Polearms are for professionals. Nobody likes professionals. It's all about the damned talented amateurs or the prestige symbolic weapons, not the workaday get-shit-done implements.

>Polearms don't get any attention they'd deserve

They're not Katanas, so no one cares.

Bardiche.

>>9892309
Sorry, wrong version.

Bardiche!

Hard mode: NO SHITTY ANIMU PICTURES OF LOLIS WITH LARGE WEAPONS.

Goddamn you disgust me sometines /tg/.

>>9892316

Bardiche: A Magical polearm with an awesome manly voice that can turn itself into a laser scythe. I mean, what more could you want?

>>9892338
>what more could you want?

Not animu? I could use some of that.

Mmm, polearms.

Boring but deliciously efficient. Though there have been some rather effective spear-based martial arts - they can function in almost every way as a staff, with the added bonus of being pointy.

Don't mind us; we're just busy being the most effective non-ballistic hand weapons ever created by the labours of man.

What would you call this?
It looks like a billhook on a handle... I dunno, I just have it lying around.

Gotta vouch for that. Polearms are cool and efficient.

Is there a polearm hammer?

>>9892347

But problem is lately in Western fiction nobody ever uses anything but swords, maybe an axe or two. You practically have to watch animu or read manga to get anyone doing cool things with a spear, a hammer, or a polearm. It's a sad state of affairs, and a disgrace to the awesome myths of guys like CuChulainn or Luin, but it's how it goes.

Unless you just want real ones, we're not going to be able to help much.

Ironically, it tends to go the other way in the FE games. Everyone fucking loves the footsoldier characters in spite and because of the fact that they're equipped like fodder.

The fact that they have godly stats doesn't hurt anything either of course.

>>9892328
>>9892347
get this /k/ shit off /tg/ SAGE SAGE SAGE

>>9892372
Bec-de-corbin is a warhammer on a poleaxe haft. You will be hard pressed to find something that can kill a man in plate armour faster.

I want to try running a catfolk militia character(Pathfinder fighter) who weilds a Bardiche at some point.

Fuck anime

>>9892385
Lucern hammer works too.

>>9892385
>hammer on a polearm haft

HOLY FUCK. SO MUCH MOMENTUM. YOU WILL BE STRUCK BY THE FIST OF AN ANGRY GOD.

Gygax apparently agreed with you back in the day, OP.

>>9892369

probably some kind of guisarme

>>9892372
YES. OH YES THERE IS.
(the thing in the middle)

I've got a kobold fighter that wields not one, but two different kind of polearms: bardiche for unarmored foes, lucerne hammer for punching through metal. He also has a spear, which is fairly close.

And goddammit if he isn't the most fun character I've ever played.

>>9892378
Spears are for hunters and peasant levies. Proper polearms, on the other hand, are for hardened old frontoviks who know how to get shit done and don't give a damn about how pretty or heroic it may look in the process.

I've always wanted to play a 3.x polearm wielder, the only problem is, RAW (my DMs always do this unless their houserules fuck the player over more) you cannot hit an adjacent target until 3rd level as a fighter. Which is kinda lame.

Cons:
Two handed.
Silly names.
A helluva lot less magical polearms than magical swords/axes.
Silly looking.

>>9892405
>Earspoon

Pardon me for not knowing shit about my polearms, but... damn. That made me laugh.

>>9892418

Also Ephraim, who uses lances on foot because he was too busy riding his sister to ever learn to use a horse properly.

>>9892425
spiked gauntlet

>>9892425

5ft step is your friend. Also attacks of opertunity +braceing, never have an opponent get within 5ft.

>>9892404
Exactly. You've got a bludgeoning end and you've got a piercing end, and you've got a spiky tip to top it all off if you feel like playing spearman instead of FUCK YOU I HAVE A BEC-DE-CORBIN; YOUR FLUTED GOTHIC PLATE IS IRRELEVANT.

>>9892426
>Two handed.
Yeah? What else would you do with that one hand, anyway, huh? Two handed just means there will be more force in there.

>Silly names.
Nobody cares if it keeps you alive.

>A helluva lot less magical polearms than magical swords/axes.
Can always homebrew some awesome shit in there. I've done it.

>Silly looking.
Bah, it won't be silly looking when it's cut you in half before your pansy sword even reaches hitting range.

>>9892445
True, but then there is the whole problem of the wall, and cliffs, etc.

>>9892405 Glaive-Fauchard-Bardiche-Voulge, Bastard

Can I get a "Glaive-Fauchard-Bardiche-Voulge, Motherfucker" instead?

>>9892443
In Glen Cook's Silver Spike, a military dude in control of shit has to train a militia. He gives them all a spear. And lets them know they're a bunch of idiots, but with a spear that doesn't matter, cause even an idiot can use it, and use it effectively.

>>9892470
"Put the pointy end in their squishy bits" is about as simple as it gets, and if you're sticking them with big shields as well, there's not really much room for finesse. The king of conscript weapons, indeed.

>>9892461
>Yeah? What else would you do with that one hand, anyway, huh? Two handed just means there will be more force in there.

Shield, generally. Shields are good for the whole "staying alive" thing.

But yeah, I love polearms. Though I will admit that yeah, spears might be a peasant weapon, but I love their look much more than that of any other polearm.

>>9892461
"I am the great paladin Illuminagor! Behold, the gods have blessed me with the possession of the Holy Earspoon! Flee!'

>>9892470

Ephraim's a tactical genius, actually.

Bohemian Earspoon = Spear but with spikes on the side to penetrate armour.

I prefer 2e over 3.5 for the simple reason that 3.5 got rid of all the awesome polearms.

>>9892500
Is he the only tactical genius in the world of fictional tactical geniuses? Cause I'm pretty sure even more of them wield swords.

>Implying polearms aren't just swords strapped haphazardly onto sticks.

>>9892500
Someone say tactical... genius?

>Get on /tg/ early in morning

>Fuck yeah! Polearm thread!

>See:
>>9892378

>Leave /tg/ to Rule 34 up some Nephenee

Goddamnit, I hate myself.

