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Welcome to the Ancient Armoury, a small booklet oriented to

campaigns in older settings than usual, in the era of classical Greece
and the Bronze Age. All of the equipment featured here has been Author: Esteban Ruquet
carefully researched and tested, although minimally adapted to cover Art: Esteban Ruquet
certain niches in D&D games. Although each piece of the Armory has Cover: “Legiones Solares”, by E.
a historical counterpart, some of them did not shared space in the Ruquet
same cultures. Such is the case of the Egyptian fan axe and the Playtesters: Zanis Germán
Mesoamerican macahuitl, or the South American wicker armor. Almirón, Nicolás Agustín
This work is originally intended to be used in Fralia, a cooperative Scandizzo, Santiago Cansanelli,
D&D world of the Frente Rolero Argentino, but it can be adapted to Tomás Borri, Bruno Alejandro
any world inspired in the Classical or Bronze Age, or in settings where Jara, Federico Sassi.
access to steel is scarce at best, like Athas, or even in the Old Empires Thanks To: Mariana Casaliba
in the Forgotten Realms.

If you liked this work, you can visit my other projects in the DMS guild!
 A simple life, a collection of commoner NPC, here.
 A Clash of Swords, a collection of troops and warrior NPCs by race, here.
 The Great Plagues, several baneful diseases to horrify your players, here.
 Equipment’s Weight, a handful of tables and shortcuts to easily handle encumbrance, here.
 The Wanderer, a new class to play an intelligent, lucky and resourceful mundane character, here.
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Here you will find several armor pieces destined
to be used in a low-tech environment. These pieces
of armor presuppose a tech level equal to the end
of Bronze Age in our world, thus changing some
values to adjust to the available weaponry of that
period. This way, the standard D&D chain mail
presuppose an advancement in iron metallurgy,
and it is listed as the very best armor available.
All these armors have a seemingly real world
counterpart from distant times and regions, but all
of them have a distinctive “classical” feel, even with
their oddities. Their prizes are listed in silver pieces
and may differ a lot from the usual D&D economy,
to reflect the more expensive costs of equipment in
these enviroments.

Armor Cost AC Weight Strength Stealth

Light Armor
Gladiatorial 250 SP 11+dex. modifier 15 lb — Disadvantage
Linothorax 350 SP 11+dex. modifier 15 lb 10 —
Scythian armor 450 SP 12+dex. Modifier 8 lb — —
Medium Armor
Wicker Armor 100 SP 12+dex. modifier 10 lb — —
Composite Armor 400 SP 13+dex modifier 30 lb 10 Disadvantage
Hide Armor 500 SP 13+dex modifier 12 lb — —
Muscle cuirass 4000 SP 14+dex modifier 25 lb 10 —
Scale Mail 5500 SP 15+dex modifier 45 lb 12 Disadvantage
Heavy Armor
Leather/Bone Lamellae 300 SP 14 40 lb — Disadvantage
Wooden Lamellae 500 SP 15 45 lb — Disadvantage
Bronze Lamellae 750 SP 16 55 lb 13 Disadvantage
Bronze Composite Armor 4250 SP 16 45 lb 13 Disadvantage
Dendra Panoply 8000 SP 17 60 lb 15 Disadvantage
Chain Mail* 15000 SP 18 55 lb 14 Disadvantage
Shields Damage
Spiked Shield 100 SP +1 3 lb — 1d4 piercing
Common Shield 50 SP +2 6 lb — —

Light Armor
Light armors are easier to wear. They almost
don’t require strength and their weight is barely
noticeable. They are the most available under
normal circumstances, and almost any town can
made them without requiring very expensive
materials.
Gladiatorial (Samnite) armor: This armor
consists on a wide reinforced leather belt, a leather
or wooden manica in the weapon’s hand, leather
shoulder pads with some breast protection, a metal
helm and greaves. These armors vary widely in
design and function, adding or withdrawing several
custom parts to the whole.
This armor isn’t really as much for combat as it is
for show, and it can be seen more often in arenas
and fight pits than in battlefields. It also isn’t very
stealthy, as the mobile parts often clack and
crunch. Their defensiveness value can increase with
If you want to add some tactical complexity to your
games and you aren’t afraid of bogging down your
combats, here it is an optional rule for armors and
damage types.
