Options available for a Spearman

[matthewmw64]

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]

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_]

Books, stats, level, what sort of spear?

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Don't forget to pick up the Short Haft feat at some point, and of course Power Attack.

[Ascension]

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 on a "temporary" basis, and then "forget" to give it back. Especially if your main opponents in the campaign are all undead.

[matthewmw64]

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]

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]

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]

What weapons count as Spears for the Storm Lord Prestige Class?

[melchizedek]

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]

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]

No ToB? You could probably make a pretty awesome Warblade.

[matthewmw64]

Our DM has said we're not allowed to use it for this campaign.

[RTGoodman]

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]

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]

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]

Leap attack. Nothing says awesome like a Dragoon.

Just sayin.

[Kioran]

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 i´d 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]

Personally, I like the Harpoon out of Stormwrack for a pirate themed spearman. :)

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

[Funkyodor]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Ooops, I always get those 2 confused. Yeah, def go with steadfast boots.

[Human Paragon 3]

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]

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]

What book are the Steadfast Boots in?

[Talic]

Magic Item Compendium.

[Magnor Criol]

If you're willing to go third-party, Blackdirge Publishing has a series of e-books called Master at Arms 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.