D&D 5E Why so few magic polearms in the DMG?

[FreeTheSlaves]

Background situation:

We play with core 3 books.

Players are making magic item wishlists (by rarity) to be included in future treasure troves. So far, so good. 3 item attunement is making this very interesting.

Now one player has a character with Polearm Mastery (PAM) and it's noted there are very few magic polearms in the DMG; Rod of Lordly Might, +1 to +3, Weapon of warning, Trident of fish command and Vicious weapon.

Any idea the reasons there are no Vorpal glaives or Frost Brand spears?

 

[NotAYakk]

In traditional OD&D/pre-AD&D, swords where always the best magic items. Fighters and Thieves got to use swords as a perk.

5e is a love letter to OD&D.

Now, polearms are better feat supported than swords, so giving swords some benefit makes sense. But inventing your own weapons is fun. So have at it DM!

 

[Swarmkeeper]

The DM, of course, is free to invent the Vorpal Glaive or Frost Brand Spear or any such magic weapon that suits the campaign.

 

[Doug McCrae]

It's partly because the sword is regarded as a high status weapon for historical reasons. Swords contained more metal, were more expensive to make and thus only the wealthy could afford them.

While the spear may have been the most popular offensive armament of the Middle Ages, the sword was certainly the most celebrated. Swords were intricately made, expensive to own, and generally passed down from generation to generation. They were also frequently named, with King Arthur's "Excalibur" and Roland's "Durendal" being perhaps the most famous.​

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- Medieval Military Technology (1992) Kelly DeVries​

 

[Krachek]

DmG weapon are inspired by weapon in heroic novels and tales.
In those stories swords, spear, scimitar are iconic.
Polearm are mob soldiers weapon, use mainly in open battlefield warfare.
Maybe a single feat will rewrite all iconic image of heroes.
We will have image of Percival, Sinbad, Drizzt wielding polearm rather than sword and scimitar!

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Yup swords, especially "long" swords have long held a symbolic (if not to say phallic) significance, and hence they are the most common type of magical weapon.

The vorpal sword is lifted directly from the poem Jabberwocky though, and "the vorpal bardiche went snicker-snack" doesn't scan.

 

[Weiley31]

The Iconic Rule of Cool fantasy weapon trope is usually,but not all the time mind ya, a sword.

 

[Minigiant]

Few of the magic weapons of legend were polearms.
At best, you'd get a magic spear.

The other reason is polearms outside of spears and pikes were mostly medieval weapons. So ancient and classical era heroes of myth didn't have them to inspire the D&D weapons.

 

[WayOfTheFourElements]

5e is a love letter to OD&D.

Is it? I don't see that. Care to explain?

 

[prabe]

My feeling is that there is no logical reason for there not to be, say, a vorpal axe. One could even have one associated with a legendary headsman ...