D&D 5E Tactics for dealing with Polearm Masters

[Caliban]

Bad guys (such as goblins) who can disengage as a bonus action - moving does't provoke, so you can close without getting hit.

Bad guys with Misty Step or something similar.

Bad guys with a squad of kobolds as canon fodder that they send in first to soak up attacks. And if you don't take a shot at the kobolds, they all use the help action to give advantage to the "real" fighters that follow them.

 

[clearstream]

First. The NPCs shouldn't really know about the ability until they have reason: They have seen the character fight before, or his exploits have become known. Automatically granting knowledge of specific abilities of PCs to NPCs without cause is metagaming on the highest order.

I feel like the rules to some extent define the physics of the imagined world. So if there is something very effective in the imagined world - in this case Polearms - it will become common and any seasoned vet will have encountered or heard about it. I find it far more unrealistic to suppose that said seasoned vet in fact knows nothing relevant to survival on the fields of combat in the world they live in. CYMMV.

6. Fog/Darkness/heavy smoke - Fog / Darkness create a situation in which both parties are effectively blind (granting advantage/disadvantage to attacks) this has the effect of preventing the possibility of advantage or disadvantage while so affected. HOWEVER, as opportunity attacks trigger off of "A target you can see" This means you can move about without provoking.
7. Blind the Polearm Master - As above, if you can't see you can't make AoO.

Both great suggestions. The timing is slightly fiddly in the 5e action economy as there is no Delay. Say Drow A casts Darkness, I don't think they can drop it until their next turn. So anyone who closes under cover of Darkness avoids provoking an AoO but will have disadvantage on their attack (well, that's my RAI, by RAW they will attack normally).

11. Forced movement - Forced Movement does not provoke AoO. This has a variety of effect. You can use movement spells to drag the Polearm master to you, or you could have some of your allies grapple people and drag them into range if they had actions to spare.

Interesting thought. So an ally could shove you across the triggering threshold and no AoO would be triggered. Weird. I guess you resist their push with whichever is worse of Athletics or Acrobatics.

12. Mounted Combatants - As above, forced movement doesn't trigger AoO, so even tho its absolutely nonsense, using mounts can negate the polearm master advantage. Why? Your mount can disengage, then bring you to range. Your mount doesn't trigger as it has disengaged, you don't trigger since its not your movement.

Weirder still. If anything Polearms should be more effective against mounted. But mechanically I believe it correct.

There you have a dozen tactics to deal with pole arm masters. Granted they are all situational, but the fact is, its a powerful ability and negating it takes effort.

Thank you. I anticipated a lot of "use ranged" and "sacrifice one guy". And a certain amount of "You're hurting my fluff." These alternative mechanical approaches are very welcome. I feel that once one understands the mechanically possible, one can do a much better job of producing the narratively plausible.

 

[Shiroiken]

Swarms: smart enemies have the first guys use Dodge until the attack is made.

Ranged: doesn't even have to be long range. Simply having the enemy dodging with cover until the polearm master moves into melee (giving up the reaction attack).

Another polearm master: goose meet gander

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Apparently there's also no such thing as heros, at least, not live ones. ;P

Or (B) there's no such thing as anti-adventurer hobgoblin units.

Or (C) adventurers and anti-adventurer hobgoblin units coexist in an uneasy dynamic equilibrium, like wolves and deer. When hobgoblins get too scarce, adventurers proliferate to the point where no one finds any treasure because other adventurers have already claimed it, leading to a population crash among the adventurers until such time as the hobgoblin population recuperates and begins to thin the adventurer herd once more.



I've seriously thought about running a 5E Dungeon Keeper adventure or two, where the goal is to set up a dungeon that will repel assaults by adventurers of a predefined level.

 

[hejtmane]

Raise the AC of the monsters works as while changes the Dynamics of the fight

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[Greenstone.Walker]

For the sake of argument, let's say that creatures experienced with combat have learned and shared tactics for dealing with Polearm Mastery (and sometimes +Sentinel).

Exactly how many people are there in your world with Polearm Mastery?

As a feat, its only really available to PCs, and a very low number of them will take it. Is this enough people for anyone to have worried enough to develop a fighting style against it?

 

[hejtmane]

Exactly how many people are there in your world with Polearm Mastery?

As a feat, its only really available to PCs, and a very low number of them will take it. Is this enough people for anyone to have worried enough to develop a fighting style against it?

Why is it only available to PCs as a DM it is available to any thing i want including evil NPCs

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[Tony Vargas]

Exactly how many people are there in your world with Polearm Mastery?

100 per pike square fielded? (No wonder Swiss mercenaries were so formidable, they were all at least 4th level!)

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

As a feat, its only really available to PCs, and a very low number of them will take it. Is this enough people for anyone to have worried enough to develop a fighting style against it?

There may be whole nations of variant humans, like the Swiss, who are renowned for being Polearm Masters.

 

[ScaleyBob]

Use enemies with a longer reach. Ogres with Pikes, or giants, or whatever. The PC's got a 10 ft reach, use opponents with a 15 ft reach.

Use a big, brutish sack of HP monster to absorb the AoO. Brutes in 4E were great for this kind of thing. Use something with max possible HP, maybe lower its AC to make up for it. PCs feel all special and powerful beating up a the big guy, while the other Monsters actually do the work.

What's so bad about Polearm Master anyway? It costs a feat so should be good, and with a single reaction every round, getting a AoO when something closes doesn't seem that bad. Sentinel's dropping speed to zero seems far worse, and combining the two would be horrible, but thats 2 feats and again, only one reaction every round. Flood the PC with as many enemies as possible, they can only screw up one of them.