Proposal: Great Halberd, New Superior Reach Axe

garyh · Aug 30, 2009

So, I'm aiming to play a human paladin once Divine Power becomes legal. Specifically her...

...and in so doing, I want to use a superior reach axe. Unfortunately, such a thing does not currently exist. Thus, this proposal!

Here's the weapon I propose:

Great Halberd / +2 proficiency bonus / 1d12 damage / axe, polearm / reach, high crit/ 30 GP / 16 lbs.

My reasoning involves looking at how other weapons shift when made superior.

Greatsword -> Fullblade: increase damage die, high crit
Greatsword -> Greatspear (yes, different weapon types, but the same +3 / 1d10 base): add reach

So, it stands to reason you can take a greataxe and add reach to get a superior weapon, a la greatsword -> greatspear, or you can start with the halberd, and increase the damage die and add high crit, a la greatsword -> fullblade. Either the greataxe + reach or the halberd + increase damage die and high crit gets you to how I envision the great halberd, following established superior weapon methods.

So, what say the esteemed Judges of Living Eberron?

I'm also open to ideas on the name. Bardiche, voulge, pole axe, and executioner's halberd all come to mind as reasonable options.

CaBaNa · Aug 30, 2009

Nifty!

Kamotz would take it, therefore it will be given a firm nerf-bat.

We should allow this. please vote yes.

renau1g · Aug 30, 2009

I am hesitant about the increased damage size and the reach property being applied as well as the high crit. See the Greatspear a reach superior weapon. The weapon has +3 to hit, 1d10 damage and reach. Also, the spiked chain is +3, 2d4 dmg and reach, slightly better than the spear, but the flail feats are a bit worse than the spear ones.

Although the greataxe vs greatsword, +2 1d12 and high crit vs +3 1d10 damage....

Need to think a bit more, but it seems better than the other available superior reach weapons.

garyh · Aug 30, 2009

If greataxe vs greatsword is balanced, I don't see how greatspear vs great halberd is unbalanced. It's the same comparison, just with reach added to both weapons. And if greatsword to fullblade is balanced for a feat, it should be balanced for halberd to great halberd, which does the exact same thing.

TwoHeadsBarking · Aug 31, 2009

I haven't ignored this; I'm just pondering.

dimsdale · Sep 2, 2009

I've learned not to post about such things that deal with tweaking weapons, powers and feats. Because when I have, the big NO
is not far away.

Good luck my friend.

dimsdale

garyh · Sep 2, 2009

You scared me with that big red font, dimsdale, until I realized you weren't actually a Judge.

I'm kinda surprised this has gotten such little attention.

ryryguy · Sep 2, 2009

garyh said:
Great Halberd / +2 proficiency bonus / 1d12 damage / axe, polearm / reach, high crit/ 30 GP / 16 lbs.

My reasoning involves looking at how other weapons shift when made superior.

Greatsword -> Fullblade: increase damage die, high crit
Greatsword -> Greatspear (yes, different weapon types, but the same +3 / 1d10 base): add reach

So, it stands to reason you can take a greataxe and add reach to get a superior weapon, a la greatsword -> greatspear, or you can start with the halberd, and increase the damage die and add high crit, a la greatsword -> fullblade. Either the greataxe + reach or the halberd + increase damage die and high crit gets you to how I envision the great halberd, following established superior weapon methods.

I don't know, garyh... I think what this analysis may be missing is that if you're starting with a greatsword, you're starting with a weapon that has no special qualities. So the move to a fullblade as the superior version gains two improvements, true, but you started with something more "plain". If you do want to compare greatsword to greatspear, here the move to superior only added the single property of reach, suggesting that reach may be a more valuable property than others.

Longspear -> Greatspear, which is the more obvious one to examine, only improves proficiency bonus by +1, which I believe is about equivalent to a single increase in damage die. Again, it seems like reach is valued a little higher here. And/or, a martial weapon that already has a special property (like the greataxe or halberd) gets a little bit less improvement when moving to superior.

Well, obviously there is not an exact science to this, so reasonable opinions can differ. But your proposed great halberd does just feel a little too strong to me. I could see taking the halberd and giving it either high crit or higher damage die, but not both. Do you think that such a weapon would be worth the feat, or would you skip it?

garyh · Sep 2, 2009

Longspear -> greatspear I didn't look at because I believe that's the only superior weapon where the change is a better proficiency bonus, and that isn't the direction I though an axe should go.

I just don't see how a greatsword and greataxe are balanced, but you give them both reach for a feat, and somehow the great halberd is too powerful compared to the greatspear.

That said, I'd probably still take the feat if high crit wasn't included. But I generally think the original halberd is a little weak and gives up too much for reach in the first place.

renau1g · Sep 2, 2009

Thinking about this more deeply I can't really see an issue with it in terms of game-breakingness. I agree the halberd is pretty weak.

So here we go. YES to the below Superior Weapon

Great Halberd / +2 proficiency bonus / 1d12 damage / axe, polearm / reach, high crit/ 30 GP / 16 lbs \

P.S. Titania rocks. I love Fire Emblem, closest thing left to Shining Force (from Sega) my favourite games of all time.