You gain the following benefits:
When you take the Attack action and attack with only a glaive, halberd, quarterstaff, or spear, you can use a bonus action to make a melee attack with the opposite end of the weapon. This attack uses the same ability modifier as the primary attack. The weapon's damage die for this attack is a d4, and it deals bludgeoning damage.
While you are wielding a glaive, halberd, pike, quarterstaff, or spear, other creatures provoke an opportunity attack from you when they enter the reach you have with that weapon.
Polearm Master: Keep Your Distance or Suck My Pole
Review by Sam West, Twitter:@CrierKobold
To me, Polearm Master is what a feat should be. It extends a playstyle and fantasy in a meaningful way that regularly highlights the strengths of the fantasy.
There are two portions to polearm master each focusing on an element of the weapon type and extending its in game mechanics to reflect their appearance and fighting style. First, after you strike with the pointy end, you can swing the back end around for a bonus action attack, mirroring the two-weapon fighting mechanic. This on its own is fine, but by no means revolutionary. It is something you’ll regularly find yourself spending your bonus action on, but also won’t be particularly upset if another bonus action comes into your regular play pattern because you’re also getting another potent feature.
Said other potent feature is a reusable, consistent reaction. This is the defining play pattern element that makes Polearm Master what it is. It's the fantasy of the phalanx formation, shields up and spears out, impaling monsters as they sprint at your defended position. With basic strategic positioning, you can set yourself up with a free attack over a series of turns which improves as fights become increasingly dynamic. Larger areas with differently spaced creatures can result in multiple sequential rounds where you’re stabbing things with a reaction that otherwise would go wasted. New enemies running in from outside the battlemap give you more opportunities to show off why you choose to fight with a halberd.
I can’t really talk about Polearm Master without also mentioning its interaction with the Sentinel feat. See, Polearm Master specifies this reaction is an attack of opportunity; the Sentinel feat reduces creatures you hit with opportunity attacks speed to 0. This means with a 10 ft. reach, you can prevent creatures with a range of 5 ft. from engaging you at all. Then, because you aren’t going to provoke attacks of opportunity, you can poke it with your weapon, step back five feet, and do it again next turn. Conceivably, you can lock down a twenty-foot wide corridor by simply standing in the middle of it with your glaive out while your backline allies pepper it with Firebolts and arrows. It's pretty sweet when it works out.
The best part about Polearm Master is the diversity of classes that can make it work. While you probably prefer to use a glaive or halberd, any character with simple weapon proficiency or proficiency with just spears can get a solid reaction out of this. Reactions are an underdeveloped element of most character’s repertoires; it's something I prioritize in character building if my goal is to make a character who engages meaningfully in combat. Variant humans can have this at 1st level, which will feel really good on basically any character that intends to be in melee range. Even at 4th level or higher, adding this reaction to your toolkit is going to feel powerful. If you are already looking to be the spearman, Polearm Master is a no brainer.
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