• NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.

Does a larger weapon size increase a weapon's reach?

atomn

Explorer
One of the guys I play with have a spiked chain Fighter and asked me if he used a Large spiked chain, would it give him 15' reach. I couldn't find any evidence for it, so I supposed not. But I'm sure EnWorld can point me to a definite ruling to pass to him. Thanks!
 

log in or register to remove this ad

atomn said:
One of the guys I play with have a spiked chain Fighter and asked me if he used a Large spiked chain, would it give him 15' reach. I couldn't find any evidence for it, so I supposed not. But I'm sure EnWorld can point me to a definite ruling to pass to him. Thanks!
[IMaGel]http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/6338/gargreachwq6.th.gif[/IMaGel]The amount of Reach is tied to the wielder, not the weapon. At larger sizes, Tall creatures get far more reach out a 'reach weapon' than a Long creature, even though they use the same weapons.

Note: Powerful build specifies additional reach is not gained.

Reach Weapons
Glaives, guisarmes, lances, longspears, ranseurs, spiked chains, and whips are reach weapons. A reach weapon is a melee weapon that allows its wielder to strike at targets that aren’t adjacent to him or her. Most reach weapons double the wielder’s natural reach, meaning that a typical Small or Medium wielder of such a weapon can attack a creature 10 feet away, but not a creature in an adjacent square. A typical Large character wielding a reach weapon of the appropriate size can attack a creature 15 or 20 feet away, but not adjacent creatures or creatures up to 10 feet away.
 
Last edited:




The spiked chain does say that it provides 10’ reach while retaining the ability to attack adjacent foes. It mentions sizing, as well (the 10’ reach is a medium sized weapon, I assume). It does not say how long a spiked chain for a medium user is, though. What would happen if five feet of length were added? Would that resize the chain inappropriately? It isn’t enough length to provide the right size for a large user, is it (that requires an extra 10 feet, seemingly)? Or does that length (whatever it is) turn out to be a useless one? The whip (again, whatever length it actually is) provides 15 feet of reach without threatening. Perhaps there is some room for imagining a slightly longer spiked chain. I guess that would count as a house rule, though, as it certainly isn’t mentioned.
 

Into the Woods

Remove ads

Top