My dwarf barbarian wields a dorn-dergar two handed, normally as a reach weapon. Since both hands are occupied holding the weapon, is there any way I can *also* threaten adjacent squares? I thought about armor spikes, but it looks like they are treated as an off-hand weapon, and thus not compatible with my already wielding a weapon with both hands. Basically I want to attack at reach but still be able to take AoO against an enemy that closes to my adjacent square. My feats and rage powers are in short supply, so ideally I'd like to find an equipment solution (Magic or otherwise).
wouldn't improved unarmed strike let you kick people who get to close? also, i could swear armor spikes would have been a solid answer...
Armor Spikes work fine when it comes to threatening adjacent squares and making AoOs. The FAQ only prevents you from combining THF and TWF during your round. Weapons like the Dwarven Boulder Helmet will also work.
Spiked gauntlets would work as well since taking a hand off or putting a hand back on a two handed weapon are both free actions. Though if youre a dwarf barbarian the boulder helmet is totally the way to go for vicious dwarven headbutts to the groin.
Spiked gauntlets are a classic for a reason. :-)
Isn't releasing a hand and grabbing something again a free action?
Because then he would be able to use both the spiked gauntlet and the mace freely, wouldn't he?
Weapons like the Dwarven Boulder Helmet will also work.
This is the way to go. With dwarf Weapon Familiarity and barbarians being proficient with all martial weapons, just slap on the helmet and headbutt anyone that gets adjacent to you.
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Isn't releasing a hand and grabbing something again a free action?
Because then he would be able to use both the spiked gauntlet and the mace freely, wouldn't he?
I'm not sure why maces came up, but you generally can't take actions, even free actions, outside of your turn. Speaking is an exception, and sometimes free actions might be allowed as part of other out-of-turn actions.
If you are holding a reach weapon like a longspear with both hands and an enemy leaves one of your adjacent squares, your spiked gauntlet isn't available to make a melee attack and so doesn't threaten that square. You can't just decide to change your grip out of turn so you don't get an AoO.
Similarly if you are holding your longspear in one hand and have a spiked gauntlet in the other, then your longspear doesn't threaten squares 10' feet away. You can't just decide to conveniently change your grip when a creature would have provoked an AoO by leaving one of the squares that the longspear would have threatened if you were gripping it with both hands.
But with something like armor spikes and a longspear, both are available when needed.
Edit: Ninja'd by Lady-J. :)
Isn't releasing a hand and grabbing something again a free action?
Because then he would be able to use both the spiked gauntlet and the mace freely, wouldn't he?I'm not sure why maces came up, but you generally can't take actions, even free actions, outside of your turn. Speaking is an exception, and sometimes free actions might be allowed as part of other out-of-turn actions.
If you are holding a reach weapon like a longspear with both hands and an enemy leaves one of your adjacent squares, your spiked gauntlet isn't available to make a melee attack and so doesn't threaten that square. You can't just decide to change your grip out of turn so you don't get an AoO.
Similarly if you are holding your longspear in one hand and have a spiked gauntlet in the other, then your longspear doesn't threaten squares 10' feet away. You can't just decide to conveniently change your grip when a creature would have provoked an AoO by leaving one of the squares that the longspear would have threatened if you were gripping it with both hands.
But with something like armor spikes and a longspear, both are available when needed.
Edit: Ninja'd by Lady-J. :)
Oops, I left out a word. The last sentence of the second paragraph should be...
You can't just decide to change your grip out of turn and so you don't get an AoO.
free actions can only be taken on your turn non actions can be taking on any ones turns so talking can only be done on your turn were as knocking an arrow is a non action allowing you to do it on any ones so if he releases the hammer as a free action on his turn he wont be able to use the mace to make aoos as he wont be wielding it as he will be focusing on using the gauntletIsn't releasing a hand and grabbing something again a free action?
Because then he would be able to use both the spiked gauntlet and the mace freely, wouldn't he?
Most of what you are appearing to say [that actually answers the question] seems correct, but Speaking can be done on others' turns.
