Dungeon Dwelling The Golden Age Of Piracy And You

If you look at the weapons list for D&D you get the whole panoply of medieval/renaissance martial toys.

If you look at what pyrates were using, and why, you notice that the main weapons are rather short.

A cutlass is a short sword.  A boarding ax isn't a big ax at all.

It makes sense, the deck of a sailing ship is fairly tight quarters and below decks even tighter.

What's this got to do with dungeons?

The tight quarters.

You aren't swinging that halberd in a confined space.

The key word in archery is 'arch'.  Your range will be limited because you can't elevate the shot without hitting the ceiling.

That it took me this many years to notice...  As noted philosopher Groo The Wander once said, "What did he mean, 'slow of mind?'"