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Message: <blockquote data-quote="SoltariNagumoto" data-source="post: 6686213" data-attributes="member: 6800108">Sorry guys but if we're going by the book the thrown property does not a ranged weapon make. This question basically comes down to confusion on the difference between the terms weapon and attack I'll use underlines for one term and italics for the other in hopes people will begin to note that the rules are very specific as to the difference between weapons and attacks. I promise the rules do make sense and they’re far less ambiguous than many seem to think, I hope if you stick with me to the end of this you’ll see that.In the sneak attack description it specifies "The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon." This requirement refers specifically to the properties of the weapon used to make the attack, not to the attack itself.If you look at your weapons chart the weapons are separated into melee and ranged weapons. Melee and ranged are weapon types that give innate properties to the weapons.Melee weapons can innately only be used to make melee attacks.Melee attacks are innately tied to the strength stat and can only hit targets within five feet.Ranged weapons can only be used to make ranged attacks.Ranged attacks are innately tied to the dexterity stat and always have disadvantage when their target is within five feet. Ranged weapons always have either the thrown or ammunition property, this tells you what the normal and long range for their attacks are and also whether you throw the weapon itself or it expends ammunition when used to make an attack.If you throw any weapon that doesn't have the thrown property or use a ranged weapon to make a melee attack your weapon immediately becomes an improvised weapon. That’s why the rules for doing either of those things are listed under the improvised weapons heading.Improvised weapons always deal 1d4 damage and have no special properties unless the DM rules that they can be thrown in which case they gain the thrown property giving them a normal range of 20 feet and a long range of 60 feet.Now that we know what the three weapon types are let's look at the other special properties weapons can have that seem to confuse people when talking about sneak attacks.Thrown is a weapon property that allows you to throw the weapon to make a ranged attack, it specifies that if the weapon is a melee weapon you use the same ability modifier as you would use for a melee attack with said weapon, this does not turn the weapon into a ranged weapon. It simply allows ranged attacks and informs us that when making a ranged attack with the weapon the weapon itself is thrown rather than expending ammunition, it also informs us of the normal and long range limits for ranged attacks using said weapon.Finesse is a weapon property that allows you to choose either your strength or dexterity modifier for attack and damage rolls with that weapon regardless of whether you're making a ranged attack (normally tied to dex) or a melee attack (normally tied to str).Both of these properties are present among both melee and ranged weapons.Putting it all together, here are some specific examples of how these rules work out, I'm focusing specifically on examples where you throw a weapon as that's the subject in question on this thread.Throwing your greataxe doesn't make it a ranged weapon, it makes it an improvised weapon that deals 1d4 damage and has the thrown property with a normal range of 20 feet and a long range of 60 feet. As the finesse property is also missing it does not qualify for the requirements of a sneak attack. So no, your half-orc rogue can not sneak attack with his greataxe even if he throws it.Let's try it with a shortsword or rapier, they already have the finesse property so they'll work right? Nope, the moment you use a melee weapon without the thrown property to make a ranged attack it becomes an improvised weapon. Since improvised weapons don’t have the finesse property. You have the same issues here as you did with the greataxe.Let's try for a sneak attack using a handaxe. It already has the thrown property so throwing it doesn't turn it into an improvised weapon. Thrown only adds an option for making a ranged attack. It doesn’t change the weapon type at all and the handaxe doesn't have finesse so yes you can throw it and it keeps its stats. But no, you still can't make a sneak attack with it since it doesn’t meet either of the weapon based sneak attack requirements.How about throwing a dagger? It's a melee weapon and it has both the thrown property and the finesse property. Because it retains its own stats when thrown it keeps the finesse property when thrown, thus it fulfills the sneak attack requirement of being a finesse weapon so yes, it can be thrown for a sneak attack!Of course, house rules can make anything work however you want and there is nothing wrong with this as long as your house rules are known and you keep them consistent. Your DM or you as a DM could rule this differently but this is how it works according to the rules as written.I recognize this post is a bit exhaustive and went into further detail on the examples than most were probably looking for. I used only examples of things that I've actually had to address as a DM and I wanted to make sure if anyone read this they'd be ready for those situations themselves.</blockquote>

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