Polearms Up Close and Personal???

[Ogrork the Mighty]

We use the house rule from the WotC site (Rules of the Game) that allow reach-polearm wielders to use their weapons against adjacent opponents, but with a -4 penalty to attacks and damage.

As a result, I'm thinking about creating two new feats to facilitate this. The first will be called something like Shorten Grip and will reduce the penalties to -2 and -2. The second will be Improved Shorten Grip and will will reduce the penalties to 0.

Does this seem reasonable? I realize that polearms can effectively become melee weapons with and/or without reach, but two feats seems a pretty hefty price to get rid of the penalties.

Thoughts?

 

[Mouseferatu]

May I humbly suggest that you see if you can find a copy of Dragon #331? There's an article on pole-arms in it with not only new weapons, but a plethora of pole-arm related feats that may cover what you're looking for.

It's partly written by... Oh, some author whose name escapes me.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Whoo-Hoo! Thanks for the tip!

 

[Nim]

Instead of letting them choke up at progressively-decreasing damage penalties, you could add a feat that turns reach polearms into double weapons - normal damage and reach on the one end, and some appropriate damage (1d6 20/x2 bludgeoning?) and 5-foot reach on the butt end. Let them add a butt-spike to the weapon at some minimal cost to upgrade it to 1d6 20/x3 piercing.

 

[Nim]

Instead of letting them choke up at progressively-decreasing damage penalties, you could add a feat that turns reach polearms into double weapons - normal damage and reach on the one end, and some appropriate damage (1d6 20/x2 bludgeoning?) and 5-foot reach on the butt end. Let them add a butt-spike to the weapon at some minimal cost to upgrade it to 1d6 20/x3 piercing.

Just to clarify...while they COULD then take TWF and use it as a full double weapon, I think it's more likely they'd skip TWF, and use the butt end only when someone closed with them. THat's more or less the way a solitary polearm fighter would have done it, historically.

 

[Enkhidu]

I'd be tempted to let anyone use a polearm as an improvised non-reach weapon (with the requisite penalties). Switching between the two would be a move-equivelent action, or possibly the equivelent of drawing/readying a weapon (though that would make quick draw that much more powerful - something to think about).

 

[Aust Diamondew]

Don't make it 2 feats, only 1. The spike chain is essentially a guissarme that can hit adjacent targets (and trades x3 crits for +2 on disarm attacks). The spike chain is worth 1 feat, so should shorten grip.

I like the butt-spike idea too.

 

[baeleg]

Dragon #331, as Mouseferatu mentioned, has this covered. They introduced a number of new polearm feats, including one that lets you use any polearm you are proficient with against adjacent foes, with a -2 attack penalty. There isn't a damage penalty.

It also has some other very nifty feats, and a decent collection of the polearms from other sources. I don't agree with the write-ups of all of them (they gave pilums reach?!?), but it gives a lot more options for polearms.

One of my favorite issues of Dragon.

 

[Mouseferatu]

(they gave pilums reach?!?)

I think that's a typo. Pilums have special rules--the whole "attacking the shield" thing--but the table doesn't give them the superscript that indicates "See weapon description for special rules." I think it should probably have that, rather than the superscript that indicates reach.

Or at least, that's how I intended it when I wrote it. I don't have the original file handy to see if the mistake may have been mine or not.

 

[baeleg]

Ah, I see. Yeah, the descriptive text doesn't mention it, whereas the other reach weapons mention reach in the text. So, verdict is typo.

I'm also curious about the lucerne hammer. It's got reach as well, but all of the historical examples I've seen were the length of a halberd or shorter, and the halberd doesn't have reach.

All in all, good article though. I've been waiting to see someone do a treatment of polearms that would do them justice.