I broke my brain...Duel Weilding a Lances on a horse!?!? lol

[Nytmare]

In D&D 5E lances do a lot of damage, compared to other one-handed weapons. Doesn't make sense to me that a lance *inherently* does more damage than a spear or pike, if you're poking someone with it while standing still.

IMO a person who charges on a horse, and puts the combined momentum of a lance, warrior, and horse all behind *one* point, then that's a special move, called a joust. A joust should do extra damage whether you do it with lance, spear, javelin, or maybe even swordpoint. That's apparently too complicated for 5E; but at the same time there's a Charger feat which works even for overburdened halflings wielding whips.

Beyond there being different types of lances, they were also built to do different things (pure damage vs trying to unhorse someone), and there were different ways to attack with them (stabbing like a spear or couched under the arm turning the entire horse, rider, and lance into a single weapon).

I agree that if you're trying to model something more realistic, you should have the lance operate as a staff or long spear and then have special mounted damage rules for jousting or mounted charges.

 

[Riley37]

My conception of the joust is couched under the arm, and that's the attack which IMO should get a bonus involving the charge, and the attacker-mount combo adding up to more than Medium size. Should require the target being in line with the charge.

Sure, the rider can also stab, and can do so outside of the line of the charge, could even do so afterwards if the joust doesn't break the lance or get stuck in the target, no?

 

[Nytmare]

My conception of the joust is couched under the arm, and that's the attack which IMO should get a bonus involving the charge

Not to derail this further off the established rules, I'd argue that anything involving a charge on horseback should get a bonus, and that someone charging, in full jousting heavy plate, complete with arret, armed with a heavy, cedar, war tipped lance couched under their arm should get roughly whatever bonuses and damages might exist for an M1 Abrams tank.

and the attacker-mount combo adding up to more than Medium size. Should require the target being in line with the charge.

If you're introducing facing and are interested in keeping "realistic" targeting, the horse's head makes a big dead zone right in front of you. Charging couched, or with a heavy lance you'd be hitting either to the right or left of center. You're hitting something that you're charging past, not into. Hitting anything beyond those squares and you run the risk of plucking yourself out of your saddle.