The first weapon specifically designed for use on humans was probably the club or mace. Since this was most often swung for the head, the helmet was likely the earliest form of armor. The oldest iconographic evidence of helmets depicts their use in Sumer at the beginning of the second millennium B.C. Early helmets were made from organic materials or copper, but bronze soon became the material of choice. Many TL1 examples consisted of small plates laced to a flexible foundation; treat these as scale armor (pp. 106-107).

The degree of protection that a helmet offers is a function of the material from which it’s made. For example, a Mycenaean boar’s tusk helm would be horn armor (p. 106): DR 3. Cost and weight depend on how much of the head is protected; see the descriptions below.

Sometimes called a skullcap or cervelliere, this is the simplest of helmets. It protects only the skull (areas 3-4), leaving face and neck completely exposed (areas 5, 17-18 get no protection – front or rear). Cost and weight are 20% of equivalent torso armor. Cloth padding gives +1 DR and adds $10, 1.2 lbs.

Example: A DR 3 iron cuirass is $1,000, 8 lbs. A pot helm of DR 3 iron is thus $200, 1.6 lbs. With padding: DR 4, $210, 2.8 lbs.

Norman cavalry are commonly depicted wearing this helm. It’s more comprehensive than the pot helm, extending down to protect the entire head except for some of the face (all of areas 3-4, plus area 5 from the back but not the front). It covers the ears – giving the wearer the Hard of Hearing disadvantage (p. B138) – but not the cheeks. Thus, it has a small chance of protecting the face: a roll of 1 on 1d. Cost and weight are 25% of torso armor. Padding (+1 DR) adds $12.50, 1.5 lbs.

This helmet covers the skull and face, like the Greek “Corinthian” helm. Only the eyes are exposed; targeting them through the eye-slits is at -10 (see Chinks in Armor, p. 101). The wearer suffers from Hard of Hearing (p. B138) and No Peripheral Vision (p. B151). Cost and weight are 30% of torso armor. Padding (+1 DR) adds $15, 1.8 lbs.

Head protection made of mail (p. 107), sometimes attached to a mail shirt like a hood. It covers the same locations as the bascinet (above), plus the neck (areas 17-18). It gives the wearer Hard of Hearing (p. B138) only if layered with padding. Cost and weight are 30% of torso armor. It’s often worn over padding (+1 DR, $15, 1.8 lbs.) and under a rigid helmet (see Layered Armor, p. 103). A coif may extend down to protect the upper chest and shoulders; add 50% of its DR to area 9, and increase cost and weight to 45% of torso armor.

This helm is worn over another, smaller helmet, and is more common in tournaments than on the battlefield. Some versions (e.g., the great bascinet) are bolted to torso armor, and are spacious enough to allow the head to move inside. A greathelm offers excellent protection – including neck coverage – but limits head movement and perception. The wearer suffers from Hard of Hearing (p. B138) and Tunnel Vision (p. B151). Targeting eyes through the eyeslits is at -10 (see Chinks in Armor, p. 101). A greathelm is layered over another helm – an exception to Layered Armor (p. 103), which usually requires the inner layer to be flexible. Cost and weight are 35% of torso armor. Only the inner helmet requires padding.

There’s more than one way to make a helmet.

It takes great skill to fashion a helmet from a single piece of material. It’s far simpler to attach small bits of horn, leather, or metal to a framework, yielding what’s termed a spangenhelm.

Spangenhelms are heavier than single-piece helmets, but easier and cheaper to make. Most historical helmets were of this type. A single-piece helmet has +9 CF and reduces weight by 25%.

Most helmets were fashioned with a domed or conical top that caused blows glance off. Some had a flat top, however. Flat helmets are easier and quicker to make, but because they’re less deflective, they require more material to provide comparable protection. -0.2 CF; increase weight by 20%.

Helmets that don’t cover the face – that is, everything but the full helm or greathelm – can be modified to add face protection. Each addition provides the helmet’s DR over a certain hit location and has a chance of protecting against an attack to the front of area 5. Add up the listed odds and roll 1d. If the result is equal to or less than the total, then the helmet’s DR protects the face.

Example: A helm with a nasal (1/6) and full cheek guards (3/6) has a 4/6 chance of protecting the face. On a roll of 1-4, the helmet’s DR protects the face.

