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Real Steel: Manrikigusari
The manrikigusari, or 10,000 powers chain, also called the ryofundogusari, or double weighted chain, is yet another obscure Japanese weapon. The story about its origins that I like best is that the...
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Real Steel: San Mai
In the past, we covered forge welding as it relates to Damascus steel here. But forge welding can be used to stick hot steel together in lots of different ways. San Mai is a Japanese technique now in...
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Real Steel: Tetsu-Ken
In honor of the annual destruction and consumption of the dire turkey, we present to you Todd Gdula’s Real Steel, wherein we learn of the creation of a potential weapon that could help with the...
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Real Steel: Kobold’s Choice
Real Steel has been around for over two years and 24 installments. Although I’ve done my best to act on suggestions, I haven’t been able to get to them all. In part, this is because I have received so...
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Real Steel: Kobold’s Choice Results
The results are in. The kobolds have spoken. The results we have at the end of this post are not what I expected, but kobolds are sneaky and unpredictable by nature. And the winner is… [Ahem. You...
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Real Steel: Kickin’ a Kickstarter
Curious to find out what our master of Real Steel is up to, are you? Then here’s the gist of it: Mjolnir, the Hammer of Thor from Norse mythology, will be created in forged steel, high-quality art...
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Real Steel: Kobold’s Choice
In case you haven’t heard, Ernie Gygax recently had a disastrous house fire and lost pretty much all his possessions. All people and pets got out OK. Although we’re friends on Facebook, I’ve never met...
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Real Steel: Kobold’s Choice Benefit Raffle Update
Our little benefit raffle to help out a fellow gamer in a time of need is done, and one thing is very clear: Kobolds care . . . a lot. All told we raised $580 to help Ernie get back on his feet. I’m in...
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Real Steel: Kobold’s Choice—Building the Mace
In the recent past, we talked about the options for my next project. Then I asked for input from the kobolds, who made their choice here, and who also gave generously here and here. The mace is...
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Real Steel: Mjolnir
Mjolnir. The name conjures images of godly strife, powerful storms, and supernatural battles. This is something my brother, David, and I had wanted to do for a long time. Some of you followed or backed...
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Real Steel: Mammen Axe
The Mammen axe is known from a single example found in a grave at Mammen, Denmark, and it dates from about 970-971 CE. The axe is very well made and inlaid with silver, and it was probably ceremonial...
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Real Steel: Cutlass
The cutlass is a short sword in the saber family, usually having a broad, curved blade. It was commonly seen in naval service, most likely due to its ability to cut, thrust, and brawl in close...
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Real Steel: Spiked Targe
Whether called target, targa, targo, or targe, it’s a round shield ranging from approximately 18”–21” in diameter, used by infantry forces in various European armies from the 13th through the 16th...
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Real Steel: Throwing Knives
Daggers, darts, and staffs. That was your choice of weapons when you rolled that level 1 mage with 1 hit point and one sleep spell way back when. Many of us chose the dagger or darts (more on darts and...
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Real Steel: Coins of the Southlands
Coins. Gold, silver, bronze, and copper. Throughout history, they’ve been struck, cast, engraved, and cut. Their style and artwork are a reflection of the culture that created them. It’s no surprise...
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Real Steel: Falchion
Historically, falchion come in two basic varieties: heavy and light. The heavier type arrived earlier and is a somewhat crudely made, heavy, cleaver-like sword. The lighter type is a longer and more...
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Real Steel: Short Sword
The many types of short swords have origins from almost everywhere in the old world. Indonesia has an amazing variety of big knives and short swords. The Indian region and Africa offer some of the more...
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Real Steel: Cthulhu Cutlass—A Work in Progress
I make some fairly unusual blades and metalwork, but it’s not often that I get commissioned to make a pure fantasy piece. When I got the initial call on this one, I knew it was going to be fun. I did a...
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Real Steel Contest: Date Extended
In an effort to gather more entries for our judges to enjoy — especially from those of you who were working on your taxes until today — we’re extending the contest deadline until April 25, 2016. So, if...
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Real Steel: Kerambit
Gamers are fairly well versed on the wide variety of real life weapons that have made their way into our campaigns. It’s pretty unusual that I feel like I can show you something that there’s even a...
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