D&D General Weapons should break left and right

[loverdrive]

Just because a weapon might be inconvenient in one fairly specific location doesn't really matter all that much. Overall? Spears should be used FAR more in the game than they are. But, since spears suck and virtually none of the cool weapons are spears plus the fandom love swords FARRRR too much to ever give them up, that means that spears will virtually never be used by PC's.

Have we've been playing the same D&D? Polearm master + Sentinel seems to be a popular fighter build. It's strong, even more so with GWM, if you have feat budget for that -- a lot of attacks, a lot of damage, pretty strong zoning.

...also have no one ever brought you a Greek warrior? A Zulu warrior? In forty years? I find that hard to believe.

Sorry, but, who didn't lug spears around most of the time? Nearly anyone who was headed out into the wilderness took a spear, starting all the way back in paleolithic times all the way up to Roman era and, depending on the part of the world, right up to the advent of gun powder weapons. Carrying a spear was FAAAAR more common than carrying a sword. Swords are absolutely crap weapons against anything that isn't a human. Who would you put money on against a charging boar - man with sword or man with spear?

There is plenty of historical evidence of spears being commonly used for hunting and warfare. Not much about them being everyday objects used outside those two context.

Spears (and polearms even more so) have three inherent issues when it comes to anything other than warfare (and hunting, for spears):

1. They are weapons. There's not much use to thrusts for any task that isn't about killing things, and most of what you are going to be doing in life are going to be much more mundane.
   
   A long knife or an axe are versatile tools that can be an effective weapon in a pinch. I guess a spear can double as a walking stick?
2. They are annoying to carry around. And most of what you are doing in an adventure is walking, which tends to be easier with something that can nicely be supported by your core muscles and tucked away. Not a long stick (although someone probably should carry a long stick, it's a very useful thing to have -- and I guess spearhead can be in the backpack and used as a small knife)
3. People are gonna look at you funny if you roll up to the bar with a halberd.

All those downsides are logistical, and if we handwave them and don't model day-to-day life and attrition, long weapons become overpowered.

Why are spears in D&D not as good as they are in real life? Because they must. Most people can't be bothered with modeling survival, so spears must be nerfed some other way -- and a game that does model survival can get away with having busted strong polearms in their full glory.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

First of all, what rational argument could there possibly be? "I ran out of arrows and want that not to be true?"

My character is an elite archer not a dopey 21st century geek.

Making arrows is like - not at all difficult.

You know, like they actually do if you fire it often enough?

Shoot not fire, unless you are using a firearm.

/pedant

 

[TiQuinn]

Honestly? I think this is the primary motivation. Swords just capture the imagination to such an extent that basically no other weapons really exist.

You have my sword. You have my bow. You have my axe. Those are really the big three.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

You know, like they actually do if you fire it often enough?

Shoot not fire, unless you are using a firearm.

/pedant

 

[Staffan]

One of the few movies I remember showing spears as effective weapons was Troy, see below. Other scenes show spears being the main weapon of the armies, although of course they just run at each other in a loose group instead of having any battle tactics and formation but that's movie battles for you.

There's also this showing how spears can be pretty effective against swords until the wielder gets overconfident and lets other concerns than winning outweigh his judgment.

 

[AlViking]

There's also this showing how spears can be pretty effective against swords until the wielder gets overconfident and lets other concerns than winning outweigh his judgment.

Good fight choreography. I don't have Max (or whatever they're calling it now) so I've never watched GoT. But yeah, when your enemy is down and it's a fight to the death skip the monologue.

 

[Micah Sweet]

My character is an elite archer not a dopey 21st century geek.

Making arrows is like - not at all difficult.


Shoot not fire, unless you are using a firearm.

/pedant

First of all, pedantry happily accepted.

Secondly, making arrows is not difficult, but it does require adequate materials, time, and most importantly the intention and action of doing so. Check those boxes off and I will be happy to let any character operate thusly.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Secondly, making arrows is not difficult, but it does require adequate materials, time, and most importantly the intention and action of doing so. Check those boxes off and I will be happy to let any character operate thusly.

The intention and action come from characters, rather than players, not being incompetent idiots. The materials - are common, I could find them all in my back garden I am looking at out the window (although I might send my cat familiar out to fetch a fat pigeon). Time, I can make a bunch and get adequate sleep during an eight hour long rest. I could make a couple more whilst the party argue over the best strategy to fight the next group of enemies.

 

[loverdrive]

The intention and action come from characters, rather than players, not being incompetent idiots. The materials - are common, I could find them all in my back garden I am looking at out the window (although I might send my cat familiar out to fetch a fat pigeon). Time, I can make a bunch and get adequate sleep during an eight hour long rest. I could make a couple more whilst the party argue over the best strategy to fight the next group of enemies.

Sure, you can make them on long rest. What are you gonna do until that?

 

[Micah Sweet]

The intention and action come from characters, rather than players, not being incompetent idiots. The materials - are common, I could find them all in my back garden I am looking at out the window (although I might send my cat familiar out to fetch a fat pigeon). Time, I can make a bunch and get adequate sleep during an eight hour long rest. I could make a couple more whilst the party argue over the best strategy to fight the next group of enemies.

I feel you're making assumptions about the setting and the characters I simply wouldn't make, all in the name of a desire for expediency and simplicity I don't feel.

In short, I'd rather not just handwave important stuff like, "do I have what I need to use my weapon?", and I don't think the PCs are idiots if the players don't make your assumptions.

And by the way, I can think of plenty of situations in active play where materials and/or time might not be adequate for making new ammo.