So with dual wielding feat could you theoretically, go into a fight with a hand crossbow and a longsword drawn, shoot with the handcrossbow, apply vex, then stow crossbow, then attack with longsword, apply vex, then draw dagger, attack with dagger using nick?
No you wouldn't be able to because you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon with an Ammunition. But what you could do is start wielding a Hand Crossbow;
Attack with Hand Crossbow and equip a Longsword [Attack Action]
Unequip Hand Crossbow [Free Item Interaction]
Attack with a Longsword [Dual Wielder]
Equip Dagger and attack with Dagger [Nick mastery]
So with dual wielding feat could you theoretically, go into a fight with a hand crossbow and a longsword drawn, shoot with the handcrossbow, apply vex, then stow crossbow, then attack with longsword, apply vex, then draw dagger, attack with dagger using nick?
No you wouldn't be able to because you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon with an Ammunition. But what you could do is start wielding a Hand Crossbow;
Attack with Hand Crossbow and equip a Longsword [Attack Action]
Unequip Hand Crossbow [Free Item Interaction]
Attack with a Longsword [Dual Wielder]
Equip Dagger and attack with Dagger [Nick mastery]
The hand crossbow starts loaded. His example is perfectly good. It's taking a second shot which would require loading.
The hand crossbow starts loaded. His example is perfectly good. It's taking a second shot which would require loading.
This is not part of the OP or even the rules, so i'd refer to the DM if preload is a thing.
Whether a weapon is loaded or not is implicitly baked into the ammunition rules ("you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon"). It doesn't say you must load the weapon as part of the attack, just that drawing ammunition requires a hand. If you don't need to draw ammunition, you don't need the hand.
The capacity for pre-loading is baked into the word crossbow. Or Musket. Or pistol. Natural language rules - these are crossbows, muskets, and pistols. They operate how crossbows, muskets, and pistols do except where explicit rules say otherwise. The rules don't say you can't pre-load, and all these weapons can be pre-loaded.
The hand crossbow starts loaded. His example is perfectly good. It's taking a second shot which would require loading.
This is not part of the OP or even the rules, so i'd refer to the DM if preload is a thing.
Whether a weapon is loaded or not is implicitly baked into the ammunition rules ("you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon"). It doesn't say you must load the weapon as part of the attack, just that drawing ammunition requires a hand. If you don't need to draw ammunition, you don't need the hand.
The capacity for pre-loading is baked into the word crossbow. Or Musket. Or pistol. Natural language rules - these are crossbows, muskets, and pistols. They operate how crossbows, muskets, and pistols do except where explicit rules say otherwise. The rules don't say you can't pre-load, and all these weapons can be pre-loaded.
The rules on Ammunition only say Drawing the ammunition is part of the attack (you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon) and doesn't otherwise cover preload.
The hand crossbow starts loaded. His example is perfectly good. It's taking a second shot which would require loading.
This is not part of the OP or even the rules, so i'd refer to the DM if preload is a thing.
Whether a weapon is loaded or not is implicitly baked into the ammunition rules ("you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon"). It doesn't say you must load the weapon as part of the attack, just that drawing ammunition requires a hand. If you don't need to draw ammunition, you don't need the hand.
The capacity for pre-loading is baked into the word crossbow. Or Musket. Or pistol. Natural language rules - these are crossbows, muskets, and pistols. They operate how crossbows, muskets, and pistols do except where explicit rules say otherwise. The rules don't say you can't pre-load, and all these weapons can be pre-loaded.
The rules on Ammunition only say Drawing the ammunition is part of the attack (you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon) and doesn't otherwise cover preload.
No, it doesn't. Preloading is baked into the word "crossbow". By default, it works like a crossbow works.
Ammunition does tell us that ranged weapons have loaded and unloaded states, because you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon. We get no guidance otherwise about loaded or unloaded weapons - so that's up to natural language. (ie, you could have used that free hand to load it that morning or 10 minutes ago. Nothing says you have to load it right before firing it - that comes down to natural language and how crossbows actually operate).
Attack Action [Revised Rule] The Attack action contains several revisions:
- The action now specifies that it involves an attack with a weapon or an Unarmed Strike. - The action now allows you to equip or unequip one weapon with each attack you make with the action. - The ability to move between attacks during com-at is now a function of the Attack action rather than a general rule.
Also I heard that the devs have somewhat addressed 2024 dual wielding concerns in some sage advice or interviews or something. Does this sound familiar to you? Of course I'm not asking for anyone to scour the internet on behalf. Just figured I'd ask the beautiful hivemind if that was real because I can't even remember where I originally read it.
