"You see this."

The question of whether the human Fighter class is under-privileged comes up a lot in the OSE and BX forums. But if you’re dismissing the Slow Weapon rules and Pole Arm restrictions, then it’s no wonder; you’ve closed the gap on two of the Fighter’s advantages over Dwarves and Halflings.

TL;DR:
1. Allowing short PCs to use cut pole arms with d10 damage robs the fighter of the advantage of d10 weapons
2. Dismissing the slow weapon rule robs the fighter of the long bow’s advantage over the slow crossbow, which is the only option for short PCs to achieve long range (200+) missiles.


1. D10 WEAPONS ARE NOT FOR SHORTIES

Consider this:

Moldvay B10 tells us Halflings may use weapons that are cut down for their size. (OSE leaves the “appropriate size” ruling up to the GM.) However, both rulesets pointedly state that Dwarves may only use small or normal sized weapons – there is no caveat for cutting.

So Dwarves can’t use d10 weapons at all, and Halflings can cut them down… but let’s consider what a pole arm is:

A pole arm is another weapon stuck at the end of a long stick. An axe, a spear, a sword, whatever. So if all of these weapons do d6 or d8 damage normally, then it stands to reason that the d10 damage results from the heft the pole. Cut the pole, and you cut the damage back to normal.

So for the human Fighter, hitting for d10 damage (4-13 with 18S) while in plate with d8 hit die is a massive boon over the other martial classes. Recall that the d6 Elf pays double in XP for the privilege, pole arms are pointed or bladed which forbids the Cleric from using them, and the Thief is fragile to risk slow weapons in melee.


2. SLOW WEAPONS ARE A CLASS BALANCER

First, recall that slow weapon wielders move and attack last, as though they had lost initiative.

Crossbows are slow. Dwarves and Halflings can not hit past 150′ without it. For them, 80 glorious feet of +1 short-range bonus requires Slow patience. Meanwhile, a Fighter with a Long Bow can fire on initiative. Sure, Thieves can use the long bow too – but when a monster moves in for melee, the fragile Thief has to withdraw, while the Fighter in plate can stand their ground and switch to bracing a d10 pike for double damage.

This is huge. If you’re disregarding slow weapon rules, consider deeply that this is the rule that gives the Fighter their advantage over Dwarves and Halflings in ranged combat, and over the Thief with d10 melee weapons.

Anyway, food for thought at your table. If you’ve found yourself wondering, “Why choose the Fighter class when you could choose the Dwarf?”, these are potent contributing factors.

I hope this gives you something to think about or talk about with your DM.