World Building - Fantasy Weapons

The great equalizer when it comes to modern weapons is the gun. Any type of modern gun really, levels the playing field. If you are a very weak person, with only a little skill, you are a threat. A ranged weapon that requires relatively little skill, and relatively little strength to use. It makes everyone a threat.

Let's go back a bit, and the precursor to the modern gun is the crossbow. The advent of the crossbow was also game changing. It gave anyone enough of an advantage (you could hide, hold the draw indefinitely, and in some cases penetrate armor, etc.) that it was outlawed in various European countries.

Then let's go back before the crossbow. You have the sword. For centuries it was one of the primary weapons of soldiers. Not the only weapon, but one of the primary weapons.

But which sword? Did rogues use rapiers, soldiers use arming swords, barbarians use huge two handed swords? That's what most fantasy stories and role playing games would have you think.

The truth is a bit more complicated. Swords are technology. Technology develops over time. And what's more, people who use technology are always looking for the best and most effective technology. Fantasy type societies based (no matter how loosely) on the middle ages of various cultures, are no different. Technology was always developing. Let's take the fencing type swords (e.g. rapiers) as an example.

Rogues weren't the ones using rapiers, everyone was. That was the best weapon of the day. It developed partly in response to heavy armor, and partly because of the sword making technology. Smiths were finally able to create a long, thin, flexible blade that wasn't incredibly weak. Why was it important to have flexible blades? Well, with armor (another technology) advancing. It was useful to have a blade that would slide along a heavy plate of armor and slip into the creases. In fact, rapiers were so effective against heavy plate armor, that the armor itself was nearly abandoned for most practices. There were still guardsmen who used pole-arms or heavier weapons. There were certain weapons and technology for soldiers. But for the most part, the type of weapons were not mixed just for light fighters, medium, and heavy. (Fun note, a rapier was about 2.5 lbs while a common long sword weight was about...huh also 3.5 lbs. Doesn't seem like much, but try swinging it around for an hour.) For a game, it's fun to mix in various types of characters who use different styles of weapons. But in reality, using different weapons is usually a matter of being from a different time period or culture or caste. Many of the "ninja" weapons that we think of were developed because the common people weren't allowed to have swords like the Samurai but they still wanted to defend themselves. Thinking about why your characters use a certain weapon often falls into a stereotype. Strong person, they've probably got a huge axe or giant sword. Weaker person, they probably have a rapier or bow. That's just not usually the case. Weapons are technology and they are used for specific reasons and for specific purposes.

Also, technology has its early adopters, its late adopters, and its second hand consumers. Weapons were the same thing. Why do we have so many cars? Is it because everyone is rich enough to buy the newest, best model? No. An older model will get traded in, sold, or passed on. It doesn't just disappear. The same is true for weapons. Swords were very expensive at first. And the finest quality swords still are. But after a while, swords were more plentiful and available for cheaper. At some points there were even fight schools that regular people would join. A common hobby in Germany was learning to fight with long swords, nearly the same way that England had so many archers.

If you've got magic in your world, how much does it affect weapons? In modern culture, we've got guns. We don't see much sword use. Can your characters point a tool (wand, laser, gun, fireball, etc.) at someone and kill them? If they can, why are they still using swords?

So, when you're writing a story with weapons, think of the weapons of the society and what those weapons say about that society. What is the "state of the art" weapon? Who is allowed to use weapons? Who has access to them? How much do they cost? What weapons are taboo, or considered to be "hitting-below-the -belt"? And of course, the best question, what would motivate your character to use a weapon at all?

Katanas

While preparing to write I tend to do a lot of research, perhaps too much. One of the things I am currently studying is combat. Since I'm writing a fantasy novel set in a time without guns, I'm studying really anything that came before guns.

One thing that I've noticed is a rolling commentary on the katana. The katana is a Japanese blade that has become extremely popular. People who love the katana say it was the best sword ever. People who like other swords usually say the katana is overrated because of popular culture. I've just got a few observations:

Katanas are not just swords. To many people the katana represents the values and belief system of the Samurai. It's not just the sword, but the entire Samurai culture that is involved with this sword. It's similar to the way those of European descent view King Arthur and the knights of the round table. There is a sense of romanticism and adventure surrounding the Katana.

Military change throughout the ages represents a huge back and forth between opponents. If I sent my army at you with a stick, you might get bigger sticks for your army. If I put on a lot of heavy clothes and to pad my warriors bodies and some wood on their heads to protect them, you might come at me with a sharpened weapon to cut through that padding, or a club with spikes that could poke through. If you just found this great stuff called metal that you could shape, you might use as much as you could find. But you might, instead, change your fighting style so that you could pinpoint the weaknesses in my armor without finding a new weapon. Chances are that you'd probably do whatever you could to come out on top.

The point here is that weapons, armor, fighting styles, and even military philosophies change throughout the years in concert with enemies, resources, and technology. Swords throughout the world have gone through various changes throughout the millennium. Materials dictated how long and how thin swords could be made (a 4 foot copper sword would not stand up to continual beating, but a 2 foot copper sword made thick enough might do the job). Sometimes it was a matter of knowing how to forge the metal. Sometimes it was about finding the metal (Iron, as it turns out, is not found naturally in bars or sheets at a local sword making store). Katanas were made in Japan. Japan is an island with limited resources. Katanas have a thick back side made of lower quality metal with a blade forged from a very high quality metal. This design allowed the weapon smiths to create a strong blade with less cost. It is an ingenious design that comes partly from the real world limitations.

One fallback katanas have is that they don't bend. Katanas are created like a long, thin, axe blade. Thick at the back and sharp at the edge. They can stab, but Europeans started making swords that could take a lot of strain and still come back to their original shape. One reason flexible swords are useful is that they can slide along tough armor and slide into weaker joints. The knight was like a tank. He let the armor take blow after blow until he was in position and then he attacked. We don't see many knights fighting with rapiers, because thin and flexible rapier blades made it easier for unarmored opponents to take down a knight.

But there is one piece of evidence that may support the katana's effective design especially in more modern combat. The swords used in more modern wars are single edged, curved blades like the katana. Part of that is that sabers are very useful for cavalry who want to ride through and slice down their enemy. A curved sword is much better if you want to keep going, while a straight sword tend to hang up a bit. Also, plate armor became less and less useful when guns came around (thick enough plate to stop a bullet may well just be too heavy).

I don't know if there is any connection between the saber and the katana. The truth is that every weapon is useful in certain situations, but just looking at the trends, it seems that over time we gravitated toward a similar style. That doesn't mean that the katana is the best sword ever, but the convergent design seems like a good indicator that there is something to be said about katanas.