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matthewmw64
2008-03-27, 11:52 PM
Hi All,

Im keen to play a Spearman in my groups next campaign and I was hoping to take suggestions for possible classes and feats. He'll definitely be a Human. Thats pretty much all I've decided so far.

Thanks,
Matthew

melchizedek
2008-03-28, 12:19 AM
The Stormlord PrC from complete divine is designed for a divine spellcasting spearman. Some disciplines from Tome of Battle also have spears as associated weapons. A Desert Wind focused Swordsage with a spear could be pretty cool.

Nebo_
2008-03-28, 12:20 AM
Books, stats, level, what sort of spear?

Sstoopidtallkid
2008-03-28, 12:22 AM
Don't forget to pick up the Short Haft feat at some point, and of course Power Attack.

Ascension
2008-03-28, 12:27 AM
I'm going to second the "What sort of spear?" question. Makes a lot of difference, really.

EDIT: The best optimization for spears, though, is to talk your DM out of an undead-killing uber spear (http://www.feartheboot.com/comic/default.aspx?c=32) on a "temporary" basis, and then "forget" to give it back. Especially (http://www.feartheboot.com/comic/default.aspx?c=65) if your main opponents in the campaign are all undead.

matthewmw64
2008-03-28, 12:47 AM
What different kinds fo spear are there?

I have all of the Completes, All of the Races of Books, Both PHB's, Book of Exalted Deeds and Dragon magic Available.

melchizedek
2008-03-28, 12:51 AM
If you just go with weapons that have the word spear in them, there are long spears, short spears, and spears. Plenty of other weapons (javelins, ranseurs, guisarmes, glaives) are also basically spears.

Baerdog7
2008-03-28, 12:53 AM
Don't forget to pick up the Short Haft feat at some point, and of course Power Attack.

Seconded.

You may also consider using a guisarme or a ranseur instead of a spear. A guisarme will let you make trip attacks and a ranseur will let give you a +2 on disarm attempts. Picking up Improved Trip or Improved Disarms would also be a good idea if you choose one of those.

matthewmw64
2008-03-28, 12:58 AM
What weapons count as Spears for the Storm Lord Prestige Class?

melchizedek
2008-03-28, 01:07 AM
It says any spear or javelin, which probably refers to short spears, spears or long spears. The class is designed for clerics, who only get proficiency with simple weapons, so it's less likely to include the martial weapons.

matthewmw64
2008-03-28, 01:11 AM
What about using a Favored Soul as the base Class? It seems pretty appropriate, a lot more Militant then the Cleric which is kinda what I'm after.

Behold_the_Void
2008-03-28, 01:18 AM
No ToB? You could probably make a pretty awesome Warblade.

matthewmw64
2008-03-28, 01:24 AM
Our DM has said we're not allowed to use it for this campaign.

RTGoodman
2008-03-28, 01:28 AM
It might be the madness talking, but isn't there a "hand-and-a-half" type spear in Races of Stone or Complete Warrior? One that's one-handed exotic but two-handed martial?

If not, I'm pretty sure there's at least bigger spear in either RoS or Complete Warrior that's called a Greatspear or something like that.

melchizedek
2008-03-28, 01:40 AM
Going with favored soul would get you the required Weapon Focus. I've always liked favored souls better than Clerics anyway. If your goal is to qualify for the Stormlord PrC, favored soul would probably be a good way to get there. Personally, I think a Raptoran favored soul/stormlord could be pretty cool.

Bag_of_Holding
2008-03-28, 05:38 AM
There's a +2,000gp weapon enhancement in MIC that applies only to spears. The enhancement (can't remember the name) allows you to switch between Shortspear/Spear/Longspear at will as a swift (or was it standard) action.

Talic
2008-03-28, 06:18 AM
Leap attack. Nothing says awesome like a Dragoon (http://www.thefinalfantasy.com/games/ff4/characters.html).

Just sayin.

Kioran
2008-03-28, 07:41 AM
If you have a feat to spare, spring an EWP for a Greatspear (Cwar):

2d6 damage, reach, 10 ft. throwing range

Compared to Longspear: more damage, throwing range
Compared to Spear: More damage, reach, shorter range

Apart from that iŽd probably use a normal spear and go master thrower - throwing spears at your enemies for the hell of it.....mwahaha. Anyway, what you want is not Arzimon the Warblade, who is only marginally cool, what you want is Yeosol from "Musa - the Warrior", owning ass like never before.....

