helmet as a save vs. crit.

Helm and Shield for the Unarmoured Old School Fighter (D&D adjacent)

Bearing in mind cavalier attitudes to encumbrance mechanics, this is the common-or-garden 1st level Fighter in the D&D I started out with:

Plate and Shield AC +7
(Citadel D&D Adventurers set/Lost Minis wiki)

Until magic items get into the mix, there is no reason not to load up like this: plate and shield is just better than chain and no shield.  And probably one of the reasons why it has been said that every Human Fighter is/was the same.

Shield AC +1
(Citadel D&D Adventurers set/Lost Minis wiki)

Mechanically, there's no reason to play the Unarmoured Fighter or even to give them a helmet in some of the older editions - except for an exceptionally bad starting gold roll, or after an encounter with one of the equipment-destroying monsters. But this Fighter-type is, I think, an iconic/important archetype/figure in the fiction and was poorly supported by the game.

(I know the Unarmoured DEX Fighter comes into their own and then goes beyond in later editions (3e onwards?), but I'm still living in a past when Clerics were Clumsy and Thieves were Foolish)

Shields.

I owe an awful lot to this post I stumbled on via an OSR Facebook group.

It covers (the now venerable) Shields Will Be Splintered, but my main takeaway was from Wolves of God: shields give you significant AC bonus, but don't stack with worn armour. 

So, I'll offer three shields following the basic/classic AC scale, with cost and weight half that of the equivalent armour. There’s even room for a buckler/parrying dagger at +1 AC (cost and weight of a shortsword?).

Materials and designs as you see fit. Pay extra for mods like horns or spikes. Still can be splintered. Shield bash like a club or subdual strike. 

Whether as a Fighter benefit or so it's not just an either/or choice, +1 AC for having a shield when using armour that's the same or better.

Maybe there shouldn't be an AC +6 shield so that plate mail remains The Best. This is better than full cover in a number of D&D adjacents, and might be better applied to static (or semi-static) shields like the pavise or mantlet. Or you need a trained shieldbearer to wield it two-handed on your behalf.

With shields having many more ‘points’ in them and possibly scaling to 6, there’s room for doing something with them if you want that sweet further complexity. Like, they can suffer attrition until they are broken or repaired - WFRP rimless shields were only good for one adventure. Or the AC value is also a save vs. shield-breaking attacks, or the threshold for triggering a usage die.

Gary Chalk for Talisman.

Helmets.

In lots of D&D adjacents, the helmet is more something that you lose for a penalty than possess for its defensive value, which seems to do it a disservice. After all, it's one of the pieces of armour kit that has survived into the modern era. 

I believe (as in "I heard or read it somewhere") that the (re)introduction of the helmet into the British (?) army led to a rise in recorded head-injuries, as soldiers survived previously fatal wounds. Like with that diagram of the bullet holes in the aeroplane.

Tucked away in the 1e AD&D DMG is the information that, if you're not wearing a helmet, there's a 1 on d6 chance of attacks going for the unarmoured head and being made vs. unarmoured AC (don't think it specifies whether or not you get your DEX adjustment). This feels like a spot ruling that made it into the rules (d6 would break down into a basic hit location roll of head, torso, each arms, each leg) and feels a bit clunky.

Instead, use the 1 in d6 as a save vs. critical hits (thank you, abstract combat and hit points). I don’t think this is game breaking, and makes it worth wearing one if you can’t afford full armour. 

(Yes, not all systems use crits, but it's one of those houserules that was so instinctive a lot of us thought it was written down somewhere. I can't remember ever not using it)

This x-in-x save vs. crit/fatality can also be used for pocket Bibles, a locket from your beloved, silver cigarette cases and so on, if you like.

Commentary.

Does this mean everyone in a suit of chain or plate (my assumption is that leather doesn't come with a metal helmet) gets a save vs. crit? 

My intention was to make helmets mean something by themselves, rather than give all armour a boost, and I was coming at it from the perspective of a low armour setting where people don't go around in full battle dress day-to-day.

In Dragonwarriors, wielding a shield in combat gave a 1 on d6 saving throw. There was no guidance on whether shields were class specific, how many blocks per round they could do, nor if they were effective vs. crits (in DW, crits auto-penetrate armour). Magical shields gave you a Defence bonus rather than improved the save, and a little reading around suggests that the d6 save was often forgotten at the table or houseruled as a Defence bonus (so back to +1 AC for a shield).

A feature of the older editions of Talisman and Warhammer that I'm familiar with: roll d6 to save your life.

Which is why I've labelled this post BOSR.

DW makes the shield different in execution to worn armour and to normal combat defence, and I like that mechanical diversity for its own sake.

I've seen (in passing, over years, so not sure where or when) other options for unarmoured Fighters, such as allowing them to use a STR or CHA modifier to their AC (in addition to DEX and shield), representing the bare-chested barbarian/chainmail bikini end of the fiction.

The Elven Crystals - Monster Commentary & Conversions to D&D Adjacent

Alan Craddock cover art.

Three adventures, linked as a mini-campaign. Put together the Elven Crystal and claim the treasure of Elvaron (the Elf): a blood-and-guts romp through forest, castle and to the seaside. Almost every encounter is a monster that wants to kill you and will fight to the death, and there are a lot of Skeletons and Zombies (these latter aka Undead Servants and the Undead). 

There's plenty of new monsters to revel in, though fairly typical of the genre or variations on a theme. Conversions to D&D adjacent as per the previous post, but without comparisons to OSE because they seem made for the adventures rather than made for a wider world (some will reappear in the bestiary expansion in Book 4).

I. Gallows Wood or a Goblin Grim.

Leo Hartas.

There's a map of Gallows Wood here. Strict time records are recommended for running this adventure, though there isn't a time limit and it's suggested you overrule this and jump to after dark upon reaching a particular location.

Your motivation: Ned the Hobgoblin kidnaps Clothilda and rolls her off in a barrel. Gold to get her back. Off you go. Oh, and there's elven crystals or something.

Black Riders.

BAB +3 AC by armour att. by weapon HD 2 Rank 2nd

Your standard evil humanoid. Under their black armour (chain and shield), they've got snouts and fur because they're sorcerous animal-human hybrids (called Wadwos). Might be mounted on Warhorses.

