Ready Spear vs. Charge: double damage for AoO?

[TwentyQuestions]

Yeah, good old problem. If my players see someone with spears, they don't charge. If they have spears, they complain that the enemies don't charge.

Well, I haven't had players interested in spears until now, or else this question would have arisen sooner, but here's my .02:

Unintelligent creatures still ought to charge readied spears, and some monsters' special charge attacks (like a minotaur's) are so much more advantageous than a regular attack that it may still be worth it for them to charge a readied spear. So your PCs may still get some use out of the tactic.

And it is a tactical decision - having to take the ready action beforehand means that the double damage is a reward for planning (and taking the risk that the enemy won't charge after all). Making the x2 dam automatic renders this choice meaningless, and I think that choices are a Good Thing. Your PCs can get more mileage out of the tactic by careful timing and coordinating with the non-spearmen to make sure that the monster's choices are all bad:
1) stay where I am and suck up missile fire etc.
2) double-move into combat but not charge; I still get hit by readied spear attacks (depending on how the PCs have worded their ready action), but not for double damage
so that 3), charge and attack this round despite the risk of getting impaled, starts looking like the lesser evil.

Also, if you allow all polearms to do double damage, there's no reason to choose a spear, whose ability to be readied is its sole advantage over a higher-damage polearm: again, that's removing a choice.

If disappointment with the tactic is a problem in your game, it means you have more experience with it than me - but I'd recommend looking at one of the feats others have mentioned, since feats are a great way to give players more choices.

 

[noobiegameplayer]

As I understand it, setting a spear against a charge means planting its base in the ground so that it doesn't give way with the shock of the charge. I think it should be possible to see whether a spear is set (with a Spot check if you like). If the spearman just spent a round moving but not seeming to do anything else, that should give you a clue

Of course, no one wants to charge a spear - the idea is to have enough missile fire coming from behind the line of spearmen that it becomes imperative to engage them as soon as possible.

The bottom of a spear is nearly always on the ground when not in combat, you are normally standing about 1/2 way up the spear. To set a spear against a charge you take a step back and drop the spear butt, it's about 1/2 an action point (if that).

We've also played that a natural 20 on setting a spear means the charger is impaled on the spear. And that if you miss your atk when setting, you don't get an AoO, as the charger is 1/2 way down your spear, and you have effectively got a stick

We like to "add" some martial science to our combats.

If you do get a natural 20, and the charger continues down your spear, they take automatic damage from the spear, you can't miss if it's in them

From then on, they're at -(dependant on size) to hit, and the spearman has the choice of automatic damage to the impaled creature, with a - on AC as the creature is within 5' of them and they can't defend because they're holding onto a spear with a big angry creature / person / monster hitting at them.

Or they can let go of the spear and draw another weapon, and the creature is still at a - to hit unless they pull the spear out (and take an automatic hit).

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Welcome to ENWorld, and holy thread necromancy!

I'd like to think, since you can ready an entire standard action, that you DON'T have to plant the butt end of the spear in the ground until just before the ready action triggers (ie, charger is approaching). It really shouldn't take that long to do, especially since in 3E a combat round is at absolute most 6 seconds to do anything that can be done in a round anyway.

That said, a lot of players (and DMs!) could metagame when they see a spear user have his turn come up and yet he doesn't act, or only moves a little. Even without the visual clue.

 

[frankthedm]

You cannot necessarily tell what action a person has readied (nor can you really even tell that they have something readied).

One of the DMGs [3.0 or 3.5] said otherwise in a section covering describing combats IIRC.