A small change which went unoticed (at least by my group) until the game today when we had a long in game discussion about it following an attack with a hand axe by a Rogue. The definition of a "ranged weapon" is changed in the 2024 rules and the new wording of sneak attack and Ranged weapon allow these weapons to be used. Under the new rules a weapon that is under the melee weapon sections of the table is both a melee weapon and a ranged weapon if it has the thrown property with a range after it.
From Rogue Sneak Attack:
You know how to strike subtly and exploit a foe’s distraction. Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack roll if you have Advantage on the roll and the attack uses a Finesse or a Ranged weapon. The extra damage’s type is the same as the weapon’s type.
From page 214:
A Range weapon has a range in parentheses after the Ammunition or Thrown property. The range lists two numbers. The first is the weapon’s normal range in feet, and the second is the weapon’s long range.
This is not only what is called out in the PHB separate from Rogue, on the DNDB version this is also the text that is linked when you click "Ranged Weapon" in the Sneak Attack section.
It also does not say it needs to be a Ranged attack, so you can use a "Ranged Weapon" that is also a melee weapon in melee and get this damage. This means RAW a Trident wielded with 2 hands is the highest damage melee weapon eligible for sneak attack at 1d10. This also brings SAP and Topple into the list of possible masteries to be used on sneak attack (although the Rogue would need to get proficiency in trident to use Topple during a sneak attack). It is also important to note such sneak attacks with non-finesse "Ranged weapons" would always be made using Strength (unless you have some sort of spell or invocation that changes it).
Did other groups catch this change?
From Rogue Sneak Attack:
You know how to strike subtly and exploit a foe’s distraction. Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack roll if you have Advantage on the roll and the attack uses a Finesse or a Ranged weapon. The extra damage’s type is the same as the weapon’s type.
From page 214:
A Range weapon has a range in parentheses after the Ammunition or Thrown property. The range lists two numbers. The first is the weapon’s normal range in feet, and the second is the weapon’s long range.
This is not only what is called out in the PHB separate from Rogue, on the DNDB version this is also the text that is linked when you click "Ranged Weapon" in the Sneak Attack section.
It also does not say it needs to be a Ranged attack, so you can use a "Ranged Weapon" that is also a melee weapon in melee and get this damage. This means RAW a Trident wielded with 2 hands is the highest damage melee weapon eligible for sneak attack at 1d10. This also brings SAP and Topple into the list of possible masteries to be used on sneak attack (although the Rogue would need to get proficiency in trident to use Topple during a sneak attack). It is also important to note such sneak attacks with non-finesse "Ranged weapons" would always be made using Strength (unless you have some sort of spell or invocation that changes it).
Did other groups catch this change?
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