A Bill is a real man's Polearm like a Khopesh is a real man's sword.

Now Bows? Those are for REEEEAL Men, you try drawing back 80 pounds worth of force with one of those English longbows. Polearms are bro-tier, but Bows are god-tier.

>>9892500

Light armor, spear, tactical genius? Sounds like a 4e Taclord to me.

>>9892577
If by real man you mean faggot.

Real men use magic.

>>9892540
>Implying that doesn't make them infinitely more effective against everything

>>9892577
Bows are awesome, sure, but good luck punching through armor with them.

>>9892590

Yeah, pretty much. Ike would be his Bravura counterpart.

>>9892592
BULLSHIT!

REAL men use slings.

>>9892577
>Khopesh
>Real man's sword

HAHAHAHAHAHA

>>9892437
Apparently it's this.

>>9892592
>Hurrdurr magic
What's that? I'm sorry, but I can't hear you mumbling like a faggot.

>>9892592
Good luck finding and recruiting ten thousand of your "real men".

>>9892286
Glaive fan here. MY DM RAILS ABOUT HOW IRL GLAIVES SUCK! GOD IT MAKES ME WANT TO KILL HIM.

Oh and guess what weapon he loves? Thats right the katana. Fucking retard.

>>9892607
Real men use wildly inferior choices, and win anyway.

>>9892599
Your average hunting bow wouldn't put a dent in Armor, it's true. But good-ole War-Bows? That shit'll go through Plate just fine if you train a guy to use them correctly.

>>9892635
>Implying over-hyped two-handed swords used by faggots in skirts are good.

>>9892488
In all fairness, the spear doesn't HAVE to be a peasant's weapon. Give the Japanese shit for plenty of other stuff, but their schools of yari usage gave due dignity to the spear as a weapon of first choice.

>Khopesh

For people who need GRATUITOUS AMOUNTS OF GUNS

>>9892697
Technically they're used to counter spears, but they're way choppier than normal swords.

>>9892690
Ask him what his thoughts on naginatas are.

>>9892605

Fuck Ike, Ike is a big furry pussy. "BAAAW HYOOMANS ARE SO BAD LAGUZ ARE NOBLE AND PURRREE"

Hector, motherfuckers. HECTOR. HECTOR AND ROY'S DAD WHATEVER HIS NAME IS. ROY'S DAD WAS A FUCKING PIMP.

>>9892721
I'm just saying man, Using a sword to counter spears and pikes is silly when you're getting a spear thrusted at you at eight feet away, not to mention that any spear worth using is going to be a bitch to chop or break with any sort of period weaponry.

>>9892599
Warp wood.

>>9892512
Seconded. Pages wide polearm lists were always an essential part of D&D, and something died inside of me when they got rid of 'em.

We've had whole campaigns centering around polearms. Until 3.5, anyway.

>>9892744

Eliwood, and he was a manly gentleman badass.

That game was basically "Hector and Eliwood punch liches and brofist, Lyn whines about her oppressed native people. Fucks are not given about Lyn's plight."

>>9892726
Let me put it this way.

He says the Naginata was never used by the japanese but was brought over by the british

The thing that makes me rage the most isnt that he is a weaboo faggot but that he keeps homebrewing weapon damages for no fucking reason.

Katanas are now 1d12 weapons that crit on an 18-20 and he wanted to drop the damage die on my glaive but I argued with him for three hours to get him to not be a fag.

Shorter reach than with a halberd.

>>9892770
Lyn only really did the whining for the intro chapter.

Besides, a hero high crit unit, who can fuck basically everything in the game?

Lyn was EASY MODO in that game.

>>9892690

What reasoning does he have for glaives sucking when pretty much every expert on medieval war was nuts over them?

>>9892781
But the naginata is almost literally a katana on a stick.

wat.

>>9892781

Ok, now I'm raging.

>>9892783
I fucking love the halberd. I love everything about it. I love the look, I love the reach, I love the sheer multiplicity of ways you have to horribly murder your opponent with them.

I think the only game I can recall playing that gave them due respect was Ultima Online, and that was due to the oddities of precasting.

>>9892792
Well, I don't think they suck, but the mistake many people make is that most polearms were fucking amazing weapons on the battlefield, with a couple dozen other guys backing you up with the same weapon.

Solo, they're not nearly as effective. Ineffective? No, they have their advantages. But the real strength of polearms has always been in numbers.

>>9892812
Not all polearms, necessarily. Things like the poleaxe and the (aforementioned) bec-de-corbin were intended to be wielded as personal weapons.

And holy shit did they rape their fellow foot knights.

>>9892781

>Katana 1d12 + huge crit

Oh wow. What a fag. He should feel bad.

Does he even know what a katana is? Has he even seen one used (outside of animu)?

>>9892744

Ike loves strong people. "Holy shit they can turn into lions? How can we possibly hate something so useful!"

Also,you apparently didn't play 10.

"Alright, you know what? Fuck it all. Everyone is a bastard. I am now going to go kill EVERY DRAGON, and you are all coming with me to help."

>>9892790

Put Hector with Florina every time. What's this, people want her to be a lesbian? Pfft, fuck that, MANLY HECTOR TEACHES HER TO OVERCOME SHYNESS.

>>9892781
You should punch him in the dick and then show him a history book to cram it through his weeaboo skull that the Katana was little more than a Side-arm in terms of combat in Japan during that time.

>>9892808
You are now reminding me of fond days spent doing the old explosion-energy bolt-hallywhack facerape mix.

And the accompanying oOoOOoo OOOo oOOOoOOO ooOo.

>>9892824

I watched a very boring LP of the first game with Ike in it up until the chapter where a fat gay man was molesting heron-people.

>>9892820
Certainly, but those are a few examples, and when people normally talk about polearms, they're not thinking of those.

Beyond that, the primary weapon of most knight or man-at-arms was the lance anyways. Any other weapon was pretty much either a backup or for dueling purposes.

>>9892792
ALL WEAPONS PAIL IN COMPARISON TO THE MIGHTY KATANA!

seriously though he gives some bullshit excuse that polearms are not legitimate weapons unless used against cavalry. No one would ever be able to beat a lone swordsman while using a glaive.

