Are there limits on large weapons in small spaces?

[Rossebay]

My friend is playing a Half-Ogre Goliath.

This means that he's running around with weapons sized for Huge creatures. He's using a Battleaxe, which should be much too large for most locales, I should think.

Are there any penalties for using enormous weapons in small spaces? Is it just impossible?

[Nirhael]

In general, a light weapon is an object two size categories smaller than the wielder, a one-handed weapon is an object one size category smaller than the wielder, and a two-handed weapon is an object of the same size category as the wielder.

I usually work with weapons as an extension of their wielders, a Medium-sized character wielding a size-appropriate Greatsword would count as a 5x5 square for itself with an extra 5x5 square as the Greatsword. Since both take the same space, there's no problem as long as the character has a normal 5x5 square to fight on.

If it's a Large-sized weapon though, it's going to take more space than that (10x10) and, while still centered on the character, the additional space required will "spill out" from whatever side the character is attacking from.

Character attacking with a sweep from right to left:
{table]X|X
O|X[/table]

O=Space taken by Medium/Small character
X=Space taken by Large weapon

If you're swinging it in a Kobold-sized tunnel, you're going be slicing through the dirt or stone around and take stacking penalties, assuming you're able to bypass the material's hardness. Depends on your weapon though, a Greatclub might have a hard time smashing through stone to reach its target but an Adamantine Greataxe won't take any penalties at all.

That's how I deal with overly large weapons, about as close to what I can get from the rules anyway.

[Jack_Simth]

My friend is playing a Half-Ogre Goliath.

This means that he's running around with weapons sized for Huge creatures. He's using a Battleaxe, which should be much too large for most locales, I should think.

Are there any penalties for using enormous weapons in small spaces? Is it just impossible?By RAW? It's not addressed, so by default there's no penalty. A medium creature in a five-foot tunnel has no problems hitting a kobold two squares north of him with the pointy end of a longspear, and then hitting a kobold two squares south of him with the pointy end of that longspear on the next iterative attack, despite having no method by which to turn that ten-foot implement around.

Yes, that's immersion breaking, and yes, it's quite expected that the DM will put some sort of house-rule in place to fix it if it becomes a problem.

But it'll be a house rule. Learn to embrace them, they're important.

[Alefiend]

A medium creature in a five-foot tunnel has no problems hitting a kobold two squares north of him with the pointy end of a longspear, and then hitting a kobold two squares south of him with the pointy end of that longspear on the next iterative attack, despite having no method by which to turn that ten-foot implement around.

How high's the ceiling? :smallamused:

[Jack_Simth]

How high's the ceiling? :smallamused:
Five feet, of course.

[SowZ]

By RAW? It's not addressed, so by default there's no penalty. A medium creature in a five-foot tunnel has no problems hitting a kobold two squares north of him with the pointy end of a longspear, and then hitting a kobold two squares south of him with the pointy end of that longspear on the next iterative attack, despite having no method by which to turn that ten-foot implement around.

Yes, that's immersion breaking, and yes, it's quite expected that the DM will put some sort of house-rule in place to fix it if it becomes a problem.

But it'll be a house rule. Learn to embrace them, they're important.

Put spear heads on both sides. Problem solved, you just have to be careful wielding it and it won't be balanced quite as well on the one side.