The most common helmet addition, this consists of a vertical strip covering the nose. Some are hinged or detachable. Has a 1/6 chance of protecting the face; cost and weight are 5% of the base helmet.

Example: A DR 3 iron cuirass is $1,000, 8 lbs., so a DR 4 one is $1,500, 12 lbs., and thus a DR 4 bascinet (25%) is $375, 3 lbs. A nasal for it would be 5% of that, or $18.75, 0.15 lb. Padding (+1 DR) adds $12.50, 1.5 lbs. All together, this comes to $406.25, 4.65 lbs.; has DR 5; and with the basic 1/6 odds for a bascinet, has a 2/6 chance of protecting the face.

This addition goes around a helmet to ward off rain and sun, but also affords limited protection against attacks. Examples include the European kettlehat and Japanese jingasa. A brim has a 1/6 chance of protecting the face, rising to 5/6 when the threat originates from above (e.g., a volley of arrows or an attack faced when assaulting a fortification from below). Cost and weight are 15% of the base helmet.

These pieces protect the cheeks and jaw. They’re often hinged at the top and laced together under the chin, giving a 2/6 chance of protecting the face. Cost and weight are 10% of the base helmet.

Some cheek guards cover the ears, giving a 3/6 chance of protection and the Hard of Hearing disadvantage (p. B138). (The bascinet already offers ear protection.) Cost and weight are 15% of the base helmet. Adding perforations reduces the Hearing penalty to -2, but removes -2 from the penalty under Chinks in Armor (p. 101) and adds +0.2 CF.

Roman legionary helmets (called galea or cassis) had cheek guards.

Metal rims that shield the eyes and have a 1/6 chance of protecting the face. They give the wearer No Peripheral Vision (p. B151), and the eyes may still be targeted at -10 (see Chinks in Armor, p. 101). Cost and weight are 5% of the base helmet. Viking helmets are commonly depicted with spectacles.

This represents any full-face plate or mask (like the Japanese mempo) with eye-slits and breathing perforations. It’s often hinged and/or detachable. It replaces nasal, cheek guards, and spectacles, providing a 5/6 chance of protecting the face. The eyes may be targeted at -10 (see Chinks in Armor, p. 101), and the neck is still vulnerable. The wearer has Hard of Hearing (p. B138) and No Peripheral Vision (p. B151). Adding perforations reduces the Hearing penalty to -2, but removes -2 from the penalty to target chinks in head armor. Cost and weight are 25% of the base helmet.

Helmets often sport plumes or crests made of feathers, bristles, or horsehair. These serve as quick identification on the battlefield (indicating Status or Military Rank) and increase the wearer’s apparent height. Horns are another form of helmet ornamentation, surprisingly common during the Bronze Age. In some cultures, these additions give +1 SM for the purpose of Intimidation (p. B202) only. They also remove -1 from penalties to grapple the head, and give +1 to Vision rolls made to spot the wearer in the midst of a group of people (such as in a battle). $20, 1 lb.

The neck (areas 17-18) – especially the throat – is one of the most difficult body parts to armor. It’s often one of the few places where a heavily armored man is vulnerable! For more on this hit location, see p. B399.

The earliest neck protection was a large, turret- like tube that sat on the shoulders. It covered the neck and lower face (2/6 chance of protecting the face), but severely limited vision (the wearer couldn’t look down!). The only practical use seems to have been to protect chariot drivers from arrows; other soldiers, such as archers and spearmen, didn’t wear it. One was found with the Mycenaean Dendra panoply. Middle Eastern charioteers were also depicted wearing them. Cost and weight are 10% of torso armor.

This curtain of mail or light scale hangs from the bottom of a helmet, covering the neck (front and back). Cost and weight are 5% of torso armor.

A lobsterback (TL2) is an aventail made from segmented plate that only protects the back of the neck. Cost and weight are 3% of torso armor.

A collar made from a dense weave of mail that sits rigid around the neck. Some versions use a lighter weave, stiffened with leather thongs (see Banded Mail, p. 107). Either may stand alone or be integrated into a mail shirt. Saladin is said to have worn such a collar to protect against assassination. Because it’s rigid, it isn’t susceptible to blunt trauma and doesn’t suffer reduced DR vs. crushing damage. Cost and weight are 5% of torso armor.

