Reach weapons against adjacent foes

[Li Shenron]

"You can strike opponents 10ft away with it, but you can't use it against an adjacent foe."

This is the description for reach weapons in the PHB. After 1.5 year of playing D&D, I realize I'm not really sure what an "adjacent" foe is!

Does it mean you can strike only foes 10ft away, but not foes 5ft away (neither a foe in your square)? Or does it mean you can strike foes 5ft and 10ft away, but not foes in your square?

Which of the two:

ooooo ooooo
ooooo oxxxo
ooxoo oxxxo
ooooo oxxxo
ooooo ooooo

 

[Mr Fidgit]

10 feet away, but not 5.

and i have no idea what those x's and o's mean

 

[Epametheus]

The latter. You can't attack people who are standing 5 ft away.

Unless you use a spiked chain, a duom, or a similar weapon, in which case you can hit them anyways.

 

[Li Shenron]

Thanks! I knew about the spiked chain, but still in its description it says "unlike other reach weapons, you can strike adjacent foes", but my doubt came out when one of my players read my book and shouted: "Ha! You have been cheating with us, we can't strike adjacent foes, not 5ft away foes".

He says ADJACENT means in the square as you. Can you help me find a sentence in PHB that clearly points this out?

 

[Mr Fidgit]

PH pg 123

"Melee Attacks: With a normal melee weapon, you can strike any enemy within 5 feet.....You can strike opponents 10 feet away with a reach weapon, but you cannot strike adjacent foes (those within 5 feet)."

 

[Li Shenron]

Thx!

 

[hong]

Thanks! I knew about the spiked chain, but still in its description it says "unlike other reach weapons, you can strike adjacent foes", but my doubt came out when one of my players read my book and shouted: "Ha! You have been cheating with us, we can't strike adjacent foes, not 5ft away foes".

Beat your player with a stick.


Hong "I'm ALLOWED to say that" Ooi

 

[dcollins]

Which of the two:

ooooo ooooo
ooooo oxxxo
ooxoo oxxxo
ooooo oxxxo
ooooo ooooo

I must point out that technically, according to the FAQ, neither of those diagrams is correct -- the Sage's ruling is that the 2 diagonal squares = 15 ft. guideline applies, and hence you cannot strike 2 diagonal squares away. I'm not fond of this ruling, but, according to the FAQ, the proper diagram is this:

xooox
oxxxo
oxxxo
oxxxo
xooox

And anyone moving from those diagonals in one square provokes an AOO somewhere "between" the two (i.e., at 10 ft. away).

 

[Pax]

"You can strike opponents 10ft away with it, but you can't use it against an adjacent foe."

This is the description for reach weapons in the PHB. After 1.5 year of playing D&D, I realize I'm not really sure what an "adjacent" foe is!

Does it mean you can strike only foes 10ft away, but not foes 5ft away (neither a foe in your square)? Or does it mean you can strike foes 5ft and 10ft away, but not foes in your square?

A reach weapon can strike foes 10 feet away ... and ONLY foes 10 feet away. "Adjacent" refers to teh use of miniatures of other markers, on a big grid used to track relative positions (many groups use special "battle mats", which can be marked on (with special markers/pens) and erased repeatedly. Thus, the GM can draw terrain directly onto the map; the Wizard who just cast a Wall of Fire can -draw- a line to represent the wall, with little arrows pointing towards the "hot" side; with a ruler and a peice of string, your Druid can show EXACTLY where her Entangle spell is in effect. And so on.

Each square on such a grid is 5'. Therefor, enemies in sauares or "spaces on the board" that are adjacent to YOUR square, you cannot attack with a normal reach weapon.

Which of the two:

ooooo ooooo
ooooo oxxxo
ooxoo oxxxo
ooooo oxxxo
ooooo ooooo

The rightmost, presuming the o's denote threatened squares. Picture a grid, like graph paper; your PC occupies the centermost x; each character in yoru diagrams is another square in the grid, or "space on the board".

Your own space, and any space NEXT to that space -- including diagonally -- is where your Reach weapon cannot strike. THAT is why hte second diagram, on the right, is the correct one.

Of course, one can always simply make a 5' adjustment away from the enemy, and then make your attack (since s/he/it is now 10' away).

Or, just get a Reach weapon that -can- attack adjacent enemies (Spiked Chain in the PHB; the Duom in S&F). The Duom is actually rather nifty; the first time you get someone 5' away from you with it, you give YOURSELF flanking ... but it takes an exotic WP to learn.