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Message: <blockquote data-quote="touc" data-source="post: 7453982" data-attributes="member: 19270">Homebrew brainstorm about implementing Reach and not bogging the game down. Common sense (or watching someone fencing with a spear) will tell you a man with a dagger is severely disadvantaged against a spear. The spear-wielder can poke and prod that spear at their face, torso, etc., making it a damn pain to close ranks with your knife. To close ranks is to risk your body, but once you're in close, the shorter reach of the dagger allows for some pinpoint attacks.So that's the realistic approach, which D&D, wisely, has distanced itself from to avoid bogging down combat with specifics that would turn combat into legal sessions of referencing rules. But, Reach is such an integral part of melee combat that I'd like to incorporate it somehow, and easily.With that said, considering a simple mechanic wherein we assign a Reach category to weapons and implement a Reaction attack as per the Spear Mastery feat.Reach MechanicHand (touch, fists, dagger, small or tiny monsters) Short (hand axe, light hammer, sickle, short sword) Medium (club, mace, flail, javelin, morning star, rapier, scimitar, war pick, Warhammer, medium monsters) Long (quarterstaff, battleaxe, greataxe, great sword, long sword, maul, large monsters) Very Long (spear, trident, huge creatures)Extremely long (all weapons with "reach" property, colossal monsters, all monsters with 10' or more reach) Unless surprised, if you have a greater reach category than your opponent, you can opt to use your Reaction to attack once as they close ranks, no matter if you fall later in the initiative round. Once the enemy has engaged you, this rule no longer applies unless the foe goes beyond your reach again (whether voluntarily or not). Basically follows the mechanic of Spear Mastery. Note: Spear Mastery would still require the bonus action to get the extra damage by "setting" for an attack. Of course, we could go further. After all, why use a short weapon at all? Well, in medieval battle descriptions, they were more effective once you closed ranks because their balance and size allowed for some greater damage. I think D&D covers this, in some way, by DEX-based characters. D&D doesn't do, as a weapon characteristic, critical hit ranges anymore, except as a Fighter class mechanic. Anyhoo, constructive criticism needed.</blockquote>

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