Part 3.
Treat weapons as physical objects in your games not just stats. Here's some stuff on how to do it. Stats listed are from the 5e Compendium. Let's go.
Part 2: Polearms
Polearms can work pretty similarly to the quarterstaffs & staves entry from Part 1. They've got all the typical uses of a long stick, but with the added complication of a striking surface such as a spearpoint, hammer, or axe. There's a real risk of hurting yourself with that if you swing the weapon around carelessly, and doing something like testing water depth in a ford is less attractive if you've got a rust-prone iron spike on the butt of your spear. That said, it's all still possible. Use the halberd to hold up a washing line! Poke dead bodies with it! Use the shaft of a spear to trip someone!
Javelin: 1d6 piercing, can be thrown.
Typically you'd want javelins to be light and short enough to throw with one hand- factors that don't exactly make a good primary battlefield weapon. Don't be afraid to break javelins after one or two throws. Hell, break them after one or two strikes. Consider one of the uses of the Roman pilum, and allow javelins to lodge into shields & armour before breaking, weighing down your opponents and their equipment.
Spear: 1d6/1d8 piercing, can be thrown.
About the most simple weapon ever made- a pointy stick. Spears can be thrown but I'd limit their range more than the javelin statblock above since they're heavier, but also that makes them sturdier. See this image with reproduction European spears compared to javelins. There's so many kinds of spears I can't even come close to giving a good representation of them all, but just remember there's a big difference in usage (if not in stats) between something that's just a spike on a stick and something with wings, barbs or lugs. Even if you keep the stats the same, consider the risks of the latter being stuck in armour on a failed attack, or of trapping an enemy weapon on a successful parry. Also, some spears have sharpened edges, allowing them a limited ability to slash as well as just stab.
Pike: 1d10 piercing, reach, two-handed.
The principle for a pike is pretty straightforward, just take a spear and make it longer. Examples include the Macedonian sarissa, the partisan, or the svärdstav. Just remember the same rules on lugs/wings/barbs/blades apply as above. Also, you'll want to account for how a 2m long shaft would be hell to maneuver indoors. On the other hand, it's great at keeping opponents at a distance.
Lance: 1d12 piercing, heavy, two-handed, one-handed on a horse.
Lances were essentially spears intended for use on horseback. Specifically, for a big glorious high-impact charge on horseback. I'd personally just give them the same stats as a spear or a pike, myself, with 5e's special "one-handed on horseback" caveat.
Trident: 1d6/1d8 piercing, can be thrown.
If you want your spear to be a trident or bident, just use spear or pike stats. Technically there's real world weight and impact distinctions, but most RPGs are nowhere nearly granular or crunchy enough for that to matter. Just like lugs/spikes/barbs in the spears category above, consider narrative implications of extra spikes rather than mechanical ones. A trident might get wedged in armour more easily, for example.
Halberd: 1d10 slashing, two-handed.
Halberds are pretty classic polearms, consisting of a spearhead spike and an axe blade, often with a rear spike or hook. The draw of a halberd is versatility, though coming at the cost of extra weight & more metal being required than a simple long axe or pike. There's plenty of different Swiss halberds, but other weapons such as voulges, guisarmes, pollaxes or ji have similar properties. Make sure to account for thrusts with the speartip, slashes with the axe head, and potentially armour-piercing strikes with the rear spike or trips or grabs with the rear hook. Switch 'axe slashes' for a different spike or a hammerhead, and you have a weapon such as a bec de corbin or a Lucerne hammer. Remember to account for the weight & length of the pole when trying to maneuver in close quarters!
Glaive: 1d10 slashing, two-handed.
For some reason, this is considered mechanically identical to a halberd in 5e. A glaive is essentially just a blade on a stick. They vary from smaller slashing blades like the naginata, to the woldo or guandao, to much heavier designs such as the war scythe or fauchard or bill. Some of these might enable thrusting attacks, but the emphasis is on cuts and slashes, for better or worse. Get your players to specify (or draw) a shape for their blades, and then factor in spikes, hooks, etc. as above.
With all the weapons above, consider asking for a special proficiency in order to make use of their multiple functions. Stabbing with a spear is easy, and anyone can pickup a halberd or pike and use them to at least some extent. Chaining together slashes and thrusts with a halberd is harder, and making use of the rear hook at opportune times takes practice. Assume a 'soldier' class can do it, but maybe ask the scholarly magic-user where they learned to unhorse cavalry with a billhook (and by doing so, give them an opportunity to fill out their backstory).
The last thing to remember about polearms is the pole itself. Even a wooden pole is difficult to cut through, iron or steel is even harder but increases the weight. Swinging around a polearm is tiring and difficult, even moreso if it's got three potential striking surfaces weighing down the far end like a halberd does. If a player tries to bring a lance or pike to a dungeon, punish them for it by having them get it stuck in every single doorway until they realize that their inventory takes up physical space!
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