SamTheCleric
2008-03-28, 07:48 AM
Personally, I like the Harpoon out of Stormwrack for a pirate themed spearman. :)

Short Haft, Power Attack and the above mentioned Great Spear.

Funkyodor
2008-03-28, 08:22 AM
You only need Short Haft if you want to be a large sized character, otherwise you can 5' step out of the minimum range to full attack.

Talic
2008-03-28, 08:26 AM
Unless the terrain prevents you from doing that. Ogres with spring attack, and all.

Short haft shores up defenses, allows you to engage at multiple ranges, works well with enlarge spells of all flavors, and feats/abilities that grant reach.

Keld Denar
2008-03-28, 08:42 AM
If you go with the Spear, especially the long spear, consider the feat Hold the Line. It allows you to always be set for a charge, and being set for a charge with a spear means you automatically do double damage. Thats a very nice benefit. Since "set for a charge" is normally a standard action ready, it basically gives you an extra standard action whenever someone charges you. Also, since it counts as a readied action, you can set your Power Attack with it, if you haven't already PAed in the round before. This is nice because with a long or great spear, whatever is charging you will also trigger an AoO from moving out of your threat range, which will benefit from the PA you set with the readied set vs charge you got for free from Hold the Line...

Much synergy!

Tsotha-lanti
2008-03-28, 11:07 AM
That's not what Hold the Line does, though.


Benefit: You may make an attack of opportunity against a charging opponent who enters an area you threaten. Your attack of opportunity happens immediately before the charge attack is resolved.

Nothing about setting the spear against a charge. You just get an AoO when someone charges you. Different things.

The Great Skenardo
2008-03-28, 11:18 AM
The Steadfast Boots from MiC, however, make it so that you are always considered to have your melee weapon set against a charge. Only 2,100 gp.

Keld Denar
2008-03-28, 11:49 AM
Ooops, I always get those 2 confused. Yeah, def go with steadfast boots.

Human Paragon 3
2008-03-28, 12:16 PM
There's a barbarian variant on the d20srd.org called Whirling Frenzy that lets you make an extra attack and gives you a bonus to your STR. I highly recomend at least a 1 level dip in this class for a spearman.

Using guissarme and going the Defensive Throw route lets you trip and AoO everyone in sight, especially with the barbarian variant. What level do you intend to go to?

Person_Man
2008-03-28, 01:06 PM
There is not much that's inherently optimal about using a spear. Many other better weapons exist. So I'd suggest that you just find a build you enjoy for other reasons, and have the PC use a spear for whatever fluff value you get from it.

matthewmw64
2008-03-28, 02:24 PM
What book are the Steadfast Boots in?

Talic
2008-03-28, 03:22 PM
Magic Item Compendium.

Magnor Criol
2008-03-28, 03:39 PM
If you're willing to go third-party, Blackdirge Publishing has a series of e-books called Master at Arms (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?cPath=4172) that all offer a class featuring an unloved weapon. There's several spear/polearm classes there to check out, including a hoplite and a spear sentinel class.

I can't offer a personal review of their stuff, but they're all getting good reviews on that site, and they seem pretty cool. Plus, they're all pretty cheap. Might be worth looking at.

Ascension
2008-03-28, 03:47 PM
Oooh, they have a Peltast! That's awesome!

Thanks for the link, I'll have to take a look at those.

Magnor Criol
2008-03-28, 04:10 PM
Quite welcome. I've been wanting to buy one or two myself, but I never seem to remember to when I have the money in the budget. If you pick one up, let me know how it looks.

Zenos
2008-03-28, 04:22 PM
I've read about a feat that, when you make an AoO, if it hits they stop moving. Might be good against charging barbarians and their ilk.

Keld Denar
2008-03-28, 04:50 PM
I've read about a feat that, when you make an AoO, if it hits they stop moving. Might be good against charging barbarians and their ilk.

Standstill, its in the SRD as a general feat under psionics. Its not a psionic power though, who the hell knows why it got filed there...

gm_rand
2008-03-28, 04:55 PM
I had a friend that bastardized a PrC (not sure what one) but made it to fit a spear instead I want to say blade dancer but I don't think that's it. I think it was based off of a short spear and allowed the player to us it as a double weapon. Non pointy end working as a Qstaff. I'll see if I can't have him dig it up.

Draz74
2008-03-28, 05:13 PM
Personally, I think a Raptoran favored soul/stormlord could be pretty cool.

I support this statement wholeheartedly.

