This thread is mainly in relation to the start of Bridgetown, where playing as peasants feels more frustrating than fun cuz you're basically just free kills for the invading Tenosians until they reach the bridge. It's less of an issue for Coxwell since you only spawn as a peasant once before finally playing as your preferred class, but the peasants at the final objective are basically useless at keeping the last remaining soldiers alive.
Because of this, I think it'd be worth it to bring up my idea for a village militia that has slightly more health than the 60 HP peasant, but is also much better armed. Perhaps the weapon pool for militiamen could consist of the following:
Slot 1
Glaive
Sledgehammer
Shovel
Dane Axe (should be extremely rare. Dunno what other weapon could be contrived as a woodcutting axe tbh)
None (if spawning in with one-handed weapon. Militiamen must always have a Slot 1 OR Slot 2 weapon)
Slot 2
None (If spawning in with two-handed weapon. Militiamen must always have a Slot 1 OR Slot 2 weapon)
Shortsword
Pickaxe
Slot 3
Knife
Cudgel (less frequent than Knife)
Not too sure what specific weapons would be given to militiamen, but I figured it'd be best to keep it restricted to items that can be contrived as farming tools (Glaive's default skin is a military scythe)