The v3.5 rules explain reach weapon fighting poorly, in my humble opinion...
apart from dealing AoO strikes to foes coming into and moving out of my threatened squares, is there a way in v3 or v3.5 d&d to fight with a reach weapon AND keep my opponent at bay, i.e. don't allow him to come into the square adjacent to mine?
otherwise, what's the use of most reach weapons, apart from an initial AoO, i will have to drop them to fight an adjacent foe, esp. if i want to use flurry of blows or other full attacks, no?
The v3.5 rules explain reach weapon fighting poorly, in my humble opinion...
apart from dealing AoO strikes to foes coming into and moving out of my threatened squares, is there a way in v3 or v3.5 d&d to fight with a reach weapon AND keep my opponent at bay, i.e. don't allow him to come into the square adjacent to mine?
otherwise, what's the use of most reach weapons, apart from an initial AoO, i will have to drop them to fight an adjacent foe, esp. if i want to use flurry of blows or other full attacks, no?
many thanks, V
You appear to have overlooked the 5' step that comes with combat. Round 1, opponent charges you, you AOO. Round 2, you can 5' step away and still make your full attack. Round 3, he 5' steps in and makes his full attack.
Obviously if you are in difficult terrain this doesn't apply, but then he can't charge you to begin with either.
The point of making your attacks from 10' away (besides the free hit) is you have a lot of attack options that would normally provoke (say, sunder attempts) and if he doesn't threaten you at all you don't need to worry about provoking.
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apart from dealing AoO strikes to foes coming into and moving out of my threatened squares, is there a way in v3 or v3.5 d&d to fight with a reach weapon AND keep my opponent at bay, i.e. don't allow him to come into the square adjacent to mine?
How about: planting some summoned monsters, or allies for that matter, between you and the opponent?
Especially in a narrow corridor, this means you can attack from the second row, while the guys in front of you have to take the blows.
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First, there is a feat, Stand Still, that stops an opponent from moving if you strike him.
Second, if your PC has Improved Unarmed Combat, a monk (or other class' Unarmed Strike), or Armor spikes, he can strike adjacent foes, though TWF penalties apply. No need to drop your polearm.
There is a feat from DCv1 called Pole Fighter that lets a monk take a specific polearm as a Monk weapon- IOW, he can FoB with it, etc. Pole Master, from WotC's Secrets of Sharlona, does the same.
The Sohei (Oriental Adventures*) has a power called Ki-Frenzy that combines aspects of FoB with Rage, and they have no "monk weapon" issues.
The Shou Disciple (Oriental Adventures) is a PrCl that eventually grants FoB with all weapons in which a PC is proficient.
* Oriental Adventures was updated to 3.5 in Dragon#317, bringing the OA Base classes more in line with the structure of PHB classes. The Sohei and Shaman were major beneficiaries.
apart from dealing AoO strikes to foes coming into and moving out of my threatened squares, is there a way in v3 or v3.5 d&d to fight with a reach weapon AND keep my opponent at bay, i.e. don't allow him to come into the square adjacent to mine?
As already mentioned, reach weapon works very well for a second rank warriors. You can stand behind your comrades and make additional attacks.
Flight, is another option. If you can fly, you can attack something which can't fly and has only 5-foot reach with your reach weapon and fly away. Or keep hitting it if you can hover.
Using Spring Attack (and relevant feats in PHB II) is another good option for a reach weapon wielder. Dervish prestige class (Complete Warrior) works very well with a reach weapon, too.
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thank you everyone - building in the 5' step is the solution i was looking for (duh!), many thanks also for the other creative ideas...
Dannyalcatraz, given your remark about the Pole Fighter feat and other solutions, i assume there are no reach weapons that can be used one-handed so that i can continue benefiting from FoB while having reach?
Precise Swing, from the Eberron Campaign Setting book.
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apart from dealing AoO strikes to foes coming into and moving out of my threatened squares
Note that you provoke an AoO only for leaving a threatened square, not for entering one.
Quote:
i will have to drop them to fight an adjacent foe, esp. if i want to use flurry of blows or other full attacks, no?
Not really. You can make unarmed strikes with any part of your body. So your monk can be wielding a 2-handed weapon (such as a guisarme) and still flurry with no restrictions (just say you are kicking, or head-butt or whatever). In the meantime, any foe without 10ft reach has to provoke an AoO to move adjacent to you (and touch attacks should be fairly easy to make even without proficiency). If you fail the trip attempt, simply drop the guisarme. You don't lose anything.
"otherwise, what's the use of most reach weapons, apart from an initial AoO, i will have to drop them to fight an adjacent foe, esp. if i want to use flurry of blows or other full attacks, no?
many thanks, V
You are merely running into rules that reflect reality. Pole Arms weren't designed to be used by a single soldier. They are to be used en mass.
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Dannyalcatraz, given your remark about the Pole Fighter feat and other solutions, i assume there are no reach weapons that can be used one-handed so that i can continue benefiting from FoB while having reach?
Even while wielding a polearm, a Monk can FoB with his unarmed strikes against adjacent foes. If he actually takes either the Pole Fighter or Pole Master feat, he can FoB with it as well, meaning he could- if foes were properly placed, FoB against both adjacent foes AND those 10' away (assuming size M monk w/standard reach weapon).
There are feats in both DCv1 and WotC products that allow you to add 5' reach to a polearm (briefly) to attack opponents who are slightly further away or "choking up" on the grip to attack adjacent foes with your polearm.
There are some non-polearm reach weapons (as I recall, all are chain-type weapons) that can be used against adjacent foes, but none are truly 1 handed (the DMG version of the Kusarigama is one handed when used as a kama only).
There's a feat called Short haft in PHBII (not sure), it let's you reduce the reach or regain it with your reach weapon once a round as a free action.
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There's a feat called Short haft in PHBII (not sure), it let's you reduce the reach or regain it with your reach weapon once a round as a free action.
Yeah, its PHB2, along with a bunch of other polearm feats. There are also a similar bunch of feats in DCv1. Check out both books- each one has winners that the other doesn't. DCv1 in particular has a BUNCH of polearms.
(As I recall, others can be found in CompWar, the Planar Handbook...maybe Savage Species as well.)
otherwise, what's the use of most reach weapons, apart from an initial AoO, i will have to drop them to fight an adjacent foe, esp. if i want to use flurry of blows or other full attacks, no?
As other have noted, you can keep holding your polearm and still make attacks with your unarmed strike. Note that the key word there is "hold"; if you wield your polearm and unarmed strike at the same time you take TWF penalties. And to threaten with both weapons, you need to wield both.
Not everyone agrees with me on this, but just in case your DM does...
I believe that the -4 applies to ranged attacks, not to melee atacks (even with a reach weapon).
Reach weapons are treated as ranged weapons for purposes of cover.
SRD or PHB pg 151
Quote:
COVER
To determine whether your target has cover from your ranged attack, choose a corner of your square. If any line from this corner to any corner of the target’s square passes through a square or border that blocks line of effect or provides cover, or through a square occupied by a creature, the target has cover (+4 to AC).
When making a melee attack against an adjacent target, your target has cover if any line from your square to the target’s square goes through a wall (including a low wall). When making a melee attack against a target that isn’t adjacent to you (such as with a reach weapon), use the rules for determining cover from ranged attacks.
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