D&D 5E Rapier & Hand Crossbow Rogue

[Paraxis]

So I was thinking about fun stuff to do with level 1 humans and the bonus feat and came up with this.

Human + Rogue + Crossbow Expert Feat = some very nice damage and versatility

Two weapon fighting rules don't apply since a hand crossbow isn't a melee weapon, so the main hand weapon doesn't have to be light and you get your dex modifier to the hand crossbow damage.

So 1d8+dex mod and 1d6+dex mod, and if one hits most likely 1d6 sneak attack. No penalty for firing crossbow while in melee thanks to feat, no reloading property thanks to feat.

 

[BigVanVader]

This is pretty cool, except you either have to buy a bunch of hand crossbows and load them ahead of time, or you have to find some way of loading the crossbow one-handed(this is when having a pistol would be handy.), or you just ditch it after the first shot and rely on the buckler you have strapped to that arm.

But aside from that, this is indeed balla.

 

[Paraxis]

This is pretty cool, except you either have to buy a bunch of hand crossbows and load them ahead of time, or you have to find some way of loading the crossbow one-handed(this is when having a pistol would be handy.), or you just ditch it after the first shot and rely on the buckler you have strapped to that arm.

But aside from that, this is indeed balla.

But according to the rules you can just keep firing the hand crossbow.

Ammunition .
You can use a weapon that has the ammunition property to make a ranged attack only if you have ammunition to fire from the weapon . Each time you attack with the weapon , you expend one piece of ammunition. Drawing the ammunition from a quiver, case, or other container is part of the attack.

So as part of the attack you reload the crossbow, for the gamist player I am that is fine by me, for any of you simulationist that need an explanation the character could have a quiver or brace of bolts that he has on his chest or hip that he shoves the hand crossbow into and it cocks and loads a new bolt.

Nothing in the rules says you need a free hand to load a weapon.

 

[BigVanVader]

Really? Huh. Not sure how I feel about that.

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

This might work nicely for fighters too, since they have less competition for their bonus action.

 

[Jessicajade]

Can you tell me how this would work for a Drow or a Half Drow?

 

[xynthoros]

Until level 4 you could wield both a rapier and a hand crossbow and use whichever one better suited the situation, but you wouldn't be able to two weapon fight with them until you were able to take the crossbow feat at level 4.

 

[Bixia]

In the player’s handbook that I have there is a paragraph on page 146 under weapon properties labeled ammunition. It states “Drawing the ammunition from a quiver, case, or other container is part of the attack (you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon)”. This clearly states that you cannot reload a crossbow or hand cross bow with something in your other hand, such as a weapon or shield.

 

[miburo99]

Yeah, the question about loading from Crossbow Expert has been argued to death on a couple of other forums. Official ruling from WotC's Mike Mearls was that you do indeed need a free hand to load the crossbow, so rapier + crossbow or dual-wielding crossbows would not be possible for more than one round (unless you have some fancy magical device or automated contraption or something).

That said, a rogue wielding a rapier in one hand and a crossbow in the other looks really really cool.

 

[mellored]

There's no good reason to not allow weapon + handbow (or dual handbow). Your doing the same damage either way (1d6+dex), and you look cool doing it.

Just don't allow shield + handbow.