charging on a mount with a lance

[Jurkal]

I want to charge on a mount but use a weapon other than a lance, which you can use one handed. Is there any other weapon that lets you charge on a mount like a lance.

[cnetarian]

Jurkal wrote:

I want to charge on a mount but use a weapon other than a lance, which you can use one handed. Is there any other weapon that lets you charge on a mount like a lance.

you can charge on a mount with any weapon, however a lance does double damage when charging*.

* normally but there are exceptions, for example a level 20 cavalier does double damage with any weapon except a lance when charging, and triple damage with a lance.

[aceDiamond]

I was wondering this, myself. Maybe there aught to be a lance weapon group that does double damage on a charge. I'm not sure why you couldn't do just as well with a spear or pike.

[Illusionist]

aceDiamond wrote:

I was wondering this, myself. Maybe there aught to be a lance weapon group that does double damage on a charge. I'm not sure why you couldn't do just as well with a spear or pike.

In Real Life, this is mainly because of weapon shape and how it transmits force. Simple fact is, horse and man is a pretty heavy weight at fairly quick motion headed towards you - that is a hell of a lot of force. The intent of any weapon is then to take advantage of that force, transmitting it into a target to cause damage.

This is why the medieval lance has that characteristic shape. The flare in front of the grip prevents the hand from sliding down the shaft, and ideally, on plate armour, that's combined with a lance rest to keep a couched lance stable.

You can get decent mileage out of a spear couched and tucked under the armpit, but not nearly as much as a properly-shaped lance.

[Captain Wacky]

Illusionist wrote:

aceDiamond wrote:

I was wondering this, myself. Maybe there aught to be a lance weapon group that does double damage on a charge. I'm not sure why you couldn't do just as well with a spear or pike.

In Real Life, this is mainly because of weapon shape and how it transmits force. Simple fact is, horse and man is a pretty heavy weight at fairly quick motion headed towards you - that is a hell of a lot of force. The intent of any weapon is then to take advantage of that force, transmitting it into a target to cause damage.

This is why the medieval lance has that characteristic shape. The flare in front of the grip prevents the hand from sliding down the shaft, and ideally, on plate armour, that's combined with a lance rest to keep a couched lance stable.

You can get decent mileage out of a spear couched and tucked under the armpit, but not nearly as much as a properly-shaped lance.

Kudos for knowing your historical weapons.

[Wolfsnap]

In the expanded rules for mounted combat in this book, spears provide a +2 strength bonus on the charge when used while mounted. There are some other useful tricks as well.

[Insain Dragoon]

The new horselord cav archetype lets you treat one handed slashing weapons as lances, so check that out.