Pole Weapon Rework

[Kieddicus]

Earlier in the Discord I mentioned the idea of Pole Weapons having reduced DX instead of dealing less Damage. Thinking over my idea the Charge rules will have to be tweaked as well, so here is the idea:

• Pole Weapons deal the same damage as other weapons with the same ST.
• Pole Weapons attack at -2* DX if you are engaged with an enemy, unless that enemy charged you this turn. [Replaces the 'Set vs Charge' rule.]
• Charge is now defined as moving next to an enemy who you two were out of each other's melee reach at the start of the turn.
• Javelins ignore all special rules for Pole Weapons.

* Can be adjusted for balance.

I am not convinced this is a good idea, but am interested in your guys feedback.

[phiwum]

Originally Posted by Kieddicus

Earlier in the Discord I mentioned the idea of Pole Weapons having reduced DX instead of dealing less Damage. Thinking over my idea the Charge rules will have to be tweaked as well, so here is the idea:

• Pole Weapons deal the same damage as other weapons with the same ST.
• Pole Weapons attack at -2* DX if you are engaged with an enemy, unless that enemy charged you this turn. [Replaces the 'Set vs Charge' rule.]
• Charge is now defined as moving next to an enemy who you two were out of each other's melee reach at the start of the turn.
• Javelins ignore all special rules for Pole Weapons.

* Can be adjusted for balance.

I am not convinced this is a good idea, but am interested in your guys feedback.

Well. I just commented that your disengagement rules would require fixing pole weapons, but I can see that was already on your plate. But this won't fix the issue I mentioned earlier. The problem remains.

At the end of each turn, a poleweapon user disengages for free and loses the DX penalty for polearms, assuming that there is space to do so.

[David Bofinger]

Very technical issue with this:

Advantages can be divided into two categories according to how they scale:

• Fixed advantages, roughly equivalent to sometimes getting a change in an attribute
• Proportional advantages, roughly equivalent to a percentage improvement in the capability

The +2 modifier for set vs. charge is a fixed advantage. The ability to jab and charge priority are proportional advantages. The extra damage for a charge is proportional in Classic but fixed in Legacy.

Fixed advantages are always worth the same in attribute terms. But proportional advantages are worth more for experienced characters than inexperienced ones.

You're proposing a polearm penalty that's fixed. But the advantages of polearms are a mix of fixed and proportional. So using a polearm will be a better deal for an experienced hero than for a 32-point grunt. I'm not sure that's a good thing, in fact the reverse might be better.