Most pieces of armor are weak or strong against
some kind of damage, listed under its description.
When the armor is weak, you have to subtract 1 to
its AC value and characters wearing it have
disadvantage in Saving Throws against this type of
damage. When the armor is strong you add 1 to its
AC value, and the characters wearing it have
advantage in Saving Throws against this type of
damage.
If you want to reduce the numerical complexity of
this rule at the cost of unbalancing a little the
damage types, the armor can bring resistance to
the damage type if its strong and vulnerability to
their weak damage.

a shield, or adding a breastplate to the lot (see
Composite Armors later).
Strong against: Psychic
Weak against: Acid, piercing
Linothorax: A linothorax is a quilted linen
breastplate with shoulder protections and leather
straps behind the waist. Several layers of linen
fabric are glued together, very much like the aketon
or gambeson of later ages, but the armor is rigid.
This armor can be combined with other parts like
bracers, helms and greaves for extra protection.
See the Composite Armor later.
Strong against: Acid, bludgeoning
Weak against: necrotic, fire
Scythian Armor: This armor consists in several
layers of fabric sewed or glued together. This wears
like a tunic, and it is very flexible and protective. It
may be reinforced with metallic rings or studs with
little effect besides the looks. Exceptionally good
Scythian armors may be made from silk, and they
are an incredible protection against arrows (+1
against piercing weapons, and the arrows cannot
penetrate the armor, being easier to remove).
Strong against: piercing, bludgeoning
Weak against: Slashing, fire
Medium Armor
Medium armors offer a little more protection
than light armor, but they also impede free
movement. They offer a máximum of 2 of Dexterity
modifier. Several cultures use medium armors as a
standard, being cheaper, lighter and offering more
protection than a light one.
3
Wicker Armor: This armor is rare, and it consists
on several wicker strays interloped together. The
armor sometimes is rimless and covered in goat or
sheep skin to add an extra layer of protection. It is a
really light material, but don’t offer a lot of
protection, and the armor itself is a little
cumbersome. It protects better against blunt
weapons, but most axes and swords can cut
through it with ease. This armor is used primarily by
jungle people with no access to better armor. A few
clever warriors may cover it with clay or ceramic,
improving its protection value but making it a lot
heavier.
Strong against: piercing, bludgeoning
Weak against: Slashing, fire
Composite Armor: The most usual way to make
a composite armor is to give a breastplate to a
gladiatorial armor, but several armies may use it as
a standard. The common composite armor consist
in a linothorax with better shoulder and waist
protection, greaves, bracers and helmet.
Strong against: slashing, bludgeoning
Weak against: fire
Hide Armor: Hide armor is a good way of
protection if the weapons aren’t from good steel,
hence the better AC value.
Strong against: cold, bludgeoning
Weak against: piercing, fire
Scale Mail: Scale Mail is the best available
medium armor. It offers a good protection value
with little encumbrance because of its flexible
nature, and it’s especially useful against slashing
damage.
Strong against: piercing, radiant
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Weak against: Lightning
Muscle Cuirass: The muscle cuirass, anatomical
cuirass or heroic cuirass is a type of body armor
cast to fit the wearer's torso and designed to mimic
an idealized human physique. This bronze cuirass is
cast in two pieces, the front and the back, then
hammered. It weights about 25 pounds, and don’t
hinder as much the movement as a complete
panoply.
Strong against: radiant, slashing
Weak against: Lightning, bludgeoning

Heavy Armor
The heavy armors have an absolute value of
defense, not a formulae. They don’t provide any AC
value from dexterity, and give Disadvantage to
Stealth checks
Lamellae: the lamellar armor is a type of full
armour made from small rectangular plates (called
lamellae, hence the name) of wood, bone, leather
(rawhide), or bronze laced into horizontal rows.
Lamellar armor was used over a wide range of time
periods all over the world with varied designs.