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/combat/#TOC-SpeakSpeak
In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn’t your turn. Speaking more than a few sentences is generally beyond the limit of a free action
A dip in Brawler would give you Improved Unarmed Strike and allow you to strike with body parts other than your hands. It would also increase your damage from 1d3 to 1d6.
Thanks for all the suggestions. So, why the boulder helmet over the armor spikes, given that the helmet takes up your head slot? (Aside from the RP reason that it fits well for a Dwarven character).
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Diggy diggy hole?
Isn't releasing a hand and grabbing something again a free action?
Because then he would be able to use both the spiked gauntlet and the mace freely, wouldn't he?
It's not a free action that can be performed outside the character's turn.
free actions can only be taken on your turn non actions can be taking on any ones turns so talking can only be done on your turn
Talking is explicitly permitted outside the character's turn.
In general, speaking is a free action that you can perform even when it isn’t your turn
Thanks for all the suggestions. So, why the boulder helmet over the armor spikes, given that the helmet takes up your head slot?
AS to why, IMO the helmet is a more practical weapon: a lot of actions seem like a poor idea when you're covered in spikes like catching the fair maiden as she jumps out of the window... ;)
Secondly, there is a nice line of feats for the helmet, especially if you splurge on an adamantine helmet.
3rd, it gives a +2 to your AC for crit confirmations.
4th, as you said, it's cool/thematic.
5th, i've had situations there our group was captured and our weapons were taken. Everyone's armor was left except for the spiked armor which was taken. There are also situations like Adherers where your weapon gets stuck: you can drop a normal weapon as a free action but armor takes 5-10 rounds to take off.
As to the head slot, as a barbarian, is there anything you planned to put there? if not, the slot isn't much of an issue. Mental stats are headbands not head so i can't think of anything to put there offhand.
Ever since the nerf to the Jingasa my martials rarely have a planned out head slot item, so the boulder helmet comes in handy.
I don't know what the end result was but I recall a conversion about the dwarf cleave feats and someone using the boulder helmet, the dorn dergar and lunge to attack everything within 15 feet. The argument was whether you could cleave with two weapons and I don't know the answer to that. Anybody know?
For the helmet over armor spikes debate, another thing that could be worth noting is that the helmet is bludgeoning, which is more likely to cover DR than piercing damage.
The +2 Bull Rush is also decent, if a bit situational. Might be worth being staggered the next round to push an enemy into the wizard's pits. Meshes well with Strength Surge (as you will likely need every available bonus if you start fighting bestiary monsters rather than humanoid NPCs.
Is there a reason why you can't us Armor Spikes and a Boulder Helmet?
It's hard to keep up a secondary weapon to be competitive let alone a third one. It's fine when you're low level, but once the pluses start adding up, it's not very feasible.
Plus on an esthetic point, I tend to avoid armor spikes if possible as they seem pretty dangerous like riding a giant porcupine...
The Dwarven Boulder Helmet indicates it takes up the head slot despite the fact it is not a magic item.
The PRD states:
Many magic items need to be donned by a character who wants to employ them or benefit from their abilities. It's possible for a creature with a humanoid-shaped body to wear as many as 15 magic items at the same time. However, each of those items must be worn on (or over) a particular part of the body, known as a "slot."
Is this some form of special rule that this item precludes magic in the same location? It certainly is not the norm.
/ceva
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Plus on an esthetic point, I tend to avoid armor spikes if possible as they seem pretty dangerous like riding a giant porcupine...
I assumed that the spikes were mostly limited to the pauldrons or vambraces so you attack with your armor spikes by throwing a shoulder or a forearm. Rather than just being uniformly spiky all over, that is.
Plus on an esthetic point, I tend to avoid armor spikes if possible as they seem pretty dangerous like riding a giant porcupine...I assumed that the spikes were mostly limited to the pauldrons or vambraces so you attack with your armor spikes by throwing a shoulder or a forearm. Rather than just being uniformly spiky all over, that is.
I would too but I've seen my share of DM that go with the porcupine look and enforce things that naturally result when you walk around like that. It's an issue I don't run into with other non-hand weapons.
It doesn't help that images are floating around of that look. Check out this pic from 3.5: Spiked armor