I know, just typing this makes me want to stab him

>>9892796
>>9892801
I am either stuck playing with these weaboo fags or not playing at all. I wish I could move to somewhere with intelligent life.

Gentlemen, do you see this?

This is what won so many wars for such a long time.

Fuck yes I love polearms.

>>9892835
Fucking honour blades, man. Always stealing the glory from the real implements of violence. Who the fuck cares about the yari and the yumi, hallmarks of a horseborne warrior-aristocracy that they are? Never mind the fact that naginata-armed sohei forced the samurai to completely reassess their approach to lower-body armour! KATANA IS FOLDED UP TO TEN THOUSAND TIMES TO CREATE THE FINEST BLADES KNOWN TO MAN etc.

>>9892849
>I am either stuck playing with these weaboo fags or not playing at all. I wish I could move to somewhere with intelligent life.

You could always try and find someone to play with you on the Internets. I'm doing just fine, for instance, despite knowing absolutely nobody IRL who plays this stuff.

>>9892849
>seriously though he gives some bullshit excuse that polearms are not legitimate weapons unless used against cavalry

Oh god, what the fuck is wrong with this faggot. That's what they excelled at!

>>9892790

Every conversation with Lyn is "BLAH BLAH YOU NEED DISCIPRINE YOU'RE DOING THIS WRONG LET ME TALK ABOUT THE PLAAAAAAAINS."

Fuck her and fuck her plainspeople, I hope they never stop being oppressed, awesome as Nomads are.

>>9892834
>teaches her to overcome her shyness and hit on chicks

Excellent.

>>9892856
PEZHETARO-I PHALANGIIIITAI!

Who wants to do a "Polearms are underpowered in d20"? HARD MODE: Make it legit, instead of adding up the regular "cut through solid steel" bullshit this copypasta usually has.

Problem with polearms is that it is unsuitable for adventurers. Of course, they are badass, but when out of combat they are large and heavy and you can't just put them in a scabbard.

>>9892839 Let's Play Fire Emblem

Holy shit, this is the worst idea ever.

Anyway, to make a long story short? Ike's personality is best summed up as "might makes right now do what I say or I will bludgeon you to death with my giant metal stick." It makes his "I fight for my friends" quote in SSBB hilariously ironic.

>>9892869
She still kills everything so easily.

>>9892872

Actually, she hits on him, and then they get married.

Also, Eliwood outright asks the dancer-girl for a lapdance. Eliwood is a goddamn pimp.

Even lesbians know this shit. Spears are for real fights. Katanas are only good for domestic violence.

>>9892882
That kobold fighter of mine solves the problem by carrying them around in a horse cart. He's got loads of other shit in there, too.

>>9892869

She's hot and she kills things. What more do you want?

>>9892883

The fact that he actually listens to the whiny trapshonen angstmoppet in his group made me lose all respect for him.

>>9892882
Hardly. For one, they can double as a ten-foot (or six-foot as the case may be) pole, and you can always use them as a bindlestick as well.

>>9892882

You could always just walk around all badass-like.

>>9892882
Hell, just fitting one into a tavern is a pain.

And there's the problem that they're absolutely terrible in enclosed environments.

Honestly, if people want to play with polearms and be awesome, play Riddle of Steel. Of course, if someone is faster than you and can get inside your reach, well, you're fucked.

>>9892872

Most of Florina's conversations with women are in the vein of "Hi, I'm shy and don't know how to handle myself, can you teach me to be more outgoing?" Only Lyn's has implied romance, and Hector's has Florina developing the most adorable crush in the world.

>>9892863
Yeah, I know, fuck that noise, the best weapons are the weapons that the common man uses, even today you see shit like that beating the fuck out of superior weaponry due to grit and the fact that it just fucking works.

The AK-47 is our Era's Billhook and Pike.

>>9892882
>>9892922
Yeah, it's not like you could use any other weapon anyway. Have yourself a sword or something for cramped spaces, with a foldable polearm for everything else.

>>9892922
See >>9892764 . That's no more unwieldy than a greatsword, and actually less so if you consider the HURR GONNA SWING THIS GIANT SLAB OF METAL bullshit that popular fantasy has turned the zweihander into.

Polearms. I tried writing a decent paragraph of text explaining just why but really all I can get that doesn't come out as shit is: Polearms, FUCK YES.

>>9892926
An AK-47 is a weapon you give to untrained idiots.

>>9892936
Greatswords are of dubious actual use in historical battles, and I'm talking real cramped.

>>9892926

Predator Drone will be the next AK-47

>>9892902

See comments on Ike being practical. You don't ignore a brilliant tactician just because he's broody.

>>9892948
>AK-47
>Untrained Idiots, Sandpeople and Slavic Countries
>Spears, Pikes, Polearms
>Peasants and Rabble

>>9892956
Which is why zweihanders frequently opted for the double-grip. Being able to switch half your grip up to above the hilt made them a lot more manageable.

>>9892895
>Even lesbians know this shit.

I don't get it.

>>9892901

A woman who isn't annoying.

>>9892948
It never fails, so fuck yes AK-47. The worst of the accuracy issues tend to be more due to training shortcomings than actual design problems.

SEMI-AUTO SETTING IS THERE FOR A REASON PEOPLE. USE IT.

Polearms look dumb, that's why. They're also a pain in the ass for an adventurer to carry. Even a greatsword can be sheathed.

>>9892961
"Let's join the obviously evil and expansionist empire!"

"Let's leave what is obviously a defenseless princess being hunted by said empire!"

Soren is a little cuntbag, and I wish Titania just backhanded him instead of giving him the dignity of arguing.

>>9892972

She's hot and kills shit. That's about as little annoying as you can get.

>>9892967
Uh, I mean that we have no solid proof that greatswords were ever actually used in battles on a real scale.

I mean, you might have had some guy bring his to battle, and you had people writing manuals for how to use them(of course, that doesn't really mean so much) but we had no solid proof they were considered a practical weapon, rather than an exotic dueling one, and a piece to show off how rich you were.

