D&D 5E Why is the pike 18 lbs?!?!?

[mariomario87]

I'm pretty sure it is wrong. It shoul be something like 8lbs instead of 18lbs. It should weight similar to the Halberd (6lb) and the Glaive (6lb), which are its different flavour counter parts. Both with the same 1d10 damage + reach.

There is a certain logic for the weapons:

Longsword 1d8(d10) Glaive 1d10(reach) Greatsword 2d6
Warhammer 1d8(d10) Pike 1d10(reach) Maul 2d6
Battleaxe 1d8(d10) Halberd 1d10(reach) Greataxe 1d12

 

[Ancalagon]

I'm pretty sure the 1 at the front is a typo.

Stay on topic - we are talking about pikes, not Occam's Razor!

 

[Azzy]

Stay on topic - we are talking about pikes, not Occam's Razor!

So, what damage would Occam's Razor do... And would it be considered a finesse weapon?

 

[GreyLord]

It could be based on the traditional weights from AD&D (which most of the weapons in the 5e book seem to compare nicely, at least from what I recall when I did a direct comparison of the weights.

We just don't have that many other polearms to compare it to, in order to see how much higher their weight in general were to other weapons.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Magazine sizes if we are being nitpicky.

I know this is a necro'd thread, but thank you for this. As a vet and someone who sort of a firearms guy, calling magazines "clips" drives me bonkers. Clips are their own separate thing.

 

[Skyscraper]

Okay so I just realized an NPC in my party is encumbered because their pike, which is a maximum of 10 feet long, weighs 18 lbs.

Googling says an actual pike at maximum length (25 ft) weighs 13.5 lbs. Doing the math, the D&D pike should be...33 feet long!?!?

What's the deal? And what does this 10 foot, 18 lb pike look like?

This problem is truly significant enough in your campaign as a DM that you wish to post about it?

Or, if we want to actually look at this: that NPC would be fine at 13.5 pounds, but at 18 pounds he's encumbered? I mean, this is pretty corner case we're talking about here. It's already surprising that you care at all about NPC encumbrance, let alone about a 4.5 pound overweight...

Did it occur to you that you might simply forget about it? There are greater abstractions in D&D than a 13.5 pound pike being booked at 18 pounds. Like, say, the entire hit point system and how a fighter with 4 hand axes and 6 arrows driven into his body can continue fighting as well as ever. Would you agree that, perhaps, D&D doesn't quite cut it at the realism threshold?

No flame here, just a friendly spark

Peace,

Sky

 

[discosoc]

Then why is a Halberd only 6 lbs? It has a much bigger head on it, and the same reach.

That's why it's a deep rabbit hole. Weird item weights are nothing new with D&D, and I wouldn't lose sleep over it since the formula for determine carrying capacity is pretty useless as well (never takes into account weight distribution).

 

[baradtgnome]

So, more importantly, an individual pike is all but useless. They are meant to be used in large groups to stop charges/forward motion. A single individual with a 'spear' that long should be easily avoided. But, this is fantasy anyway...

So make you pike a long spear, reduce the weight and call it a day.

 

[ExploderWizard]

I know this is a necro'd thread, but thank you for this. As a vet and someone who sort of a firearms guy, calling magazines "clips" drives me bonkers. Clips are their own separate thing.

No prob. For me its right up there with pointing at every semi-automatic rifle with a magazine and saying "assault weapon."

 

[Jabborwacky]

I don't know, doesn't this thing look about 18 pounds? And I'm not even sure it's really a reach weapon.

Don't dish the fish!

Until you've cooked it!