Title: Days of the Kami
Weapons and Armour

Ranged Weapons

Bows
Thrown Weapons
Blowguns
Hand-to-Hand Weapons
Swords and Knives
Polearms
Blunt Weapons
Peasant Weapons
Combined Weapons
Armour
Weapons Links

Last updated 31 October 2001 (new weapons added)

I have expanded considerably the choice of weapons offered in Feng Shui for "Juncture 69 AD".  Arguably, a lot of this is just flavour; but then that's largely what the game is about, right?  Remember that some fu and gun schticks allow you to designate a "Signature Weapon" (available for hand to hand weapons as well as ranged), which lets you do extra-cool stuff when using that particular weapon (e.g., your grandfather's treasured daikyu, not just any bow of the daikyu type.)  Finally, I added special manoeuvres for some weapons (listed under the weapon description).

Drawing or Loading:
Per the basic Feng Shui rules, drawing and readying a weapon (e.g., drawing and nocking an arrow, drawing and throwing a dagger, loading a dart or a dose of pepper in a blowgun, picking up a weapon from the ground) is a 3-shot action, unless you have a schtick that reduces the shot cost (see Gun schticks and Fu powers.)  Drawing a weapon from a scabbard or saya is a one-shot action (assuming the scabbard is readily accessible).

Difference in Reach:
When two opponents use melee weapons that have significantly different reach, I will attribute a 1-pt or 2-pts difference in difficulty, depending on the difference; e.g., Yoko with a tanto against Shinsuke with a no-dachi will suffer a -2 Outcome when she attacks or dodges.

Two-Handed Weapons:
Certain weapons require both hands to be wielded with any efficiency.  If someone can make a really convincing argument that due to their size, agility, or special circumstances, they can wield these one-handed I will consider it carefully and if I agree with the argument, I will give a suitable penalty.
 

Ranged Weapons

In Feng Shui, ranged weapons are classified under "guns" and, because of the setting centering on Hong-Kong movies, modern firearmes dominate.  Ranged weapons listed for the antique (69 AD) era include bow and arrow, throwing stars (a.k.a. shuriken), blowguns, sling, and thrown knives.  That's a little skimpy for our purposes; it stands to reason that weapon-wielders of another era lavished just as much half-demented passion and skill on their toys as their modern counterparts.  Leafing through "Secrets of the Samurai"1, I find no less than 29 types of arrows illustrated, let alone types of bows, and throwns weapons: kusari-gama, kyotetsu-shoge, and a variety of shuriken that include darts, needles, stars, disks, and something like little calthrops (shaken).

Note: I have classified all ranged weapons, including thrown weapons, under "Guns", while in the basic book Feng Shui places thrown weapons under Martial Arts.  I think this will compensate somewhat for the fact that the L5R gun bunnies have less hardware to choose from.

Now for hard numbers.  Stats are given in the following order: Damage/Concealment Rating/Capacity.  Damage is in Wound Points; Concealment ratings go from 1 (tiny, unnoticeable in pocket) to 5 (not concealable); Capacity is all pretty much 1, since we don't have any modern weapons.  An exception is the shuriken in  its varieties, which can be thrown several at a time.

Range:
Range is rarely an issue in Feng Shui, but when it is, here are the difficulty modifiers (Mod.):


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Bows

All bows are two-handed weapons.

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Thrown Weapons

Note that the chain weapons (kusari-gama, kyotetsu-shoge, and manriki-gusari) can be thrown while holding on to one end; this is normally the case when performing an entangling manoeuvre.  Chain weapons are two-handed, but the kyotetsu-shoge and manriki-gusari can make double attacks, as described above; the kusari-gama make one damage attack AND one entangling attack simultaneously.

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Blowguns

If you want to combine a blowgun type weapon with the hitting power of a kiseru (see below), the concealability rating changes to 4 or 5 depending on the length.  Only one blowgun can be used at a time, not that they're two handed but exept for oni most characters have only one mouth!

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Hand-to-Hand Weapons

Swords and Knives

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Polearms

Polearms can also be used like jo or bo staves, depending on the length (see under Blunt Weapons below) to inflict non-lethal damage.