Werewolf.

A Human who can turn into a Wolf after dark, or during the day by swallowing a potion of lycanthropy.

If a non-Werewolf drinks the potion (save vs. poison/magic/polymorph at advantage/bonus - the effect has a low MAGICAL ATTACK), they risk transformation when night falls: 90% at 1st Rank/level, -10% per level above, then only 1% from 10th onwards.

In Wolf form (use those stats), they are immune to nonmagical weapons, and AC +4 to solid silver and magical weapons. 

They keep all their knowledge skills, which isn't really a thing in DW so might be an inadvertent reference to RQ or GURPS versions of the setting. They can also gain experience in their new wolf persona, but it doesn't elaborate on this - maybe it goes to their Human class? Or you could rustle up BECMI/RC Night Howlers.

All damage is healed when changing form in either direction.

Centaurs.

BAB +1 AC unarmoured att. hooves d8(d6) HD 1.5 Rank 2nd

They sport long white beards that are often tangled with moss and twigs.

Normally will flee or hide from encounters, but 1-2 on d6 they're drunk - initially friendly but turn nasty, demanding gold for booze (brewed and sold by Goblins) and kidnapping women. 

White Ladies.

Sort-of appear in Book 1, as an example of a narrative random encounter (the Lady Samana and her entourage of spellbound Knights). 

Look like lovely fairytale/fantasy ladies, but they're really horrible demon worms from another dimension. No stats for worm-form (which you only see briefly after defeating one) - otherwise, they're average 7th Rank Sorcerers. Usually accompanied by 1-6 soulless and spellbound 2nd Rank Knights (see below).

Any charm or similar control spell cast by a White Lady is extra-powerful: save with disadvantage/penalty. Control is absolute and does not rely on shared language. Duration increases to a year and a day.

Not only that, it captures your soul and stores it in a pool (or possibly a silver chalice) until she's got 10 and can return to her home plane to make a gift of them to her demon master, Fengris. The storage facility is in a tower that will be within 1 mile of your encounter with her.

Touching the water in the pool will send you to the nether planes if you fail your save. Casting dispel magic will release the souls and the White Lady's control over their owners.

Ignis Fatuus.

Will-o-wisp, Jack-o-Lantern, Joan-the-Wad, spunkies, punkies and so on. Look like a torchlight procession in the distance, accompanied by the noise of chatter and laughter (which adds an extra dimension of creep). A statless environmental hazard monster with a mechanic attached.

If you follow them, you never seem to catch up and after a mile will have been led into dangerous quagmire - the lead members of the party are automatically caught in the bog and will be sucked under and drowned if they fail 3 saves.

The bog has STR 18; if someone's helping to pull you out, add their STR to yours; roll under the difference to escape. No dice are designated. The text seems to contradict itself about whether or not the victim contributes to rescue efforts.

Those first five monsters are for random encounters and (apart from a version of the Black Riders) don't otherwise feature in the adventure. The Werewolf could have been integrated as a roaming (rather than random) encounter, and the White Lady has potential for Gallows Wood to swarm with enslaved Knights and bristle with mysterious towers.

Anything with a first-listed damage die of d4 or less is unable to beat plate armour, expect on a crit, RAW in DW. Whether and/or how you factor this into the conversion is up to you. 

Forest Harpies.

BAB -2 AC +2 att. grapple HD 2.6 Rank 3rd

Stench: they smell so bad, detectable within 10m (c. 32'), that they're unlikely to surprise anyone unless they swoop out of the sky.

Horrible Appearance: so foul that you need to take an immediate Morale Check. There's a specific DW mechanic but for D&D adjacent PCs either ignore it, apply only to NPCs, or make it a one-off 2d6 roll (choose snake eyes or boxcars as the trigger).

Grapple: successful hit grapples; one time d20 < STR to break free, or they carry you off to their nest to devour - implied off-camera auto-kill?

Hideous hybrid creatures with the bodies and faces of old women, but the wings and plumage of large crows. They converse with one another in loud caws.

AC+ for high DEFENCE. One of several different grappling mechanics across the books.

Witch.

Pretty traditional. A 3rd Rank Sorcerer. Can fly in addition to her spell-casting abilities.

Unicorn.

Partial stats given for an encounter you don't actually have, because you'll be fighting Black Riders and Hellhounds.

Black Rider II.

BAB +2 AC armour +1 att. weapon HD 3.3 Rank 3rd

For some reason, the Black Riders appearing in non-random encounters are more robust and better defenders (hence AC +1). Text specifies they hate Humans and will fight to the death.

This type of Black Rider also shows up in The Castle of Terror (below).

Hellhounds.

BAB +1 AC unarmoured att. bite d4(d10) HD 2.2 Rank 1st

All one word. Dobermann Pincher-sized, black fur, burning blood-red eyes, eerie baying. A pack will gang up on one target at a time. Big angry dogs.

Thorn Demons.

BAB 0 AC +1 att. raking claws d6(d8) HD 2.2 Rank 2nd

Thin, insect-like beings with ebony-coloured, stick-like arms and legs and dark, knotted domed heads, with what look like conker husks for eyes. They screech at you in a horrible bony chatter.

Three hits vs. leather armour and they've shredded it to uselessness. Not specified that magic leather is immune to this. No mention of vulnerability to fire.

Your choice whether they're demon, elemental, plant monster or it's just a local name for something horrible.

Killer Bees.

BAB -1 AC +1 att. sting d4(d2) + poison HD 4.4 (1hp each) Rank 5th (swarm)

In the adventure, it's a swarm of 20 Killer Bees and they're only twice the size of a normal bee - which doesn't seem that much. Presumably, that's a save or die poison in their sting and the swarm will attack one victim only per round.

But is that 1 attack or diminishing from 20? And are you striking multiple bees from the air per hit, or only one at a time?

Queen Bee.

BAB +2 AC +1 att. sting d4/d6 + poison HD 1.5 Rank 3rd

Twice the size of a Killer Bee. Will fight to the death.

Swamp Folk.

BAB +1 AC unarmoured att. grapple HD 1.7 Rank 2nd

Wrinkled green heads like toads... yellow blinking eyes... webbed hands.

