D&D 5E Sharpshooter

[guachi]

That would fall under the rules for "improvised weapons".

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.​

He doesn't mean you are throwing the pike, whip, glaive, etc. He means you are using its 10 foot reach. Using the general statement that a melee weapon is used to attack someone within five feet and reasoning that if you attack someone outside of 5 feet makes the weapon ranged means you end up with what FarBeyondC mentioned - namely that a weapon with a 10 foot reach is now a ranged weapon if used to attack beyond 5 feet.

The statement about what constitutes a ranged weapon or melee weapon in the rules is a generalized statement with specific exceptions - and specific beats general, of course.

Some melee weapons can be thrown - but they're still melee weapons.
Some melee weapons have a reach of 10 ft - but they are still melee weapons.
Ranged weapons can be fired within 5 ft. - but they are still ranged weapons (just used at disadvantage - generally. Unless you have the specific exception of the Crossbow Expert feat).

 

[Zardnaar]

They were somewhat popular.

You can't climb with no hands.

And you can assassinate someone through open window if you climb up the wall.

On battlefield they were utter rubish but they could have found work in urban area. Easier to put under cloak, light,

Historical assassins are almost unheard of with the exception of the Shia sect in the middle ages.

At least in the fictional highly trained Assassins Creed type of assassin. Even Ninja were more like Guerilla fighters.

The assassination that did happen were uually gun or bomb or by someone who had no intention of escape.


At least professional assassins did not exist. Most relied on brute force rather than stealth or a gun in a public place (Kennedy, Archduke Ferdinand, Lincoln etc). None of those assassination were performed an professional assassin mostly because they don't really exist unless you want to count a modern military or secret service operative.

A hand crossbow is fairly useless at killing people, it would hurt but why not use a gun or dagger if you are hell bent on murder.

 

[pdegan2814]

That is a very lawyerly reading, [MENTION=6803170]FarBeyondC[/MENTION].

It also happens to be a correct reading. The main principle to keep in mind is that a "ranged weapon attack" and an "attack with a ranged weapon" are two different things. Look at the wording in each of the three sections of the feat. The first two deal with "ranged weapon attacks", and the third one deals with "an attack with a ranged weapon you are proficient in". If you look at p195 of the PHB in the section "Ranged Attacks", it refers to firing a bow, throwing a handaxe, even casting a spell as a ranged attack. In the first two parts of the feat, the benefit applies to "ranged weapon attacks", meaning it would apply to weapons like bows & crossbows, as well as thrown weapons. What it would NOT apply to is ranged SPELL attacks, that's what the Spell Sniper feat is for. The last benefit, which refers to an "attack with a ranged weapon you are proficient in" requires an actual ranged weapon, not a thrown one. So in the Critical Role example someone mentioned, Liam's character Vax has the Sharpshooter feat which he uses with his thrown daggers. The benefits to range and ignoring cover are as-written in the feat. If Matthew Mercer is allowing Liam to take the -5/+10, he's technically going against the rules as-written. However, it's their game and if they want to houserule it so that the third benefit can apply to thrown daggers as well, that's totally up to them. One of Mearls' twitter replies about it even mentioned that the damage bonus is a bit odd with a thrown weapon, but allowing it won't break the game.

 

[Plaguescarred]

@FarBeyondC lawyerly reading is the correct one rule-wise. A thrown weapon can be either melee or ranged depending on it's category (simple melee, martial melee, simple ranged and martial melee) so it's not necessarily range because it's thrown.

It was also clarified by Jeremy Crawford on twitter https://twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/608082653342896128?ref_src=twsrc^tfw


@atkinsonnathanj Archery fighting style only affects weapons under ranged cat. on p149 phb, not weapons with the thrown property? This RAW?
‏@JeremyECrawford That's correct. A melee weapon with the thrown property is still a melee weapon when you throw it.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

There are ranged, thrown weapons but unless a weapon is specifically defined as Ranged, then Sharpshooter does not apply to it. I can't throw a spear and claim Sharpshooter with it, but I can throw a dart and do so.