Polearms, polearms,
polearms! All polearms must go. At the Liver Splitter, we’re slashing polearm
prices in half! This is a polearm blowout! Make us an offer on our vast
selection of polearms! We got long polearms, short polearms, local polearms, foreign
polearms, keen polearms, sharp polearms, dull polearms, big polearms, little
polearms, bloody polearms, clean polearms, dirty polearms, cutting polearms,
stabbing polearms, hooked polearms, infantry polearms, chain polearms, horse
polearms, wood polearms, Arnathian polearms, fake polearms! If we don’t have
it, you don’t want it!
Few weapons in history have had the staggering variety and
dizzying complexity as polearms. How does this mesh with dungeon-delving
fantasy? Extremely well! Hack and slash players are notorious for tricking out
their weapons and squeezing every ounce of utility from them. Few weapons in
history have had the breadth of utility that some polearms offer. They can
stab, cut, bash, trip, disarm, ensnare, dismount, grapple, etc., and if you
have the bad luck of breaking the head, you’re still armed with a staff. That’s
pretty nifty delver-bait.
So how many of these are available in Alnwich? A lot of them. They’ve got bills,
fauchards, guisarmes, vulges, partisans, ranseurs, spetums, military forks, sovnyas,
halberds, poleaxes, and more. They’ve got battlefield weapons, dueling weapons,
and ceremonial weapons. They’ve got combination weapons and specialized
weapons. So why would a community on the edge of the world boast such variety?
For one, they are a very warlike people; only one of their deities isn’t at
least a minor god or goddess of war. For another, polearms trace their roots to
farming implements, making them readily available nearly anywhere. While I know
that may not be enough for historical enthusiasts to content, but if picking
nits is your thing, this isn’t the game for you, anyway.
How am I handling all of this variety? Am I making stats for
all of these and more? Yes and no. While GURPS Low-Tech offers a pretty good
variety of polearms from around the world, it still lacks some of the weapons I
mentioned above. But that’s where GURPS Low-Tech Companion 2 – Weapons and Warriors
comes in. It provides the backbone of what I used to develop the polearms I’ll
eventually get around to mentioning. Where LTC 2 didn’t yield satisfying
results, I fudged numbers until they felt right, but I generally tried to avoid
doing this.
Before I go much further here, I’d like to address the
definition of a polearm for the purposes of this post. I’m looking at weapons
that involve putting something dangerous on a long stick that aren’t just
spears or just axes. Some of these could fit into a couple of categories, but
that’s because the definition of a polearm is vague. What’s worse is that many
polearms are basically smaller weapons on longer sticks, for example, the
bardiche. So bear with me as I go through these. Just because they don’t meet
your idea of polearms doesn’t mean they don’t meet someone else’s.
Polearms of Alnwich
What polearms are available in Alnwich, specifically? I’ll go
ahead and list them out, with references to their descriptions in Low-Tech,
where applicable.
Bardiche A large axe head, with either a spiked upper
tip or additional spear head atop the shaft, mounted on a long haft. The
handle, while short enough to technically use from horseback, is more typically
used by infantry.
Bill Low-Tech, p. 55.
Bill, Dueling Low-Tech, p. 55.
Fauchard Little more than a weaponized scythe with a
spear attached, it can deal brutal slashing blows and double as a spear in
formations. A hook is sometimes added to the back of the blade to create a
fauchard-fork. Cost and weight aren’t significantly affected, but this enables
the use of Hook and inflicts 1d-2
cutting damage. The smaller Dueling
Fauchard is often used in
personal combat.
Glaive Low-Tech, p. 56.
Glaive, Dueling Low-Tech, p. 56.
Goedendag A large two-handed club with a sharpened spike
protruding from its end and multiple spikes lining its striking surface to form
makeshift flanges. It can be used to thrust like a spear or crack armor.
Guisarme Descended from a farming implement, this
polearm sees a sharpened hook combined with a spike atop its pole. Guisrmes are
mostly used for unhorsing cavalry and are often combined with other polearms.
Halberd Low-Tech, p. 56.
Halberd, Dueling Low-Tech, p. 56.
Military Fork A
two- or three-tined spear that evolved from the pitchfork. It’s not very good
at penetrating armor, but it is
devastating against the unarmored.