There's monsters to fight here, but it's more like a trap.

They all attack one victim at a time (either on a collapsible bridge or in the quag beneath). Each round, compare your STR to the combined STR of the Swamp Folk that manage to hit (10 each) - if they've got higher, you're half-submerged; if it happens again, you're fully submerged and drown within a turn.

If you're wearing metal armour, you'll sink within 4 rounds regardless (unless rescued).

DW doesn't use turns, so I don't know if this means 10 minutes (which seems a long time) or as long as it takes for everyone to take their action in that combat round. Apply any other drowning rules/rulings you prefer.

The text refers to a colony of Swamp Folk and specifies combatants as Swamp Man 1 to 4, giving the impression of there being more to this if you wanted.

Titan.

BAB +14 AC +6 att. weapon +2 fist d6(d4) +2 HD special Rank 15th

An immense bronze warrior glowing with occult flames.

Gets +5 AC for being bronze, +1 more for being a strong defender. DW STR of 19 implied by damage bonus. High MAGICAL DEFENCE suggests it should get advantage/bonus on saves vs. magic.

Don't know whether it's a typo, but it's only got 5 Health Points so I can't calculate appropriate HD as I normally would. BAB and Rank would suggest something like 10 to 15, but the Titan gets a do-over in Book 4 anyway.

Always travels in a direct line (in this case, in pursuit of its stolen +2 sword) - stone walls or trees will not present any grave obstruction.

Giant Viper.

BAB +2 AC unarmoured att. bite d6(d4) + strong poison HD 2.6 Rank 2nd

RAW it can only harm those in chain or plate with a critical hit. 

Poison save at disadvantage/penalty, and presumably it's just save or die.

Tarantula.

Partial stats for the living part of an ancient, still operational trap. It's going to die from poison gas whether it bites you or not (RAW it auto-hits, just has to make Armour Bypass roll).

Nightmare Hut.

HD 8.8

An old rickety hut covered by climbing plants and moss.

That doorway's a mouth and if you step inside it clamps its woody jaws down on you. RAW subtract your STR from the Hut's (14) and roll d20 equal or lower than the result. Looks like failure is insta-kill (and it sprouts legs and runs off).

Feels like it needs more detail, but has the selling point of being abruptly weird.

Hydra.

BAB +2 AC unarmoured att. bite(s) d6(d4) HD 2 (special) Rank 7th

Leo Hartas.

Description and illo suggest it might be a woman first and a serpent second, and it gives me Medusa/Scylla vibes.

This one is bound to a grave as a guardian, so implied that it's immortal and doesn't need to eat (or it's running on dungeon-logic, just like that Tarantula).

Her poisonous breath is like thick fog or smoke, giving her automatic surprise. Breathing it for more than 2 rounds triggers poison saves each round thereafter (effect not specified, so presumably fatal - and in checking back on the poison rules in Book 1, I realise I'd forgotten that you take damage even if you make your save vs. fatal poison!).

The bite is quite weak and described as bite of nine heads, so I'm not sure if it means 9 individual attack rolls or 1 abstracting them all.

Low HD and only 9 DW Health Points. Any hit against her severs a head and 2 grow in its place, represented by her gaining hp instead of losing it from wounds (I think). Thus, you need to cause a single wound your characters can't produce with normal weapons (in DW, best you could do is 7 with battleaxe and STR 16+) or using spells (a DW Dragonbreath spell would do it).

There's poison in her spit (but not her bite) and her tail (which she doesn't use) that her slayer's can dip arrows and weapons in.

I like this specific iteration of this monster, but it's a bit of a muddle.

Master Edas's Skull.

AC +3 HD 2.2

Master Edas is both an ancient holy man and not a good man, as well as being one of the foremost sorcerers of all time. 

Dig up his fire-blackened, cloven-hoof imprinted skull and it will follow you around, giving sorcerous advice and trying to get you into trouble of the worst kind. 

Saves vs. magic with advantage/bonus and regenerates 1 hp/round.

II. The Castle of Terror.

Leo Hartas

Yeti.

BAB +7 AC +3 att. claws d8(d12) HD 4.6 Rank 5th

White, hairy, towering (3m or c. 10') monster, blue ice for eyes and their teeth and claws are like iron-hard icicles. Covered in frost and surrounded (10m or c. 30' radius) by a (specified) magical snowstorm; temperature drops to below zero (Celsius) in this area.

Vanishes (along with the snow) with an echoing howl if slain.

No mechanics for effects of snowstorm (but the encounter is followed by a save vs. exposure for being out on a cold night in the hills anyway).

Hell Hounds.

BAB +5 AC unarmoured att. fangs d8(d10) + strong poison HD 3.3 Rank 2nd

Two separate words and much tougher than the Hellhounds in Gallows Wood, with poison fangs and implied DW STR of 16+.

Black mastiffs with burning red eyes, reeking of sulphurous flames - actually demonic, rather than just a name?

Black Hippogriffs.

BAB +6 AC unarmoured att. bite d6(d8) kick d10(d12) HD 5.7 Rank 5th

Angry, angry horses that can magically sprout wings and fly for an hour per day. You need magic to control them, and they can't be tamed.

Grey Gnomes.

A reskin of the Book 1 Gnome, as something spending its time pretending to be a statue or gargoyle. Despite their apparent camouflage, they are so ugly and grotesque that you can't help but notice them - only normal chance of surprise.

These ones will run away if detected, apparently - so presumably they're not intending to ambush you?

Demon Wolf.

BAB +8 AC +2 att. fangs d6(d12) HD 7.3 Rank 6th

A 2m (c. 6' 6") tall wolf that materialises from the shadows and is one of the earthly incarnations of the demon lord, Fengris.

Implied DW STR of 16+ and will reappear, completely healed, 24 hours after it is killed. Not much else to it.

Poltergeist.

BAB +14

You can't hurt it or drive it off. 

Leo Hartas

55% chance per increment of distance travelled that it hurls weapons at you - 1-2 daggers, swords, axes or halberds, or 6 to 18 arrows, but I suppose it could use whatever else is to hand if it was relocated.

Mud Monster.

