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Reach

A long melee weapon such as a spear, polearm or whip lets its wielder strike a foe beyond the adjacent space or past a front rank, often at the cost of not striking adjacent foes or of slower handling

Also known as: Reach Weapon, Reach Property

Definition

Reach is a property of long melee weapons, such as spears, polearms and whips, that lets the wielder strike a foe beyond the adjacent space or past a friendly front rank. It is a melee property printed on some weapons and not others. Zone of control is the hindrance a piece exerts on the spaces around it; reach extends the distance at which an attack, including an opportunity attack, projects it. Two-handed is the grip most reach weapons also demand. A thrown spear is a missile, not reach.

How it works

The wielder attacks one step further than an ordinary melee weapon allows: 10 feet rather than 5 in Dungeons & Dragons, two panels rather than one in Final Fantasy Tactics, the second rank in Warhammer Fantasy Battle. The extra distance lets a fighter strike a foe still closing and, in the words of Final Fantasy Tactics’ official guide, attack while avoiding the counterattack. Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord’s Western Pike has a Length of 299 and a Handling of 40.

Variations

  • First strike by length (Chainmail, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons): the longer weapon strikes first rather than further, above all against a charge.
  • Rank fighting (Warhammer Fantasy Battle, 2nd and 4th editions): the second rank attacks past the first, at a penalty in 1984, when pikes reach the fourth, and only while standing in 1992.
  • Reach with a gap (Dungeons & Dragons, 3rd edition): 10 feet of reach that cannot strike at 5; the spiked chain is the exception.
  • Added reach (Dungeons & Dragons, 5th and 2024 editions): the property adds 5 feet and keeps the adjacent space; the 5th edition’s lance attacks within 5 feet at disadvantage.
  • Continuous length (Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord): reach is a number on every weapon.

Limits

Reach weapons need no stock. Role-playing examples cost the round’s attack, so the limits are position and timing: the 3rd edition’s gap at 5 feet, the lance penalty, the pike’s speed factor of 13, and pole arms barred from dungeons. Warhammer’s rear ranks fight at a penalty or not on the charge, Final Fantasy Tactics spends the unit’s action, and Bannerlord’s price is handling.

History and provenance

Chainmail, cited from its 1972 second edition, gives the first blow to a weapon two classes higher, classes rising with length, and to an attacker’s pikes, spears and lances on a charge. Warhammer’s first edition (1983) gives the longer weapon +1 initiative, and in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1978, 1979) the longer weapon attacks first at the end of a charge. In these antecedents length decides who strikes first, not how far. War Games Rules 1000 BC to 500 AD (1969) let a second rank of heavy or medium infantry fight whatever its weapon. The earliest documented use cited of a weapon striking from further away is Warhammer Fantasy Battle’s second edition (1984), whose spears fight from the second rank and pikes from as deep as the fourth; the 4th edition (1992) kept two-rank spears. Ancient wargame rules of 1969 to 1983 remain unsurveyed. Final Fantasy Tactics (1997) gave spears two panels. Dungeons & Dragons, 3rd edition (2000), named the property, 10 feet that cannot strike adjacent foes, and the 5th (2014) and 2024 editions made it 5 feet added for attacks and opportunity attacks.

