I found it strange that there's no piercing equivalent to the Longsword or Warhammer, and also that there's no proper martial equivalent to the Spear.
Now, I know there are pole-arms, but these are a pretty big change going from a versatile, modest damage spear to the heavy, two-handed only weapons (although Reach is a great feature to have). There is also the Trident, but this is actually identical to the simple spear; it isn't even better underwater, which is what I originally believed, it's a very disappointing martial weapon that feels like a mistake that's never been corrected.
So what I wanted to do was create an in-between from the lighter, throwable spear and the heavier full-sized pole-arms, and opted to create a half-pike, which I believe is the correct middle ground in practical terms. It's a versatile, medium damage weapon that cannot be thrown, so functionally identical to a Longsword or Warhammer but with Piercing instead of Slashing/Bludgeoning.
Now, since we still can't create new basic weapons, mechanically these are "magic" Longswords with their damage type changed to Piercing, so for proficiency you will need proficiency in Longsword, to use it as a Kensei weapon you'll need to pick Longswords as a Kensei weapon type etc., but it should otherwise work perfectly fine on your character sheet, in Avrae etc. I've also done a few of the common (actually magical) variants that most weapons have so you/your DM can get/give suitable upgrades:
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I like where you're going with this. I just can't get fired up over the "half pike" moniker. It sounds like you want to give it the versatile tag, which would be in line with the battleaxe, the longsword, and the warhammer. That means that even though it could be used with two hands, it would not have the two-handed tag, nor the heavy tag. Would you want it to be a reach weapon? Do you have any opinion on whether it should be compatible with the polearm master feat? If so, maybe take a look at the description of the feat to make sure it qualifies as one of the types of weapons supported by the feat.
I like where you're going with this. I just can't get fired up over the "half pike" moniker. It sounds like you want to give it the versatile tag, which would be in line with the battleaxe, the longsword, and the warhammer. That means that even though it could be used with two hands, it would not have the two-handed tag, nor the heavy tag. Would you want it to be a reach weapon? Do you have any opinion on whether it should be compatible with the polearm master feat? If so, maybe take a look at the description of the feat to make sure it qualifies as one of the types of weapons supported by the feat.
It does not. The feat already specifies which specific weapons it works with.
While you are wielding a glaive, halberd, pike, quarterstaff, or spear, other creatures provoke an opportunity attack from you when they enter your reach.
I like where you're going with this. I just can't get fired up over the "half pike" moniker. It sounds like you want to give it the versatile tag, which would be in line with the battleaxe, the longsword, and the warhammer. That means that even though it could be used with two hands, it would not have the two-handed tag, nor the heavy tag. Would you want it to be a reach weapon? Do you have any opinion on whether it should be compatible with the polearm master feat? If so, maybe take a look at the description of the feat to make sure it qualifies as one of the types of weapons supported by the feat.
Actually my main aim is just to have a proper martial upgrade to the regular spear; the basic simple spear is d6 piercing with versatile (d8) and can be thrown, this half pike trades the thrown feature for d8 piercing with versatile (d10), so same basic damage as a Longsword/Warhammer.
To give some historical context, a proper pike is a very long weapon (10 to 14 feet) which is why Reach makes sense, but a half-pike is closer to 6 or 7. It really is just an upgraded spear, but usually with a heavier head, so I think it makes sense.
This is useful in cases where you want a character with a spear type weapon without having to go two-handed (or stay with only a simple weapon), it's also handy for options like the Path of the Kensei which disallows two handed only weapons. It's mostly just filling a gap (no piercing equivalent of Longsword/Warhammer), ideal for characters who'd like that damage profile, but with piercing damage to represent the types of weapons they want.
It would probably still make sense for it count for the Polearm Master feat if a regular spear does, but that would be a ruling for individual DMs as there's nothing I can do about that; the difficulty with homebrew weapons is that all of the base stats are inherited from another weapon, and there's no way that I could find to replace both damage die on a regular spear (or remove the thrown property properly), which is why I had to go with a Longsword and change the damage type instead.
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Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
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I found it strange that there's no piercing equivalent to the Longsword or Warhammer, and also that there's no proper martial equivalent to the Spear.
Now, I know there are pole-arms, but these are a pretty big change going from a versatile, modest damage spear to the heavy, two-handed only weapons (although Reach is a great feature to have). There is also the Trident, but this is actually identical to the simple spear; it isn't even better underwater, which is what I originally believed, it's a very disappointing martial weapon that feels like a mistake that's never been corrected.
So what I wanted to do was create an in-between from the lighter, throwable spear and the heavier full-sized pole-arms, and opted to create a half-pike, which I believe is the correct middle ground in practical terms. It's a versatile, medium damage weapon that cannot be thrown, so functionally identical to a Longsword or Warhammer but with Piercing instead of Slashing/Bludgeoning.
Now, since we still can't create new basic weapons, mechanically these are "magic" Longswords with their damage type changed to Piercing, so for proficiency you will need proficiency in Longsword, to use it as a Kensei weapon you'll need to pick Longswords as a Kensei weapon type etc., but it should otherwise work perfectly fine on your character sheet, in Avrae etc. I've also done a few of the common (actually magical) variants that most weapons have so you/your DM can get/give suitable upgrades:
Please let me know if there are any other variations that I should really add for this weapon!
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
I like where you're going with this. I just can't get fired up over the "half pike" moniker. It sounds like you want to give it the versatile tag, which would be in line with the battleaxe, the longsword, and the warhammer. That means that even though it could be used with two hands, it would not have the two-handed tag, nor the heavy tag. Would you want it to be a reach weapon? Do you have any opinion on whether it should be compatible with the polearm master feat? If so, maybe take a look at the description of the feat to make sure it qualifies as one of the types of weapons supported by the feat.
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It does not. The feat already specifies which specific weapons it works with.
Trident isn’t even on the list.
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Actually my main aim is just to have a proper martial upgrade to the regular spear; the basic simple spear is d6 piercing with versatile (d8) and can be thrown, this half pike trades the thrown feature for d8 piercing with versatile (d10), so same basic damage as a Longsword/Warhammer.
To give some historical context, a proper pike is a very long weapon (10 to 14 feet) which is why Reach makes sense, but a half-pike is closer to 6 or 7. It really is just an upgraded spear, but usually with a heavier head, so I think it makes sense.
This is useful in cases where you want a character with a spear type weapon without having to go two-handed (or stay with only a simple weapon), it's also handy for options like the Path of the Kensei which disallows two handed only weapons. It's mostly just filling a gap (no piercing equivalent of Longsword/Warhammer), ideal for characters who'd like that damage profile, but with piercing damage to represent the types of weapons they want.
It would probably still make sense for it count for the Polearm Master feat if a regular spear does, but that would be a ruling for individual DMs as there's nothing I can do about that; the difficulty with homebrew weapons is that all of the base stats are inherited from another weapon, and there's no way that I could find to replace both damage die on a regular spear (or remove the thrown property properly), which is why I had to go with a Longsword and change the damage type instead.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.