D&D 5E DEX-based spear wielding Fighter

[Dargrimm]

1. Polearm Master gets the spear added to its list.

2. Graceful Spear Fighting Style: "When you make an attack with a spear, you may use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier to attack and damage rolls for that attack. When you wield a spear in two hands, your reach extends to 10 feet. While wielding the spear in two hands, your AC is increased by 1."

This is just what I was looking for.

 

[Kobold Stew]

This is just what I was looking for.

If this is the route you want to pursue, might I suggest that it makes sense to emulate the "reach" ability that already exists in the game rather than adding a new quality of 10 feet?

"When you make an attack with a spear, you may use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier to attack and damage rolls for that attack. When you wield a spear in two hands, the weapon has the reach property and your AC is increased by 1."

 

[epithet]

Prince Nuada from Hellboy II was 100% a monk that used a spear and a shortsword. If I were making a character like you describe in the OP, that's how I'd build it, casting aside the monastic trappings and focussing on the class mechanics.

I don't think I would allow reach for a spear. 5e wraps the long spear, lance, and pike together as the pike, so if you want a pointy stick with reach I'd send you in that direction. A regular spear will not be significantly longer than a 2 handed sword, and unlike the sword you will be gripping it nearer to the middle. You don't get reach for a 2H sword (or a maul, or a greataxe) so I can't see that reach should apply to a spear, either.

 

[Jester David]

Coincidentally, I just published a blog with a bunch of homebrew feats, including a finesse spear feat:
http://www.5mwd.com/archives/2836

 

[Dargrimm]

Prince Nuada from Hellboy II was 100% a monk that used a spear and a shortsword. If I were making a character like you describe in the OP, that's how I'd build it, casting aside the monastic trappings and focussing on the class mechanics.

I guess I could use a monk, but that is not what I'm looking for. Making a fast dexterous fighter with a spear shouldn't be that complicated.

I don't think I would allow reach for a spear. 5e wraps the long spear, lance, and pike together as the pike, so if you want a pointy stick with reach I'd send you in that direction. A regular spear will not be significantly longer than a 2 handed sword, and unlike the sword you will be gripping it nearer to the middle. You don't get reach for a 2H sword (or a maul, or a greataxe) so I can't see that reach should apply to a spear, either.

There are differences between a pike and a spear. A pike is heavier and is designed to be planted firmly on the ground to receive a charge more than fighting in a melee. A spear is lighter and can be used for quick thrusts.

Is not that difficult to think a spear having reach since you use the weapon with thrusts and lunging attacks as opposed a maul or greataxe were you use it swinging it.

 

[Dargrimm]

I think I've going to change the flavour of my character a bit and make him a multiclass monk/fighter (taking 2 levels of monk and the rest pure fighter).

And then I have a question about martial arts and flurry of blows: are you allowed to use the spear (as it is a monk weapon) instead of an unarmed attack? Since the description of both abilities only specify "unarmed strikes" and not "monk weapons" I'm not sure if it is implied that unarmed strikes and monk weapons are interchangeable or not...

i.e. you take the Attack action and make a spear attack and then use a ki point to use a flurry of blows and make two more attacks with the spear (as opposed to two strikes with firsts or feet)

Is that allowed?

 

[DEFCON 1]

Unless it's been explained otherwise by Sage Advice, I don't believe so. The bonus action attack you get through martial arts (and the second bonus action attack you get if you spend a Ki point) are both required to be unarmed strikes. Presumably so that (for instance) if you had a magical weapon, you wouldn't be able to get all those extra attacks with it per round. So your magical weapon can be used for your one Attack action (or two attacks via Extra Attack), and the one or two attacks via the Bonus action (and/or Flurry of Blows) have to be unarmed.

It's only if you go purely unarmed strikes do you get to make all 2/3/4 attacks with the same "weapon", but that's balanced by the unarmed damage die plus not having much if any special magical properties that you can add to unarmed strikes (like you can to magical weapons.)

 

[Kobold Stew]

Unarmed strikes and monk weapons are separate things, and are not interchangeable.

 

[Dargrimm]

Just what I thought it would be.

Thank you all!

 

[Psikerlord#]

I don't know if it has been discussed elsewhere, so sorry if this is a duplicate.

I'm looking to build a DEX-based spear wielding Fighter with light armor and high mobility (you can think something similar to Oberyn Martell or Balsa from Moribito).

A battle-master with Polearm Master was my first thought, but the spear is not considered a polearm (I don't understand why) and you can't use Dexterity with it (I don't understand that either).

So seeing that the spear has gotten little love in 5e, how would you go to build such a fighter?

I suggest making a custom feat for your DM to approve.

Something like:
Spear Master.
1. You can use Dex in place of Str when wielding a spear.
2. The spear counts as a polearm for the purposes of Polearm Mastery Feat.
3. You ignore range penalties if you throw a spear.

Done. I don't know about MCing exploits etc that might arise, but that can also be worked out with the DM, if your table uses MCing at all (we don't).