Notable examples

Notable examples, in chronological order. Notes describe how the weapon works in each game; the limits are what restricts its use there; the latest reference is a widely played game from 2020 or later.
GameYearMediumLimitsHow the weapon works
Chainmail
Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren (Guidon Games)		1971Board & cardUnlimitedIn man-to-man combat each weapon has a class, lower for shorter and lighter weapons, and a defender whose weapon is two classes higher strikes first. On a charge, pikes, spears and lances strike first against lower-class weapons, because their length denies the defender the first blow. Cited from the 1972 second edition.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Players Handbook
Gary Gygax (TSR)		1978Tabletop RPGAction costThe weapons table gives each weapon a length and the space it needs, from about 15 inches for the dagger to 18 feet or more for the awl pike. The combat section says a solid formation with long weapons strikes foes with shorter ones first, and a pole arm or spear set in a rushing foe's path strikes first.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeon Masters Guide
Gary Gygax (TSR)		1979Tabletop RPGAction costAt the end of a charge initiative is not rolled, and the opponent with the longer weapon or reach attacks first. The pike's speed factor of 13 makes it slow to ready and recover, and it is unusable in dungeons or anywhere else without masses of other pikes to support it.
Warhammer Fantasy Battle, 2nd edition
Games Workshop		1984Board & cardUnlimitedBecause a spear is long, a model directly behind another spear-armed model of its unit may fight from the second rank at -1 to hit and to wound. Pikes fight from up to four ranks, at -1, -2 and -3, and a pike unit pushed back fights in a single rank.
Warhammer Fantasy Battle, 4th edition
Games Workshop		1992Board & cardUnlimitedInfantry with spears fight in two ranks, the second thrusting past the first, but only while they do not move. Spearmen who charge fight in a single rank that turn, and spearmen charged while standing their ground fight in two.
Final Fantasy Tactics
Square		1997VideoAction costMost physical attacks need the attacker next to its target, but spears and stick-type weapons reach two panels in each of the four cardinal directions. The official guide notes that they let a unit attack from a greater distance while avoiding the enemy's counterattack.
Dungeons & Dragons, 3rd edition
Wizards of the Coast		2000Tabletop RPGAction costThe glaive, guisarme, heavy lance, longspear and ranseur have a reach of 10 feet and cannot be used against an adjacent foe. The spiked chain also reaches 10 feet and can still strike adjacent foes.
Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition
Wizards of the Coast		2014Tabletop RPGAction costThe reach property adds 5 feet to the wielder's reach for attacks and for opportunity attacks, and the glaive, halberd, lance, pike and whip carry it. The lance, also a special weapon, attacks a target within 5 feet at disadvantage.
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord
TaleWorlds Entertainment		2022VideoUnlimitedEvery melee weapon has a Length. The Western Pike's 299 gives superior reach with poor handling of 40, while the Sledgehammer's 171 gives less reach. Mounted, a polearm can be couched to strike while riding past at speed.
Dungeons & Dragons, 2024 edition Latest
Wizards of the Coast		2024Tabletop RPGAction costA creature's reach is 5 feet unless a rule says otherwise, and the Reach property adds 5 feet for attacks and opportunity attacks. The Glaive, Halberd, Lance and Pike are Heavy, Reach and Two-Handed (the Lance not when mounted), and their masteries are Graze, Cleave, Topple and Push.

Provenance

Earliest documented use: Warhammer Fantasy Battle, 2nd edition (1984), board & card. Confidence: low. The definition is striking from further away, not striking first. The earliest documented use cited of that form is the 2nd edition's Combat book (1984), in which spears fight from the second rank and pikes from up to four ranks; the 4th edition (1992) keeps two-rank spears. Antecedents in which length decides the order of blows are Chainmail (cited from its 1972 second edition), whose longer weapons and charging pikes strike first, Greyhawk (1975), which gives the space each weapon needs, Warhammer's 1983 first edition, which gives the longer weapon +1 initiative, and the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules (1978, 1979). War Games Rules 1000 BC to 500 AD (1969) lets regular heavy and medium infantry fight from behind a front-rank figure, by troop type rather than weapon. Ancient wargame rules of 1969 to 1983, where pikes may fight from rear ranks, remain unsurveyed. Final Fantasy Tactics (1997) is the earliest video use cited.

Established form: Dungeons & Dragons, 3rd edition (2000), tabletop rpg. 16 years after the earliest documented use. Confidence: low. The 3rd edition's System Reference Document made reach a named property of a list of weapons, 10 feet that cannot strike an adjacent foe, and the 5th edition (2014) and 2024 edition keep the property under the same name. The lineage runs inside one game line, and no source cited states that other games took the form from it.