BAB +5 AC unarmoured att. claws d6(d8) HD 3.5 Rank 2nd

Initially in liquid form, it senses your presence and pulls itself together in 10 rounds to pursue you. Somewhere between an Ooze and an Otyugh. Described as octopoid.

The Nargut.

BAB +5 AC unarmoured att. acid bite d10(d6) claw d8(d10) HD 5.5 Rank 6th

Grey, seething, glutinous masses with eight toad-like eyes, four legs and four arms with claws on the and four gaping mouths filled with acidic spittle at each cardinal point of their squat, bullish heads. Their skin is a grey mottled colour.

There's only one here and it gets the definite article. Can faultlessly imitate any voice it hears, using this ability to trick victims (can ventriloquise too). Takes 1 hit/round from sunlight or other intense illumination (undefined).

It's bite is qualified as acidic, but has no defined properties other than a high Armour Bypass roll.

You only have to fight it if you rescue it.

Magnetic Monster.

BAB +7 AC +4 att. mandible d8(d6) HD 3.7 Rank 6th

A screeching giant beetle that generates strong magnetic force, and eats metal along with flesh - a less discriminating analogue of the Rust Monster.

Once encountered, you can't flee from it if you're in metal armour and it will attack you in preference to less protected targets. Metal weapons automatically hit, but will then be immovably stuck to the monster's carapace until it is slain.

The text has it spitting acid and devouring armour worn, but no mechanics. Maybe: you can sacrifice your shield or a helmet to get a round's grace, and three hits reduce metal armour to uselessness (see Thorn Demons, above). I don't think it will settle for precious metals, only iron and steel.

Tapestry Demons.

BAB +2 AC unarmoured att. claws d6(d6) HD 2.6 Rank 2nd

Not as cool as the Tapestry Warriors in Book 1 - these are just some 2D monsters that spring to 3D life, then back to 2D when slain.

Hellrots.

BAB +2 AC +2 att. claws d8(d8) bite d6(d4) + plague (strong poison) HD 4 Rank 2nd

Your basic demonic minion.

III. Wrecker Island.

Leo Hartas

Barnacle Men.

Already covered, here.

Devil Spawn.

BAB +2 AC +3 att. bite d4(d4) + venom HD 1.1 Rank ?

Monstrous cockroaches (with a thousand writhing legs and tentacles) that spawn from weird toadstool spores. They cannot approach anyone holding a holy relic.

Their acidic venom (strong poison - save at disadvantage/penalty) has the additional effect of transforming you into one of them if you fail an additional save (RAW it's 4d6 under your Health Points - which is harsh, considering DW hp levels - but could just be another poison save).

After 10 rounds of existence, the Devil Spawn and any transformed victims break down into brown slime and then evaporate.

Eagles.

BAB +4 AC +1 att. talons d6(d8) HD 1.7 Rank 3rd

Text also refers to them as Giant Eagles. AC is for high DEFENCE.

The Kraken.

BAB +8 AC unarmoured att. jaws d10(d10) HD 7.1 Rank 10th

Pretty low power for a huge sea snake with a ravening maw that can consume small ships at one gulp - but not if it's just for this adventure, rather than an extended campaign. You could also avoid fighting it altogether and skip to The Dark Hill, with a little luck and ingenuity. 

Has a tongue attack (5m or c. 16') that pulls you to its jaws.

Situationally, it takes 10 rounds to come when called (to take a sacrifice), with tremors felt at 7 rounds, then a minor tidal wave (undefined) when it breaks surface.

The text alludes to Tennyson.

Finale - The Dark Hill.

Golem.

BAB +8 AC +5 att. mallet d10(d16) HD 3.3 Rank 7th

It's a stone golem, guarding a burial mound on the other side of a dimensional gate.

You've got 20 rounds to defeat it before the demon-wolf Fengris brings the ceiling down on everything and insta-kills you all with his evil, chilling breath.

Commentary.

This was less of a slog than previous: these are monsters in context, more fun to write about than just going over the same basic bestiary again.

For a certain vintage of UK role-player, it's possible your introduction to Dragon Warriors (and even rpgs themselves) came about because of this green-spined book. Close enough in design to be mistaken for a Fighting Fantasy gamebook, with numbered paragraphs, mention of dice and pictures of monsters. This could have been an accidental purchase or well-meant gift.

As a whole it feels more self-contained than other DW adventures, less connected to the wider setting. There are few bits that make me think this wasn't originally written for DW (or at least, Gallows Wood wasn't) or maybe written in some haste. 

Sadly, I've never had the pleasure of running or playing this. Doesn't mean I don't like it though.

CYTHRONS (from 2000AD's Slaine) - Monster for Old School Fantasy & Horror

 

Glenn Fabry.

The Earth is a farm. We are someone else's property. (Charles Fort)

AC Unarmoured   HD 6+3 or 8+4    Movement 100% Normal Human    Morale 11

Time-travelling humanoid alien demons that inhabit Cythraul, a hell-dimension that is in fact the Earth millions of years before the appearance of earthly life. Imprisoned (in space, but crucially not in time) after losing a cosmic war, they are analogues in Slaine's world for the Great Old Ones and Old Ones/Elder Things.

They feed on the energy produced by human emotion, especially the negatives ones. As well as food, this energy can be harnessed towards the goal of awakening the dead/sleeping High Cythrons and freeing themselves from the Earth.

Alignment: We're nothing but stupid animals to them. Some of them like hurting us more than others. Some keep us (or merely a scrap) as pets. Mostly we're raw materials.

Three-way alignment, they're Chaotic, I suppose; nine-ways, they're a mix of Lawful and Neutral Evil - possibly representing the organic farmers (millions of year alien conspiracy) vs. the battery farmers (full-scale alien invasion).

Dexterity, Intelligence and Strength: min.12 in each; 13/15/13 min. array for 8+4 HD Cythrons.

Roll d6+12 for exceptional individuals. Modifiers as for stat/system.

Innate resistances: Half or no damage from cold, electricity and normal fire.

They are immune to acid, poison (inc. gas)/venom and the related abilities of jellies, oozes and slimes. These are variously cleansing, refreshing and therapeutic to Cythrons - they enjoy them.