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Blunt Weapons

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Revolt of the Peasant

Note that the Feng Shui book gives a damage of Str +1 to nunchaku and tonfa, just like a punch or chop, and Str +3 to staff, dagger, etc.  Well, I've been thinking about it and it seems to me that the nunchaku and tonfa should hurt more than a punch or chop and as much as a kick (Str +2).

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Combined Weapons

Many combinations are also possible; I have seen lots of pictures of chains attached to other weapons (for example, a kusari-gama is basically a kama with a chain), or with a hook to allow use like a jitte (e.g., a nifty gunsen-jitte combination: parry and disarm!).

I will be the final arbiter of what is acceptable.

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Armour

These are various pieces of armour that can be donned.  Note that the difference between "heavy" and "light" armour, beloved concepts of the gaming scene, is pretty much in the number of pieces worn, not in their make.  Here are the various pieces of a full armour, in the order they are donned - this will give you new respect for those crazy enough to want to walk around in armour all the time.

  1. Short fundoshi: essentially a padded cotton or linen loincloth or groin guard, followed by a long fundoshi: a sort of longer underwear worn like an apron and tied behind the neck.
  2. Shitagi and obi: short kimono-like undershirt and its sash.  Over it the ordinary bushi wore a functional shirt called the hadage, while high-ranking bushi wore elaborate robes, the yoroi hitatare.
  3. Kobakama (short trousers) or hakama (long, ceremonial trousers): wide trousers divided at the sides, usually decorated with the bushi's mon.
  4. Mobien-tabi (cotton socks) or kawa-tabi (tanned leather socks)
  5. Kyahan or tabaki: cotton leggings
  6. Waraji (sandals) or kegetsu, kutsu, or tsuranuki (fur boots)
  7. Sune-ate: molded metal or lacquer shin guards
  8. Haidate: apron-like loin guard worn over the upper part of the thighs, divided in the center to allow horse riding.  Sometimes, especially for infantry, this was replaced by a padded mail or chain legging called kusari-kyahan covering the entire leg.
  9. Yugake: gloves of tanned skin
  10. Kote: sleeves of padded cloth and leather, armoured with plates of metal or lacquer on the outside, and ending with a hand-guard. Kusari-gote were padded chain or mail sleeve with plates, while tetsu-gote were plated more heavily along the entire arm.
  11. Wakibiki: lateral plates worn as a very short vest right under the armpits.
  12. Do: corselet, the outside body armour we are used to seeing, usually of lacquered plates or small metal plates, laced tightly together with cordelets on a leather backing.  The haramaki-do has all the openings and fastenings at the back, while the do-maruhas them on one side of the body.
  13. Uwa-obi: outer sash
  14. Sode: shoulder guards
  15. Daisho: the two swords, katana and wakizashi
  16. Nodowa (gorget, or throat protector) and hachimaki (bandana worn under the helmet as padding and to absorb sweat)
  17. Mempo: Full or half mask protecting the face, generally designed to give the wearer a fierce expression.
  18. Hachi (metal domed helmet of the ordinary bushi), kabuto (elaborate helmet with side-guards and a crest), or jingasa (conical or almost flat helmet of the ashigaru, looks like a peasant hat)
In general, lacquer is used far more than metal at this stage in Rokugan because (1) it's lighter and doesn't impede movement and riding as much; (2) metal rusts rapidly, especially with the frequent rain and river-crossings; and (3) it's easier to repair at this state of technology (lacquer can be reapplied to repaired sections, while plates are hard to forge).

Note also that the Feng Shui system tries to discourage the use of armour.  For this reason, there are Agility penalties associated with wearing armour; I have adapted these for the setting and they are listed in the following table:
 
 

Type Toughness Bonus Agility Penalty
Do only
+1
-1
A few pieces (e.g., sune-ate, kote, kabuto)
+1
-1
Light combination (e.g., do plus sune-ate and haidate)
+2
-2
Full armour (all the stuff listed above)
+3
-3

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Weapons Links

The following links lead to pages that have pictures and details on various weapons. Return to top

Notes:
1 Despite its hoaky title, I highly recommend the book "Secrets of the Samurai", by Oscar Ratti and Adele Westbrook; it contains abundant description and illustrations of weapons, armour, and more importantly armed and unarmed technique.  Return.
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