Sources

  1. Phil Barker, Bob O'Brien, and Ed Smith. (1969). War Games Rules 1000 BC to 500 AD. Wargames Research Group. Rulebook Hand-to-Hand Combat: Figures Eligible to Take Part, p. 13. Accessed 2026-10-28. Regular heavy or medium infantry immediately behind a front-rank figure in contact taking part in hand-to-hand combat, whatever their weapon; February 1969.
  2. Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren (Guidon Games). (1972). Chainmail, 2nd edition. Rulebook Man-to-Man Combat, pp. 22-23. Accessed 2026-10-27. Weapon classes rising with length and weight, the first blow to a weapon two classes higher, and the first blow of pikes, spears and lances on a charge because of their length. The scan is the 1972 second edition of the 1971 rules.
  3. Gary Gygax and Robert Kuntz (TSR). (1975). Dungeons & Dragons Supplement I: Greyhawk. Rulebook Damage Done by Weapon Type, p. 15. Accessed 2026-10-27. Pole arms, the halberd and the two-handed sword needing 4 to 6 feet of space on each side, and the longest pole arms not usable in dungeons as a general rule because of their length.
  4. Gary Gygax. (1978). Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Players Handbook. TSR. Rulebook Weapon Types, General Data, and To Hit Adjustments, p. 38; Combat, pp. 105-106. Accessed 2026-10-27. The length and space-required columns of the weapons table, weapon length affecting the order of attack, long-weapon formations striking first, and set pole arms and spears striking a rushing opponent first.
  5. Gary Gygax. (1979). Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeon Masters Guide. TSR. Rulebook Combat: Melee at End of Charge, Set Weapons, Strike Blows, Weapon Speed Factor, p. 66. Accessed 2026-10-27. The longer weapon or reach attacking first at the end of a charge, set weapons, and the pike's speed factor of 13 and its need for massed pikes.
  6. Bryan Ansell, Richard Halliwell and Richard Priestley. (1983). Warhammer, Vol 1: Tabletop Battles. Rulebook Weapons Differentiation and Other Bonuses. Accessed 2026-10-28. The longer weapon's +1 initiative and the length categories from hand weapons to pikes over 12 feet; the year is the one the 2nd edition gives for the original Warhammer.
  7. Games Workshop. (1984). Warhammer Fantasy Battle, 2nd edition, Book 1: Combat. Rulebook Weapons Used on Foot: Spears, p. 40; Pikes, p. 42. Accessed 2026-10-28. Spears fighting from the second rank at -1 to hit and to wound, pikes from up to four ranks at growing penalties, and pikemen pushed back fighting in a single rank; copyright 1984.
  8. Games Workshop. (1992). Warhammer Fantasy Battle, 4th edition rulebook. Rulebook Weapons: Spears, p. 43. Accessed 2026-10-28. Spear-armed infantry fighting in two ranks while they do not move, a single rank on the charge, and two ranks when charged while standing.
  9. Prima Publishing. (1997). Final Fantasy Tactics Official Strategy Guide. Book The Flow of Battle, Physical Attacks. Accessed 2026-10-27. Most physical attacks at one panel, spear and stick-type weapons at two panels in the four cardinal directions, and attacking from further away while avoiding the counterattack.
  10. Wizards of the Coast. System Reference Document 3.0, Equipment I. Wizards of the Coast. Rulebook Weapon Descriptions: Chain, Spiked; Glaive; Guisarme; Lance; Longspear; Ranseur. Accessed 2026-10-27. Reach of 10 feet and no use against an adjacent foe for the glaive, guisarme, heavy lance, longspear and ranseur, and the spiked chain's reach with use against adjacent foes; Wayback snapshot of 2003.
  11. Wizards of the Coast. (2003). System Reference Document 3.5, Combat I. Rulebook Attack; Reach Weapons. Accessed 2026-10-27. The 3.5 revision's statement that a typical reach weapon strikes opponents 10 feet away but not adjacent foes, and that reach weapons threaten more squares.
  12. Wizards of the Coast. (2016). System Reference Document 5.1. Wizards of the Coast. Rulebook Equipment: Weapon Properties (Reach), Special Weapons (Lance), Martial Melee Weapons table. Accessed 2026-10-27. Reach adding 5 feet for attacks and opportunity attacks, the reach weapons in the table, and the lance's disadvantage within 5 feet.
  13. Scott Peers (Gamer Guides). (2022). Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord guide, Polearm build. Website Weapons tables. Accessed 2026-10-27. The Length column, the Western Pike at 299 with superior reach and handling 40, the Sledgehammer at 171 with less reach, and couching polearms while riding past.
  14. Wizards of the Coast. (2025). System Reference Document 5.2.1. Rulebook Playing the Game, Reach, p. 15; Equipment, Properties and Mastery Properties, p. 90; Weapons table, p. 91; Rules Glossary, Reach, p. 186. Accessed 2026-10-27. The 5-foot reach of a creature, the Reach property adding 5 feet for attacks and opportunity attacks, the properties and masteries of the Glaive, Halberd, Lance, Pike and Whip.

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West, James, Jr. (2026). "Reach." Game Mechanic Compendium, updated 2026-10-28. http://localhost:4321/weapons/reach

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