>>9892972
>don't get it
There...wasn't a joke.

>>9892990
There are sleeves for polearm pointy-ends if you are so inclined. But I suggest just sticking them in the nearest available soft surface, using them as hiking sticks, or bundling your belongings up in your cloak and tying it all to your polearm to make a handy bindle.

>>9892983
>it never fails

No, I can assure, it fails. It fails about as often as any piston gun that's constructed to loose tolerances. It's not overly remarkable, it's mostly legend. Also, contrary to popular opinion, the m16 isn't an insane jammomatic, the same as the AK isn't insanely inaccurate.

However, the AK has the indisputable issue of bad ergonomics.

>>9892996
Doppelsoldners...?

>>9893010
M-16 gets bad flak mostly because of how badly the whole cleaning issue was handled during the Vietnam war.

>>9892990
>pain in the ass to carry
NIGGER IT'S A STAFF WITH A BLADE ON IT, IT CARRIES OTHER SHIT, LOOP A KNAPSACK OVER IT AND HELLO YOU HAVE LESS SHIT TO CARRY YOURSELF

Also, seriously, it looks ugly? Come on man, It's a weapon made for fighting, not some Weeaboo jerk-off stick or a weapon that is an extension of YOUR HONOUR. It's something you stab people with, all it needs to be is free of rust, and it's good to go.

>>9893014
A word isn't proof.

>>9892992 "Let's join the obviously evil and expansionist empire!"

Joke's on you there, every empire in the game was evil and expansionist.

>>9892995

Every time she opens her mouth, it's to say something useless. You have HOTTER women who kill MORE shit. Also, I'm fairly sure that's the game with the bestest Cleric in the whole wide world, Serra.

>>9893015
Indeed.

>>9893018
It's fiction with about as strong a basis in reality as the idea that pop rocks and soda will cause you to die. Aesthetics matter.

>>9892992

...You do realize that abandoning the princess and siding with the winners was tactically sound advice, right?

>>9893025
No, seriously, are you familiar with doppelsoldners?

Bit of an odd request here but does anyone have pics of knights using the supposedly pretty damn common cut-down lance for fighting on foot?

I never understood why Machiavelli said polearms were generally useless in his times. As far as I know, polearms were generally very useful weapons, even not against cavalry. Maybe the way of fighting was changing, or maybe it was just "BY 2010 WARS WILL BE FOUGHT WIFF LAYZORZ AND PALSMA".

>>9893042
Full plate soldiers, would use their greatswords to destroy pike formations from the front, allowing the cavalry to charge as normal.

But again, proof is important.

>>9892750

Hence, claymores.

>>9893030
Sure, but some polearms actually look quite attractive, especially considering that we ARE in fact using a fantasy world and real world functionality can be toned down in favor of aesthetics.

>>9893059
Funny, what I took away from reading his Art of War was that he thought polearms were quite handy weapons, but buckler-men were superior VERSUS PIKEMEN.

So he wanted all his goddamn soldiers to be sword-and-buckler-and-pike-men.

>>9893059
I'm sure he had his reasons, but it's entirely possible he was just talking out his ass. People have this weird tendency to take the words of dead people as gospel.

>>9893068
Trivia: the Claymore is actually, in mechanical terms, a 'bastard' sword. Halfway between an arming sword and a two-handed longsword.

>>9893043
I am learning that right now at a fencing club.
It is fucking awesome.

>>9893059
We are talking about the same Machiavelli who figured gunpowder was basically bullshit and artillery was useless.

He had a lot of good ideas but when it came to nitty-gritty military details he consistently was tilting for the wrong side of history.

>>9893040

Winners who don't need you, won't be grateful or reward you, and will probably just kill you for the lulz anyway. Plus abandoning princesses is for weaklings and cowards.

>>9892990

When playing in Eberron, I just reason that my greatspear can mechanically fold in half because ARTIFICERS EVERYWHERE.

>>9893030

Halberds are beautiful, and plenty easy to carry. Even if you're fighting in a cave, use them like a spear.

>>9893093
Beautiful is subjective and what's beautiful for one character may not be beautiful for all characters.

>>9893028
>Serra

Serra is an adorable female Zapp Brannigan.

>>9893087

When you bring honor into an argument on strategy, you've already lost.

>>9893028

Serra was annoying as shit. If it weren't for the fact that she was fucking useful I would have never fielded her.

>>9893102
Well it is beautiful for me.

>>9893042
I dunno about him but I am, and Dopplesoldners sinply means soldier on double pay, namely the front rank troops who are most likely to die. And most of these would have been armed with pikes, followed by halberds. The zweihander armed ones are really tehre for guard work, namely guarding the banner and officers as thats what its good for. Its big, its intimidating and so is the guy using it. But its main use is when the enemy are down to their shortswords of whatever form and in the brawl of meeting units, as the zweihanders are a great defensive weapon for dealing with multiple people. In fact you can see a couple in this image, which is an eye-witness account from the early 1500s of what happens when pike-blocks meet.

>>9893108
Once you choose to turn traitor, you've already lost.

>>9893108

There was no strategy, just "the evil empire hates us anyway, we can either pretend we saw nothing, or we can be awesome and possibly rewarded by saving this princess". The problem is that Soren is a whiny, contrary little dickbag.

>>9893030
>Aesthetics matter
Only from person to person, I think Polearms are beautiful weapons in their simplicity, but that's me, and my opinion means little to the world at large.

>>9893125
I fucking love Bad War.

>>9893128 traitor... freelance mercenaries most of whom are foreigners

LOL WHAT?

>>9893149
Well, when I think polearms, I think of the dumbass looking things in the OP's image. I myself am rather fond of things like glaives, spears, pikes, etc.

>>9893166
Those are pretty much all variations on the military bill. The military bill was the other half of the FUCK YEAH LONGBOW equation that made England a military machine in the late middle ages.

>>9893176
You mean a mediocre success that managed to stomp the french the few times they did something stupid?

>>9893188
Enough of a force that they convinced the Burgundians to wholeheartedly steal their system.

