What About Swords?

Look … not everybody has a sword.

I know, that might not be what you want your fantasy world to be like, and that’s fine.  You worldbuild what you enjoy.

For us, though, swords aren’t the most common weapons.  The average city guardsman, soldier, or minion of evil probably won’t be carrying one.

Swords are actually rather expensive weapons in the medieval arsenal.  They require pricey raw materials and considerably more talent and experience to forge compared to an axe or spear, and are far more of an investment than a staff or club.

A proper sword would be carried only by trained users; either the nobility (knights and above), professional soldiers (which are actually fairly uncommon compared to levies raised during wartime) or adventurers and mercenaries.  Law enforcement would tend towards staves, clubs, maces, and probably spears - these weapons leave the users a lot of non-lethal options, are cheap to produce, and way easier to train for than the cut-and-parry of swordplay.  Even levied troops would likely keep to common, cheap weapons - it takes a lot less iron to make an axe or spear than a sword, and a lot less training to use it. 

We try to be inspired by history but not necessarily limited by it (it’s fantasy after all) but some practical limits make the world feel a bit more gritty and gives it a character slightly different than every other fantasy world out there.  At least that’s the aim.

So don’t be afraid to limit swords in your world to those people who would really know how to use them.  A greater variety of weapons can be fun!