D&D 5E Does a nonmagic arrow from a magic bow pierce nonmagic weapon resistance?

[Minigiant]

If you take a large creatures ammunition, like a giant's arrow, and tie it to a humanoid's magical bow. Does that make it a magical spear? Inquiring minds want to know!

Is either magical weapon resizing to ammo or ammo resizing to magical weapons core?

 

[Saeviomagy]

Personally I'm happy to
a) Allow magical ammunition bonuses to stack with magical ranged weapon bonuses
b) Say that non magical ammo fired from a magical weapon are non magical attacks
c) Allow recovery and re-use of magical ammunition in the same way as non magical ammunition

Those three rules just make sense to me, regardless of what the official rules do or do not say.

 

[Eric V]

The whole point of 5E is that you take the any and all of the rules you find throughout all the books and jury-rig together the game that you want to play. So if a Sage Advice clarifies a rule that you don't agree with... you don't use the Sage Advice.

Considering all the rules issues my group has encountered, this is as good a definition of 5e as we'll ever get.

Time will tell if that's a feature or flaw...

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

Of course, the elephant in the room for all of this is that finding magic (+x) ammo is, and has always been, a disappointing prize to get. Sure it's useful and all but ultimately, let's be honest, a bit . Happy birthday! Have some socks.

My solution - Make any arrows that are magic have a quality other than a bog standard +x - arrow of dragon slaying, arrow of undead smiting, arrow of sleep, web arrow, etc. Then they're magic regardless of the bow, and actually add some colour and value.

But then I always have Hank the Ranger's bow in my head when I think of magic bows, that makes its own magical arrows appear when shot (you would have to have it have x number of charges per long rest to balance it out, say 20, so a quiver full' worth).

Problem solved?

 

[Minigiant]

Of course, the elephant in the room for all of this is that finding magic (+x) ammo is, and has always been, a disappointing prize to get. Sure it's useful and all but ultimately, let's be honest, a bit . Happy birthday! Have some socks.

My solution - Make any arrows that are magic have a quality other than a bog standard +x - arrow of dragon slaying, arrow of undead smiting, arrow of sleep, web arrow, etc. Then they're magic regardless of the bow, and actually add some colour and value.

But then I always have Hank the Ranger's bow in my head when I think of magic bows, that makes its own magical arrows appear when shot (you would have to have it have x number of charges per long rest to balance it out, say 20, so a quiver full' worth).

Problem solved?

That's typical my preferred way.

Arrows of (creature type)'s bane
Arrows of (creature type) slaying
Green Arrow's specials (boxing glove arrow, saw arrow, net arrow)
Exploding sling bullets
Needles of sleep

I might post my homebrew magic items, quiver of trick arrows and sack of bane bullets, here one day

 

[DEFCON 1]

Considering all the rules issues my group has encountered, this is as good a definition of 5e as we'll ever get.

Time will tell if that's a feature or flaw...

Whether it's a feature or a flaw is probably determined by how much you feel you *have* to play "Rules As Written".

Some people's brains are wired such that the rules need to be spelled out clearly and exactly so that there's no ambiguity, no argument, no interpretation. It HAS to be that way, otherwise the game doesn't work as a game. Interpretation is the bane of a quality game experience, because games have rules for a reason. If you aren't going to use the rules of a game, why bother playing that game in the first place?

And some people's brains are wired such that the game at it's core is an improv game. In its best form, everything is made up, and all the players agree as a group to what is being made up. And any "rules" or "mechanics" (such as they are), are there to help facilitate that improvisation to make it work smoother and keep everyone on the same wavelength, but they never should be worried about if they aren't serving that purpose. Change it, replace it, throw it out, if it isn't helping facilitate the roleplaying. The improv is the important part... the rules are just things that can help you do so more effectively and fairly and can be ignored when aren't necessary.

Neither side is right, neither side is wrong. And the rules of 5E are such that each side can find things to love about it, and find things to hate. You aren't getting a book that gives you exactly what you want.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Arial Black]

I can't believe this is even a debate. The deaigners clearly intended magic to follow the rules of quantum mechanics. Think about it. How often have you heard people say quantum particles exhibit "magical" properties? Or quantum mechanics is "spooky" physics? So when the arrow is nocked in the bow they become quantum entangled, so that upon striking the monster the arrow is forced into a concrete state that matches that of the bow, thus penetrating the monster's reistance. This collapse into a concrete state can only add magic, it cannot remove magic, so non-magic bows don't hinder magical arrows. Unfortunately, the entanglement only lasts until the moment of impact, to the chagrin of countless archers who have tried to "pimp their bow" by firing various types of enchanted arrows.

Obviously.

Another catgirl bites the dust.

 

[Umbran]

This still requires the ludicrous result of "nonmagical arrows instantly become magical when nocked in my special bow" for special unexplained game-designer-had-a-brain-fart reasons.

Um, no. For reasons of *MAGIC*.

Remember, it is a magic weapon. That a magic weapon extends an aura of magic to the arrow that lasts for a bit of time is "ludicrous"? It sounds just like... magic. What's the problem with it?

Overall, the level of seeming disrespect in your prose over the last few posts might be getting in the way of discussing the matter like reasonable folks. You might want to avoid the emotionally loaded, borderline insulting phrasing.

 

[Doctor Futurity]

It is fascinating to learn that for some people "that line that must not be crossed" is the idea of a magic bow that imparts a brief enchantment to its ammunition when fired. Especially when it's a line that was crossed like forty years ago.

(In defense, we all have these lines. I struggle with at-will magic like cantrips, myself; what's "powering" these things? Good looks and big brains, apparently. The idea that RAW a warlock could spend every 6 second vaporizing every bird he sees for the rest of his natural life with impunity just annoys the hell out of me.)