Strong against: slashing
Weak against: necrotic, fire (it burns the cords)
Composite Armor: The heavy composite armor
(also called tôn hoplon or panoply) typically has a
bronze cuirass of the bell or muscled variety, a
bronze helmet with cheekplates, as well as greaves,
bracers and upper leg protection and waist in the
form of a leather skirt. A crude form of composite Chainmail: This armor type is the best
armor is made of a muscle cuirass and a gladiatorial available armor in the ancient period, as it protects
armor. every inch of the body without losing flexibility.
Strong against: slashing, radiant Usually a soft armour, such as an aketon, is worn
Weak against: Lightning, cold under the hauberk. The most common weave is 4-
Dendra Panoply: The panoply is a full-body in-1, although other patterns can be made as well.
armor made entirely of bronze plates. The cuirass The chainmail is usually worn with a belt to give a
consists of two pieces, for the chest and back, better distribution of weight. Assuming bronze
joined on the left side by a hinge. There is a bronze weapons, the steel chainmail is almost impervious
loop on the right side of the front-plate and a to harm, but a bronze chainmail can be found as
similar loop on each shoulder. Large shoulder- well. This type of armor is highly unlikely to be
guards fit over the cuirass. Two triangular plates are found except on specific locations, and it is very
attached to the shoulder-guards and gave expensive and difficult to make.
protection to the wearer’s armpits when his arms Strong against: slashing, radiant
were in the raised position. There is also a deep Weak against: bludgeoning, lightning
neck-guard.
The panoply also have shin guards and bracers
Shields
made of bronze and an open helmet made of Common Shield: A typical D&D shield,
leather and bone or bronze as well. It is a very customary made of wood and covered with a thin
expensive armor, and it is cumbersome to wear, layer of bronze or a thicker one of leather. It
but don’t hinder the use of weapons. Historically, it requires proficiency in order to be useful.
belongs to the Greek’s Mycenaean period. Strong against: piercing, (radiant)*, fire, force
Strong against: piercing, slashing, radiant Weak against: slashing from heavy weapons,
Weak against: Lightning necrotic (it’s made of organic materials).
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*If covered of metal layers some protection in order to be used offensively. It
Spiked Shield: A lesser common form of shield, requires shield proficiency as well.
it is smaller and it has some kind of spike or blade Strong against: radiant
to attack using a bonus action. It must give up to Weak against: slashing
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The classic weapons are a little different from their medieval counterparts. There is a prevalence of
short swords for hand-to-hand combat, as well as spears and axes, rather than specialized polearms.
However, some equivalences can be made. The khopesh is a rare type of long sword evolving from an ax
rather than a short dagger or sword.
The great drop outs are crossbows, as these devices appear much later in history, as well as rapiers,
since it is a weapon of the Renaissance. I have not listed long bows as I am not sure they were used before
medieval England.
Most ancient weapons rely more on strength than dexterity, so the finesse property is scarce, but still
some weapons are subtler than others. These weapons, unless otherwise noted, are made of bronze rather
than steel, and if encountered against a steel weapon, they may bend and be render useless in a natural 1
on the attack roll. Also, see the optional rule to reflect in some way the lesser quality of these weapons and
deadlier nature of monsters.
