D&D 5th Edition Weapons Guide

Weapon proficiency

Your race, class, and traits can grant you proficiency with certain weapons or categories of weapons. The two categories are straightforward and martial. Most people are proficient with simple weapons: clubs, maces, and other weapons often found in the hands of commoners. Martial weapons, including swords, axes, and polearms, require more extensive training to use them effectively. Most warriors use martial weapons because they improve their fighting style and training.

Having proficiency with a weapon allows you to add your proficiency bonus to any attack rolls you make with that weapon. If you make an attack roll with a weapon with which you have no proficiency, you do not add the bonus.

Weapon properties

Many weapons have special properties related to their use, as shown in the weapons table.

Mage Armor 5e. This weapon adds 5 feet to your range when you attack with it, as well as when determining your range to make an attack of opportunity with it.

Thrown. If a weapon has this property, you can cast it to make a ranged attack. If the weapon is a melee weapon, use the same ability modifier that you would use to make a melee attack with it, for both the attack roll and the damage roll.

For example, if you throw an ax, you use your Strength, but if you throw a dagger, you can use either your Strength or your Dexterity, since the dagger has the "subtle" property.

Loading. Due to the time it takes to load this weapon, you can only fire one piece of ammo in the action, bonus action, or reaction in which you fire it, regardless of how many attacks you can normally make.

Distance. A weapon that can be used to make a ranged attack has a parenthesis that says "ranged" after the "ammo" or "thrown" properties. Two numbers also appear: the first is the weapon's normal range in feet, and the second is its long range. When you attack a target that is further away than the usual range, you have a disadvantage on the attack roll. You cannot attack a target that is further than the long distance.

Two hands. This weapon requires you to hold it with two hands when attacking with it.

Special. A weapon with this property follows different rules, which are explained in the weapon's description (see "Special weapons", next page).

Light A light weapon is small and easy to handle, ideal for fighting with two weapons.

Ammunition. You can only perform a ranged attack with a weapon with this property if you have the required ammo. Every time you attack with it, you spend part of the ammo. Picking up ammo from a quiver, case, or other container is part of the attack (you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon). At the end of the fight, you can recover half of the ammo you have spent by spending 1 minute searching the battlefield.

If you use a weapon that has the "ammo" property to make a melee attack, consider the weapon to be improvised (see "Improvised Weapons" below). Waves must charge to deal damage in this way.

Heavy The size and weight of a heavy weapon make it too large for Small creatures to use effectively, so they are at a disadvantage on attack rolls made with these weapons.

Subtle. When making an attack with a subtle weapon, choose whether to use your Outside modifier or your Dexterity modifier for the attack and damage roll. You must use the same modifier for both rolls.

Versatile. This weapon can be used with one or two hands. In parentheses there is also a damage value: this is the damage it deals when used to make a two-handed melee attack.

Improvised weapons

Sometimes the characters do not have their weapons and have to attack with whatever they have at hand. An improvised weapon is any object that you can pick up with one or two hands, such as a broken glass, a table leg, a frying pan, a wagon wheel, or a dead goblin.

An improvised weapon often resembles a real weapon and can be treated as such.

For example, a table leg looks like a nail. At the GM's discretion, a character who has proficiency with a weapon may use a similar item as that weapon and use his proficiency bonus.

Objects that cannot pass through a weapon deal 1d4 points of damage (the GM assigns them the appropriate damage type). If a character uses a ranged weapon to make a melee attack or throws a melee weapon that does not have the "thrown" property, it also deals 1d4 points of damage. An improvised throwing weapon has a normal range of 20 feet and a long range of 60 feet.

Silver weapons

Some monsters that have immunity or resistance to non-magical weapons are vulnerable to silver weapons, so cautious adventurers spend extra money to give their weapons a silver bath. Plating a weapon or ten pieces of ammo costs 100 gp. This price represents not only the price of silver, but the time and experience required to add silver to a weapon without making it less effective.

Special weapons

Weapons with special rules are described here.

Cavalry spear. You are at a disadvantage when you use a cavalry spear to attack a target that is within 5 feet of you. Likewise, a cavalry spear requires that it be wielded with two hands when not riding.

Net. When a Large or smaller creature is hit by a net, it remains imprisoned until released. A net has no effect on disembodied creatures or Huge or larger creatures. A creature can use its action to make a DC 10 Fortitude check and free itself or another creature within range. Dealing 5 slashing damage to the web (AC 10) also frees the creature without damaging it, ending the effect, as well as destroying the web. When you use an action, additional action, or reaction to attack with a net, you can only perform one attack, regardless of the number of attacks you can normally make.