Fighting With Spears

[uzagi_akimbo]

Yep, a "close in fighting" feat really solves most of the problems with the "non-chain" reach weapons pretty efficiently - using it IMCs. Still - that is a house rule.

As an added shortcut, we (IMCs) rule polearm (and longspear) use versus opposition 5' away as a quarterstaff, bludgeoning and bashing opponents with the haft (for a less amount of damage - 1D6 20/x2, which is usually much less attractive than the full damage of a polearm ).

An official feat you may want to take a look at in addition to "Combat Reflexes" and "Hold the Line" would be "Precise Strike", which allows attacking into an ongoing melee 10' away without the -4 penalty for cover by the shifting opponents.

The "Wilderness" book from FFG has some pretty handy alternative ranger fighting styles, one of which focuses on the many uses and exotic manouevres of spears, including extending and foreshortening attack range and reach.... Called (exceedingly inspired ) the "Spear-Fighter".


As an aside - for inspiration, some very convincing scenes regarding polearm/spear use in close-up action and a bucket of pure fun, try to watch "Musa - the Warrior", an absolutely stunning Korean movie from 2000, which has a wicked protagonist using a (slightly bladed - think ranseur) spear for good effect, without much wire-fu or fantasy-gimmickry, staying strictly within the bounds of the physically possible (and I daresay, the historically employed ). Convinced the heck out of any fellow GM feeling uncertain about how a polearm would be employed at 5' range yet - sort of "educational movie" on the GM curriculum around here, hehe.

 

[fuindordm]

I played a spear-using paladin recently, and while it was a lot of fun I think I see the main problem.

Fighters are designed to be damage sponges, not just tanks. If a spear is your main weapon, it tends to put you in the second rank of combat, which means you can't protect the weaker members of the party. They're a better choice for multiclassed or light fighters than they are for the tanks and barbarians for this reason.

On the other hand, they're great in large open spaces where the party is in danger of getting surrounded.

In my next campaign I'm planning to give spear-fighting another try. The two most
important feats are clearly combat reflexes and spring attack--the latter lets you attack someone and keep more than 10' away so they can't avoid the AoO with a 5' step.

I would also have loved a feat allowing me to reduce or ignore the cover penalty for attacking an opponent in melee.

The various ideas for haft-fighting are nice, but in most situations it's just as easy for a spear-fighter to stay 10' away from opponents as it is for the spellcastsers to cast their spells without drawing an AoO. A feat letting me attack at 5' would be pretty low priority.

--Ben

 

[Darklone]

I'd suggest a feat similar to the halberd fighting style in CW for haftstriking.

 

[Aaron2]

If you've got simple proficiency, you fight with them two handed. If you have martial, however, you can fight with a spear one-handed (a la Roman soldiers or the fighter on the cover of the Moldvay Basic set) with an underhand grip. That makes the spear just as attractive, mechanically, as the longsword, which can also be used one-handed with a shield, or two-handed, as the wielder prefers.

Actually, if you can use spears one-handed they become the best one-handed weapon around. They have the full damage and crit of martial one-handed weapons plus can be thrown. Normally, a weapon takes a slight penalty to be throwable (witness the difference between a throwing axe (1d6/x2) and a handaxe (1d6/x3)). Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on if you think spears should be good or bad.


Aaron

 

[Shin Okada]

Under current ruling, spear is more favored by clerics as now it is a simple weapon. And it works very well for them. They are usually in second rank. And two-handed weapon is more suitable for a spell caster as you don't need to lose a shield or store a weapon to cast a spell with somatic component.

And, though a simple weapon, long spear has some advantages over other martial reach weapons. There is no martial weapons which has both reach and bonus damage multiplier against charging enemies. So maybe good to make a somewhat "defensive" fighters.

Regarding "real" effectiveness and such,

Historically speaking, in feudal warring era Japan, not Katana nor Naginata, but long spear (Yari) was considered to be the main weapon of war. Katana (or Tachi) was just side arm. This was because spears were more effective, not just because they were cheap. At that era, many high-ranked samurais disdain sword arts, because that is not something useful in war.

Even in duels, long spears were at least as effective as katana, or might be better. The only problem was that a man cannot bring long spear to everywhere. So, the swords art had become popular after the warring era.

So IHMO, other than portability, spear is never inferior as a weapon against swords.

 

[Darklone]

Portability is a factor inside of buildings

 

[green slime]

Portability is a factor inside of buildings

What! You're not suggesting my spear-wielding PC enter that dungeon are you?

 

[kigmatzomat]

Are you guys confusing the spear with the longspear? Remember, 3.5 has shortpear, spear, and longspear. The shortpear is a 3' one-handed weapon kinda like a heavy javelin, the spear is a 6' stick with a pointy end and the long spear is a 10' stick with a pointy end that provides reach.

The regular spear is a great weapon that really is underappreciated since it is a functional melee and ranged weapon which means that feats like Weapon Focus and Specialization count for both uses.

As far as making a spear more useful, just allow it to also be used as a quarterstaff, though spear-feats wouldn't count in that situation. I'd imagine a number of rangers using q-staves just for the 2WF techniques, the option of setting vs. a charge, and the fact it can be a ranged weapon.

Hmmm, I'm imagining a spear-weilding duelist savage; something like a troglodyte or lizardman.

 

[Balord]

One of the annoying aspects about longspears is that you have to carry them in your hand wherever you go. But there is a plus side to this -- you always have your weapon at the ready (no need for Quick Draw).

Some have mentioned the Long Reach feat from Forgotton Realms, which is a fantastic feat IF you meet the prerequisite! It is a background feat for Gnolls and one other race (forgot their name), given to them mainly because of their natural height and long arms. Its not meant for humans or any of the other core races.

There is one highly-recomended feat for users of 'reach' weapons most people probably don't know about because, strangely enough, its found in the expanded psionics handbook. Its called Stand Still. When using your attack of opp against foes moving through your threatening area, you can use this feat to stop them in their tracks instead of dealing damage. Combined with combat reflexes, this is a great way to keep foes at a distance.

 

[RigaMortus]

Hmmm, by the title of this post, I thought you might be discussing Justin Timberlake's new book. Seems I was wrong