Equipment List

[betaraybill]

OK, here is a list of bronze-age equipment, mostly so that you guys can get an idea of what is available.
In terms of what equipment your characters will actually have, I intend to pursue things on a case by case basis. The idea of having a character start with a specific amount of cash doesn't really work so well in this game since most of the wealth that is available to the characters is actually the wealth that is available to their families and clans. Beyond that, your characters will have no ready "cash" type money unless I specifically mention otherwise.
That said, I'm just gonna go ahead and suggest that your character can have any equipment from this list that you want them to, bearing in mind some common sense restraints. A Peasant Warrior isn't going to have a solid gold breast plate. I reserve the right (obviously) to veto any object that you choose for your characters. For the sake of simplicity, I'm going to add a note to each item on this list concerning its rarity and availability by social status.

Dress:

Normal dress for common men and women of ancient Israel would consist of a tunic of wool with a sash or girdle and sandals. Work attire for farm laborers may be as little as a loin-cloth and sandals. In addition to this, a mantle or robe may be worn. Mantles and robes often bear a design or pattern of a particular tribe or clan. Rarely for common men and women, some insignia bearing the emblem of a tribe will be worn in the form of a wooden charm worn around the neck or on the wrist.

Normal dress for soldiers when performing military functions is basically the same, except mantling bearing tribal patterns and tribal emblems are much more common.

Attire for Levite priests always includes a Mantle or robe bearing the Levite pattern, and the holy symbol of the 8 pointed star. In addition, higher ranking anointed priests may wear ephods or other symbols of authority.

Higher-class citizens may wear clothes of fine wool or rarely of silk, or very rarely jewelery. The higher the social standing a citizen, the more likely they are to wear some sort of tribal emblem.

Tools and Implements

Common tools and implements can often be used as weapons. They include hoes and sickles, pitch forks, adzes, and hammers of various sizes. Shepherds will often carry a shepherd's crook or a staff and a sling to defend their flocks from wild beasts. Brushes for fleecing are also common to shepherds.

Levite priests, as mentioned, will always carry a symbol of the 8-pointed star, and will often carry a small icon to erect a shrine for prayer. In addition, traveling Levite priests often carry several days worth of incense for offerings. Incense comes in various degrees of quality. Common incense known as Ketoret is provided for free at most temples and stationary shrines to priests. Rarer incense, like Balsam, Juniper, Sandalwood, Cypress, Frankincense and Myrrh are harder to come by.

Rope, small pouches, sacks, canvas, etc. are all fairly easy to come by. Improvised weapons like sling-stones, throwing stones, and clubs and poor-quality staves are also easy to find.

Food and drink:

Water is rare commodity in this part of the world. Cities, towns and villages often have a single well. Water is kept in houses in earthen jars. Travelers often carry goat bladders for the purpose of carrying water.
Wine can be of varying quality, but is generally available to all citizens.
The most common form of processed food is bread. Sheep and goats milk is available to certain persons. Honey is a rare and valuable food. Various fruits, including dates, figs, and apples can be found. Meat is usually of sheep or lamb, which can be dried and salted for travel.

Herbs and medicines:

Herbs and medicines are available from herbals, who usually gather them by hand. There are many different types of medicinal herbs for different applications, some more potent then other. Common healing herbs consist of aloe, balsam, cassia, oregano, and mustard seed. In the hands of a skilled herbalist, they can be potent medicines. Other healing herbs are rare and highly valued.

Armor:

The best armor available to the common people of Israel would be a thick hide armor; but padded and leather armor are much more common. Beyond that, not much in the way of protective equipment is available to common citizens.

Soldiers usually have leather armor at worst, and occasionally use hide or studded leather armor (though the latter is somewhat expensive, and beyond the means of a normal soldier). Officers and higher ranking soldiers may wear bronze plates. Warriors typically have access to bucklers and small shields for archers and infantry respectively. Occasionally medium shields are available. The use of helms of any sort is somewhat rare, but leather caps are certainly available

Armor Table:

Armor Type Armor Class Bonus Weight
Padded -1 10
Leather -2 15
Studded Leather -3 25
Hide -4 30
Bronze Plate -6 45

Shield Table:

Shield Type Armor Class Bonus # Attackers
Buckler -1 1
Small -1 2
Medium -1 3

Weapons

Common weapons for the various classes have already been described in the character class thread. Beyond that, common people of Israel would mostly use farm implements, clubs and staves as weapons.
Unlike many other campaign worlds, it is not uncommon for priests to use swords.

Available weapons:

Swords:
Short Sword
*Khopesh
Broadsword (rare)

*Khopesh receives a +1 bonus when attempting a disarm.

Knives and Daggers:
Knife
Dagger
Jambiya

Spears:
Normal
Long

Missile Weapons:
Bow
Spear

Thrown Weapons:
Javelin

Other:
Net
Adze
Club
Staff
Light Lance
Horseman's Mace

Note that all metal weapons are made of bronze, and thus suffer a -1 to hit penalty against iron armor. I'm open to suggestions for other plausible weapons.