Unless specially made, their armour, equipment and garments do not share any or all of these resistances.

And they hate it, spoils a good abduction.

Weapons and Armour: swords, axes, spears and pole arms of various levels of sci-fantasy sophistication but really anything they/you want, including their bare hands (prolonging their victory so they can feed on your desperate fear, puny mortal).

Can use leyser weapons (sci-fantasy magical energy weapons - swords, pistols, cannons) but - from the comics- favour minions, hand-weapons and optical leyser beams (see below).

Cythron Power Suit: the wearer look like a sci-fantasy ancient astronaut insect-skeleton stormtrooper (see above). Often look like ancient images/descriptions of deities.

• As protective as chainmail, as encumbering as leather.
• Activated by thought control:
•  +5 bonus to AC* and saves vs. all attack forms, protection from normal missiles, resist cold, resist fire.
• Non-Cythrons will need to be instructed or experiment in order to use the suits as more than passive protection, but even a brutal and unimaginative barbarian will find it easy enough.
• 8+4 HD Cythrons get the added benefit of protection from mortals - immunity to non-magical attacks from 0 to 3rd level characters. 
• Optical leysers: 2 beams per round for 2-12 hits, plus save vs. stun (1-4 rounds). Electricity or energy immunity works against the stun effect. Ranged touch attack, adjusted for cover (including shields).
• Fly as a glowing energy ball. I'm going to rule that you can travel through any non-solid medium without ill-effect in this state.
• Additional weight/living beings can be carried. In the comics, a Cythron abducts Nest (female human druid), and Slaine rescues both Tlachtga (female human fighter) and Ukko (male dwarf thief).
• Non-Cythrons need to concentrate while doing this. Double-ones on 2d6 you botch landing/re-entry and materialise in an occupied space. 
• I suggest contested saves to see who survives if it's a living being. If it's an object, roll, argue or judge to see if you have the reflexes and wit to turn back into energy and rescue yourself (still take a critical wound worth of damage). 

If one was to come onto the mortal market, it would as likely trigger an actual war as it would a bidding war.

It's sufficiently advanced technology that it's indistinguishable from magic. How it interacts with magic (and dispel magic) is up to you and your setting/system.

* Can stack with the passive protection, because I've based the Cythron power suit mechanics on Oard technology. However, I'd make protection from mortals the main effect and only use the higher AC bonus - but that's because I'm a low-armour kind of fellow.

Communication (8+4 HD only) with anything that has equal or lower species-average Intelligence than they do.

This is a universal translator ability, but they can also use telepathy - especially with minions.

Cythrons invented Common, and then took it away as a joke/punishment (symbolised in the Tower of Babel). 

The 6+3 HD Cythrons have a lesser and non-telepathic ability to speak with anything that has a language (within the range given above).

See Aura (8+4 HD only): As well as your emotional state they can easily determine your alignment, experience level and whether you are under a curse/spell. They will not be fooled (or not long fooled) by (human) disguise, polymorph or invisibility. 

The ability is a biological function and blocked by things that would foil normal vision. I'm going to say this includes magical darkness. In fog and smoke, they can probably tell you have an aura, but not the specifics.

What Was Left Out.

The Guledig (Praise Be His Name!) and the High Cythrons (Cthulhuvian in their nine-dimensional glory).

Myrddin, sired on a human mother by the Guledig, and by implication, other half-Cythrons.

The niceties of the bio-welder and the organic blender. 

Cythrons can re-make living things, for amusement and for utility. Reskin any monster as various forms of Orgot (organic-robot). AD&D Mongrelmen and Broken Ones/Shattered Brethren serve as abandoned experiments and grotesque pets. All these things are, at some level, human.

Cythron regeneration. Only one featured Cythron does this (three times, shedding its skin as it does so and extruding sucking tentacles). Slaine claims it was feeding on his energy, but he doesn't seem to suffer for it.

Cythrons vs. charm etc. As Nest is able to use the Talisman of Venus to charm the Cythron, Oeahoo, so at least the 6+3 HD Cythrons are not immune to mind-affecting magic.

How this translates to a D&D-ish system is up to you, but a quick rule could be that 8+4 HD Cythrons are immune (so Knuckles the Medium can't charm Pseudo-Osiris) and the 6+3 need two castings and to fail both saves.

Relationship to the Laws of Macrocosm - acts of so-called Good and Evil tip the balance in favour of the other side. A game of rock-paper-scissors in which you have to tell your opponent what you're going to play, and the least worst way to win is for nobody to take a turn.

Earth Power. There's at least two (1) (2) Slaine rpgs, so there's rules out there you could crib.

Commentary.

I stopped regularly reading 2000AD after the first part of The Horned God (early 1990s - switched to Fortean Times), and tended to re-read the earlier stuff in the time since (stuff I actually owned) - with the first part of Time Killer being one of the gaps in my collection.

Because it's a lot easier to access nowadays, I've speed-read c. 40 years of Slaine recently and that's the spark that lit the where's-the-Slaine-old-school-homebrew tinder. 

I can see why the Time Killer/Tomb of Terror arc wasn't remembered fondly, comparing it to what came before and (some) of what came after. Maybe the story/worldbuilding suffers because it's an episodic comic strip, put together week-to-week? I don't think the dungeon-crawl role-playing game tie-in did it any favours, either.

BUT: I was always able to squeeze a lot of juice out of it, and Glenn Fabry's art is great.

If this exercise wasn't about the Cythrons, then you could use/reskin Oards.

If you think they're a little bit low-powered for god-like beings, then graft on some later-edition types & sub-types (Aberration and Outsider?) onto them, maybe give them a d12 Hit Dice into the bargain.

Ian Sturrock did a piece on leyser weapons and Cythron characters (+2 Strength, +2 Wisdom, -4 Charisma, +4 bonus when making magical attacks) for the d20 Slaine rpg. 

Old School Shoggoth Race-as-Class

For the first post, how about a basic Shoggoth character class for D & D-style games?

What you don't like or think doesn't make sense, you should change.

Shoggoth.

Description: You are more like the Shoggoths in Michael Shea's Fat Face than the ones in HPL's At the Mountains of Madness; your form and mass are not fixed, though you have spent a long time pretending to be some kind of humanoid.