Name Cost Damage Weight Properties
Simple Melee Weapons
Club 1 SP 1d4 bludgeoning 2 lb. Light
Dagger 20 SP 1d4 Piercing 1 lb. Thrown (20/60), Light, finesse
Great club 2 SP 1d8 bludgeoning 10 lb. Two-handed
Hand axe 50 SP 1d6 slashing 2 lb. Thrown (20/60), Light
Javelin 5 SP 1d6 piercing 2 lb. Thrown (30/120)
Light hammer 20 SP 1d4 bludgeoning 2 lb. Thrown (20/60), Light
Mace 50 SP 1d6 bludgeoning 4 lb. —
Quarterstaff 2 SP 1d6 bludgeoning 4 lb. Versatile (1d8)
Sickle 10 SP 1d4 slashing 2 lb. Light
Spear 10 SP 1d6 piercing 3 lb. Thrown (20/60), versatile (1d8)
Simple Ranged Weapons
Dart 0,5 SP 1d4 piercing ¼ lb. Thrown (20/60)
Shortbow 250 SP 1d6 piercing 2 lb) Two-handed, Ammunition (80/320)
Shepherd Sling 1 SP 1d4 piercing — Ammunition (30/150)
Martial Melee Weapons
Battleaxe 100 SP 1d8 slashing 4 lb Versatile (1d10)
Falcata/Sica 250 SP 1d6 slashing 3 lb Finesse, Light
Falx 450 SP 2d6 slashing 2 kg Heavy, Two-handed
Fan axe 300 SP 1d10 Slashing 7 lb Reach, Heavy, two-handed
Flail 100 SP 1d8 bludgeoning 2 lb
lb. —Heavy
Khopesh 250 SP 1d8 slashing 3 lb Versatile (1d10)
Macahuitl 100 SP 1d8 cont/cort 4 lb. Versatile (1d10), fragile (1d4)
Maul 100 SP 2d6 bludgeoning 10 lb Heavy, two-handed
Rhompaia 200 SP 1d10 slashing 6 lb. (pole) Two-handed, reach, heavy
Sarissa 50 SP 1d10 piercing 18 lb. (pole) Two-handed, reach x2, heavy
Short sword 100 SP 1d6 piercing 3 lb Stabbing, Light
Trident 50 SP 1d6 piercing 4 lb. Thrown (20/60), versatile
Warhammer 150 SP 1d8 bludgeoning 2 lb. Versatile (1d10), heavy
War pick 50 SP 1d8 piercing 2 lb. —
Whip 20 SP 1d4 slashing 3 lb. Reach, finesse
Martial Ranged Weapons
Atl-Atl 25 SP 1d6 piercing 11d6
lb piercingAmmunition (Dart),3 lb.60/180
Ligera, Ammunition (30/120) recarga
Bolas 50 SP 1d6 bludgeoning 11d10
lb piercingThrown ( 30/120),18special
lb. Two-handed, Ammunition (100/400),
Boomerang Special 1d4 bludgeoning 1 lb Thrown ( 50/160), return in a miss
Blowgun 50 SP 1 piercing 1 lb. Ammunition (25/100), loading
Composite Bow 500 SP 1d8 piercing 21d8
lb piercingAmmunition (150/600),
2 lb. two-handed,
Two-handed,
str.Ammunition
12 (150/600),
Martial Sling 10 SP 1d6 piercing — Ammunition (150/1,200), Finesse
Net 10 SP — 3 lb. Special, thrown (5/15)

Simple Weapons
Club: A short, hard wooden staff to punch
someone. Sometimes it has a few nails in the end to
extra damage.
Dagger: A short, sturdy blade for stabbing and
cutting.
Great club: a heavier and sturdier version of the
club, for using two-handed.
Handaxe: A small, light axe for cutting wood and
people alike. It can be thrown to great effect.
Javelin: A javelin is a light spear designed
primarily to be thrown as a ranged weapon. The
javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the
bow and arrow and slingshot, which shoot
projectiles from a mechanism. However, hurling
devices do exist to assist the javelin thrower in
achieving greater distance, like the atl-atl. It is a
must for most melee fighters to deal some ranged
damage, and they are generally packed in groups of
six.
Light hammer: A throwing, lighter version of the
warhammer. It has a small handle and a heavier
head. It can be used as a melee weapon too, and is
favored by dwarfs.
Mace: A mace is a blunt weapon, a type of club
that uses a heavy head on the end of the handle to
deliver powerful blows. A mace typically consists of
a strong, heavy, wooden or metal shaft, often
reinforced with metal, featuring a head made of
stone, copper, bronze, iron, or steel.
Quarterstaff: A quarterstaff is a long, reinforced
pole intended to combat by itself. It is often made
of wood and reinforced in the edges with some
metal, but sometimes a bronze or even iron staff
can be found.
Sickle: More a tool than a weapon, the sickle is a
crescent-shaped blade with a sharp internal edge. A
more effective version of this weapon is the sica.
Spear: This relatively simple pole weapon
consists on a long shaft with a piercing head. It has
a little reach, and it can be thrown instead of
wielded in melee.