Grommen
2008-03-28, 05:44 PM
Something wrong with the Fighter Class from the PHB? Guy wants a spear wielding mug and everyone goes big time.

*shrug* Just a thought.

How do you see your spear dude fighting? The Greek and Romans, and most of Europe used spears differently than most of Asia. The Greek Hoplight warriors used it with a big honken shield and brought friends along. They also kept a short sword as a backup weapon when the lines broke down and it was time to do the dirty work. This was depicted in the movies "Troy" and "300". Loosely I would Imagen (personally I would opt for more armor and less babie oil). They focus their attacks on stabbing forward, but use the haft to batter anyone that managed to duck under the business end. The hole spear / shield thing looks unwieldy as hell to me but I guess if your trained, it would be a nasty combo. They were well trained in the short sword (Gladius if your Roman) as well. Less damage as other weapons but it will do in a pinch and they work in tight quarters where even a short spear might be tricky.

Just off the top of my head I would go with feats like Power Attack, Combat Expert, Weapon Focus / Specialization, Improved Critical, etc. Work in some shield bashing and Improved Sunder and you can use that big honken shield as as weapon. (Hay Brad Pit can you can too!).

As time progressed Europe made bigger and bigger spears till you got up to Pikes and Glaves and weapons the like. They were mainly used in a formation to fend off Knights (horses will not charge a sharp pointy stick). And they look mennising as hell to me. Personally I would not use them as a main weapon for a character due to their size. Indoor places have a ceiling and walls that don't take kindly to havening some ten foot pole stuffed in to. Wile the game does not take into account for that, your DM just might.

Asia used spears in formation as well, but some forms of martial Arts turn the spear into a thing of beauty using every part of the weapon to harm their foe. Still focused on stabbing things, the shaft is made thiner and out of bamboo or some flexible material and they bend the haft around their bodies and spin, twirl, flip the weapon in both hands. They don't employ a shield that I know of. They tie a ribbon to the tip of the sear to help distract their opponents eyes as well. It's real disorienting to watch, but very kool. Many Kung-Fu flicks show this off, including "Crouching Tiger, Sleeping Dragon", and "The Kung-Fu Hustle!"

In this example try focusing on Improving your Initiative and your number of attacks. I can't really think of a way to do that at the moment.

In any case once you have a good base of feats, you can pick up other classes. Way I see it most classes look better with a few fighter levels in them anyway. Messes up spell casting but if your just using the spells to buff yourself up it's not too bad.

I played a spear dude once. His name was "Woody the Wood Elf, the 5.95 NPC". Used a 14 1/2 foot long long spear (It was a joke in a book somewhere don't go getten all techinal on me). I latter found a magical Quaterstaff in an adventure or from the DMG, or I made it up. Long story short the haft would shrink or grow depending on what the wielder wanted. So I stuffed a spear tip on one end and called it a +2 spear! That way I could use it at a spear, Longspear, or a toothpick if needed. It's actually a pretty grim weapon, I'll look up the feats I used if you want. He started out as a 2nd ed character but I converted him to 3rd ed.

mabriss lethe
2008-03-29, 03:24 PM
You could always work on an eldritch glaive based melee warlock build. They make for some fun spear weilding and aren't terribly shabby at it either.

Zenos
2008-03-29, 04:10 PM
They tie a ribbon to the tip of the sear to help distract their opponents eyes as well

I thought it was to soak up the blood that might otherwise seep down and make the haft slippery. Correct me if I am wrong.

Nohwl
2008-03-29, 04:31 PM
i thought the hair stuff right behind the point was to soak up blood.

John Campbell
2008-03-29, 08:57 PM
There's a +2,000gp weapon enhancement in MIC that applies only to spears. The enhancement (can't remember the name) allows you to switch between Shortspear/Spear/Longspear at will as a swift (or was it standard) action.

Changeling. Swift. It's basically a spear-only Short Haft for cheap money instead of precious feats. Highly recommended for any spear fighter.

Neon Knight
2008-03-29, 09:34 PM
I've read that the horse hair tassel was a somewhat common feature of the Qiang (Chinese term for spear) and that it served both purposes mentioned in this thread.

NEO|Phyte
2008-03-29, 09:38 PM
Standstill, its in the SRD as a general feat under psionics. Its not a psionic power though, who the hell knows why it got filed there...

Because the feat is found in the Expanded Psionics Handbook. Kinda like how Improved/Greater multiweapon fighting are listed in the Epic feats section because they were printed in the Epic Level Handbook.