A polearm is, simply, a weapon mounted upon a long pole. Spears are daggers atop a pole, and halberds are axes.
Polearms — specifically the spear and quarterstaff — have been used as hunting and fishing weapons for thousands of years. Over time, however, the advantage a polearm provides in combat became clear. With a polearm, a warrior may keep their opponents at a greater distance while still doing harm to them. The foe cannot close in to make an attack, but the warrior with the spear or the staff can still stab, slash or pummel the foe from afar.
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Halberd
The halberd, a polearm with an ax, hook and pike at the business end, saw heavy use in the 14th and 15th centuries. In battle, a warrior could use the hook to unseat riders from their mounts or yank a foe’s leg out from under them and knock them to the ground. Swinging the ax-blade with great momentum allowed the user to chop and hack their opponents while keeping them at a relative distance. The pike served to stab at those opponents or kill their horses.
A character using a halberd who possesses the Fighting Style: Staff Fighting Merit receives a +1 bonus to the trip attack roll.
A number of polearms mirror the halberd’s general construction with slight variances in the design of the weapon’s head. Particular variations include the ox tongue, bardiche and voulge. These polearms function as the halberd, with equal stats.
The halberd remains a ceremonial weapon of the Vatican’s Swiss Guard, and some say the weapons aren’t purely ceremonial, but that the guards are quite versed in using them to dispatch opponents.
Naginata
At the end of this polearm is a two-foot curved blade. This weapon, favored by samurai and several other warrior classes of old Japan, is a relatively light and well-balanced item. The lower weight and higher balance of the naginata allows it to be used with a greater grace than other polearms. In this case, the Strength requirement is 1 less than is suggested by the item’s Size. Two-handed, the weapon requires a Strength of 3, and a Strength of 4 is necessary to use the naginata in a single hand.
Other versions of the naginata include the glaive, guisarme, bill and fauchard.
Quarterstaff
The quarterstaff, also known as the bo staff or longstaff, is a shaft made of heavy wood. Each one is five to six feet in length and makes for an uncomplicated weapon. The staff has seen use all around the world, from the samurai in feudal Japan to Little John in the story of Robin Hood. A number of martial arts still include training with staves. The staff can be used as a long club or can be thrust forward to keep opponents at bay.
True weapons-level staves are made of particularly thick and strong wood like ash or hawthorn, for instance, and may have a Durability of 2, though such items also cost •• to match. One can also improvise a staff by breaking off the end of a brook or rake, but these are Damage 1B due to the improvised weapon penalty.
Spear
This polearm is topped with a sharp point made of bone, stone, wood or metal. The spear can be held in the hands and used as a long thrusting weapon or may instead be thrown. The spear is a fundamental weapon, counted as one of the earliest hunting tools, and similarly believed to be one of the first true weapons of war.
This history is perhaps why the spear appears in a number of significant myths. The Irish hero Cuchulainn had a magical spear, the Gae Bulg, said to be a notched bone from a primeval sea monster. Odin’s spear was Gungnir, a spear crafted from the World Tree of Yggdrasil, and the stories suggest that the spear never missed its target and always returned to the hand of Odin when thrown. Perhaps the most popular “mythic” spear is the Spear of Destiny, the lance supposedly used to stab Christ’s side. This particular spear is said to burn with the power of God or the Devil and has popped up in countless apocryphal tales for the last two millennia. The Spear of Destiny has been attributed to pagan kings, corrupt popes and even Adolf Hitler. One recent tale tells that General Patton managed to wrest the spear from the Germans, finding it in a hidden bunker with a cache of other forgotten occult treasures. With the magical weapon, the American forces became unstoppable, and the tide of war truly turned. It’s assumed that, if this is true, the United States lost possession of the spear sometime before the Vietnam conflict.
Trident
The trident is a three-pronged spear meant to catch fish, but, like many tools, can be also used as a deadly weapon. Like a spear, the trident can be used in close quarters combat or thrown at enemies. The three pointed tips give the weapon a slightly greater potential for damage than its lesser cousin, the spear.
The trident is often associated with Poseidon, the Greek King of the Seas. It’s also associated with the medieval concept of the Christian Devil, who sits upon his Hell-born throne, the trident in his hand acting as an infernal scepter. In modern terms, the trident is a ballistic missile used by Western nations.
Other versions of the trident include the spetum and ranseur.
