D&D 5E (2024) When a 20' pole has a 10' reach...

[Byrd]

...I mean, its got the 18lb. weight of a 20' Pike but not the reach, so why?
What am I missing?

Pike (PHB pg. 215)
1d10 Piercing
Heavy, Reach, Two-Handed
Mastery: Push
18 lbs., 5 GP

I'm trying to give 5.x another chance, but...

 

[bedir than]

One note, weight isn't supposed to be literal weight. It's a game mechanic that also represents bulk.

 

[MGibster]

...I mean, its got the 18lb. weight of a 20' Pike but not the reach, so why?

A sixteen inch dagger has a five foot reach. Practically speaking, a pike relies on a formation to be effective, so it's pretty much useless in a skirmish which is what D&D combat is. Maybe 10 feet simply represents the practical range at which you can hit someone with such a slow, clumsy weapon.

* Okay, there are likely some limited situations where an individual might find a pike useful. Fighting in a hallway for example. But for the most part, you're not going to want a pike unless you're in an army fighting in formation.

 

[Byrd]

One note, weight isn't supposed to be literal weight. It's a game mechanic that also represents bulk.

And for a pointy bit of steel on a the end of a 20' pole, I find that plausable.
If you compare the drawing of the pike to the haberd beside it on pg. 217, and then look at the spear on pg. 216...and then you compare the weights...

 

[sevenbastard]

If the pike is the only part of D&D you find unrealistic........

 

[Charlaquin]

...I mean, its got the 18lb. weight of a 20' Pike but not the reach, so why?
What am I missing?

Pike (PHB pg. 215)
1d10 Piercing
Heavy, Reach, Two-Handed
Mastery: Push
18 lbs., 5 GP

I'm trying to give 5.x another chance, but...

All of the weapons are way heavier than they should be. Equipment’s weight is not only its literal poundage, but also its physical bulk. A 10’ pike may weigh less than 18 pounds but be treated as if it were 18 pounds as an abstract representation of the difficulty of carrying it around.

 

[FrogReaver]

...I mean, its got the 18lb. weight of a 20' Pike but not the reach, so why?
What am I missing?

Pike (PHB pg. 215)
1d10 Piercing
Heavy, Reach, Two-Handed
Mastery: Push
18 lbs., 5 GP

I'm trying to give 5.x another chance, but...

I’m not aware of any 5e source that lists the weight of a 20ft pike.

 

[Byrd]

...Practically speaking, a pike relies on a formation to be effective, so it's pretty much useless in a skirmish which is what D&D combat is.

Spiky Hoplite bulldozers don't do well in a game with Fireball.

* Okay, there are likely some limited situations where an individual might find a pike useful. Fighting in a hallway for example.

Too bad the spell Item isn't in the 5.5 PHB.
Corners are never fun.

But for the most part, you're not going to want a pike unless you're in an army fighting in formation.

Agree. Which is part of why I'm questioning why it is in the PHB at all.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

My theory is that in some phase of design for 5.0 the pike probably was supposed to have extra-extra-reach, which would explain both why it weighs so much and why it does not qualify for the polearm master blunt end attack (you ain't flipping it around). Then they cut it down to make things more regular (they don't want extra rules complication for a rarely used weapon, we've already got that crap for lances and nets) but didn't adjust the weight or the feat. Then it was just copy-pasted to 5.5, because 5.5 is like that (either nobody thought much about it, or they were just being conservative about changing things).

I've used a pike in D&D once. My Barbarian had been in the market for a polearm and the DM mentioned heads mounted on pikes outside a city, so I adopted one for a while, until I noticed the weight and the not working with half of my polearm master feat.

 

[MGibster]

Spiky Hoplite bulldozers don't do well in a game with Fireball.

No. But we can assume my side has someone waiting with Counterspell, right? Thus the arms/spells race continues.

Agree. Which is part of why I'm questioning why it is in the PHB at all.

I'm trying to remember if I've ever seen a PC armed with a pike in the entirety my decades playing D&D and I'm drawing a blank. I remember the days of someone carrying a 10' pole but not a pike.