>>9893166
Billhooks are ugly as fuck, yes, but there's nothing more beautiful to me than a large, tightly packed formation, marching along slowly during battle, pikes pointed forward, ready to skewer any poor unfortunate soul who's ordered to charge into them.

I suppose, to me, the beauty isn't just in the weapon, but in how it's used, and the mental image of an entire line of Horsemen just getting stopped in it's tracks by a rank of peasantry and Yeomen.

Picture's related, while it's not as historically accurate as the OP's picture, it's still a Billhook.

>>9892781

WHAT KIND OF SELF-RESPECTING WEEABOO DOESN'T LIKE NAGINATAS?! Not only is he a fucking weeaboo, he doesn't even do it RIGHT!

Huff, huff... sorry. Moment of rage. Carry on.

>>9893218
I knew one weeaboo that hated them because the yari didn't get enough credit.

Throwing axe was here

polearms are for faggots

>>9893238
That's actually a legitimate stance to take.

...My next character is going to use a La Tene spear and fight absolutely naked.
Should he be a fighter or barbarian?

>>9893253
Barbarian. Be Cuchulainn. SHIT WILL BE EXCEPTIONALLY CASH.

>>9893245
I concur. Didn't change the fact he was a massive weeaboo.

>>9893253
>she

Barbarian.

>>9893253
>Naked.

I don't remember if Weapon Finesse works with spears, if it doesn't, I'd recommend against this plan, because you'll get raped whole-handedly.

If it does, Best get that Dex high son.

>>9893282
It does not.

>>9893213
Thats a glaive, you can tell because it looks nothing like the farming tool known as a bill, and a hell of a lot like a glaive.

Other than that, very seconded.

Can anyone recommend a feat to represent the defensive benefit of fighting naked?

>>9893297
There was none whatsoever except to prove what a big goddamn hero you were?

>melee weapons
How plebeian.

>>9893297
Just ask your DM to provide you a defense progression similar to the monk.

>>9893304
Oh no. There was a reason the Celts fought naked. See, if you were wearing clothes, and you got stabbed, you'd obviously be getting animal or vegetable fibres in your wounds, and probably not very clean ones at that. It made healing much slower and infection much more likely.
Running around naked improved your chances of survival.

>>9893311

Monk's Belt

All problems solved.

>>9893335
...No, it really was a combination of religious devotionalisms and "LOOK AT ME I'M FUCKING FEARLESS, ALSO CHECK OUT MY PECS AND THE FACT I HAVE GOT A RAGING BONER AS I AM STABBING THIS FUCKING ITALIC IN THE FACE".

>>9893337
At the cost of an expensive magic item that wont help you until you can afford it. It wouldn't be unreasonable to ask your DM to let you swap armor + shield for stat + 1/4 character level to AC.

>>9893297

In 4e? Unarmored Agility. One time, I asked the DM if I could enchant my own skin as Hide Armor. He said yes, it was awesome.

>>9893364
Anything in 3.5?

Decided on playing a combo fighter/barbarian.
Other then Combat Reflexes, any feats you can recommend for a polearm based character?

bump

>>9893417
The one which slows enemies when you pull or slide them.

Also polearm gamble on levels 11+

>>9893417

Stand Still and Hold The Line feats work if you're using a reach polearm.

The Spinning Halberd style from PHB2 is cool, but it's mediocre as far as power levels go, thanks to a fuckton of otherwise-useless prereqs.

Plenty of the maneuvers/stances from the book of weeaboo fightan magic could also be helpful.

>>9893566
Here's a thought: With Monkey Grip, and Oversized Two weapon fighting, can't I use Two Glaives?

>>9893591
Yes, but that'd be ridiculous. You've deliberately broken away from the norm and actually done something practical: why'd you want to go back to weird shit now?

That's it. I'm sick of all this "Masterwork Long Spears" bullshit that's going on in the d20 system right now. Earspoons deserve much better than that. Much, much better than that.

I should know what I'm talking about. I myself commissioned a genuine Earspoon in Prague for 24,000 Euros (that's about $20,000) and have been practicing with it for almost 2 years now. I can even pierce slabs of solid steel with my Earspoon.

Czech smiths spend years working on a single earspoon and fold it up to a million times to produce the finest blades known to mankind.

Earspoons are thrice as sharp as swords and thrice as hard for that matter too. Anything a longsword can stab through, a earspoon can stab through better. I'm pretty sure a earspoon could easily punch through a knight wearing full plate with a simple horizantal thrust.

Ever wonder why medieval Japan never bothered conquering Bohemia? That's right, they were too scared to fight the disciplined footmen and their earspoons of destruction. Even in World War II, German soldiers targeted the men with the earspoons first because their killing power was feared and respected.

So what am I saying? Earspoons are simply the best spear that the world has ever seen, and thus, require better stats in the d20 system. Here is the stat block I propose for Earspoons:

(Two-Handed Martial Weapon)
2d10 Damage
17-20 x4 Crit
+5 to hit and damage
Counts as Masterwork

Now that seems a lot more representative of the stabbing power of Earspoons in real life, don't you think?

tl;dr = Katanas need to do more damage in d20, see my new stat block.

>>9893637
True. As practical as a naked character can be.

>>9893641
Fuck, I actually laughed at this. A real laugh of amusement at that.

>>9893591

Make it two ranseurs.

YUUUUUUKIMUUUURAAAAA!!!

>>9893668
The upper rightmost polearm. What is that?

>>9893672

Tch, damn you. Now we need to figure out how to make a guy sextuple-wield bastard swords.

>>9893704

A type of mancatcher, I think. A Sodegarami?

>>9893704
A thing that's meant to grab around someone's neck so they cant move without stabbing themselves. No real combat use, logically the situation you'd see one of those in is being used to control prisoners that are being moved somewhere.

>>9893722

Considering the pic says "Bavarian National Museum", I wouldn't go with sodegarami, but mancatcher seems obvious enough.

Quite possibly the most awesome spear (well, technically its a partizan due to the size of the blade, the mounting of it and the wings, but it is a spear-type-weapon as polearms go) of the century so far.

>>9893784

Yeah, I figured. I couldn't remember the proper name, so I just ran through anything in my head that looked similar.

