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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Banshee16" data-source="post: 3099268" data-attributes="member: 7883">That's what I'm thinking....obviously, massed pikes is a good example....but polearms weren't only used for that.In the Weapons that Made Britain, they showed pretty clearly that polearms are incredibly useful weapons.  In fact, he contested that knights used them more often than they used swords, because some like the poleaxe are made specifically to defeat opponents in full plate armour, whereas full plate is an excellent defense against swords.And the poleaxe was displayed in the show to be a tripping weapon.....parry with the head or haft, get the hook behind the opponent's head, pull him off his feet, then flip it around, and slam the spike into his helmet....fight over.  Pretty brutal weapon, apparently.I did locate stats for the heavy poleaxe in the Conan setting book....but I haven't found the "regular" poleaxe anywhere.One thing I miss from 2nd Ed. is how certain types of weapons have bonuses against certain types of armour (ie. piercing against chainmail, bashing against plate armour, etc.).The other thing I didn't realize was how much football or WWF-type tackling was involved in regular swordfighting.....or that they'd grab their sword by the blade, and then use the hilt to bash someone in the face.  I don't see how they'd avoid slicing off their fingers when trying to strike with any amount of force though.I do have the Dragon mag with that article on polearms, and was reading through it last night.  It seems somewhat useful.I guess one thing I need to clarify....in the PHP, and Dragon mag etc. some weapons are indicated as being weapons you can trip with.  Does this mean that if you've got a weapon that is *not* listed as a tripping weapon, that you can't trip with it?  Like, if I've got a dagger or battleaxe, my PC can't trip?  As a DM, I always allow tripping no matter what, as I simply assumed that the PC used his foot or something.  Is that incorrect?Banshee</blockquote>

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