Dwarven reach weapon?

[Curmudgeon]

Is there a Dwarven reach weapon? Basically I'm looking for a honking big warhammer or battleaxe. I figure Drow have their scorpion chain, and Dwarves need an equalizer.

[Knaight]

Is there a Dwarven reach weapon? Basically I'm looking for a honking big warhammer or battleaxe. I figure Drow have their scorpion chain, and Dwarves need an equalizer.

As far as I know there isn't anything specifically dwarven. That said, it's not like they can't just use any of the existing reach weapons - and a glaive can be fluffed as a partisan easily enough, which is basically an ax-spear.

[TroubleBrewing]

Dwarven Warpike, RoS pg 155.

EDIT: Upon closer examination, it's exactly what Knaight suggested. It's a big honkin' partisan that you can trip with.

[Curmudgeon]

All right! Honking big axe, spear, and tripping hook! I'll need Improved Weapon Familiarity, but that's exactly the sort of thing I was looking for.

Thanks a bunch. :smallsmile:

[Daftendirekt]

As far as I know there isn't anything specifically dwarven. That said, it's not like they can't just use any of the existing reach weapons - and a glaive can be fluffed as a partisan easily enough, which is basically an ax-spear.

To be fair, glaives are really more like sword-spears. Halberds are axe-spears.

[Curmudgeon]

Yes, but in 3rd edition D&D, halberds aren't reach weapons. :smallconfused: Apparently they're really *short* pole arms.

[Daftendirekt]

Yes, but in 3rd edition D&D, halberds aren't reach weapons. :smallconfused: Apparently they're really *short* pole arms.

...

I never noticed that before.

Eff that. If I DM a game, halberds are reach.

[Elric VIII]

If you're looking for a martial weapon, the Lucerne Hammer would be a good choice, assuming you don't mind it not being fluffed as an actual dwarven weapon.

It's basically a big hammer-pick on a pole. It's in A&EG and Dragon 331. The A&EG version deals piercing damage, the Dragon one deals piercing or bludgeoning. I am unaware of any errata for the A&EG, but I'm relatively sure that it is in error, since the weapon is a hammer.

[Curmudgeon]

If you're looking for a martial weapon, the Lucerne Hammer would be a good choice, assuming you don't mind it not being fluffed as an actual dwarven weapon.

It's basically a big hammer-pick on a pole. It's in A&EG and Dragon 331. The A&EG version deals piercing damage, the Dragon one deals piercing or bludgeoning. I am unaware of any errata for the A&EG, but I'm relatively sure that it is in error, since the weapon is a hammer.
No, I don't think that's an error. From the ones I viewed at a museum in Austria, the "hammer" is actually 4 points rising out of a solid steel mass. The thing is entirely designed to punch through armor.

Here's a picture I found:
http://bjorn.foxtail.nu/images/lucernehammer.jpg
All piercing, all the time. :smallsmile:

[Elric VIII]

You may be right, upon further inspection, the pictures of blunt ones tend to be stylized/ornamental in appearance.

[Aron Times]

No, I don't think that's an error. From the ones I viewed at a museum in Austria, the "hammer" is actually 4 points rising out of a solid steel mass. The thing is entirely designed to punch through armor.

Here's a picture I found:
http://bjorn.foxtail.nu/images/lucernehammer.jpg
All piercing, all the time. :smallsmile:
Lucern hammers, you say? (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0136.html)

[Spiryt]

You may be right, upon further inspection, the pictures of blunt ones tend to be stylized/ornamental in appearance.

Most of lucerne/whatever hammers, pollaxes, warhammers, or whatever you call it had some kind of protrudes on hammer side, some were a bit more than shape on the surface of metal, while sometimes there was pretty much no surface, h only protruding spikes. (http://users.wpi.edu/~jforgeng/CollectionIQP/artifact.pl?anum=1468)

Actually 'hammer' like surfaces weren't very unheard of though.

http://www.myarmoury.com/albums/displayimage.php?album=13&pos=51


So it's not set in stone at all.

Not that it has much to do with topic, although some of those polaerms have dwarfish feel indeed. :smallwink:

[Incanur]

Some folks have argued dwarves automatically get proficiency with the dwarven warpike. Complete Warrior seems to support this in it suggests to limit the number of dwarven weapon any given dwarf gets free proficiency for. Can anyone confirm or refute?

[Ravens_cry]

At least according to the SRD, RAW says no; it only says they treat dwarven waraxes, dwarven urgroshes as martial weapons, it doesn't say they are proficent any weapon with the name "dwarven" in its name.

[Curmudgeon]

Some folks have argued dwarves automatically get proficiency with the dwarven warpike. Complete Warrior seems to support this in it suggests to limit the number of dwarven weapon any given dwarf gets free proficiency for. Can anyone confirm or refute?
No, there's definitely no automatic proficiency. There is a "you might consider" DM option to remove some existing racial weapon familiarity (like Dwarven Urgrosh) and replace it with another one (like Dwarven Warpike). It's on pages 154-155 of Complete Warrior.

[Knaight]

To be fair, glaives are really more like sword-spears. Halberds are axe-spears.

Mechanically, cutting with an axe and cutting with a sword is slashing damage either way - hence the ability to refluff. Glaives are sword spears, partisans are axe spears, both make sense as slashing/piercing, but are only slashing because D&D seems to have some sort of aversion to ever giving out slashing or piercing damage (See: Almost every sword in the game).

Moreover, I consider "slashing but not piercing" less of a B.S. oddity than "it doesn't have reach". Still, the Dwarven Warpike seems to invalidate the need to use a refluffed glaive, where it becomes an ax-spear partisan instead of a sword-spear glaive.

[Incanur]

No, there's definitely no automatic proficiency. There is a "you might consider" DM option to remove some existing racial weapon familiarity (like Dwarven Urgrosh) and replace it with another one (like Dwarven Warpike). It's on pages 154-155 of Complete Warrior.

Yes, that's the text I'm referring to. It assumes that dwarves treat all exotic dwarven weapons as martial by default and suggests limiting this to compensate. Either way, the possibility of getting free proficiency with the warpike makes dwarves even better because the warpike is an awesome weapon.