If an Elder Thing tells you to do something, you have to save or obey; if a Deep One tells you to do something, you have to save or obey, but at +4 to your roll.

XP: Advance using the Halfling Experience Table; same level limit applies.

Saving Throws: Use the Halfling Saving Throw Table.

Prime Requisite: The Shoggoth class has no Prime Requisite.

Minimum Scores: No minimum as such, but you must reduce your other Ability Scores (1 for 1) to bring both Strength and Constitution to 18 (or as near as possible if you rolled low across the board). Reduced Ability Scores can only be taken down to 3, no lower.

Hit Dice: Either the highest Hit Dice used in your game (usually Fighter HD), or the next one up (so that the Shoggoth has the highest HD in your game), or d20 (because you think this Shoggoth isn't tough enough).

Armour: Shoggoths have natural armour equal to leather; their AC does not benefit or suffer from high or low Dexterity; they can wear any armour they want, but only benefit from a magic bonus or special properties; if a Shoggoth has a Dexterity of 9 or more, a shield can be used.

Weapons: Shoggoths can use any weapon, or use their natural attacks (which use a damage die the same as their HD).

Special Abilities:

• You only take half rolled damage from fire and lightning.
• You take only 1 point of damage (plus any magic bonus) from physical weapons.
• You regenerate 2 hit points at the end of every round, even at 0 hp.
• You can carry twice as much gear and treasure as other characters without becoming encumbered.

Lone Wolf (Kai Lord) for Basic Games

 

Joe Dever and Gary Chalk did this; Gary Chalk also did the illustrations/covers (initially).

Charisma 13, Constitution 14, Dexterity 16, Intelligence 13, Strength 16, Wisdom 16 

Ranger 4/ Monk 4 (5d8)

Last of the Kai Lords on a mission of vengeance against the Darklords of Helgedad.

He looks, sounds and acts a bit like YOU, now that I think about it (pronouns as appropriate, then).

This treatment is an approximation of the starter character for the first five books (the Kai Series).

Armour: Lone Wolf's monastic training gives a +3 AC bonus in lieu of Dexterity when Unarmoured.

Otherwise, Lone Wolf generally uses Low Armour Settings.

Weapons: Favours the hand axe and the sword, but proficient in all the usual martial tools.

Lone Wolf dual-wields without penalty, as per your system.

Monastic training gives Lone Wolf a +2 damage bonus with all weapons if this is better than the bonus for Strength.

Bows don't become a feature until Book 6, but that doesn't mean Lone Wolf can't use one.

Extra Attacks: as well as dual-wielding, Lone Wolf gets an additional (single) attack at the end of every fourth combat round. 

This is resolved after all other business.

Favoured Enemy: +4 attack bonus and -4 reaction penalty when faced with the forces of the Darklords.

Surprise: Lone Wolf surprises opponents 50% of the time (1-3 on d6) and is only surprised on a 1 on d6.

Thief Skills: standard probabilities and backstab adjustments for a 4th level character with the given ability scores (your edition may vary). 

Hide in Shadows and Move Silently are effective in dungeon, rural and urban environments. 

Does not normally carry tools for Open Locks and Remove Traps.

Alignment: Like a Paladin, if they were chosen rather than made, Lone Wolf is likely Lawful Good in the nine-alignments system; Lawful in the three-way. 

Or Neutral.

Kai Disciplines.

As an Initiate, Lone Wolf has learned five Kai Disciplines.

All these abilities use the local version of psionics/ki to complement mundane knowledge and experience.

Animal Kinship: This skill enables a Kai Lord to communicate with some animals and to be able to guess the intentions of others.

Use speak with animals and 2e AD&D Ranger animal empathy ability as a guideline.

Healing: This Discipline can be used to restore ENDURANCE points lost in combat.

A pool of 8 hp (per day) that can be used to heal self or others.

Lone Wolf can administer to others during combat but not to self.

Mindshield: The Darklords and many of the evil creatures in their command have the ability to attack you using their Mindforce. The Kai Discipline of Mindshield prevents you from losing any ENDURANCE points when subjected to this form of attack.

Either play this straight as the Monk's ability (ESP is only 30% effective), or have Lone Wolf be immune to psionics of 4th level/HD or less.

Or break out a psionics system.

Sixth Sense: This skill may warn a Kai Lord of imminent danger. It may also reveal the true purpose of a stranger or strange object encountered in your adventure.

This is why Lone Wolf is only surprised on a 1 on d6. Could also be used as a 1 on d6 chance of reveal(ing) the true purpose.

Tracking: This skill enables a Kai Lord to make the correct choice of a path in the wild, to discover the location of a person or object in a town or city and to read the secrets of footprints or tracks.

Use Bushcraft/Tracking mechanic/subsystem. Works in dungeons, but not as well - you might be able to retrace your steps in a maze (and realise the walls have been shifting when your back was turned), but it wouldn't automatically help you find your way out.

The Sommerswerd.

Lone Wolf's signature weapon. It can only be wielded by a Kai and Lone Wolf is the only one left.

Like a Paladin, it's not subtle in its righteousness.

Has the powers of both a sun blade and a sword +5, holy avenger (treat Lone Wolf as a Paladin of the same level).

Sometimes, for climactic purposes, it can launch a lightning bolt that explodes as fireball that dispels evil.

It definitely has some of these effects during dramatic battle-scenes.

The +10 dmg vs. chaotic evil applies to the Darklords and their servants in particular, and is inflicted by mere touch. You decide whether this stacks with double-damage vs. undead.

It's hard to pretend that you're not a champion of Good/Light, if not The Actual Lone Wolf, when you're carrying the Sommerswerd, and some beings will be alerted by its very presence, even if concealed. 

The Other Kai Disciplines.

Lone Wolf gets a new Discipline each time you complete a book in the series, so individual Lone Wolfs (Wolves?) could have different ones to those given above. My choices were suggested by the existing features of the source classes.

Also a starting point for running your own Kai characters.

Camouflage: This Discipline enables a Kai Lord to blend in with his surroundings. In the countryside, he can hide undetected among trees and rocks and pass close to an enemy without being seen. In a town or city, it enables him to look and sound like a native of that area, and can help him to find shelter or a safe hiding place.

