This one started as a talk about the Palladium Book of Weapons and Assassins. As I was writing it I found it was a little too short and covering it wouldn't make an article I would really be happy with. That said, that book was deeply influential to how I play a Thief so it's coming but it will probably be covered along with the Legend of 5 Rings: Courts of Stone.
So this week we're gonna talk about a couple of books from palladium, The Compendium of Weapons, Armor, and Castles along with a book that is technically already a part of the first, Weapons, Armor, and Castles of the Orient. I think these two should be together because the first book has very little in the way of Chinese or Japanese fortifications.
This book is a bit of a product of its time and isn't entirely historically accurate. As always with Palladium we're gonna keep in mind that it's a little dated in some of its claims and we're looking at this not for historical accuracy or correct claims about certain groups, but for the toys within.
Boy howdy, do these books give you a lot of toys. Despite the book only containing really 3 things, weapons, armor, and castles, there are quite a few things I wanna talk about, so enough rambling, its time to dive in!
Weapons: Okay this is gonna feel like kind of a no brainier but bear with me. This section of either book shows a lot of illustrations of weapons. An important part of the game we all love, flavor is free, so use it! your short sword can take on a hundred different appearances, same with your axe! Your hand ax is a thrusting axe! Your club is an ornate New Zealander style club! your two-handed sword is an executioner sword! As a player, the weapons of DCC are generic for a reason, here is that reason! As a Judge, I would be elated if a player wanted to tell me their short sword was a gladius style sword or their dagger was a krambit. Hell, I would even offer little bonuses for adding a little flavor. I will say, I wish the section on swords was a little longer or had more illustrations in it but we get plenty of illustrations later.
Exotic Weapons: Technically under "weapons" but I really wanted to highlight this section because it offers good illustrations and a chance to pull something out of here and surprise your players a bit. Give them a weapon they can't pick up and use right away but if they spend time training they might have that same surprise later.
Polearms: Okay, I know, another one covered under "weapons" already but hear me out! the polearm in DCC is a single entry in the book, one line of text. Say it with me: Flavor is free. That single line of text with a price tag gives you so much freedom, polearms are such a diverse branch of weapons, why not take a moment to pick one and have some fun with it?
Armor: This section is less detailed in explanation that the weapons section but makes up for it with a huge number of illustrations. It really gives you a lot of room to explore what "half plate" could mean. Maybe your "chain mail" is actually sewn into cloth and padded to lessen noise like a ninja? Maybe you wear an armored coat instead of scale? My favorite part of the lack of descriptions of equipment in DCC is that it gives your freedom to describe things how you want to, so use that freedom and say your character is wearing a set of lamellar plates on soft leather as scale mail, that distinction might save your life later! This section also has a small section on shields that I wish was a little longer. I love shields, I just think they are neat, and just think maybe more attention should have been given here.
Castles: The fortifications covered are diverse and range from simple to complex. These have real potential to be something a Judge might see as inspiration for the local lord's keep, a dungeon, or something else. As a player, if you're interested in building a fort or get some land as a quest reward, look to some of the simpler fortifications. This is full of illustrations but I will say that some really interesting looking castles are spared only a single picture and I really think we should have seen more of some of these.
Now the second book, Weapons, Armor, and Castles of the Orient, we're gonna just cover this one quick because it is a short little book.
Weapons: Much like the other book, this one shows you a good selection of weapons from across many parts of asia, not just Japan and China. It has plenty of illustrations and has a little more room to talk than the crowding of the other book.
Armor: Just glad to see that we get more coverage of eastern styles of armor in the form of illustrations and details of how it works. It was lacking in the other book and I'm glad to see it covered better here.
Castles: This is a great section! Completely left out of the other book, we get details of Chinese and Japanese fortifications showing off castle towns and other things. I would have liked to see something from outside of these two regions but it is a short book so we'll try to be forgiving. A lot of great illustrations and short blurbs to inspire.
While writing this I went back and changed it several times, picking and choosing which books to write this about. Palladium is a system I have a lot of love for but talking about it can be hard. They are older books, they come with some problems, and are written in a way that it is hard to talk about one without including others. I'm probably gonna bring it up a few more times in future articles, I have a long history with it. It was my home system for decades until DCC and all its derivatives came along. There are real gems in there. Just like I often say, look at other games and find the pieces to bring back to your home system.
If you're here at all, thank you for reading! I'm grateful that I have readers to share this kind of thing with. I hope you got something from this and are interested in finding these books to dig through, my suggestion would be to start with a google search for the pdf with the book title, I'm sure it is out there, I believe that Uncle Kevin makes them available.
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