Josh_Kablack at [unixtime wrote:1110610455[/unixtime]]
Your arguments about reach totally make no sense at all. You do not take a reach weapon as a counter to heavy armor. You take a reach weapon because it saves you movement and increases your charge range, it negates some enemy AoOs, gives you more squares to attack (or cleave) into, and then because it might get you an AoO if your opponents are stupid. 5' reach opponents can totally avoid reach AoOs from your 10' reach if they just wait for you to come to them and then 5' step in, or if they advance under cover (like a Tower Shield), or if one of their buddies provokes first.
Odd, see I've always taken a reach weapon when I want to get more AoOs, or at the very least to negate the reach of an opponent.
Reach is a pretty big advantage, because it guarantees you first strike. If you've got a 10' reach, sure they can wait for you to approach and charge them, then move 5' into you, but still you're getting th first strike. And while tower shields are nice, they do also grant -2 to attack rolls and prevent you from using a two handed weapon. And generally if you're a strength based fighter, the kind that would wear heavy armor, you want to use a two hander.
I'm not sure what doesn't make sense about calling a reach character a character based on AoOs. That is after all why almost all reach characters have combat reflexes. The benefits of reach are either to avoid reach AoOs yourself or to provoke them from things with less reach. The AoOs also provide battlefield control as in the case of the enlarged spiked chain wielder.
If Darth Vader, Solidus Snake, and Cyborg (both comic and cartoon) can do hardcore tumbling manuevers despite being weighed down by all that ninja gear, then there is no damn reason why heavy armor alone should stop you from jumping around like a ferret on crystal meth.
Game balance is a good reason. That's the same thinking the designers made when they created the animates shield, and allowed clerics to fight better than fighters.
At some point, fighting styles need a give and take. And there needs to be some absolutes. Otherwise you've got swashbucklers running around in full plate, greatsword barbarians getting shield bonuses and spellcasters outfighting straight fighters.
Remember that every boost to tumble is a nerf to reach weapons. So you just have to ask if reach needs to be nerfed. I really don't think it does personally.