Sage Advice: Sneak Attacks, Breath Weapons, and Magic Weapons

The month's Sage Advice column by WotC's Jeremy Crawford covers the rogue's sneak attacks, ability modifiers to use with attack roles, and answers the questions "does anti-magic field work on a dragon's breath weapon?" (no), and "do magic weapons automatically give you bonus to both attack and damage rolls?" (only if it says so in the description).

The Sage Advice Compendium PDF has been updated to include this information. You can read the current column here.

 

[Faenor]

from the basic rules:
Improvised Weapons
Sometimes characters don’t have their weapons and
have to attack with whatever is close at hand. An
improvised weapon includes any object you can wield
in one or two hands, such as broken glass, a table leg, a
frying pan, a wagon wheel, or a dead goblin.
In many cases, an improvised weapon is similar
to an actual weapon and can be treated as such. For
example, a table leg is akin to a club. At the DM’s option,
a character proficient with a weapon can use a similar
object as if it were that weapon and use his or her
proficiency bonus.
An object that bears no resemblance to a weapon
deals 1d4 damage (the DM assigns a damage type
appropriate to the object). If a character uses a ranged
weapon to make a melee attack, or throws a melee
weapon that does not have the thrown property, it also
deals 1d4 damage. An improvised thrown weapon has a
normal range of 20 feet and a long range of 60 feet.

 

[Faenor]

Nowhere does it say an improvised weapon becomes a different weapon type depending on what you do with it. You make a melee attack or a ranged attack. That's all.

 

[Faenor]

Nowhere in there does it say either 'melee weapon attack' or 'ranged weapon attack'. You add the word 'weapon'. Don't add words, and don't do 'in other words'. Only jc gets to do that.

 

[jaelis]

Nowhere in there does it say either 'melee weapon attack' or 'ranged weapon attack'. You add the word 'weapon'. Don't add words, and don't do 'in other words'. Only jc gets to do that.

Sage Advice says a melee attack with a weapon is a melee weapon attack. So if you believe that you are making a melee attack, and you believe that you are using a weapon, then JC would say you are making a melee weapon attack.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Nowhere does it say an improvised weapon becomes a different weapon type depending on what you do with it.

Of course it doesn't. That's because the only time a weapon changes from one category of weapon to another (the three categories being melee weapon, ranged weapon, and improvised weapon) is when something becomes an improvised weapon.

You make a melee attack or a ranged attack. That's all.

All melee attacks are either a melee weapon attack or a melee spell attack. All ranged attacks are either a ranged weapon attack or a ranged spell attack.

 

[Faenor]

Where does it say that?

 

[Faenor]

What does “melee weapon attack” mean: a melee
attack with a weapon or an attack with a melee weapon?
It means a melee attack with a weapon. Similarly, “ranged
weapon attack” means a ranged attack with a weapon.
Some attacks count as a melee or ranged weapon attackseven if a weapon isn’t involved, as specified in the text of those attacks. For example, an unarmed strike counts as a
melee weapon attack, even though the attacker’s body isn’t
considered a weapon.
Here’s a bit of wording minutia: we would write “melee-
weapon attack” if we meant an attack with a melee weapon.

 

[Faenor]

Some attacks. You say all, JC says some. Ranged weapon attack means a ranged attack with a weapon. But no words say all ranged attacks are either ranged weapon or ranged spell attacks.The words say 'make a ranged attack.' Not 'make a ranged weapon attack'. So he's defining what a ranged weapon attack is. Not what a ranged attack is.

 

[jaelis]

Well, would you agree that any ranged attack with a weapon is a ranged weapon attack, given the SA paragraph you quoted?

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

...no words say all ranged attacks are either ranged weapon or ranged spell attacks.

Find me a single example within the D&D rules text that talks about a ranged attack that isn't a ranged spell attack and isn't a ranged weapon attack, and I'll consider believing you.

Otherwise, we at a situation where you are demanding that the rules text makes a specific statement "all ranged attack are either ranged weapon attacks or ranged spell attacks" for said statement to be true in practice, when the rules really only have to establish what they do - how and when someone is making a ranged spell attack and how and when someone is making a ranged weapon attack - and then simply not include any ranged attacks that aren't one of those two things.