I'm trying to learn proper smithing, but I cannot find any schemes or instructions on how exactly blades were mounted on sticks.
Also were the partisan's blocking spikes one part with the blade? And how would one call a partisan with a long blade but without the spikes?

>>9893835

Why does that look like a shitty self-photo shot of a penis?

>>9893908
BECAUSE IT IS.

I was recently in a low-level campaign in which every one of the PCs used a pole arm.

My 3.5 fighter (15th level) uses a shortspear as his alternate melee/ranged weapon.

My 3.5 wizard (now retired after a whort carreer) used a quarterstaff.

>>9892781
He should see this.

Also this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTVC25hYJaY&playnext_from=TL&videos=3AhEpg6JrzQ

>>9893928
Thats both awesome and depressing.

>>9892347
You're not cool enough for that. No one on 4chan is cool enough for that.

To be fair he could have an actual bardiche instead.

>>9894019
>>9893908
>>9893928

Evildoers and Cavalry beware! For a new hero stalks the night! Singular and Phallic in his purpose!

His name... EARSPOON-PENIS MAN!

I don't know what it is but I just the early partizan types, that don't have wings, just about a half meter of spear instead.

I'd love to see some more decent re-creations of them than this singular example, but buggered if I can find any.

http://diablo2.diablowiki.net/Polearms

fapfapfapfapfapfapfapfapfap

The most heavily experienced unites of the Roman armies used spears and fought in Phalanxes. Even the Romans knew that swords are for babies.

>>9894209
Triarii and whatnot maybe, but the later legionaires mainly used the Gladius :V

Greeks loved the shit out of the phallax though.
It's where the Romans got the idea.

>>9893014

Doppelsöldner is first and foremost a dude who brings his own armour. Yeah, they payed people with armour double the normal rate and half if they had to be outfitted.

>Full plate soldiers, would use their greatswords to destroy pike formations from the front, allowing the cavalry to charge as normal.

Only that exactly that never happened. Ok, maybe once and that's why somebody wrote it down and every imbecile keeps quoting that single instance instead of all the other comments about how they're basically used to keep dudes away from other dudes.

>Funny, what I took away from reading his Art of War was that he thought polearms were quite handy weapons, but buckler-men were superior VERSUS PIKEMEN.

Nah, what he said is that Romans R TEH AWESOME and that we'd be totally awesome too if we acted like Romans. Another thing is...that the city milita alreay used the sort of equipment he he suggested. He basically said: "You need an armed city milita, you need to keep the armed city milita (and at some point we'll have our republic again, lol, minus the killing each other, yay!)"

>A type of mancatcher, I think. A Sodegarami?

Na, a Sodegami is a stick menacing with spikes menaced with spikes. You hit somebody's sleeves, roll them up and catch his arm with it. That thing's a mancatcher.

AwlSpeiss

Fuckhuge needle on a stick.
Classy.

>>9894317
"...Thus, having to order an army according to these examples, to me it seems well to retain the arms and modes of the Greek phalanxes on one hand, and of the Roman legions, on the other. Therefore, in one brigade I said I wanted two thousand pikes, which are the arms of the Macedonian phalanxes, and three thousand shields with words, which are the arms of the Romans. .. And because the order should also partake of those of one nation and the other, just as the arms are mixed and partake of both of them, I ordered each battalion to have five files of pikes in front and the rest to be shields, so as to be able to withstand cavalrymen to the front and enter easily into the battalions of the enemy on foot, having the pikes in the first encounter, like the enemy. I want them to be enough to withstand him, and the shields then to beat him."

-Niccolo Machiavelli, Art of War, book three. Translation by Christopher Lynch.

HASTATI

>>9894432
PRIN-KI-PAY

Even the Adeptus Custodes use polearms.

Fun and true thing to do with a bardiche:
Gun rest.

>>9894492
When did the Empra become a zombie?

>>9894535
Never stop being awesome, streltsy.

>>9894546
A bit later.

Polearms are more suited for mass combat and ordered formations. So weapons like that are not suited for advetures, skrimishes and duels.
Exception is poleaxes...

>>9894535
My god. I demand more information on this style of musketry.

>>9895422
Nice supposition there, try doing research first next time.
heres a head start for reading material to look up: Polearms of Paulus Hector Mair, Le Jeu de la Hache and various sections of other fight manuals of the time by people such as Hans Talhoffer.
All of these show use of polearms and spears being used for single combat; Polearms of Paulus Hector Mair being the most comprehensive, detailing many techniques specifically for single combat.

When swordsman meets spearman one on one, the translation for the instructions for the spearman basically amount to 'Keep stabbing at him until he stops'. For the most part, thats it, the swordsman has to engage in vastly more complicated movements and planning, where as the spearman, with his advantage of reach and speed, can just stab, stab and stab again. If the swordsman gets close, then shorten, possibly ward off any attacks with the haft, and keep stabbing, or just step back and do so again.
more complex but still simple things to do for the spearman involve hitting the swordsman with the butt end of the spear, using it like a bat or club. The spearman really has all the advantages here.

Unarmed was here. You are all pussies.

>>9892707
Sparta would like a word with you.

>>9893297
>>9893282
These are more a problem with D&D than with polearms. Aside from the early Gygaxian tables that no one used, polearms have gotten no love in D&D. 3.x was actually worse with that "can't threaten adjacent" BS. The set of feats in Dragon near the end of 3.0 that helped polearm users out quite a bit were, while useful, also all things that only a peasant fresh to the levy wouldn't know already.

So with nothing but a 10 foot reach, two-hand requirement, and often substandard damage, the polearms languish in the armory while the hero picks something up close and personal so he can acquire all those manly scars legitimately.

OK this thread sucks balls, wanna know why, we don't have the dorfiest of all polearms...

Lochaber Axe!

Now that's down right dorfy lad.

>>9895947
Manliest form of combat, for sure.

>>9895961
This requires homebrewing.

>>9896215
Mediaeval trolling was done with posters.
This one was obviously made to piss off swordfags.

>>9896026
>Manly
>Using hueg soft gloves

Faggots.

