Need some Help: Weapon Names

[Reinhart]

I'm creating the version 3 rules for a tabletop style RPG I run over AIM and I'm getting to the weapons. Now, I know a lot about weapons but I need some additional help because my knowledge is... limited and, being here for the amount of time I have I've seen a lot of people with extensive knowledge of ancient weapons from multiple cultures. Now, I don't need generic things like "Short Sword", "Long Sword" etc. I'm avoiding using those things. I need weapons which historically existed at one point. If you guys could help me I would be much obliged.

Oh yeah, this can be weapons of any type and guns up through early revolvers.

 

[Grocat]

Steeled-Water Saber
Steeled-Water Arquebus
Steeled-Water Gladius
Steeled-Water Zweihander
Steeled-Water Kukri
Steeled-Water Long Rifle

-Grocat the Cobra Rending Toga

 

[Reinhart]

Mmm, good suggestions. Materials aren't nessicary. When a player commisions a blacksmith to make a weapon for them, he/she chooses the material.

 

[Blizzybee]

-Grocat the Cobra Rending Toga

you post THE wierdest name-tags that usually have nothing to do with what you just said! and im like "wtf..." and then i start laughing.

 

[Liberious]

Claymore, Katana, Rapier, Colt Peacemaker, Winchester Repaeating Rifle, Bolt Action Rifle, Musket, Stinkpot

 

[13 Spider Bloody Chain]

Wakizashi- Japanese short sword. Similar in appearance to a Katana, but shorter.
Gladius- Roman short sword, handy for use as a dagger.
Pilum- Roman javelin that cannot be pulled out of a body/shield due to half of its length being made of soft iron (when the javelin enters the target, the iron bends and so the javelin ends up sticking out of people/shields crooked).
Zwiehander- German two-handed sword.
Naginata- Japanese polearm that looks much like a katana on a long wooden shaft.
Bolas- Primitive thrown weapon made up of two heavy weights tied together by a long string. Handy for tripping/capturing enemies.
Sashmir- Indian sabre
Staff Sling- A sling weapon that uses a wooden shaft to arc its projectiles. It also uses larger projectiles than the regular sling.
No-dachi- The Japanese equivalent to the Zwiehander. It looks very much like an elongated Katana.
Samurai bow- Samurai bows were known to be asymetrical, meaning that the place where the arrow is knocked against the wood of the bow is not in the middle like traditional bows. This makes them easier to use on horseback without shortening the bow.

If you want a nice fat list of various weapon names, check out http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/weaponsandarmor.shtml.

 

[Worbah]

You guys do realize that Zweihander is just German for Twohander? Kahden käden miekka isn't a Finnish twohanded sword, it's just what it is in Finnish.

 

[13 Spider Bloody Chain]

True, but I'd imagine German zwiehanders to be a bit different than, say, a claymore...

 

[Ingolifs]

dacian falx, ataghan, falcata, khopesh

 

[Red Cougar]

Kama, wrist-scythe, and crescent-blade off the top of my head.

 

[Reinhart]

Thank you guys! That was very helpful.

 

[Kate of Lokys]

http://www.museumreplicas.com has a ton of historically accurate weapons, from falchions to falcatas.  They usually provide a history of each sword type, and a description of how it was most commonly used in war.

 

[Reinhart]

Excellent Thank you!

 

[Damien]

I'm confused. . . are you asking for specific existing weapons -besides- the standard European-style items (like arming swords) or just for all the names various swords have been known by?

True, but I'd imagine German zwiehanders to be a bit different than, say, a claymore...

German zwiehanders? Because there's another kind? Ugh.

Zwiehander is simply German for 'two-hander.' That's ALL. It is not different from a Claymore because a zwiehander is any kind of two-hand sword, whereas a claymore is a specific kind of two-hand sword (when it refers to a two-hand sword at all).

Gladius- Roman short sword, handy for use as a dagger.

I don't know a lot of people, living or dead, that would be running around with 27-inch daggers. A sword is not a dagger and cannot be used as one, especially when it outstrips daggers in size by half-again or more.

 

[Reinhart]

Yeah, any weapon from any culture, anywhere. Just don't give me "Dark Cleaver" Or some equally stupid, fantasy-ish weapon.

 

[Grocat]

Yeah, any weapon from any culture, anywhere. Just don't give me "Dark Cleaver" Or some equally stupid, fantasy-ish weapon.

See? Take that, Damien!    He wasn't asking for just swords, he was asking for "weapons that existed historically at one point".  Will you deny that the Gladius existed at one point?

-Grocat the Groaning Ampitheater Candle

 

[Damien]

Will you deny that the Gladius existed at one point?

Yes, I will! Just to be contrary! 


There have been so many weapons created over the thousands of years of human warfare that a comprehensive list is nigh-impossible. Especially considering translation difficulties where the same names are repeated for the different items, or many different names are applied to the same item . . .

What I would suggest doing is looking into Osprey books. Their colour plates are essentially 'reconstructions' of what people would have looked like during the time or in the area that the book is about. And the books always end with detailed descriptions of what appears in the plates. Between that and the rest of the book's text you should be able to pick out every weapon in each plate.

I actually have a bunch of Osprey books on my computer (PDFs) for just that purpose - checking things of that sort.

 

[Grocat]

It probably is, I thought it was a special type of two-handed sword used in Germany.  I'm basing this off of the Seventh Seas RPG, where there is a source book for the "Eisen" which is really just the german states.  The Zweihander in there was supposed to be bigger than a "braveheart" style claymore, and had a really long handle, like almost half the length of the blade.

I'm not saying it's historically accurate, but I'm wondering if there really was a sword like that, perhaps with a different name but still used in the German states circa 1600.  Does any one know what I'm talking about?

-Grocat the Elizabethen Sword Gloater

 

[Damien]

Mhmm, it was called a greatsword, or two-hander (zweihander). That's it. Two-hand swords have a rather impressive size range, from little bigger than a 'bastard' sword up to being taller than the wielder. However, within this category there are surprisingly virtually no sub-categories. 'Zweihander' is German for two-hander, that's all. It doesn't refer to any specific kind of sword. However, modern fantasy has forced the term to be equatable in the unstudied with giant two-hand swords.

But in real life, there is no 'zweihander' as any kind of unique weapon. The Danish 7-foot sword is just as much a zweihander as the English 5-foot sword, as the Italian 6-foot sword, etc etc.

Think of it like the word schwert. Schwert is just 'sword' in German. It doesn't refer to some special German single-hander, it's simply the German version of the word 'sword' and refers to any. . . sword. 

Anyway, I thought it was zweihänder, not zwiehander.

Right you are. I -always- spell it wrong. For some reason it just refuses to stick in my head under the correct spelling. Correction appreciated.

 

[Damien]

Yes, that was the common German usage of such large swords. Although a more appropriate way to put it is that the German pike-breaking shock troops used zweihanders, as that simply states their equipment. Saying 'the zweihander was used to' implies all two-hand swords were used in this way. Small difference in wording, but it makes a large difference in how the statement is perceived.