D&D 5E Why so few magic polearms in the DMG?

[Charlaquin]

Ish. I guess.

I was half joking. I think the real answer is the thing people have been saying about swords being the more iconic weapon of fantasy and myth. Balancing PAM is more of a side-benefit.

The problem is that PAM makes polearms so good there should be more of them. At least, I'd expect people who make magic weapons to pick weapons that extraordinarily effective. Why enchant something that's inherently inferior?

Meh, that doesn’t matter.

 

[Doug McCrae]

What about magic helmets?

Zero! But then it is a list of weapons, not armour.

 

[prabe]

Meh, that doesn’t matter.

I'm curious why you think it doesn't. Not arguing, genuinely curious.

 

[Doug McCrae]

What about magic helmets?

I found six in the list of mythological objects. That's entries, rather than words. Too many swords and spears for me to count, though more of the latter than I thought there would be.

 

[Panda-s1]

The word "spear" appears 14 times in Wikipedia's list of magical weapons. "Sword" appears 148 times.

I mean okay, doesn't change the fact that there are plenty of examples of magic spears throughout history.

 

[Doug McCrae]

I mean okay, doesn't change the fact that there are plenty of examples of magic spears throughout history.

Yes, you're right. I think the list of mythological objects is a better and more complete list, and the sword/spear balance tilts more toward spears than the first list I linked. It has 30 magical spears, 4 lances, plus other spear-like pole weapons such as tridents. 112 swords by my count.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[CleverNickName]

Hmm. I always thought that "sword" was just shorthand for "bladed weapon of your choice" or something like that, and not really a hard requirement. I was about to respond with words to this effect, too, until I read through this thread. Apparently the design intent really was to have magic swords outnumber all other magic weapons by like 10:1.

I don't really know what to say to that. I mean, I've been placing all kinds of magical, re-skinned "swords" for years and haven't found any issues. Our fighter is currently using a glaive of wounding, and the sorceress is quite fond of her dancing dagger. (shrug) I don't feel compelled to change them now, or to change the way I've been placing treasure.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Tony Vargas]

I think that how good the mechanics of the PAM feat are probably have very little to do with the presence or absence of polearms

Agreed.

Keep in mind, folks, that the official line in 5e is that Feats like PAM are opt-in optional, and magic items are not 'assumed' in the game's balance. So balancing one off against the other - when either or both might be absent - doesn't make a lotta sense.