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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Caliban" data-source="post: 2067738" data-attributes="member: 284">I'm sorry, but that explanation just doesn't hold water. It's certainly not anywhere in the rules. And it doesn't match up with what little I've seen of lances in actual practice.  What is so special about the "design of the lance" that allows you do do more damage? Looking at the illustrations in the PHB, the lance is basically a thick longspear with a blunted tip. (They seem to be showing a jousting lance, which certainly wasn't intended for normal melee combat and was never used except when charging from the back of a horse. Real lances were basically longspears. But that's neither here nor there.)  It is certainly possible to do more damage with the lance when you have the weight of the horse behind it, but that is reflected by doing double damage with a lance on a charge, and triple damage if you have the Spirited charge feat. I just don't see any extra damage applying if your horse is standing stationary while you lay about you with the lance (you are already getting +1 to hit from higher ground). I especially don't find it likely if the horse is attacking at the same time.   It really doesn't make sense to me. Maybe because I've been in the SCA, I've seen jousts at exhibitions, and I've watched the History channel a few times. I just don't see anything special about the lance that would let you use a shield and still do two-handed damage with it while you are on horseback.  It may be that you get the two-handed weapon damage while wielding it in one hand ,but I don't think it's very likely.  I think that if they had really intended that the Lance grant you two-handed damage when wielded with one hand on horseback, they would have said so. Instead, they just give you the option of wielding a reach weapon with one hand while on horseback. That ability is plenty powerful by itself.</blockquote>

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