Partisan This
pole weapon straddles the line between polearm and spear. It consists of a
broad spearhead with a pair of sharpened crescent-shaped blades below the main
blade. The backs of these blades curve upward and prevent impaled foes from
running themselves through to reach their attacker.
Plansion A large two-handed club with a sharpened spike
protruding from its end. This lets the wielder both swing and thrust with the weapon.
Pollaxe Low-Tech, p. 60.
Ranseur The
projections on this partisan-like weapon are not sharpened for slashing, but
they are large enough and curved to catch enemy blades.
Sovnya This polearm consists of a falchion-like blade
mounted atop a pole usually about the height of its wielder. While similar to a
glaive, the blade is not as heavy, and the weapon handles more gracefully.
Spetum A spear with wide, curved prongs that assist with
disarming.
Note that while this excludes the great proliferation of
combination polearms that existed. This is intentional. I attempted to provide
the basis on which those can be made using LTC 2 because, frankly, there are
just too many combinations to produce statistics for. Players are more than
welcome to ask for these, and I may will provide them as loot or random things laying
around the weaponmaker’s shop.
More GURPS Stats for Polearms
Here I will provide my GURPS stats for these weapons. Note that
not all weapons that fit the definition of “polearm” are used with the Polearm skill.
Polearm (DX-5, Spear-4, Staff-4, or Two-Handed Axe/Mace-4)
Weapon
|
Damage
|
Reach
|
Parry
|
Cost
|
Wt
|
ST
|
Notes
|
Fauchard
or
|
sw+5 cut
thr+3 imp
|
2, 3*
1-3*
|
0U
0U
|
$150
–
|
12
–
|
13‡
12‡
|
|
Fauchard, Dueling
or
|
sw+4 cut
thr+3 imp
|
1, 2*
1, 2*
|
0U
0U
|
$120
–
|
8
–
|
11‡
11†
|
|
Guisarme
or
|
thr+3 imp
thr-2 cut
|
2, 3*
2, 3*
|
0U
0U
|
$115
–
|
8
–
|
11‡
11†
|
[7]
Hook. [2 7]
|
Partisan
or
|
thr+4 imp
thr+3 cut
|
1, 2*
2
|
0U
0U
|
$120
–
|
4.5
–
|
10†
10†
|
[13]
Blades.
|
Sovnya
or
|
sw+2 cut
thr+3 imp
|
1, 2*
2
|
0
0
|
$100
–
|
6
–
|
9†
9†
|
Spear (DX-5, Polearm-4, or Staff-2)
Military Fork
two hands
|
thr+3 imp
thr+4 imp
|
1*
1, 2*
|
0U
0
|
$80
–
|
5
–
|
11
10†
|
-2 to hit. [7 14 15]
-2 to hit [7 14 15]
|
Partisan
or
|
thr+4 imp
thr+3 cut
|
1, 2*
2
|
0U
0U
|
$120
–
|
4.5
–
|
10†
10†
|
[13]
Blades.
|
Ranseur
|
thr+3 imp
|
1, 2*
|
0U
|
$140
|
4.5
|
10†
|
[7 13]
|
Spetum
two hands
|
thr+2 imp
thr+3 imp
|
1*
1, 2*
|
0
0
|
$80
–
|
4.5
–
|
10
9†
|
[7 13]
[7 13]
|
Two-Handed Axe/Mace (DX-5, Axe/Mace-3, Polearm-4, or Two-Handed Flail-4)
Weapon
|
Damage
|
Reach
|
Parry
|
Cost
|
Wt
|
ST
|
Notes
|
Bardiche
or
|
sw+4 cut
thr+3 imp
|
1, 2*
1, 2*
|
0U
0U
|
$100
–
|
8
–
|
12‡
12†
|
|
Goedendag
or
|
sw+5 cr
thr+3 imp
|
1, 2*
1, 2*
|
0U
0
|
$100
–
|
10
–
|
13‡
12†
|
|
Plansion
or
|
sw+4 cr
thr+3 imp
|
1
1
|
0U
0
|
$50
–
|
5
–
|
11†
10†
|
[1] Can be thrown.
[7] Can strike to disarm (p. B401) without -2 to hit for using a weapon
with a non-fencing skill.
[13] Prongs prevent an impaled foe from running himself
through to reach his attacker; see Holding
a Foe at Bay (GURPS Martial Arts, p. 106).
[14] Target at -1 to Dodge, +1 to Block or Parry.
[15] Damage has a (0.5) armor divisor.
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