Simple Ranged Weapons
Dart: A dart is a simple ranged weapon. They
are missile weapons, designed to fly such that a
sharp, piercing point will strike first. They can be
distinguished from javelins by fletching (i.e.,
feathers on the tail) and a shaft that is shorter
and/or more flexible and from arrows by the fact
that they are too long to use with a normal bow.
They can be fired by an atlatl.
Shortbow: It is the most common type of bow
available. It is a flexible arc which shoots
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aerodynamic projectiles called arrows. A string joins
the two ends of the bow and when the string is
drawn back, the ends of the bow are flexed. When
the string is released, the potential energy of the
flexed stick is transformed into the kinetic energy of
the arrow. The arrows can use a vast array of
heads.
Shepherd’s Sling: A sling is a relatively simple
missile weapon. A sling has a small cradle in the
middle of two lengths of cord. The sling stone is
placed in the pouch. The middle finger or thumb is
placed through a loop on the end of one cord, and a
tab at the end of the other cord is placed between
the thumb and forefinger. The sling is swung in an
arc, and the tab released at a precise moment.
Martial Melee Weapons
Battleaxe: it is an axe specifically designed for
combat. Battle axes were specialized versions of
utility axes, with heavier heads and longer blades,
and usually a piercing spike in the opposite end of
the cutting blade. The shaft is long enough to use it
with one or two hands, and the cutting blade is
powerful enough to destroy shields when used
properly.
A bronze falcata
Falcata/Sica: These blades have a single-edged
blade, slashing. The falcata’s edge pitches forward
towards the point and the edge is concave near the
hilt, but convex near the point. It was historically
wielded by Hispanic Carthaginians against the
romans to great effect. The sica, instead, have a n
entirely concave, crescent shaped edge, like an
elongated sickle, and it was used by the Dacians
and Thracians in the classical age. Bot weapons
have the finesse and light properties.
Falx: It is a type of two-handed, curved sword
without guard and a long shaft. The blade was
sharpened only on the inside and it’s reputed to be
devastatingly effective.
A bronze Dacian falx
Fan axe: This type of axe is polearm weapon
with a fan-shaped bronze head mounted on the
end of a long pole. Historically depicted on Egyptian
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In order to reflect the deadlier nature of
monsters against poorer quality weapons, you
can apply the following feature to them.
Thick Hide
Every monster with fur or natural hard skin (like
most beasts or dragons) has better protection in
low-tech settings. For every size category above
Small, the natural AC of the beast increases in 1,
and its Hit Points total increases in 10. This way,
a wolf has AC 14 and 21 HP instead of their
normal ones, and an elephant has AC 15 and 106
HP. Be aware that this bonus can increase the
normal CR of a beast, and so the druid Wild
Shape can be affected. You can allow it at your
risk, or decide to use the core stats instead.
hieroglyphs but never found in any archaeological
excavation, its very existence is doubtful.
Theoretically its blade can pass through the shield’s
protection.
Flail: The flail is weapon which has the (usually
spherical and spiked) striking part attached to the
handle with a flexible joint such as a chain.
Khopesh: A typical is a curved sword with a
blade of 20 to 24 inches length, though smaller
examples do also exist. The blunted edge of the
weapon's tip also served as an effective bludgeon,
as well as a hook. It is technically an evolution of
the axe, rather than of a dagger.
Macahuitl: The macahuitl is a heavy wooden
club with several obsidian blades attached to it. It is
strong enough to break most metal weapons, but
1d4 blades must be replaced after a fight, or the
weapon loses a dice size for every two blades
replaced (1d6 first, and 1d4 when all blades are
broken), becoming actually a normal club.
Maul: A long, hard shaft with a heavy stone or
metal head.
Rhompaia: Rhomphaias are polearms with a
straight or slightly curved single-edged blade
attached to a wooden pole, which in most cases
was considerably shorter than the blade. Although
similar to the falx, rhomphaias are forged with
straight or slightly curved blades to enable their use
as both a piercing and slashing weapons.
Sarissa: A very long pike, these weapons have
double reach than a normal polearm, with about
13–20 ft. in length. This weapon is intended to be
used in close formations, and has disadvantage in
attacks against flanking targets.
Short sword: Makhairas and roman gladius
belong to this group, and have the stabbing
property instead of finesse. These weapons are
designed to be used in close-quarters combat, and
double the damage dice whenever they are used
against a grappled creature.
