D&D 5E Does a nonmagic arrow from a magic bow pierce nonmagic weapon resistance?
The Grassy Gnoll
Explorer
Because when the arrow is nocked, the bow metaphorically sighs "you complete me" and their joyful union brings forth a death baby that sticks in the monster's eye.
For something just as awesome and much easier to pull off, the fire damage done by normal burning torches can also hurt a creature immune to nonmagical weapon damage, since it isn't piercing, slashing, or bludgeoning damage.
For a related brain teaser: A ranger casts Conjure Barrage or Conjure volley using a nonmagical handaxe. The spell deals the same type of damage as dealt by the weapon or ammunition used to cast it. Is it nonmagical slashing damage?
L
lowkey13
Guest
*Deleted by user*
I was going to come in here and ask how such a blatantly obvious question which requires a "Yes" answer had gone three pages. But I see where the road bump is now.
I think the answers are being made are mostly all good...but perhaps a bit unnecessary from a RAW and RAI perspective.
Simply put...what is a magical bow FOR if it doesn't imbue its ammunition fired from it with its properties (say, for example, +1 to hit and +1 damage)? Is the receiver of the wonderful magical item, presumably a decent (if not primarily an) archer, expected to run up to foes and BEAT them with their +1 bow to get their benefits?
No. You are supposed to fire arrows out of it. So your arrows are +1 to hit and +1 to damage. IF you want to split hairs and say "But what is that +1 for/from? HOW does it happen? WHY is the arrow now magic?" The answer, as it has been since dice rolls immemorial, is...
"mmmmmMAGIC!" <jazz hands>
If we start down the road to explaining "what/why/how" MAGIC happens, then you are firmly marching into "Magic=Science and therefore HAS an answer that must be discernable."
If you prefer a bit more rationale/detail in your world, the answer is still simple: "It's magic. It works because that is the nature of the enchantments placed on the bow. It transfers some of its magic/"energy" into its ammunition and that "energy" makes the ammunition capable of bypassing a creature's non-magic weapon resistance."
If you want to say it tranfers +1 to hit but only gets +1 to damage if the creature is hit by non-magic weapons...then the magic /is/[potentially] effecting the damage...after the fact [being hit?]. Sooooo...in what way is the arrow NOT magical if it's getting a bonus to damage "maybe"?
The whole thing is a black hole of logic or justification. It's magic. Yes it works. It works BECAUSE it's magic!
Moving on.<jazz hands>
I think the answers are being made are mostly all good...but perhaps a bit unnecessary from a RAW and RAI perspective.
Simply put...what is a magical bow FOR if it doesn't imbue its ammunition fired from it with its properties (say, for example, +1 to hit and +1 damage)? Is the receiver of the wonderful magical item, presumably a decent (if not primarily an) archer, expected to run up to foes and BEAT them with their +1 bow to get their benefits?
No. You are supposed to fire arrows out of it. So your arrows are +1 to hit and +1 to damage. IF you want to split hairs and say "But what is that +1 for/from? HOW does it happen? WHY is the arrow now magic?" The answer, as it has been since dice rolls immemorial, is...
"mmmmmMAGIC!" <jazz hands>
If we start down the road to explaining "what/why/how" MAGIC happens, then you are firmly marching into "Magic=Science and therefore HAS an answer that must be discernable."
If you prefer a bit more rationale/detail in your world, the answer is still simple: "It's magic. It works because that is the nature of the enchantments placed on the bow. It transfers some of its magic/"energy" into its ammunition and that "energy" makes the ammunition capable of bypassing a creature's non-magic weapon resistance."
If you want to say it tranfers +1 to hit but only gets +1 to damage if the creature is hit by non-magic weapons...then the magic /is/[potentially] effecting the damage...after the fact [being hit?]. Sooooo...in what way is the arrow NOT magical if it's getting a bonus to damage "maybe"?
The whole thing is a black hole of logic or justification. It's magic. Yes it works. It works BECAUSE it's magic!
Moving on.<jazz hands>
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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. Same way that if a rule in the Combat section of the PH is one you don't like but there's an alternate in the DMG that you do... you use the one in the DMG.
Don't get pissed off that there's not one single book that has every one of the rules you want to use typed up in a nice, orderly easy-to-use fashion. That's not the job of the D&D designers. It's your job as a player and DM to select and use the rules to create the game you want to play.
Don't get pissed off that there's not one single book that has every one of the rules you want to use typed up in a nice, orderly easy-to-use fashion. That's not the job of the D&D designers. It's your job as a player and DM to select and use the rules to create the game you want to play.
While I can go either way...consider this, which is what some folks are implying.
A magical bow allows you to aim and pull the bow more accurately, resulting in a well placed (higher to hit/damage) arrow.
It doesn't transfer anything..the magic is on you, the user. So...
"bounce" off the monster's magic resistance hide.
Just a thought...many ways to view things...play as you like...
To keep down on insane archers.
- An attack from a magic bow IS a magic attack even with regular arrows.
- A non magic bow with a magic arrow is also a magic attack.
- Pluses from arrows and bows don't stack. that could get way OP.
- BUT, there is a reason to stack magic arrows with magic bows. There are situational arrows like slaying arrows, bane arrows, elemental damage arrows, etc. that may be woth keeping in tool box or if you have a lesser bow even if it doesnt stack.
- An attack from a magic bow IS a magic attack even with regular arrows.
- A non magic bow with a magic arrow is also a magic attack.
- Pluses from arrows and bows don't stack. that could get way OP.
- BUT, there is a reason to stack magic arrows with magic bows. There are situational arrows like slaying arrows, bane arrows, elemental damage arrows, etc. that may be woth keeping in tool box or if you have a lesser bow even if it doesnt stack.
FormerlyHemlock
Hero
I don't think the "silver my bow" argument is silly. I see the appeal, and I think it's a valid basis for a house rule. If you want nonmagical ammunition to fail to penetrate magic immunity, I say, "That changes some things about 5E, but it makes sense, and arguably archers are too dominant anyway; it would give melee weapons more of a reason to be used. If you want to rule that way, go for it!" I won't be changing it myself but it's not a silly analogy at all.
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.
Obviously.
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