What's in a Glaive?

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Apr 25, 2025

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A Sword on a Pole

A glaive is a weapon in the polearm family—essentially a sword on a pole. This excellent weapon is often overlooked by players of fantasy RPGs, as longswords and greatswords tend to be more popular.

However, the glaive is a great option for players exploring new character builds or for game masters looking to equip villains and antagonists with unique, flavorful weapons.

In D&D, a glaive is a martial melee weapon that costs 20 gp and weighs 6 pounds. Glaives deal 1d10 slashing damage and have the following properties: Heavy, Reach, Two-Handed, and Graze.

A couple of the best combos for the glaive are:

Glaive + Polearm Master + Sentinel – Hit enemies before they can reach you.
Glaive + Great Weapon Master – Deal massive damage with every strike.

Here’s a magic glaive for your game:

The Serpent’s Tongue (Rare, requires attunement)

Glaive, +1 to attack and damage rolls

The polished jet-black pole gives way to a gaping serpent’s mouth, from which the stained-red blade emerges.

When you hit a creature with an opportunity attack, that creature’s speed is halved until the start of your next turn.
Once per long rest, you can cause the glaive's blade to lash out like a striking serpent, increasing its reach to 15 feet for one attack.

Resource Links & Videos

Remembering the Glaive from Krull

The 1983 film Krull features quite possibly the coolest movie weapon ever—it’s called The Glaive. Important note: the weapon in the film is not a glaive. It’s super cool, yes, but not an actual glaive. Its name is the Glaive. Why? We’d have to ask the Old One.

Sadly, Krull is mostly a broken mess of a movie. However, the Glaive, the score, and the production design are incredible. Half of the dialogue is profound philosophy; the other half is frustrating cliché.

Worth watching? One hundred percent.

Dungeon Masters can include a quest for a fabled weapon in their campaigns—just like in the movie. However, DMs should make sure the weapon has a powerful impact on the story.