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amanodel
2006-12-26, 10:44 AM
Want to have a fighter worth his salt? Having serious stomach aches when you hear spiked chains or armor spikes? Here's a feat just for you!


Polearm expertise

Prereq: STR 13+, DEX 13+.

Benefits: When you wield polearm weapons you can make attacks to both 10' and 5' reach, just as if were you wielding a spiked chain.

Normal: Without this feat polearms are only let you hit opponent either 5 or 10 feet away, depending on the type of polearm.

Special: A fighter can select Polearm Expertise as one of his fighter feats.



List of polearm weapons: Guisarme, Halberd, Ranseur, Glaive.


Mechanically this feat is similar to ex. w. prof: spiked chain, so it shouldn't be broken. What do you think?

pyrefiend
2006-12-26, 11:59 AM
I have to say, I think I like it. It's already been done with the spiked chain, so yah, I don't see how it could be broken. Might as well just get a spiked chain unless you have a really great polarm, however.

amanodel
2006-12-26, 12:10 PM
I just made it up for people who hate spiked chains and think those are sick, non-sense, and silly weapons. Or they don't like armor spikes for the same reason, and they refuse to use either of them.

Neek
2006-12-26, 01:09 PM
Wait.

People use polearms in D&D? Whoah. I just thought they were included for filler.

Mauril Everleaf
2006-12-26, 01:56 PM
What about halberd and spear? technically they are considered polearms.

ArmorArmadillo
2006-12-26, 02:34 PM
This feat, plus glaive makes spiked chain obsolete.

It's interesting, but it kind of overlaps with Short Haft from Complete Warrior; which allows the same thing, but requires a swift action to shift between 5 and 10 foot reach.

Fizban
2006-12-26, 07:03 PM
If they spiked chain can do it with an exotic proficiency feat, why not just make a general feat for it? (the spiked chain is rediculous, and short haft is robbery, seems like whoever wrote it nerfed specifically so that spiked chains would still be better). Maybe it only applies to polearms you have focus with?

amanodel
2006-12-26, 08:14 PM
Neek: yes, people use them. In one of my PbP campaigns here there's a rashemi berserker with a guisarme, focused on tripping. That character alone requires me to use CR's default +2 to make encounters merely interesting. Reach weapon + armor spike work just like spiked chiain, without the addition feat to be wasted on ex weap prof. I made this feat for those who dislike armor spikes too, but still want to be mechanically effective. Also, if you have focus or specialization it becomes better than guisarme+armor spikes.

Mauril Everleaf: I was thinking adding longspears too, but they are piercing weapons, not slashing, and I couldn't imagine the movement necessarely to use it. But...

ArmorArmadillo: I haven't read Comp. Warrior. It's an interetsing stuff, but is slightly weaker than this one. If the players burns a feat for this, he shall be awareded with something useful. Wait is it a feat or a weapon tuning? (Yes, I would like to see spiked chains obsolete, since I hate it with all of my heart.)

Fizban: I agree with you that short heft is robbery, but allowing it only with weapons one have focus will be a nerfing too. That'd mean you must take focus (much people don't do that), which would be a feat in vain then.

Winged One
2006-12-26, 09:36 PM
Don't spears, longspears, and maybe the piercing ends of dwarven urgroshes count as polearms as well?

amanodel
2006-12-26, 10:12 PM
As far as my knowledge goes polearms were not (only) piercing weapons. They are much more like an axe (or an axe combined with a spear, in same cases) on the top of a long pole. I don't included spears because then I'd need to include tridents and other weapons as well (I just can't imagine hitting someone 10' away with an ugrosh or a one-handed trident). But it could be done, yes.

Fizban
2006-12-27, 02:14 AM
Fizban: I agree with you that short heft is robbery, but allowing it only with weapons one have focus will be a nerfing too. That'd mean you must take focus (much people don't do that), which would be a feat in vain then.
Yea, I phrased my post badly. I'd like to see some non-ability prerequisites in there, but I can't think of anything good. Yes, I meant requiring weapon focus to be a nerf, with the rationalization being that prof: spiked chain is one feat for one weapon, so this should be one feat for one weapon. I hate it when feats only apply to one weapon, so if the fighter for some reason takes weapon focus with multiple polearms, he could use it with more. Which now that I type it makes absolutely no sense. Nevermind.

Mauril Everleaf
2006-12-27, 09:45 AM
Well, technically spears can be used as a slashing weapon, about like a two-edged small glaive, although its not common (or as effective). it also depends on the spear being used. but i see your point. you could say that the feat requires the use of a slashing polearm, that way the helberd can get included (that d10 doesnt come from the little point on the top), but the trident would not. also require that they polearm have reach to begin with. it doesnt make sense that a weapon that doesnt have reach should all of a sudden grow longer with this feat. short hafting makes sense, but i dont think its possible to long haft.

amanodel
2006-12-27, 09:57 AM
Fizban: I basically like the idea of weapon group specialization instead of weapon specialization. All the polearms are mostly similar weapons, and most gaming system differentiate them form spears.

Mauril: I only took Halberd as an originally 5' weapon. But halberd could be used for opponents far away, at least I imagine so. Looking at it, the halberd would be a bit more powerful than the other polearms, so maybe I should scratch that.

Mauril Everleaf
2006-12-27, 10:19 AM
well then you have to drop the glaive, its also a d10, x3 crit, and it weighs less. the only thing the halberd has is option of damage type.
sorry, that came off sarcastic.

Closet_Skeleton
2006-12-27, 10:55 AM
well then you have to drop the glaive, its also a d10, x3 crit, and it weighs less. the only thing the halberd has is option of damage type.
sorry, that came off sarcastic.

There's also the spinning Halberd feat in complete warrior, but that's a bit of a waste since I believe it requires two-weapon fighting.

amanodel
2006-12-27, 11:44 AM
No, the glaive is weaker than the halberd int hat aspect, it's not designed for either tripping or disarming, whie the halberd is.

With that feat both will have 5 and 10 reach, d10, x3, but halberd wins with the special properties.

Mauril Everleaf
2006-12-27, 12:21 PM
forgot about tripping, hmmmm, well i guess that would make it a bit more effective than the glaive, but i dont think it makes it so much more effective as to not include it in the feat.

i would still include longspear in the group, especially since the ranseur is included, and its exactly like a spear with a minor alteration.

im not bashing your feat, i really like it, makes polearms rock, just some thoughts.

amanodel
2006-12-27, 12:43 PM
Longspear would make sense, especially if it's viewed in the Japanse naginata (or the other one, I'm confused) style.

Mauril Everleaf
2006-12-27, 12:47 PM
(i know this wasnt a great movie but) in troy, watch the spear usage in the duels. they use thrusting and slashing movements, which was based off of typical one-on-one combat in ancient greece or rome. i always imagine using spears like this, so my dm allows for slashing/piercing as its damage type, although slashing is at a -1 damage (minimum 1).