D&D 5E Thrown weapons and paradoxes.

[Cernor]

Fun fact: there's no rule preventing you from making a melee attack with the net so you don't need Crossbow Expert to prevent your having disadvantage when using it. The rule for using ranged weapons as improvised weapons only applies to Ammunition weapons (which a net isn't), so it seems like the only reason the net is melee rather than ranged is so that the Sharpshooter feat can affect it.

 

[bedir than]

Except that if you are using it as an improvised melee weapon you are specifically not using it as a net.

 

[Cernor]

Except that if you are using it as an improvised melee weapon you are specifically not using it as a net.

But you aren't improvising its use: you're using it as a net in melee. Ranged weapons are only considered improvised when used in melee if they have the ammunition property. Which, funnily enough, is every ranged weapon except nets and darts, and there isn't much of a reason why you shouldn't be able to use darts to stab people in melee either.

 

[Kobold Stew]

That's not what the PHB says.

There are two operative sentences, only one of which you are reading.

1. "If you use a weapon that has the ammunition property to make a melee attack, you treat the weapon as an improvised weapon". (PHB 147).

2. "If a character uses a ranged weapon to make a melee attack, ... it also does 1d4 damage." (PHB 148).

So, does the net have the ammunition property? No. Therefore the first sentence is irrelevant. (It would be relevant if you were making a melee attack by swinging a crossbow, however).

Sentence 2 is the one that's relevant, and it indicates that a net used in melee does 1d4 damage. And that's it.

Now, as I suggested above, talking to the DM might allow for some other outcome, but the rules, as written, are unambiguous.

 

[Cernor]

That's not what the PHB says.

There are two operative sentences, only one of which you are reading.

1. "If you use a weapon that has the ammunition property to make a melee attack, you treat the weapon as an improvised weapon". (PHB 147).

2. "If a character uses a ranged weapon to make a melee attack, ... it also does 1d4 damage." (PHB 148).

So, does the net have the ammunition property? No. Therefore the first sentence is irrelevant. (It would be relevant if you were making a melee attack by swinging a crossbow, however).

Sentence 2 is the one that's relevant, and it indicates that a net used in melee does 1d4 damage. And that's it.

Now, as I suggested above, talking to the DM might allow for some other outcome, but the rules, as written, are unambiguous.

however, with the "specific beats general" mindset, the latter rule is actually the more general one, which is overridden by the more specific rule. For a good rule of thumb, all ranged weapons used to make melee attacks are considered "improvised" and deal 1d4 damage... But more specifically, that only applies to ranged weapons with the ammunition property.

In any case, it's a moot point: the only difference that distinction makes is that nets don't always have disadvantage (unless the Sharpshooter or Crossbow Expert feat is taken), and if nets always have disadvantage they're objectively worse than any other weapon. And making them less terrible is worth a slightly more lenient interpretation of the rules.

 

[Kobold Stew]

however, with the "specific beats general" mindset, the latter rule is actually the more general one, which is overridden by the more specific rule. For a good rule of thumb, all ranged weapons used to make melee attacks are considered "improvised" and deal 1d4 damage... But more specifically, that only applies to ranged weapons with the ammunition property.

We disagree. You're still reading the first sentence as if it implies "If you are using a ranged weapon that doesn't have the ammunition property to make a melee attack, you do not treat the weapon as an improvised weapon." The first sentence just doesn't apply.

In any case, it's a moot point: the only difference that distinction makes is that nets don't always have disadvantage (unless the Sharpshooter or Crossbow Expert feat is taken), and if nets always have disadvantage they're objectively worse than any other weapon. And making them less terrible is worth a slightly more lenient interpretation of the rules.

As you'll see above, I am arguing for exactly this. As a melee weapon (i.e. holding on), an opposed strength check is (to me) reasonable. But the DM has to agree.

 

[Leatherhead]

In many cases, an improvised weapon is similar to an actual weapon and can be treated as such

That's the operative sentence that should be considered. The bit that it goes on to specifically mention ammo weapons is to prevent people from doing 1d10 damage in melee with a one-handed crossbow bolt.

 

[Morlock]

Further, I think it makes sense that a thrown net shouldn't use strength; it should be Dexterity.

Having thrown a shrimp net, I disagree. On the other hand, they are weighted. On the other other hand, the netting is made of light, modern material.