+ 10% to Hide in Shadows and Move Silently; effective in dungeon, rural and urban environment. Porous border with performance and survival skills.

Hunting: This skill ensures that a Kai Lord will never starve in the wild. He will always be able to hunt for food for himself except in areas of wasteland and desert. The skill also enables a Kai Lord to be able to move stealthily when stalking his prey.

Covers the surprise bonus. Self-sufficiency in the wilderness; debatable whether it could help support others.

Mind Over Matter: Mastery of this Discipline enables a Kai Lord to move small objects with his powers of concentration.

Approximately mage hand, and can substitute for tools to Open Locks and Find/Remove Traps. 

A limit on uses per day seems fair (suggest as low as 1, soft cap 3, hard cap 4), as Lone Wolf rarely seems to use it more than once or twice an adventure (in my experience - and I stopped at book 12).

Or break out a psionics system.

Mindblast: This enables a Kai Lord to attack an enemy using the force of his mind. It can be used at the same time as normal combat weapons and adds two extra points to your COMBAT SKILL.

If the target is not immune (Mindshield), they attack at -2. Or this could be represented by the +2 dmg bonus with all weapons. 

Or break out a psionics system.

Undead are not universally immune to Mindblast, though this would seem logical.

Weaponskill: Upon entering the Kai Monastery, each initiate is taught to master one type of weapon. 

If taken at the start, it's with the Axe or Quarterstaff (50/50); taken later on, it'll be with the Sword.

Treat as weapon specialisation (+1 to hit, +2 dmg).

Commentary.

Sprang almost fully formed from this comment by Kelvin Green on a previous post.

Serendipity. Lone Wolf looks like a Ranger. The Kai are (Warrior) Monks. If you combine the abilities of the 1e/2e Ranger and the 1e Monk, you end up with something not very far off the Lone Wolf starter character from the first five books (the Kai Series). 

Ability scores follow the minimum requirements (boosted to XP bonus values) for the AD&D Monk and Ranger.

Some Monk abilities were dropped, but could be reintroduced once Lone Wolf becomes a Magnakai.

There is no Ba5ec Lone Wolf: it wasn't as neat as the older edition Ranger/Monk.

Lone Wolf feels more fragile than other fictional heroes, because you're in control of their fate, rather than the author - hence sticking with the 1e Ranger d8 HD, rather than boosting it to 5e's d10. This should be more than counterbalanced by the Sommerswerd and the panoply of abilities.

(There is a d20 and a 5e Kai Lord class out there if you want to compare and contrast, and I think the Kai Lord would work really well for Epic 6)

Three d66/d18 Starting Equipment Tables

I like an equipment list - they can often tell you something about the setting, maybe author intentions/ obsessions, too.

For instance, I like how Tunnels & Trolls (5e, UK Corgi Edition) has Warm dry clothing & pack (5 gp) at the top of the list, implying that a) you start out naked (not disabused of this notion by the Josh Kirby illustrations) and b) that you're going to end up cold, wet, naked and separated from your goods with some frequency.

Here's a d66/d18 table of kits for new adventurers, suggested by this Prior Experience table, so you can roll or just take the equivalent result.

d66	Result
11,12	Good boots; sword; dagger; leather jack; change of clothes; rations; wineskin.
13,14	Change of clothes; good boots; dagger; poison; medicinal herbs; light crossbow; dark lantern.
15,16	Mail shirt; soldier’s coat; medicinal herbs; two-handed weapon; dagger; hand axe; heavy crossbow; trapper’s tools.
21,22	Soldier’s coat; helmet; sword; mancatcher or spear; cudgel; dagger; letter of authority/ discharge papers.
23,24	Leather jack; good boots; wineskin; rations; medicinal herbs; cudgel.
25,26	Wineskin (empty)/ drug paraphernalia; just one last hit/ drink; roll again and take one item from result (choose or randomise).
31,32	Coil of rope; hammer and pitons; bullseye lantern; flask of oil; squeezing grease; healing draught; chalk (sticks & powdered); charcoal and parchment; flask of brandy.
33,34	Fancy clothes; change of clothes; dagger; cards/ dice; fake letter of credit; fake letter of introduction.
35,36	Pick & shovel; pry bar; dark lantern; hammer & wedges; coil of rope; leather jack.
41,42	Healing salve x 3; healing draught x 3; bandages; herball (book); wineskin; flask of brandy; basic surgical tools.
43,44	Soldier’s coat; whip; sword; pistol; medicinal herbs; map; notebook & pencils; torches x 3.
45,46	Fine clothes; change of clothes; letters of introduction; dagger; sword; letters of credit.
51,52	Mask; bell; concealing robes; begging bowl.
53,54	Leather jack; sword; dagger; rations; wineskin; pistol; concealing robes.
55,56	Medicinal herbs; drug paraphernalia; flask of brandy; holy symbol; dark lantern; thieves’ tools; notebook & pencils.
61,62	Holy symbol; ceremonial vestments; holy book/ pocket liturgy.
63,64	Change of clothes; livery of noble house; dagger; shaving/ beauty kit; letter of introduction.
65,66	Dagger; cudgel; thieves’ tools; leather jack.

Even without specialist gear, every new adventurer should probably get to start out with: staff/ cudgel, knife, tinderbox/ fire-starter, travelling clothes, rain cape, backpack, belt pouch/ wallet/ purse, a few coins*.

*J.H.Brennan's paperback rpg Monster Horrorshow had a rule that what you sat down at the table with was translated into the game. So, any change becomes copper, silver or gold pieces (regardless of value).

Brennan said paper money became bits of paper, but why not make them promissory notes or debts you can call in? Go further - bank and credit cards become debts the character owes. If you don't want to share balances and limits, just say 500 for a bank card and d3x1000 for a credit card.

It works better when the players don't know this. 

I used the following table (new adventurers get d3 rolls) to equip pre-gens for the first game I ran in 20+ years. 

