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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lady Sabelle" data-source="post: 3790161" data-attributes="member: 53363">A fellow player came up with a raptoran character who uses a harpoon. He's the type of player  that takes min/maxing to such extremes that it would even make a lawyer cry.  (Though not all his builds are completely legal.) In our first game session he used his harpoon in a Powerful Charge (with the spell "Blades of Blood" and a 2-handed Power Attack to add insult to injury).  The CL5 monster managed to survive the initial assault, however the secondary damage, when the character pulled the harpoon out, killed it.  Thus a single 3rd lvl character ended what was meant to be a challenging encounter.  And everyone else in the room cried "FOUL"So my questions are centered around the harpoon and how to expound upon rules that are somewhat limited.  The following is taken directly from the Frostburn entry:1. Can the Harpoon be used as a melee weapon without penalty? It is listed as a ranged weapon and NOT as a melee weapon with a range. (I'd like to believe the same rules would apply as with using a javelin as a melee weapon. -4 because it is not designed as a melee weapon)2. If used as a melee weapon, how do you deal with the rules that govern the removal of a harpoon?  Does the wielder keep control of the weapon, allowing him to pull the harpoon out as a full round action? (Doing the same amount of damage as when it went in, effectively giving him an automatic hit.) 3. Does he need some type of opposed check to keep control of the weapon? Would the two combatants be considered grappled (or something) while fighting for control?4. Would removing the harpoon by the wielder be considered a full round heal check (which he intentionally fails) thus provoking an AoO? (to me this question sounds silly but it was brought up in the discussion in game)These questions cover the meat of the issues with the harpoon.  The DM could ban the stupid thing but the player has built the character around (ab)using the harpoon. (which really isn't an argument against banning it.) I would rather have a more diplomatic solution with solid reasoning to back it up.</blockquote>

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