Weapon Skill: Pole Weapon

Playtest 3.2 / 4th Ed

Build Cost: 5 (Off-List: 12)

Purchase: Once

Tagged: No

Duration: Constant

Skill Type: Martial

Prerequisites: None

Skill List: Warrior Basic Career

Skill Rules & Full Description

All these skills give the character the ability to call damage with that weapon type. If a character does not have the appropriate skill, not only can they not call damage, but should the weapon they are holding be struck, they take the damage anyway.

Weapon skills are NOT hand specific the way proficiencies are. And a character can use the weapon in either hand with no penalty.

Polearms can be used to only block with one hand.

The base damage for a Pole Weapon is 2 with one hand, and 4 with both hands. For Pole Weapons, the butt end counts as a quarterstaff dealing blunt damage.

Site Note — not rules text

Weapon skills have been consolidated

Weapon skills were consolidated in an out-of-game announcement on 10 May 2025. Several of the older, narrower weapon skills were combined into broader categories:

Old skill	New skill
1-H Edge, Bastard Edge, 2-H Edge	Edged Weapon
1-H Blunt, Bastard Blunt, 2-H Blunt	Blunt Weapon
Spear, Polearm	Pole Weapon
Crossbow	Bow

If you still have one of the old weapon skills listed on your character card, you may treat it as the new skill for all intents and purposes.

Playtest 3.2 uses the new category names throughout, and gives their costs and base damage in the Warrior and Rogue Basic Career Skill List tables (pp. 7–8). The consolidated skill description its change log points to was not included in the released document, so the rules text below is the previously approved wording for the skills that were merged. The rules committee has been asked for consolidated wording.

Source: LAIRE #oog-announcements, 10 May 2025 (conversion guide). Costs and base damage from Playtest 3.2, pp. 7–8.