These are meant to have directly applicable adventuring uses. If a player needs/wants it, animals get plot armour vs. death but the player can't mechanically take advantage of that, which also means they don't take part in combat except abstracted as part of the PC's actions and rolls.

d66	Result
11,12	Alpenstock: see Weapons table below. You don't think of it as anything other than a mountaineering tool.
13,14	Lock picking tools: you could persuade people they’re just for tinkering.
15,16	Trained Bird: comes with cage & drape or gauntlet & hood, depending on whether it’s a hunting or singing bird; you need to feed it.
21,22	Hound: well-trained, obedient, with a spiked collar, but not devoted to you; comes with leash, harness and muzzle; you need to feed it.
23,24	Leather Jack & Helmet: in case of ruffians.
25,26	Decoctions of Medicinal Herbs: you know what you’ve got and what it does (3 types).
31,32	Mule with Panniers: it’s on its last legs, but should make it there and back again; you need to feed it.
33,34	Dice, Cards, Board & Pieces: games of chance and strategy, rigged or otherwise. Could include a full, incomplete or homemade set of The Game of Dungeon or The Game of Vampire.
35,36	Pick Axe, Shovel & Crowbar: for prospecting, and for breaking into tombs.
41,42	Leech’s Kit: all the cutting, prodding and tying bits for ‘healing’; jar of leeches, too. For the keen amateur and semi-professional.
43,44	Silk rope & grappling hook: 50’, light and strong, plus an improvised weapon.
45,46	Horse and Saddle: great wits wherever you go offer to buy your saddle and take the horse off your hands as a favour; you need to feed it.
51,52	Lantern and Oil: enough for the next adventure.
53,54	Telescope, Sextant, Compass & Signalling Mirror: for some reason, local authorities confiscated your star charts.
55,56	Novelty Vampire Hunter’s Kit: garlic, wolfsbane, bullet mould, wooden stake x 3, piton hammer, small silver mirror, holy symbol, miniature prayer book.
61,62	Training Sword & Buckler: martial practice kit, but you’ve sharpened the blade so it cuts well enough.
63,64	Antique Breastplate & Helmet: just like modern stuff, but old and unfashionable. Might actually be worth something, but has definitely seen action in the past.
65,66	Turnip Watch* & Barometer: also, notebooks and writing kit to take down your observations.

* Because it came up when we played, a Turnip Watch is a big old-fashioned pocket watch not a magical vegetable. I ruled it would be enough to bash someone's head in with, maybe even a Wight if it was silver-plated.

80s UK rpg Dragonroar prices Leather Armour at 10 Crowns, Chainmail 50-150 and Plate Armour 300-6,000! Despite the range, the cost makes no mechanical difference to the armour.

Characters start off with the standard 3d6x10 and loot/rewards tend to be lower than in (say) D&D. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that at least one of the designers didn't like how easy it was to get plated up in other games. 

Which is one way to try and enforce a low armour game.

This table of weapons complements the adventuring gear above, with some opportunity for doubling up. I liked the idea you might be carrying an ancient sword around, but you might not use it - because you've got guns, or bodyguards, or you're not planning on getting into that kind of trouble. 

d66	Result
11,12	Brandistock: stout cudgel from which you can shake out a blade and two prongs; bash, stab, cut or parry & disarm.
13,14	Assassin’s Dagger: treated for a dull, dark, unreflective finish, and easy to conceal in a sleeve, this weapon has a hollow handle for secret messages and packets of poison.
15,16	Short Sword: five fingers wide at the base, perfect for the cut-and-thrust of tunnel fighting.
21,22	Holy Water Sprinkler: you made this deeply intimidating spiked club yourself; there are no doubts as to its function or your intention.
23,24	Antique Sword: old, reliable, has a history; they don’t make them like this anymore - possibly cursed or haunted or belonged to the next significant undead you encounter.
25,26	Swordstick: whether simple or fancy, the main function of this is to conceal the fact you can stab someone through the heart or cut off their ear as you parade around town; parry and misdirect with the stick in your off-hand.
31,32	Bow: you’re a barbarian, a hunter, unusual specialist or an eccentric badass. You've put in your 10,000 hours on this.
33,34	Sickle, hammer, adze, pick axe etc.: your weapon is really just a tool that’s got (or going to get) someone else’s blood on it.
35,36	Ironshod Quarterstaff: you call it a ‘traveller’s friend’.
41,42	Sling: it's not taken seriously, but you've put in your 10,000 hours and it's genuinely frightening what you can do with this.
43,44	Boarding Axe & Dirk/ Tomahawk & Hunting Dagger: a combo favoured by pirates and rangers; hook, hack, throw and eviscerate.
45,46	Fancy Sword: it’s a rapier, but clearly someone paid a lot for it; d6-1 gems decorate the hilt and/or scabbard. Worth at least 10x normal, even without gems.
51,52	Cavalry Sabre: double chance of a crit when mounted, triple if charging.
53,54	Brace of Pistols: use them as cudgels once the smoke clears. Comes with enough stuff for d6 + 2 shots.
55,56	Kris: wavy-bladed and not from round here, this dagger is thought to have special properties - odds/evens, it can hit monsters immune to normal weapons/ 1 on d6 spells cast against you by L/HD 1-3 will fail (you cannot cast any spells or benefit from protective magic devices while you carry the kris).
61,62	Antique Mace: old, reliable, has a history; they don’t make them like this anymore; modern armour was not built with this kind of weapon in mind.
63,64	Alpenstock: ice axe, pick and short spear in one robust walking stick; helps with climbing, cutting handholds and checking for hidden crevasses.
65,66	Notched Heavy Cutting Blade: this axe/ cleaver is an ugly piece of work - it is clearly not for self-defence but for stomach-churning mayhem.

No stats, because most Games of Dungeon will already have them for most of these. As much as being objects for violence, they are meant to suggest something about the character's personality and background.

Because this has all been about equipment in fantasy rpgs, I'm going to round off with an example from 'the largest game-book ever printed' F.A.T.A.L (Fantasy Adventure to Adult Lechery or From Another Time, Another Land - depending on your edition):

Bowl: This is a small, hand-sized reservoir that is most often used to hold beverages or food. Bowls may be made of wood, metal, clay or a variety of materials, though wood is most common.

(p. 410, 1st edition) 

Evidence that F.A.T.A.L. was written by and/or for Mi Go infiltrators?