Melee Weapons in Emirikol

[subplotkudzu]

Obviously if we're going to have a swashbuckling game we need to have swashbuckling weapons. This leads to some of the laws surrounding who can carry weapons, what that means to the culture, and what it means to the equipment list.



A bunch of weapons are just disappearing - morning stars, flails, amces and a bunch of other things are being removed because no one uses them. They're not legal to carry and no one makes them, so don't bother. A few other things are being added to give a broader bladed weapon range.
Axe- throwing, Boarding axe, Club, Crossbow- heavy, Crossbow- light, Cutlass, Dagger, Dart, Gauntlet, Greatclub, Greatsword, Halberd, Halfspear, Hammer- light, Handaxe, Knife- Long, Knife- Fencing, Longbow (exotic weapon), Longbow- composite (exotic weapon), Longspear, Longsword, Quarterstaff, Saber, Rapier, Sap, Scimitar, Shortbow (exotic weapon), Shortbow- composite (exotic weapon), Shortspear, Sickle, Sling, Sword- bastard (exotic weapon), Sword- short, Whip

When it comes to legality, there are a few rules:
"For folk of the common sort, lacking both land and titles, none are to carry a weapon whose edge is longer than the circumference of the emperor's hand." 1

This means commoners can carry daggers, knives, spears and axes of various sorts - the last with an understanding that the guards will want to confirm that these are carried in town for use as a tool that day. Spears are kept in the home but are legal to own.

Some time ago one enterprising smith began making Long Knives: blades roughly one foot long, reinforced on one side to back up slashing by the single edge. When the guard came to confiscate the weapons the smith pointed to the wording of the law - the only limit is edge length - and was allowed to continue making the blades. Long Knives (and their fencing counterparts) are now common. This should tell you something about the nature of the law and its enforcement in Emirikol

Commoners with violent professions will carrier rapiers whose edge runs from the point to 12" down the blade. This too is legal, but rather than laugh it off the guards will usually keep an eye on the fellow until they can legally move against him for some other infraction.

"For gentle folk, the wearing of a blade is allowed. Such a blade can be no longer than 40 inches, saving only in times of war or with imperial writ to the gentlefolk's family."

"When in the manor house of another person of gentle birth, only with the permission of the manor's lord shall gentlefolk wear any blade longer than the span from the Emperor's fingertip to his elbow. To do otherwise would be an insult worthy of a duel."

Given the nature of the game, this means all PCs will be allowed to carry anything up to the length of a longsword or rapier legally, but have a reason to keep a long knife or shortsword around to have something they can wear into a manor house. Mind you, manor houses are increasingly rare, since they require the gentleman to still own their ancestral manor. Still, there are such manors in the city, so it might come up.

Comments

[brianrogers.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I follow you on the bashing weapons being at odds with blade controls. A gentleman's sword is his honor, the wearing of which is a right granted by his title. He would never stoop to using something as crude and crass as a big hunk of metal on the end of a stick. To do so would be to disdain bing a gentleman.

Likewise, maces, morningstars and other such items are obviously weapons, designed for war. Why would you allow a peasant to carry such a thing? Unlike an axe or a hammer it has no legitimate non-combat use. Unlike a club it is not a weapon of the moment. Unlike a long knife there are no legal venues for training. So who would allow them to be made, trained with or carried? One supposes one could take skill with such a thing as a Exotic Weapon as it requires non-standard training to use, but why?

As for bows, crossbows are legal for hunting (peasants would require a writ to carry one) and for wartime, and qualify as simple weapons. Gunpowder weapons are likewise legal in war or in defense of the Emperor (i.e., as a member of the republican guard or the paladins) but carrying one otherwise is illegal. Still, many gentlemen are trained in their use, and they qualify as martial weapons.

Long and short bows are not technically illegal outside of the city, but they are rare. With the discovery of crossbows and then gunpowder several centuries ago they have fallen into extreme disuse and are seen as overly large, clumsy and lacking stopping power (plus, the guard hates dealing with their higher rate of fire). They are not weapons of the gentlefolk. Among peasants, sling is a preferred weapon due to ease of use, low cost and light weight (anything a sling can't bring down a crossbow is seen as better suited for). Since training with bows is hard to come by they are exotic weapons (with good cause - a skilled longbowman can fire three arrows into a target in the time it takes to load and fire a crossbow - who would allow those wandering around the city?).

Notes and Notions...

[panzerschrek.livejournal.com]

In the real world, maces and flails came into use with the advent of heavy armor and went into disuse as a consequence of gunpowder and "handgonnes." Peasants, armed with these miniature cannon on a stick, given a much less amount of training opposed to, say, longbowmen, could put in a credible performance on the battlefield. Maces, flails and the like existed to deform heavy armor through its wearer. Gunpowder, trumping heavy armor, meant that heavy slow weapons, meant for heavy, slow targets, were no longer necessary. In a gunpowder era, especially one advanced to a "-lock" design, these heavy blunt weapons would be in disuse as a matter of course. Relieved of their plate armor, a man armed with, say, a flail, would be easy meat for a man with a rapier and pistol


Now, as for bows, until you have a breechloader, there are some advantages to the longbow and shortbow. They are excellent hunting weapons, do have a higher rate of fire than the crossbow or musket. I want to say that the British tried to keep the bow as a militia / yeoman's weapon much further than one would expect, but I have no reference handy.

The bow would have remained in the arsenals of bandits or those individuals who have to live by their own wits, such as frontiersmen. If the only "real" barrier to the bow is official disapproval, its use will actually be encouraged in some quarters -- there are some folks who are just simply so pig-headed as to embrace that which is forbidden or discouraged by the powers-that-be. Then again, in a battlefield where heavy armor has come into disuse as a consequence of gunpowder, a bow is, arguably, a superior weapon than either the crossbow or handgonne. The real limitation for the bow in the amount of practice and training that goes into making a bowman. The predominance of the crossbow and gun would likely arise as a consequence of the ease that an untrained individual can be trained in their use, versus the bow. A body of competent crossbowmen or gunners is more easily (and more cheaply) raised and trained than a body of archers, on an "as-needed" basis. Longbowmen require more training for effective military use, implying either being part of the regular military or members of a privileged class, such as the English yeoman.

[netcurmudgeon.livejournal.com]

with good cause - a skilled longbowman can fire three arrows into a target in the time it takes to load and fire a crossbow - who would allow those wandering around the city?

...Queitly and more accurately, too. :-)

A side question, does Emerikol have that pesky moral problem that the Europeans had -- it's OK to volley fire into a mass of the enemy, but targeting individuals is not ...? That one lasted right up through the American revolution, but died an ugly death once breech-loading rifled guns made everyone drop for cover and give everyone the accuracy to bust heads at 100+ yds.

[brianrogers.livejournal.com]

I would expect not. I wasn't aware of that tendency, so I hadn't been planning for it. The guardsmen will certainly be taking aim on individual miscreants (though they might fire a mass volley into that one guy...).

[netcurmudgeon.livejournal.com]

though they might fire a mass volley into that one guy...

Hee. :-)