The Bronze Age and Ancient Cultures

The first metal weapons were made from copper. It was easy to mine and easy to work, but proved to be very soft. By adding tin to copper, a much stronger alloy known as bronze was created. The early civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia were manufacturing bronze weapons more than 4,000 years ago.

Unlike Stone Age or savage cultures, Bronze Age cultures are almost never found as contemporaries of more advanced civilizations. Once a nation or tribe masters the working of iron, bronze rapidly falls out of favor. This category is good for campaigns set in ancient times, or for equipping warriors who are somehow displaced in time.

At the beginning of this era, a battle consisted of two mobs of armed men meeting in a brutal melee. By the end of the Bronze Age, sophisticated phalanxes of spearmen and a firm grasp of tactics enabled the Greek city-states to dominate the ancient world. The chariot ruled the battlefield for a while, only to be replaced by more maneuverable cavalry.

Spears, bows, and slings are the most common weapons of this time period. Axes and swords are rarer. Swords evolved from primitive, sickle-shaped chopping weapons into the Greek xiphos, a well-made short sword used for thrusting and slashing.

Armor runs the gamut from none at all to sturdy coats of metal lamellar or scales and bronze breastplates and greaves. The armor type known as bronze plate mail has no real historical model, but is included as a logical extension of bronze plates worn over more of the body.

Bronze Age, Ancient Cultures


Adze
3 sp

Battle axe
5 gp

Bow


Arrow, flight
3 sp/12

Composite short bow
75 gp

Long bow
75 gp

Short bow
30 gp

Cestus
1 gp

Dagger
2 gp

Dart
5 sp

Hand/throwing axe
1 gp

Javelin
5 sp

Lance, light
6 gp

Mace, footman’s
8 gp

Mace, horseman’s
5 gp

Mace-axe
12 gp

Pike
5 gp

Quarterstaff
—

Spear
8 sp

One-handed
—

Two-handed
—

Spear, long
5 gp

Staff sling
2 sp

Stinkpot
1 sp

Stone
—

Sword


Broadsword
30 gp

Khopesh
15 gp

Sapara
10 gp

Short
15 gp

Sword-axe
20 gp

Trident
15 gp

Two-handed axe
15 gp

Warhammer
2 gp

War club
2 gp

During this period, iron weapons began to appear. If an iron weapon is used against armor made of bronze, horn, wood, or any weaker material, the attacker gains a +1 bonus to hit. Similarly, if a bronze weapon is used against iron armor, the attacker suffers a –1 penalty to hit. Bronze-on-bronze or iron-on-iron match-ups provide no special bonuses or penalties.

Iron weapons and armor may be considered to be nonexistent, rare, or common in this setting. If the DM decides they’re nonexistent, no character can obtain them. If iron is rare, any weapon or armor made of iron can be purchased for triple the listed cost. If iron is common, iron arms can be purchased at the listed cost. Of course, if iron is common, just about everyone else will have it, too.

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