Hyboria - WordPress.com - Yggdrasil Distro

Arms & Armor in the Hyborian Age
This section details the weapons and armor used by societies according to their level of technology. Since
travel, adventure, trade, and intermingling between peoples and cultures is common, this lists are not
concrete. A metal longsword may well be found in a primitive society, just as a stone axe will certainly be
found here and there among rural civilized peoples. These lists are more guidelines than rules, and should
be used as such. Feel free to add setting-appropriate weapons and armor to any of the lists below.
Keep in mind when looking over the following lists that in the Conan/Hyborian mythos, armor is a
rather absent feature. The large armies and guard forces of empires and city-states have heavy cuirasses
of platemail and chainmail hauberks, but these forces are relatively rare when compared to the majority
of Hyborian Age adventurers. Most warriors in Hyboria wear nothing more than a leather jerkin, or a
studded leather vest in the case of seasoned and wealthy adventurers. Many don't even bother with the
leather armor, as in Conan himself, who was very rarely armored. It's fine to include larger, heavier metal
armors in a Hyborian campaign, just make sure they fit the setting and don't overuse them.
Stone Age/Primitive Cultures
Italicized entries are only present in metal-using primitive cultures, such as Cimmeria. Such cultures
typically only use copper or bronze in making tools, but some iron may also be utilized. In metal-using
primitive cultures, wooden, stone, and bone tools are still the norm.
Weapons
Short Self-Bows, Long Self-Bows, Recurve Short Self-Bows, Recurve Long Self-Bows, Primitive
Crossbows, Wooden Arrows, Bamboo Arrows, Arrowcane Arrows, Stone-tipped Arrows, Bone-tipped
Arrows, Blunted Bird-arrows, Wooden Bolts, Bamboo Bolts, Arrowcane Bolts, Stone-tipped Bolts, Bonetipped
Bolts, Stone Axes, Bone Axes, Stone Daggers or Knives, Bone Daggers or Knives, Wooden Spears
or Javelins, Stone-tipped Spears or Javelins, Bone-tipped Spears, Primitive Tridents, Wooden Staffs,
Wooden Clubs, Bone Clubs, Blowguns, Darts, Boomerangs, Bolas, Slings, Rocks and Stones, Nets, variety
of Traps.
Metal Daggers or Knives, Metal Hand Axes, Metal Axes, Metal Short Swords or Machetes, Metal Long Swords,
Metal Clubs or Maces, Metal Warhammers and Mauls, Metal Flails, Metal-tipped Arrows, Metal-tipped Bolts,
Metal-tipped Spears.
Armor
Leather or Hide, Thick Leather or Hide, Studded Leather (bone, shell, or wooden studs), Plated/Scaled
Leather (bone, shell, or wooden scales), Wooden Shields, Hide-covered Wooden Shields.
Studded Leather (metal studs), Rarely: Chainmail or Ringmail, Scalemail, small pieves of Platemail
Applies To
Asgard, Cimmeria, Darfar, Hyrkania, Keshan, Pictland/Pictish Wilderness, Vanaheim.
60