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Spear
Spear, Polearm, Blade, Hunting, China, Middle East, Classical, Neolithic, Latin Europe, Africa
Possibly the oldest weapon ever used by man, other than rocks and clubs. Spears come in staggering variety and in many sizes, for game purposes this represents a fairly common type of battle-spear with an overall length of 7’-9’. A spear is a dual purpose weapon, used for both throwing and thrusting or cutting. Spears specialized for thrusting from horseback are called lances, spears specialized for throwing are called javelins. Spears were widely used all over the world both for warfare and for hunting. Military spears may have iron langets to protect part of the haft near the tip (these would have better hardness and / or hit points) and some have a small cross-guard just under the blade (these are often called ‘boars spears’ though it’s incorrect to assume they were only used for hunting – this would boost defence by one point).
Most spears also had a sharpened or capped butt, which could also be used to attack. Most spear blades could cut.
Fencing with spears in tournament, from the Freydal manuscript, circa 1512
Hunting Spear, Zulu, 19th Century
German Hunting Spear 16th C
Spear with gold rings, Ireland 16th Century
Name | Size | Reach | Speed | Defense | Base Damage | Attack Types | Primary Attack Types | Armor Pierce | Grapple | Hardness | HP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Spear | VL | 8 | 0 | 2 | 1-8 | SCP | P | 2 | 0 | 6 | 3 |




