Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="farscapesg1" data-source="post: 2548117" data-attributes="member: 15234">Another way to look at the spike chain as possibly being broken is to compare it to other reach weapons (polearms) and recognize the Shortened Grip feat in Dragon Magazine 331.A Spiked Chain requires one feat to use, Exotic Weapon Proficiency.  It grants the wielder a bonus on disarms, is treated as a trip weapon, and allows them to attack at both 10' and 5'.  It deals 2d4 damage and has a threat range of 20/x2.  It can also be treated as a finesse weapon.To get a comparable polearm you would have to ....  wait, you can't!There are no polearms that are treated as a tripping weapon, grant a bonus on disarms, and allow attacking at both 10' and 5' by the core rules.  In fact, there are not polearms that even just give you the tripping weapon ability and a bonus to disarm.  The closest you get is the guisarme (reach and tripping, 2d4 20/x3) and the Ranseur (reach and disarm bonus, 2d4 20/x3). By spending another feat on Shorten Grip (non-core), you now have a weapon that has either tripping or disarm bonuses and can attack at either 10' or 5' (but suffers a -2 to hit at 5').  So, by spending the same number of feats, you still have a weapon that doesn't match the Spiked Chain???</blockquote>