Talk:Longspear (5e Equipment)

— This article became a quality article! 10:49, 10 January 2022 (MST)

Common weapon trope that I believe to be balanced, trading the simple spear's throw for reach. Marasmusine (talk) 06:53, 7 March 2020 (MST)

Support. It is an interesting item I have seen used in a campaign.--Yanied (talk) 22:56, 8 April 2020 (MDT)

Support. I would allow my players to use this in a game Leíf (talk) 15:57, 2 November 2021 (MDT)

Comment. I do like the idea of this weapon, but I believe it should be a simple weapon like the spear(which it was compared to).--Blobby383b (talk) 20:25, 4 November 2021 (MDT)

Support. I still enjoy this weapon's concept and now that it is a simple weapon, I believe it is balanced compared to its weapon counterparts.--Blobby383b (talk) 23:15, 1 December 2021 (MST)

Versatile and Heavy?

A few issues on this weapon that, I should preface, I do like and want to keep as a QA.

• If I'm reading this correctly, the longspear is light enough for a human to use in one hand, but too heavy for a halfling to use in two hands?
• A one-handable spear with reach reminds me heavily of the Lance. Not an issue, just an observation I want to establish.
• This is probably unfair, but another QA nominee long cane seems very similar, and there's a point about niches brought up in the talk page that may be better addressed with this weapon. This leaves me taking the admittedly bizarre position of (unofficially) opposing that nomination because I think this page needs some work.

So, I propose two changes. One--drop the heavy property. Lances aren't heavy, spears aren't heavy, the pike is two-hand only. This also fills the niche of a decent Reach weapon for Small PCs mentioned on the long-cane. See also it not making sense to have a one-handed heavy weapon. Two--crib from the lance a little and add "Special: When you use a longspear in one hand, you have disadvantage to attack a target within 5 feet of you." This makes it feel more like a spear-type weapon because it really is in the middle of the lance/pike/spear triangle, and less like a strange but strictly-superior whip. --—Salasay ♄ 07:14, 3 April 2023 (MDT)

Further discussion has happened over on the longcane page, so I'll reiterate some of it here.

There is a very clear model for what a longspear *should* be, and as it stands we're missing that mark. In 3.5, the longspear was a standard spear but with reach instead of a throwing option, and there is no reason that the 5e version should be any different. The heavy property defeats the purpose, and makes no sense on a versatile weapon. The one tweak I would make from that "pure" baseline is to add "Special: When you use a longspear in one hand, you have disadvantage to attack a target within 5 feet of you", purely because Reach is more powerful in 5e than it was in 3.5e. I would accept also pushing into the martial category, because the longspear would otherwise be the only simple weapon with reach. —Salasay ♄ 10:25, 15 June 2024 (MDT)