D&D 5E [MERGED] Various crossbow/dual-wielding threads

[Beleriphon]

You would probably get the +2 ac bonus. However, turning your back on your enemies is a bad idea. You'd probably give them advantage on their attack rolls and/or lose your dex bonus to AC since you cannot see to try and avoid them.

Also, this isn't AD&D 2nd Edition where stowed shields still provided AC to attacks from behind.

 

[BigVanVader]

Well yeah. You're turning your back, you're reloading, then you're turning back around quick as you can. I can't imagine using that technique in a melee fight unless you had Daredevil vision.

 

[pming]

Hiya.

Just a note on the hand crossbow and the loading property, it never says it needs two hands or a free hand to load. So hand crossbow and shield is a valid combination.

I would also like to point out that under the section on Donning and Doffing armor, it also doesn't say you need two hands or a free hand. Oh, and under the Athletics skill it doesn't say you need two hands to climb, or two legs to jump. So, while what you pointed out may be a "valid combination" for a mindless computer to accept, any DM worth his/her salt would probably say "No...you need both hands to load a hand crossbow effectively".

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[BigVanVader]

Yeah, but you're right in that those things don't say you need hands free. While for most people they probably need to climb a tree with two hands, maybe my character's part monkey somewhere in his ancestry, so he has an easier time of it(as evidenced by my pouring every skill point I have into climb), for example.

If a rule doesn't explicitly say something, a player should be able to give his case on why he feels he shouldn't need what the rule didn't say. And maybe it ends in a 'no' if it gets too silly.

 

[aramis erak]

Hiya.



I would also like to point out that under the section on Donning and Doffing armor, it also doesn't say you need two hands or a free hand. Oh, and under the Athletics skill it doesn't say you need two hands to climb, or two legs to jump. So, while what you pointed out may be a "valid combination" for a mindless computer to accept, any DM worth his/her salt would probably say "No...you need both hands to load a hand crossbow effectively".

^_^

Paul L. Ming

If you look at historical crossbows, not necessarily. Hell, I'd be more reticent to allow reloads of a heavy crossbow without using a foot on the bow than two hands. And would pretty much require a foot be involved if reloading 1-handed.

 

[Psikerlord#]

Also, this isn't AD&D 2nd Edition where stowed shields still provided AC to attacks from behind.

Well, it might give you +2 AC from the rear, depending on your DM's ruling... Personally I would not allow it, or grant Adv to attackers against you from the front (as another poster suggested).

 

[Psikerlord#]

I am disappoint. I thought this thread was about a guy with a crossbow hand. ;P

 

[Li Shenron]

1 Can I use two crowwbow hand, one in each hand?
2 Can I use a crossbow and a shield?
3 Can I use a crossbow and a short sword, one in each hand?
4 Can I reload a hand crossbow carrying a weapon or a shield in the other hand.

Independently on what the rules say about attacking in the same round (i.e. "two-weapon fighting"), I'd rather use common sense about general use of these, before taking any feat or special ability into account.

By "use" I just mean "attack" with that weapon normally. My interpretation is:

1) Yes
2) Yes
3) Yes
4) No

Then I'll leave it to the others' comments on how you can in case 1) and 3) get two attacks in the same round, but at least if you have Extra Attacks it should be obvious that you can use both in the same round.

All these provided the crossbows are already loaded. Unless a particular crossbow says otherwise (but I don't remember any automatic loading xbows in 5e), I rule that you do need 2 hands to load a crossbow.

There is no shortcut to this, but at the same time 5e goes quite easy with moving weapons between your hands or dropping and picking them up again, so then I won't go hard on a PC in normal conditions, and will let her put down the other weapon to load the crossbow and then pick it up again. But in not normal conditions it's different: if you are using one hand to hold on to a ledge or ladder, if you are flying or other weird situation, I might rule you can't reload that easily.

I am undecided about the shield. Generally, I think shields should be securely strapped to be effective, and then your hand is busy and cannot be used for precision tasks. Bucklers used to allow use of that hand at the cost of temporarily not benefitting from the AC bonus, but sadly IIRC they are gone in 5e. I don't think I'd easily allow to drop the shield + use the hand to reload + strap the shield back up, all in a single turn. If this makes crossbow+shield a bad combo, so be it.

 

[Li Shenron]

Since she ignores the loading on her crossbow, I've flavored it that she has a set of bolts on a special rig on her hip so that she can slam them into place by moving the crossbow.

I don't remember, doesn't the loading property refer to requiring an action to load the crossbow?

If so, I think the intent of the feat is to let the character load faster, not to let her load without using her hands.

But then you're always free to rule it the way it works for you.

 

[Paraxis]

I don't remember, doesn't the loading property refer to requiring an action to load the crossbow?

If so, I think the intent of the feat is to let the character load faster, not to let her load without using her hands.

But then you're always free to rule it the way it works for you.

It is not the fact that a weapon has or does not have the loading property, it is the fact that the game never sets how you reload a weapon in the first place. Without the game establishing that you need two hands use and reload certain weapons, you have to assume it is the same number of hands as to just use it.

So slings, blowguns, and hand crossbows all only require one hand to wield, therefore only require one hand to operate ie reload.

What crossbow expert does since it removes the loading property is as another poster pointed out mean you only need one hand crossbow to get two attacks with it, you use your action to attack with a one handed weapon (in this case your hand crossbow) and then use your bonus action to attack with your hand crossbow.