D&D 5E Improving the Spear

[S'mon]

And you would be mistaken. The spear is superior in both contexts - with some caveats pertaining to particular circumstances. Aside from historical documents attesting to this fact, you can find any number of historical martial arts sparring videos online. One guy I personally like is Matt Easton of Scholagladiatoria.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2YgGY_OBx8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJcTD5qIZJ4

Ironically enough in contrast to your belief that the popularity of the spear was economic, many spear-based infantry, notably including the Greek hoplites, ALSO carried swords as side or secondary arms. (Stereotypically the Xiphos in the case of hoplites). Essentially, the superior reach of a spear allows earlier attacks, allows the user to threaten the opponent from a greater number of angles, and allows the user to more safely attack without exposing themselves. Of course the concept of military units that rely exclusively on one weapon is mostly fiction. There are circumstances in which a sword (as a secondary weapon or otherwise) might be a better choice. Including crowded tangles of melee combatants and confined interior spaces where there isn't sufficient space for a spear-user to attack or maintain distance. As far as duelling and/or self defense swords also had the advantages of being wearable without encumbering the hands during everyday life and of being more generally legal for civilians to carry. The pike, by the way, is unsuitable for personal combat - it's slow and unwieldy; although it allows (greater numbers of) successive ranks of combatants to focus arms on a given area on the battlefield. Something to keep in mind - the economics of warfare changed significantly throughout history. It was easily possible to outfit mass numbers of troops with swords and metal armor by the latter middle ages. There was even a comparatively brief period of time where mass-produced plate armor was cheap enough for large-scale infantry units. Spears and successor pole weapons maintained their popularity throughout this period.

Yeah, that fits my view (also a Matt Easton fan - I like how he doesn't let his preference for sabres distort his evaluations). Whether in a duel or en masse, spear alone normally beats sword alone, while spear & shield normally beats sword & shield. A sword might be superior at close quarters, but to survive to get to close quarters vs spears you need heavy armour & a good shield (& good tactical formation, eg the Romans).

 

[TallIan]

While true, closing isn't nearly as simple or realistic as people make it out to be. Aside from really cumbersome variants, like the pike, spears function just fine at a shorter grip. And because the spear inherently possesses much less inertia than the human body, it is possible to shorten the grip on a spear faster than a human body can close the distance in realistic combat circumstances. (Though it may be possible to get the spear-wielder to commit to a strike or to block the spear in such a way as to facilitate closing distance). If a spear-user can be cornered (not merely against a flat wall) or has a tangle of combatants fighting behind them to interfere with the butt however...

I think we're making the same point, though you've done it more clearly than me.

I didn't want to imply it was easy to close with an opponent with a longer weapon, just that it was your best chance of winning.

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[Greenstone.Walker]

I thought the lack of a bludgeoning finesse weapon was lame.

I think it is deliberate., "Blunt instrument" and "finesse" don 't go together.

Additionally, finesse is valuable. DEX is already an useful stat, typing your weapon to it makes it even more powerful. There are, only five melee finesse weapons in the game, three of them are piercing damage, the other two of them are slashing (and the one finesse ranged weapon also does piercing damage). None of them are two-handed or versatile, which is why I guess spear is not finesse.

I don't think it would break anything to make javelin (a smaller, lighter, more manoeuverable spear) a finesse weapon.

I'd also make trident a 1d8/1d10 weapon, so there is a piercing damage equivalent for swords/axes (slashing) and hammers (bludgeoning). Really, the trident needs the love.

 

[Shadowdweller00]

I think we're making the same point, though you've done it more clearly than me.

I didn't want to imply it was easy to close with an opponent with a longer weapon, just that it was your best chance of winning.

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Sorry, I didn't intend to take an adversarial tone there. I just think people tend to be too quick to discount the reach advantage.