The Style.

Tier 1:

Base Style, Polearm. Cost: 2cp or 1 slot

With this style the polearm user can utilise the weapon to best effect. He/she knows how touse the polearm’s length to his/her own advantage. In effect, the user has a 2 point bonus toAC in the initial round of combat and on any round where the opponent has not stepped insidethe polearm’s reach ( ie. The opponent has scored a hit against an armour class equalling

Once an opponent has stepped inside the range, the user is at a penalty to hit due tothe extra maneauvering needed to bring the polearm head to bear.

The optimum distance can be re-established if in any given round of combat, the userscores a hit and the opponent misses, or the user scores a critical hit. In this case bothcombatants are forced to retreat 1/3rd the length of the polearm.. Seeing as this mightdisrupt battle-lines or force the user into an awkward position, he/she can choose toretain the penalty ‘to hit’ and forego the AC bonus and not move back. The opponent stillmoves back the 1/3rd length.

(Note the opponent can only be pushed back in this manner once each time he/she/itsteps inside the reach of the weapon)

Tier two:

All of these maneauvers cost 1 cp or two can be learned for on slot.

All of the following have the Polearm basic style as a pre-requisite.

A: Combination

The user has learned how to combine maneauvers utilising both the ‘blade’ (referring to thebusiness end of the weapon, whether it is an actual blade or not), and the butt of the weapon.In game terms, the wielder is allowed to make a free attack at the very end of the round using the ‘bottom’ of the polearm.

Only one additional attack is allowed and it suffers a 1 point penalty ‘to hit’. Also,because of it’s ‘added as an afterthought’ nature, the user’s strength bonus is halvedfor damage and cannot be applied to the hit roll. However, the user’s Reaction Adj. From Dexterity is used as a modifier in the to hit roll.

Damage for the attack is generally 1d2 points of damage but may differ (see Polearm Modifications)

B: Stance

Knockback (if used) is reduced by 1ft per + to damage arising from strength (of the user)Dex. Checks for Balance are made at +2 , (the balance subability gains a +2 bonus with amaximum of 21)

Strength rolls (opposed) are made at a one point bonus.

Overbearing attacks on the user suffer a 2 point penalty

Saves vrs. Spells and effects that take the dex adjustment into account (ie. Ones that can be dodged like fireball or breathweapons (some)) are saved against at a 1 point penalty.

C: Weapon Hold Change.

Through learning and practise, the user has learned to alter his/her hold on the weapon to maximise angle, power etc.

In effect the user can apply a 1 point bonus to either Thaco or Damage. As a side effect a 1 point penalty is applied to the option not chosen. (Ie. +1 to hit, -1 to damage)

This maneauver can be used with either the Primary attack (blade) or the secondaryattack (butt), but only with one attack per round.

(Optionally, the DM may allow this ability to be bought multiple times with cumulative benefits and the option of affecting more than one attack. Ie: taken 3 times. The user has a potential 3 points to muck around with. He/she can a: have +3 to hit, -3 to dam on one attack, or +2 to hit -2 to dam on the blade, -1 to hit +1 to damage on the butt, or any other combination. But the penalty corresponding to any bonus must be applied to a facet of the attack benefitting from the bonus.)

D: Speed

By keeping the weapon in constant motion (little circles like a fencer’s blade,or just a swaying, or maybe ‘tossing’ the weapon from hand to hand) the user has learned to increase his/her reaction times.

In effect the user can apply a -1 to the weapon’s speed factor.This can be taken up to four times (for a total speed reduction of 4 points). [ for the C&T system of Fast, medium and slow weapon speeds, use the Speed factor number ofan equal speed to find the new speed of the polearm, ie: Polearm SF 8, proficiency is taken 3 times, now SF is 5 so hte polearm goes at the same speed as a longsword.]

The Third Tier

All of the following cost 1 CP or can be bought for 1/2 a slot. (As you can see by now, it’s an expensive process)

The pre-requisites for these abilities vary.

A. Push,

req: Stance and combination

On successfully expelling an opponent from within the weapon’s range , the opponent ispushed the full length of the polearm and suffers a 2 point penalty to AC for the users next attack that round. The next round the opponent must re-engage the user as if it were the first round of combat but experience attacks are unaffected (ie. Polearm wins initiative and has AC bonus due to reach, numbers of attacks are calculated at the true round value (ie. A combatantwith 3 attack every 2 rounds, suffers a push effect in the first round of combat, when he/she/itre-engages the next round the full allotment of two attacks are allowed)

Note: that with a Push maneauver the user does not have to move position. It is the opponent that moves. The user can opt to move up to 1/3 the length of the polearm back .

B. Pull / Trip

req: Combination and Hold change

The user gets to make a free pull/trip maneauver at the end of the round with a -3 penalty applied to the roll ‘to hit’.

C: Expert Set

req: Stance and Hold Change

Everyone who has heard of a polearm knows about the weapon class’ ability to be setagainst a charging opponent. Well, if setting is an art form then this ability is the Cistine Chapel of setting.

The user has , through practised stance and the ability to judge how to alter the weapon position learned to predict and compensate for, the charging opponent’s shifts in position, speed and heading.

The user may perform a called shot on the target rather than just going for the Torso. A -6 penalty applies but in the case where the user misses the called shot but would have hit the target if the -6 had not applied, the attack is assumed to have been off target but still close enough to strike the target’s (or mount's, if it was not the target) torso.

Alternatively, by foregoing the option of the called shot, the user can draw a secondary weapon and gain a free attack with the secondary weapon (which must be a one handed weapon) at the end of the round. The Pole-arm is considered discarded in this case. The target , at the Dms discretion and depending on the result of the setting against the charge, may be prone or otherwise more vulnerable to the user’s secondary attack.

D: Ready Attack

req: Stance and Speed

The user automatically wins initiative against weapons of equal or greater SF to the user’s adjusted polearm speed. This huge advantage applies each round and comes from the user’s ability to shift his stance to keep his opponent covered, and to react to openings that would , to others, seem like gambles.

E: Lightning Attack

req: Hold Change and Speed

The user can adapt his/her hold to launch an attack from a variety of angles at blinding speed and recovery. Effectively the user can add +2 ‘to hit’ to the ‘butt’ attack, or +1 ‘to hit’ to an attack with the primary blade.

F: (I can’t think of a name for this except [evil laugh] or [cheap shot[ or maybe [Na-na- ne -na-na ] )

req: Combination and Speed

this ability allows one extra free end-of- round butt attack. With no attack penalty due to it’s sneaky and suprise nature.

Authors Note

If you use these rules, please remember that they are not fully tested. At a glance they mayseem to make polearms too powerful in terms of 'plusses' but , considering the weight and mangling capabilities of these weapons, I thought that it was the only way to simulate theirnature without increasing the damage dice to ridiculous proportions (what's the sword that doesD20 damage??). I also wanted to add a little flair to combat. For now, if you do use the rulesand decide that certain changes need to be made, let me know. Even if you are not interested inspicing up polearms but you have an idea that might suit this article, mail me.

In the future I hope to;

a: finish off the polearm style

b: work on a similar tier style for other weapons

c: work out a wheel of time based combat style system

d: discover a life in my gutter I call home....

I'll post updates as I write them