Nytmare
David Jose
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.