Gadgets and Gewgaws: Miscellaneous Low-Tech equipment and rules

"But it was Egill and not a bear that was hiding in the bushes, and when he saw Berg-Önundur, he drew his sword. There was a loop on the hilt which he drew over his hand to let the sword hang there. He took his spear in his hand and rushed towards Berg-Önundur."

 -Egil's Saga, ch. 58

GURPS Low-Tech contains many amazing things, almost to the point of being, in and of itself, an educational book. Each time I read it I learn something I haven't known before. Yet in listing all the aspects of daily life, many of the things more pertinent to adventurers and soldiers have been omitted. History is filled with all sorts of little artifacts and mentions of things that warriors did to give them the edge, and I'm often asked, personally, as a GM, about getting these things. Gadgets and Gewgaws will be a listing of various rules and stats I have come up with for accessories not covered in the -Tech books.

As a brief aside, the historical accuracy of some of these items is in debate, or is up in the air entirely. Cloth or leather accessories do not survive the ages well, usually rotting away to nothing, and many metal objects are unrecognizable hunks of rust. This makes it very hard to tell whether such a thing as, for instance, the Rain Scabbard, ever existed.  I, personally, am of the mindset that if an idea makes sense, someone in history, at some point, must surely have tried it. We cannot conclude such things were common in history without evidence, but fantasy worlds or historical settings are free to include them.


Sword Lanyard
$1, 0.1 lbs

A sword lanyard is a piece of string or twine wrapped around the wrist of a swordsman, in order to suspend a weapon hanging point-down from the wrist, leaving his hand free for other tasks. So suspended, a weapon can be quickly readied with a flick of the hand (+2 to Fast-Draw), but Holdout rolls are impossible. The lanyard must be re-tied to the weapon each time it is drawn (three Ready maneuvers, cut to two if a successful Knot-Tying roll is made), making it primarily useful for when preparing for an engagement ahead of time. The sword cannot be dropped, merely made unready, unless the twine is cut (-8 to hit, 1 HP, 1 DR). Any weapon longer than a Broadsword will interfere with the hand it's attached to, giving -2 to DX with that hand (-1 if the hand is participating in readying a two-handed weapon).

The lanyard is made of a piece of plant fiber twine about five yards long and can support 20 lbs. A similar lanyard can be made of chain and attached to a gauntlet ($10, 1 lbs), and is identical aside from being much tougher. A clasp to quickly detach a chain lanyard is $5, neg.


Peace Bonds
$3, 0.1 lbs

"The lad grasped the sword, drew off a step or two, snapped off the peace-strings, and drew the sword."

                        -Gisla Saga, Chapter 28

A pair of leather loops for the mouth of a sword scabbard that can slide up and around the crossguard in order to secure the sword in the scabbard. This adds an extra Ready maneuver to any draw, in order to slip the straps outwards around the crosshilt and off the sword. The extra Ready can be avoided by a Fast-Draw roll at -4. The sword cannot be drawn by anyone else while so secured, though, and it will also stay in the scabbard even if the sword is tugged or tossed, or turned upside down. Peace bonds such as these are primarily used as a statement of trust, rather than by legal obligation, showing the swordsman feels no need to (quickly) draw his weapon.


Peace Bonds, Tied
$7, 0.25 lbs

A more complicated system of tight, knotted cords or leather straps that ensure at least one knot must be untied in order to draw a scabbarded weapon. This requires three Ready maneuvers, cut to two on a successful Knot-Tying or Escape roll. Drawing the weapon is still impossible until this is done, or the cords are cut. This particular style of peace bond can be demanded by law, in order to wear or carry a sword in places such as holy ground, a designated meeting point, or in a city with restrictive weapon laws. Not all places will accept a peace-bonded sword automatically, but it certainly speaks volumes about a blade-carrier's intent.


Rain Scabbard
$10, 1.5 lb

This thick, elongated cloth bag can be tied over any weapon up to Bastard Sword lengths (4.5 feet), including a sword still in its scabbard. With the flap closed over the end, the weapon is at -2 to Fast-Draw, but it also gains +4 HT against environmental degradation. A larger version to cover greatswords, etc (up to 8 feet long) is $17, 2 lbs. The weapon can be slung on a person while in the rain scabbard at no penalty. The scabbard will protect against rain, mud, magical corrosive dust, etc, but will not protect against immersion in liquid.

Although a specialty item, the rain scabbard can be given an inner lining and specialized flap that will not leak when submerged, provided it encloses the entire weapon. Drawing or opening the scabbard will flood the contents, however. This upgrade is an additional $50 and 0.5 lbs.

Whether any such historical item of this type exists is unknown, but it would certainly be at home in any fantasy setting.


Visor Lock
$25, 0.1 lbs
(Cost multiplied by SM)

A visor lock is a small but sturdy key that slips into a visor's pivot, in order to lock the visor in the closed position, preventing it from being raised or knocked open accidentally. This can be very valuable if grappled by an opponent! Engaging it requires two Ready maneuvers, removing it requires one - but disengaging the visor lock of a resisting opponent requires a quick contest of grappling skill! (In either case, the time to ready or unready can be lowered by one second with a successful DX roll, penalized for Hamfisted.)

Without a visor lock, a visor can be raised by anyone who successfully grapples the wearer's face as a free action.

Visor locks can be broken - in fact, the duel of Jacques Le Gris and Jean de Carrouges was concluded when Carrouges smashed open Le Gris's visor with the pommel of his sword, breaking the lock that held it in place. Carrouges then finished his unfortunate opponent by stabbing him through the jaw with a dagger. The lock has DR 4, HP 6. If the visor it is attached to is struck, apply the same amount of basic damage to the visor lock. When destroyed, it ceases to function and the visor can be raised by anyone grappling the face.


Visor Bars
1% of armor cost and weight

Due to the threat posed by adversaries slipping a dagger or sword point in through the vision slit of a visor or full helmet, some visored helmets feature vertical bars arrayed over the visor slit. These bars impair vision, but provide protection to the eyes. Partial bars, like those pictured on the right, give 3/6 coverage to the eyes, but give Tunnel Vision instead of No Peripheral Vision!

Full bars are 2% of full armor cost and weight and, in addition to granting Tunnel Vision, also give -2 to vision rolls. However, they provide full protection (6/6) to the eyes.

Bypassing visor bars is impossible for creatures using same-size SM weapons, unless attacking with something like a needle. SM-3 or smaller weaponry may be able to manage it. However, normally, with full bars in place, the Eye Slit armor gap is protected by the full DR of the visor bars.