Overrun with a weapon? Lance in foot melee?

[Emirikol]

I need some clarification on two rules to be as close to official as possible.

Can a lance be used in melee combat if the character isn't mounted? Thus if this is possible, a character could use a heavy lance (a MEDIUM reach weapon) in one hand and a dagger in the other.

On an overrun attempt, can a character use a flail to trip his opponent during the 'trip check' action? Thus, if he fails, he can drop the weapon instead of being tripped in return right?



jh

 

[Wormwood]

Regading the lance, the desingers blew this one big time.

They tried to shoehorn the classic lance (a spear you hold braced in one hand) into the 3e weapon model (which needed Reach to hit over the horses front 5' square. This required the lance to be Large---which needs two hands).

Therefore, you are left with this strange weapon which is Medium, but which somehow has Reach. Hell, you can dual wield them now!

The only fixes are in House Rule territory, unfortunately (the simplest being that one may only use a lance one-handed while mounted. Another solution would be to remove them from the game, replacing them with longspears---with the exception that longspears may be one-handed weapons if used while mounted).

 

[Saeviomagy]

First up, I'd say that there are quite a number of 'large' weapons which should be wieldable in a single hand while mounted.

Second up, there are a number of weapons which should deal extra damage in exactly the same way as a lance.

In fact, pretty much every weapon which deals double damage when set against a charge should fit into this category.

 

[dcollins]

On an overrun attempt, can a character use a flail to trip his opponent during the 'trip check' action? Thus, if he fails, he can drop the weapon instead of being tripped in return right?

My reading of the intent is "no". It's using the mechanics of the trip check, but is not actually a trip attack -- it's something else, an "overrun". Thus a tripping weapon would not be applicable.

I entirely agree with Wormwood on the lance issue.

 

[Steverooo]

1e Lances

The thing that has always irked me about 3e is that it was merely a development of 2e. They never went back to see what 1e had to say...

In 1e, dismounted Lances could be used as Awl Pikes... Now in 3e, there is no "Awl Pike", but you could use the Longspear, instead. Thus, two-handed...