A standard (TL3) is a mail collar extended to protect the upper chest and shoulders; add 50% of its DR to area 9. The neck guard is rigid but the drape is flexible. Cost and weight increase to 20% of torso armor.

This flap of mail is attached to a mail shirt. It’s unfolded up over the face and tied in place behind the head. The Norman “bibs” depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry are mail ventails edged with leather. The ventail protects the neck from the front only, as well as the chin (2/6 chance of protecting the face). Cost and weight are 3% of torso armor.

A rigid plate collar that extends up to protect the chin and mouth. Some chin guards were hinged or detachable. The collar shields the entire neck, while the chin guard has a 1/6 chance of protecting the face. Cost and weight are 7% of torso armor.

Worn under the cuirass, this rigid collar protects the neck and throat. At TL4, gorgets are segmented and articulated to allow better movement. Cost and weight are 5% of torso armor.

Skullcap (TL5). A thin metal plate designed to be worn under a hat. Skullcaps were relatively common in the civilian market throughout TL5-6. The French army issued such a cap to its soldiers in 1915.

Stock (TL5). A stiff leather collar buckled around the throat to protect against cutlass or saber blows. Many soldiers wore a stock, but the United States Marines were so strongly associated with the black leather stocks they wore until 1872 that Marines are sometimes called “leathernecks” even today.

Cavalry Helmet (TL6). A cuirassier’s stainless-steel or nickel-plated dress helmet. Polished to a mirror finish, it has a cloth cover for field use. It’s worn with the steel corselet (p. 65).

Early Firefighter’s Helmet (TL6). This traditional firehelmet design has a high crown with a shield in front bearing fire-company markings, and a wide brim long enough in the back to keep water and debris off the firefighter’s neck and out of his coat.

Heavy Helmet (TL6). A heavy steel helmet, such as the German Stahlhelm (“steel helmet”) of WWI. A strap-on brow reinforcement of heavy steel plate is sometimes issued to machine gunners and trench sentries. This addition protects the skull from the front (+15 DR, +$10, +5 lbs.).

Leather Helmet (TL6). The famous “Snoopy”-style skullcap worn by aviators, tankers, paratroopers, and even athletes. It has ear flaps and thick padding. Later models have built-in headphones and steel plates, greatly increasing protection (+4 DR, +$50, +2 lbs.).

Light Helmet (TL6). This “Brodie pattern” helmet is the standard British and American helmet from WWI through WWII. The “tin hat” or “battle bowler” is a shallow helmet with wide brim.

Medium Helmet (TL6). A well-designed steel helmet, such as the M1 “steel pot” worn by American soldiers from 1942 to the mid-1980s. The removable liner can be worn on its own (DR 1, $10, 1 lb.).

Frag Helmet (TL7). A ballistic resin pressed into a helmet shape, like the American PASGT helmet. The visor is worn for riot duty, as protection against rocks and other thrown projectiles.

Hard Hat (TL7). A lightweight aluminum “skull bucket” for construction sites. At TL8, it’s made from nonconductive plastic and costs half as much.

Modern Firefighter’s Helmet (TL7). Identical in shape to a leather firefighter’s helmet, but the shell is made from heatresistant plastic. It has a visor that can be flipped down to protect the face, and a clamp on the side to mount a small flashlight.

Motorcycle Helmet (TL7). A full-face, energy-absorbing shell designed to protect a motorcyclist’s head from impact in a wipeout.

Ballistic Helmet (TL8). An improved ballistic helmet, such as the U.S. Army’s MICH (Modular/Integrated Communications Helmet). It has attachment points for night-vision goggles and flashlights. Some include a removable ballistic visor for close-quarters battle.

Football Helmet (TL8). A heavy-duty sports helmet with a full facemask, designed to absorb and dissipate heavy impacts.

Hockey Helmet (TL8). A sports helmet of the sort used by recreational skaters, snowboarders, climbers, and so on. Light assault forces sometimes wear it for protection against falls and general bumps and bruises.

Riot Helmet (TL8). A riot or corrections helmet has a metal cage – much like a football helmet (above) – but adds a full polycarbonate “splatter shield” over the mask to block contact with biological hazards. The design allows the user to wear a gas mask underneath.

Notes:

• [1] Concealable as or under clothing.
• [2] Split DR: use the first, higher DR against crushing attacks; use the second, lower DR against all other damage types.