A low-grade armor and weapon material for a Fantasy setting

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Possible names for the vine:

• Wickervine
• Wickervin
• Goodweed
• Tanglewood
• Serfwood

Those are good. Tanglewood won't work in this case, as the plant tends to naturally make for a good surface to walk on and the name implies it should trip up or impede you in some way, but the others would. While I like the name of Serfwood (it initially jumped out to me as the best of the bunch), I'm not certain if serfdom is really a thing in the setting... and if it is it seems odd to name something that for most people (at least the poorer commoners, but that's "most people") are primarily likely to associate with a traveling surface (the wondervine functionally forms roadways) after a class of people who are defined by their lack of mobility. Although I guess if I really wanted to use the name, I could have "serf" actually refer to semi-owned farmers/laborers (wiki notes them also tending to work their lord's mines and the like) who tend to travel a lot when tending to fields rather than living on the land they farm for their lord.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Sharp sticks are a thing, though that only covers points, not blades.

The wondervine is reliant on being intertwined for strength, and for a point you'd have to limit the tip of the weapon to basically a single straightened vine, which even if it's sufficiently-rigid would still be unlikely to stay intact after a single strike.

Originally Posted by ericthered

blades might be tier 1+. swords become balanced clubs, axes become hammers.

Yeah, if I can't find anything acceptable, this is certainly an option, but I'd like to allow for tier 0 blades if possible. I essentially want fairly similar options to be available at all tiers, it's just that the higher tiers are better.

Originally Posted by ericthered

If you want a wonder-item to create blades, my thought is a sedimentary rock that fractures into thin blades naturally when you slam it on the ground.

That would avoid the labor issue quite well, but it would call for frequent replacement of the prismatic blades, which is something I'd prefer to avoid. It's certainly worth considering as an option.

Originally Posted by The Colonel

Really sharp leaves? I recall the old Fighting Fantasy setting had monkeys that used sharp leaves as swords, so you might be able to turn something similar into a edge for a weapon. Perhaps a natural calcite or silicate blade deposited on the leaf edge?

I was actually considering a broad-leafed plant with leaves that can calcify into something blade-like. Or maybe it would work better if leaves are moderately long but narrow and end in a sharp point? We could call the plant Spearleaf or something like that. A tier 0 axe would have its head made mostly of wondervine wicker with a truncated calcified spearleaf serving as the edge. A tier 0 sword would instead be a balanced wondervine wicker club with a couple spearleaves running along each side (or just one side for a single-edged sword, with the one(s) at the end having its (their) point(s) partially exposed to be able to stab into the target. A tier 0 spear would simply have a spearleaf at the end of a wondervine wicker shaft. It's not completely ideal, as it requires introducing a new plant that basically only exists to allow for such weapons (the wondervine also makes travel easier and helps justify having effective tricycles by forming a decent road surface), but perhaps we can think of more mundane uses for the plant*.


*EDIT: Part of me chuckles at the thought of it actually being this world's version of spearmint. Maybe they have some means of extracting the oil while leaving the (rather larger than what we're used to) leaf intact, and it gets calcified/silicated (silicafied?) as a side effect.