Early Garnia Equipment List

 

Equipment List

The Great Culling of the AD&D Equipment Price List

Armor, Helmets & Shields

Since your people are essentially refugees in an unfamiliar environment, a lot of gear is going to be hand-me-downs or repurposed captured gear.

Armor -

Some of this list is conjectural, we do not have examples from period Celtic sites, but interaction with the Mediterranean world, or just common sense dictate that they probably existed. None of these armors are exactly the same as their standard AD&D equivalents in appearance or function, armor technology develops in tandem with weapons technology. I have grouped armor into 3 types, Light, Medium and Heavy.

Light – 20GP

Medium – 100GP

Heavy – 400GP

Light armor provides 2 points of AC (AC 8 in AD&D, AC 12 with modern ascending AC), light armor includes the following, mentioned for roleplaying and descriptive purposes. Padded – a quilted or many layered cloth garment, often worn under heavier armor types, to help cushion blows. Leather – armor made from hardened leather, sometimes boiled in water or oil, sometimes wax hardened. Maximum DEX bonus of +3.

Medium Armor provides 4 points of AC (AC 6 in AD&D, 14 in AAC), medium armor includes the following: Scale – originating at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, at this time mainly made frfom overlapping bronze scales, fairly heavy, favored by cavalrymen and charioteers. Chainmail – Favored armor of ranking warriors, chieftains and kings. Made from linked iron (steel) rings, fairly heavy, and labor intensive to produce, provides excellent protection vs. slashing weapons. Max DEX bonus +2.

Heavy Armor provides 6 points of AC (AC 4 in AD&D, 16 in AAC), Heavy armor includes the following types: Reinforced Chainmail – essentially the same as Chainmail, but with the “problem areas” getting a second, reinforcing layer. Banded (Lorica Segmentata) - an armor made from overlapping bands (or segments) of iron (steel) armor, it represents the height of iron working in the period, and is commonly used by Roman soldiers by the middle of the 1^st century AD. I include it here, because examples may have existed earlier. Breast Plate – An armor used from ancient times across the Mediterranean world and beyond, typically made of bronze, it covers the entire torso in a fitted sheet of metal. Commonly used by the wealthiest of Roman, Greek or Carthaginian officers, it does not appear to have caught on in the Celtic world, but they could have used it. Max DEX bonus +1.

Helmets -

Under AD&D rules a certain number of attacks will be aimed at your head, randomly. Your head's AC is based on the type of helmet you wear. Helmet technology having not advanced in the iron age to the point where any standard AD&D helmets are actually available, I have come up with this work-around solution.

Limed Hair – AC 7 (13 AAC) costs 1 SP, takes one hour to apply, lasts 1d4 days per application. Has a tendency to cause hair to break, and bleaches hair blond. Requires character to not be bald.

Leather Helmet – AC 5 (15 AAC)

Iron Helmet – AC 3 (17 AAC) costs 50 GP.

Crested Helmet – AC 3 (17 AAC) 100-500 GP, has a fancy crest and or plume, usually adds decorative touches in brass, bronze, silver or gold. Worn by the very wealthy, great warriors, chiefs & kings. A total status symbol, it can add to the reactions and morale of NPCs.

Shields -

Shields come in three main varieties, based on size. Small, medium and large.

Small Shield - Small shields are rare among the Celts, but can be taken as trophies. They provide a single point to AC, versus one attack per round of combat. 5GP

Medium Shield – Medium Shields (usually round) are less common among the Celts, but not unknown. They are often used by horsemen, sometimes by skirmish troops. They provide 1 point of AC, versus up to two attacks per combat round, and provide 30% cover when deployed against missile fire. 7GP

Large Shield – The favored infantry shield of the Celts. They provide 2 points of AC versus up to three attacks per combat round, and 50% cover when deployed against missile fire. 15GP.

Weapons -

This is where the equipment list is going to take a huge hit too. Iron age Celts are not depicted as using a wide variety of weapons historically, they will have encountered a few more here, and some are simply too common to not include, despite a lack of evidence.

Weapons are going to be the common, simple weapons of poor folks (which often just included tools), hunting weapons, and martial weapons of higher status. There is, of course, some crossover.

Arrow 1SP each

Axe, Battle 5GP

Axe, Hand or Throwing 1GP

Bow 15GP

Club 1GP

Dagger 2GP

Hammer 1 GP

Javelin 10SP

Mace, Footman's 8GP

Mace, Horseman's 4GP

Maul 4GP

Sling with 12 bullets 15SP

20 Sling bullets 10SP

Spear 1GP

Staff 1GP

Sword, Falcata 10GP

Sword, Long 15GP

Sword, Short 8GP

Swords are the status weapons of warriors, they also typically carry javelins, spears, and daggers for back up. Bows & slings are for hunting, and mainly used by poorer folks for fighting. Axes & hammers are tools, and taken to battle by the poor. Clubs and staves are basically improvised weapons of last resort, also for low status people in battle. Any other weapon showing up on the list is most likely scavenged battle loot from non-Celtic foes, or brought in by an outside cultural group like Dwarves or Elves.