In the PHB, the illustration of the fighter class is a guy with a neat thing in his left hand that looks to be a combination of a shield and a spear.
What would you call that? Is it just a shield? Just a spear?
It's a shield and a spear held in the same hand.
Novacat wrote:
I was thinking the shield has a specific slot to hold the spear for the easy of carrying them both, but I would assume that it is not functional in combat.
But I could be wrong. I have never held a spear / shield combo device in my life, so maybe they do function well at the same time.
For me its just a utility for carring the spear and shield.
But after looking up combo weapons, take a look at this bad boy.
The notoious lantern-shield, gauntlet, spike, sword-breaker, sword combo from the Kunsthistoriches Museum in Vienna.
Combination weapons typically gain the faults of both their components, without gaining a significant advantage from either feature. Examples include the Apache revolver, Pistol-swords, and pistol shields.
In terms of what the guy is holding? Probably a shield mechanically. It'd come down to DM ruling, as it seems to be based off of one of the various Impi leather shields from the bantu regions, some of which have spear-heads embedded in the wooden supports for the leather shield facing.
Actually... that means it'd count as a spear. RAW, shields are made of metal or wood, and this one is made of leather. That's a pretty strict interpretation however.
Plus side, even if it is a shield, you can still use it as an improvised weapon.
He's holding a spear and a shield in the same hand, but wielding neither.
So there's that?
Is it weird that I read the title of this post as "What's that fighter Game of Thrones"?
Honestly, still looks to me like he's got one object and not two.
It could very well be one combo thing. Just look at that picture I posted above. Its 5 things in one.
It's a fantasy version of a Zulu War Shield.
You found it SteveMND. Mystery sold.
I swear you can see everything, but my friend says it's just the way he's holding the spear.
So you'd call it a shield and ignore the pointy bits, in your game?
Oraibi wrote: