Polearms are just about the most ubiquitous and varied category of weapon to have ever existed. Heck, spears alone have been in use around the world for hundreds of thousands of years, and are so fundamental that
chimpanzees have been observed crafting and using spears for hunting. But in the Middle Ages and continuing on into the Early-Modern period, there was a proliferation of new varieties of pole-weapons designed for all sorts of uses. Many of them were very simple to make and to wield, allowing peasant armies to have
some recourse against mounted knights. Many of them were much more complicated and specialized, designed to bust open armour, cut harnesses, or just really mess up a dude's face.
You would be hard pressed to find an army that went to war without polearms, if only just spears; getting into the Late Medieval period most armies would have units of some other specialist polearms - usually halberds. And yet they hardly turn up in fantasy RPGs these days, whether tabletop of video game. Many such weapons were included in 1st and 2nd Edition AD&D, and a few of those made the jump to 3.5 and Pathfinder. My goal here is to round out the list of available polearms and fix those already existing ones which don't seem to have been statted up quite right.