I hold polearms in varying esteem, perhaps because of my great admiration for the sword and shield. I will say this, though. The Poleax is quite simply my most favorite weapon ever, goddamn that thing's hot.

>>9896268
That doesn't seem to stop them from drawing blood tho.

>>9896377
DOUBLE KO

>>9896377
That guy just doesn't give a shit that he got stab

>>9896377
The spearman has already lost. The swordsman can just swing his sword towards the neck of the spearman to neatly decapitate him.

>>9896255

That's a page out of a book man.

>>9896268
>soft gloves
I don't think you've ever boxed.

>>9896377
"Position yourself in the fight as follows: place your left foot forward, hold the lance with your left hand forward, toward the enemy, and your right hand behind your right foot, on the right side, and quickly thrust into his face.
If he attempts this same thrust to your face while you are leading with the right foot, holding your sword in wechsel (change guard) on the left side, its point tilted toward the ground, then raise it up and strike his lance onto your right side.
If he strikes your lance away thusly, then change under his sword, raise the lance up, strongly grip the middle of the shaft, and thrust through his left flank (as depicted by the left figure).
If he changes you through to thrust at your body, then strike your long edge into his head with all your might (as depicted by the right figure) but also note that if this strike does not happen as quickly as possible, you will suffer."

>>9896377
>>9896215
>>9895915
>>9895758
Medieval comics sucked. It's just one image and WORDS WORDS WORDS.

>>9896499
Technically its renaissance, medieval was more like image + one line.

>>9896518
Why do they look so bored?

Spear/Long Spear > Polearm

The great disadvantage to a fancy polearm is that once someone hooks onto it with a shield and forces it down, the guy holding it can't control the weapon and the "prying force" with the weight at the tip of the weapon makes him vulnerable and they cannot be used with shields so. It just gets the user killed against a decently skilled opponent or people with tough shields.

Spears bypass the "hooked" problem, and spears with long metal tips were hard to grab. (javelins)

The best polearms were the more spear-like, lighter and longer versions. Multipurpose polearms were given to grunts and keep defense purposes because they could push ladders off or break steps of the ladder near the middle/defend against a ladder with just one person jabbing down and hooking ladders to pull them to one side and topple a line of ladders at once. Among other things, they were purpose driven weapons, not general purpose weapons.

Which is why you don't see them being popular in many systems.

arse, and I missed the entire thread as its about to autosage. Fie.

More like one image, then page after page of text...

>>9896563 was supposed to be replying to
>>9896518

Anyway, here's what you should be playing, for deliciously brutal, accurate and fun combat.

>>9896553
Except for any time you're going to be dealing with someone in any armour greater than just a jack/gambeson. The hooks and spike are all great multipurpose tools for tripping, grappling and all the other fun things that are helpful to take down an armoured man (not even a full plate man, just a generally armoured guy).

Also, polearms with a decent axe-like head with absolutely destroy shields. The only time they wouldn't do that would be against either bucklers, being heavily re-enforced if not entirely constructed of steel. Shields that could resist polearms repeatedly would be too heavy to use as anything but portable walls. Such as the one in this image.

>>9896538
They were just really blasé about things back then.

bump

>>9892417
Kobolds can't use polearms, they're Small.

>>9898226
Yeah? There are small polearms too.

>>9898273
At that point it's just kinda pointless, because Small Polearms don't have Reach.

>>9898339
Yes, they do. What are you talking about?

>>9898339

Technically they do. A small Greatspear still has reach it just does less damage. Also, a Medium character can one-hand it.

>>9898406
We're probably talking different editions, then, because the only Small Polearm I know of is the Talenta Sharrash, and that doesn't have reach.

>>9898453
3.5 has small polearms and they have reach.

>>9898459
>>9898428
Ah, didn't realize you could just add the 'small' property to a weapon in 3.5. Okay then.

>>9898453

There are standard rules for resizing weapons. (This includes doing so in 4e.) There isn't a standard method for doing it in-game, but the statistical alterations involved are simple.

On a related note, if you're playing a character with oversized never opt for a Large Bastard Sword over a Medium Fullblade. You get to treat the Medium Fullblade as versatile, so it is statistically identical to the Large Bastard Sword in all ways except that it gets High Crit.

how do you guys know so much about weapons and shit

>>9893264

Humm....get improved crit, as well as talk your DM into letting you have a modded vorpral effect. Instead of it striking the head off, the spear always lands right in their heart, when it crits.

Also, see if you can get a true strike, once or twice a day, as an effect.

>>9899120
Why not add shocking burst to it as well... and call it Gungnir?

>>9899120
>>9899304
What does that even have to do with a guy being naked? How would it be different if he was still wearing armor?

Fantasy games often enough rape polearms. "can't hit adjacents", or the reach means nothing, generally low damage and very slow speeds, resulting in crappy piles of shit that do worse than a dagger or a shortsword.

In reality, polearms aren't as slow as they may seem. its almost a mindless part of the training to shorten one's reach, and the counterweight effect behind you from doing so allows both additional attack angles (this is why the butt of the weapon was often shod or spiked), 'double weapon' style like a staff, use of the normal weapon head too of course.

"you can get into its reach" is no worse than getting into the reach of any other melee weapon for the polearm wielder. you can just as easily shatter face, wrist or windpipe with the haft. And said folk ALWAYS forget that to get "into" said zone that's past the maximum force (a huge moment arc and nice weapon head means a LOT of damage where it strikes), you have to geet into and past it first. Something most polearms are notoriously nasty for. There's a LOT of momentum if you're gonna try to parry or deflect that, and its not that hard to follow up.

But the only games that treat them well are shadowrun and, for a few of them (naginata specifically), L5R (at least in 3rd edition). Fantasy Craft has a few things for'em but the feat line rather sucks balls.

The only reason there's so much more magical swords and bows than anything else is because there's so much more magical swords and bows than anything else.

People instantly think "sword" when picking weapon proficiencies because its unlikely they'll find anything else of real worth (save a few like maces of disruption).
People instantly think "sword" when deciding what they should enchant because that's what everyone picks.