Trident: These triple-edged weapons have
advantage for disarming purposes, but
disadvantage against heavy armored targets.
Warhammer: A war hammer is weapon of war
intended for close combat action, whose design
resembles the hammer tool.
War pick: It is a type of war hammer that had a
very long spike on the reverse of the head. The
spike is often slightly curved downwards, much like
a miner's pickaxe.
Whip: Not really intended for war but for
torture, this weapon is actually a long leather or
fabric string attached to a leather or wooden
handle.
Martial Ranged Weapons
Atl-Atl: It is a small device that uses leverage to
achieve greater velocity and range in dart-throwing,
and includes a bearing surface which allows the
user to store energy during the throw.
Bolas: The bolas, also known as boleadoras, are
a throwing weapon which consists in two or three
wooden or stone heads attached to a very long
leather cord. This weapon can be used as a flail, but
is often used as a hunting or tripping weapon.
When the bolas are thrown against a creature’s
legs, the target must succeed in a DC 10 Saving
Throw or fall prone and grappled by the bolas. A
grappled creature can free itself making a
successful DC 10 Strength check, or dealing 5
slashing damage to the bolas.
Boomerang: A boomerang is a kind of throwing,
L shaped club that returns to the hands of the
thrower in a miss. As a bonus action, the thrower
can catch the returning boomerang by making a
successful DC 10 Dexterity check.
Blowgun: A blowgun is a hollow wooden or cane
tube devised to fire poisoned needles or darts.
Composite Bow: A composite bow is a small,
strong and recurved bow made of wood and horn.
Its very powerful, but needs a lot of strength to be
used.
Martial Sling: A martial sling is a longer, more
powerful version of the sling. The main advantage
of this weapon is its extraordinary reach, which
easily surpasses that of a bow. It is a very difficult
weapon to use properly, but in good hands can be
devastating. Historically, the Rhodian slingers were
extremely successful in warfare to crave a name for
 9
themselves very much like the Swiss pikemen in freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a
later periods. reddish-orange color.
Net: See the PHB, page 148. Silver: A precious metal, it is bendy and
unreliable as weapon material.
Gold: An expensive, very valuable metal, its
prime feature is that don’t rust, but it is otherwise
worthless as weapon material.
Most of these weapons are assumed to be made Flint: this trusty material was very reliable in the
of bronze rather than iron or steel. But some of past, but when metals came to play, it became
them aren’t even metallic at all: such is the case of obsolete.
the macahuitl, made of obsidian and wood. Bone: although resilient and flexible, dead
If you want to introduce even more weapons bones lose many of their properties.
made with alternative materials, here I present you Wood: A trusty, flexible material, it does not
a rule-of-thumb to give them a distinctive flavor. provide much edge to a weapon. But most shafts
Materials have a scale of hardness. Whenever and poles are made of this.
faced against a harder material, being it another
weapon or armor made of an up-scale material, a
natural 1 or 20 bends the weapon and renders it
useless for the rest of the fight. A natural 20 still
counts as a hit, though.
Material
1 Mithril, Adamantine
2 Titanium
3 Steel
4 Bronze
5 Iron, copper, obsidian*
6 Flint
7 Bone
8 Silver, gold
9 Wood
Mithril: The elves silvered steel, it is a bright and
light metal.
Adamantine: It is an extremely strong metal, with
an array of colors that range from blackish green to
silver. Weapons fashioned from adamantine have a
natural ability to bypass hardness when sundering
weapons or attacking objects.
Titanium: It is a strong, lustrous metal with a
silver color, and a low density. It is highly resistant
to corrosion in sea water and acid.
Steel: is an alloy of iron and other elements,
primarily carbon, that is widely used in construction
and other applications because of its high tensile
strength and low cost.
Bronze: A flexible, durable alloy of copper and
tin. Most weapons in this supplement are made of
bronze.
Obsidian: This volcanic glass is very hard and
sharp, but it is also brittle.
Iron: This cheap, black metal is soft and bends
easily unless forged with carbon to make it sturdier.
Copper: It is a soft, malleable and ductile metal
with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A