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Message: <blockquote data-quote="embee" data-source="post: 8364827" data-attributes="member: 7026827">Rewatching, at least to my eyes, just illustrates my point. Can you point to any particular point where the spear, even in the hands of epic-level fighters, reach through the adjoining 5' spot and into the 5' spot beyond it? The spear, as used in an infantry scenario is held about 2/5 up the shaft. So 2' is behind the hand, bolstered by the forearm, and the remaining 3' feet goes forward. This is comparable to the length of a longsword. This is the one handed spear-and-shield method demonstrated in "300." No. It's not necessary. And in fact, if you boost it, you will break the game. Because adding reach means that you can stop pretty much any attack from pretty much any Medium creature. Let's take the spear and give it Reach without making any other changes to it. It's 1H so you can use a shield. Now take that and put it in the hands of a Human (Variant) Battle Master. In plate mail. With a shield. And the PAM/Sentinel combo. With the PAM/Sentinel benefits plus Brace (which is "within reach" not within 5 feet and doesn't have to be willing) and Lunging Attack (also based on reach, not just within 5 feet) maneuvers. There is now an AC20 character who can attack anything in a 10' radius and who can extend that to 15'. To quote a certain genius billionaire playboy philanthropist, "We have a hulk."Doesn't work. Used two-handed, a 5' spear is held like a quarterstaff. Here, the hands are placed one third down from the point and one third from the base of the shaft. So now you have a weapon that can be wielded like a quarterstaff as a double-ended blunt weapon with the added benefit of also being able to pierce. However, because of how the spear is held, you still don't have a reach weapon. The wuxia scenario involves the spear being held by the base in one hand and swung wide. But even with this exceptional attack method, the reach is limited to less than 10'.</blockquote>

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