I had an enchanter who never once touched a sword, except to remove it from a friend's leg. What did he enchant? Polearms and Spears.

His ally built a fucking EMPIRE on those things, putting that reach to use in an offensive manner, among other things.

>>9900286
Theres a feat called short haft somewhere which lets you hit adjacent, and with the spring attack/lightning stance feat tree you can abuse it. Throw in combat expertise.
Set attack, hit, they come in my second threat range hit, jump back 15 feat, set attack, rinse repeat

>>9900479
Meant combat reflexes

>>9900479
>Theres a feat called short haft somewhere which lets you hit adjacent

And everyone except your average peasant should be able to do that by default.

>>9900479
Retarded tax-feat. You can't be fucking PROFICIENT in the weapon and not be able to shorten your reach with it.

That's like needing a feat to take your sword out of its scabbard to gain the ability to do slashing damage with it.

>>9900506
>>9900518
Yeah, no guessing if I'm always homebrewing this thing.

>>9900518
There's a feat that makes you hit 5% more often with one specific type of weapon. There's a feat that gives you 3 hit points.

Once upon a time I had a blind fighter with a greatspear.
He had blind fight, and eventually took a homebrewed feat called blindsense (can pinpoint things within 30ft).
While he was great in combat, he was still always tripping over things, and a lot of the time needed someone to guide him around.
In battle his party would tell him which direction to run.
By far one of my favorite characters, until a few games later one of the assholes took the idea from me.

>>9900655
And nobody fucking takes those unless they have to as entry for something else. Which you generally don't have to.

Just because there's shitty feats out there doesn't excuse that there are other shitty feats. All it means is those need fixing too. But at least you don't need them for your fighter to wield his polearm as well as a 0-level peasant.

One of my players uses polearms.

Does this look like /k/?

>>9900742
There is little more /tg/ than complaining about the rules and usage (or lack thereof) of real weapons in fantasy settings by fantasy people. Same goes with Religions, CRPGs, etc.

Polearms, fuck year!

>>9892881
> Who wants to do a "Polearms are underpowered in d20"? HARD MODE: Make it legit, instead of adding up the regular "cut through solid steel" bullshit this copypasta usually has.

That’s it. I’m sick of all this “Masterwork Bastard Sword” bullshit that’s going on in the d20 system right now. Polearms deserve much better than that. Much, much better than that.

I should know what I’m talking about. I myself commissioned an exact replica of Wallace Collection #A926 for 8,600Kč Czech Koruny (that’s about $450) and have been practicing Peter Von Danzig's fechtschule with it for several years now. I can even puncture case-hardened plate armour with my forespike.

European smiths spend dozens of hours working on each pollaxe and equip ten thousand soldiers with them to produce the finest polearms known to mankind.

Pollaxes are three times the percusive force impact oper square inch of surface area of a sword, and through fulcrum dynamics are thrice as fast for that matter too. Anything a longsword can cut through, a pollaxe can puncture through better. I’m pretty sure a lucrene hammer could easily impale a knight wearing full plate with a simple zornhau.

Ever wonder why medieval Europe never bothered with the Katana? That’s right, they abandoned that production method somehwere in the dark ages, and had far more advanced steel bloomery processes.

So what am I saying? Pollarms are simply the best anti-armour weapon that the world has ever seen, and thus, require better stats in the d20 system. Here is the stat block I propose for Pollaxes:

(One-Handed Stabbing Weapon)
2d8 Damage
19-20 x4 Crit
+2 to hit and damage
Counts as Masterwork steel in a japanese setting.

(Two-Handed Hafted Weapon)
2d12 Damage
17-20 x4 Crit
+5 to hit and damage
Counts as Masterwork steel in a japanese setting.

Now that seems a lot more representative of the impact impulse force of Polearms in real life, don’t you think?

>>9901243
That's actually pretty darn impressive. Shame you had to cheese it up with the stats, or it would've been fine.

>>9901286
sorry, last time I played D&D, it was 1st Ed AD&D, and Big hair and shoulderpads were in fashion. I have absolutely no idea what the stats would be.

feel free to copypasta with more reasonable stats.
if you do, edit out the typo I made in "lucerne hammer", btw.

(and, if you want a laugh, some of it is true. I have bought an exact replica of Wallace Collection #a926 for 8,600 czech koruny. I'm a historic reenactor nowadays :) )

>>9892286
Okay, see, the thing is that almost all polearms are meant to be used BY formations, AGAINST formations.

How the fuck many times have you fought in formation in a D&D game?

>>9901437
>doesn't read the thread

>>9893641
>I myself commissioned a genuine Earspoon in Prague for 24,000 Euros (that's about $20,000)

Actually those numbers should be reversed. 20,000 euros would be around 24,000 US dollars. Otherwise well done.

>>9901437
Then why the fuck are palace guards practically always pictured with polearms?

>>9901437
not quite true. the halberd, pike, lochaber axe, partisan, ahlspeiss and glaive/guisarme are all unit polearms.

the lucerne hammer, the pollaxe, some ahlspeiss, however, are designed to be used by the single combatant, and that'sevidenced by thier use in such context by the fighting manuals of Thalhoffer, Paulus Kal, Peter Von Danzig (goliath fechtbuch), Paulus Hector Mair, and a host of others too, where they are used in single combat.

in contrast, fighting manuals like Johann-Georg Pascha's "kurtze anleitung des jaeger stocks oder halbe pique" which cover the longer pike and similar polearms are solely demonstrating thier use in formation.

>>9901474

Because those can be rather easily decorated with heraldic images.

>>9901533

Ahlspiess.

From "spiessen" = to pierce or skewer. "Ahl" = awl, but you probably knew that.

>>9901576

already knew it, mildly pleased I managed to spell it right.... :)

>>9895961

4e really boosted the shit out of Polearms, though. A Fighter with a Glaive or Greatspear is a thing of absolute beauty.

>>9896553

You're an idiot, the hooks were intended TO BE USED against shields, because you could use them to yank shields away and pull men off horseback.

>>9901474

Good for repelling a crowd of filthy peasants.