To me the investments are consequent when wielding two weapons;
Unitiated Wielder: 1 attack with a Light weapon as Attack Action, 1 extra attack with a different Light weapon as a Bonus Action with no damage mod.
Nick Master: 1 attack with a Light weapon and 1 extra attack with a different Light weapon as Attack Action with no damage mod.
Two-Weapon Fighter: 1 attack with a Light weapon, 1 extra attack with a different Light weapon as a Bonus Action with no damage mod.
Dual Wielder: 1 attack with a Light weapon as Attack Action, 1 extra attack with a different non-Two Handed melee weapon as a Bonus Action with no damage mod.
Nick Master Two-Weapon Fighter: 1 attack with a Light weapon as Attack Action and 1 extra attack with a different Light weapon as Attack Action with no damage mod.
Dual Wielder Two-Weapon Fighter: 1 attack with a Light weapon as Attack Action, 1 extra attack with a different non-Two Handed melee weapon as a Bonus Action with no damage mod.
Dual Wielder Nick Mastery: 1 attack with a Light weapon and 1 extra attack with a different Light weapon as Attack Action with no damage mod., 1 extra attack with a different non-Two Handed melee weapon as a Bonus Action with no damage mod.
Two-Weapon Fighter Dual Wielder Nick Master: 1 attack with a Light weapon and 1 extra attack with a different Light weapon as Attack Action, 1 extra attack with a different non-Two Handed melee weapon as a Bonus Action with no damage mod.
I don't know my players don't walk all day with loaded crossbow.
I certainly load my crossbow before entering a dungeon (if I'm carrying a crossbow), but typically I'd be firing repeatedly, round after round, so i'd load for the next round as part of the attack action.
In a campaign with flintlock pistols, my pistols are always loaded (until fired, and then i load them after combat - they're one shot and done). (If it's matchlock pistols, it's always loaded, but the limiting factor will be lighting the slow match, as I don't want to walk around all day with that burning. Matchlock pistols are more of a cavalry weapon, anyway, whereas flintlock pistols really make the pirate fantasy work).
If I was using a hand crossbow, I'd treat it more like a pistol than a light or heavy crossbow, because the whole point of a hand crossbow is to dual wield it and then switch to close combat weapons.
I also think preloaded weapons aren't covered in the rules, so my advice here is to ask your DM about it.
SeveriantheDreary13867 if you're interested in crossbows, there's a feat especially good for them: Crossbow Expert. Just note that one of the differences between the 2014 and 2024 feat is that now you need to use a different Hand Crossbow if you want to attack twice. This is from the 2024 SAC:
Crossbows for most of their history did not have trigger guards (or even pistol grips), they were operated by manipulating an exposed lever (trigger). Having a loaded crossbow dangling at your side or on your back would be extremely likely to launch the bolt into the owner at the most inappropriate time. Good luck running with a loaded crossbow (unless it is in your hands), because it won't be loaded anymore when you reach where you are running to. The bolt would either get knocked loose and fall out of place, or worse, launch into the person carrying it.
As a DM, I would never allow a character to get away with having a pre-loaded crossbow, unless it is carried in their hands.
^^ 100%. You wouldn't keep one loaded anyways for the same reasons that real archers didn't keep their bow strung at all times...stress on the weapon and string.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Attack Action [Revised Rule] The Attack action contains several revisions:
- The action now specifies that it involves an attack with a weapon or an Unarmed Strike. - The action now allows you to equip or unequip one weapon with each attack you make with the action. - The ability to move between attacks during com-at is now a function of the Attack action rather than a general rule.
All of this is exactly what I was looking for and you saved me the search, so thank you!
I also think preloaded weapons aren't covered in the rules, so my advice here is to ask your DM about it.
SeveriantheDreary13867 if you're interested in crossbows, there's a feat especially good for them: Crossbow Expert. Just note that one of the differences between the 2014 and 2024 feat is that now you need to use a different Hand Crossbow if you want to attack twice. This is from the 2024 SAC:
You once again are a wealth of information for me. My main strategy for getting a full grasp on the rules is reading the books and then scouring forum websites to watch other people debate about them. I imagine thats probably standard practice. The big powerful Devs voicing their opinion always helps clear cobwebs too.
If I was using a hand crossbow, I'd treat it more like a pistol than a light or heavy crossbow, because the whole point of a hand crossbow is to dual wield it and then switch to close combat weapons.
I definitely wasn't intending to derail this thread into a new topic. So apologies to everyone there. My main fantasy involved the rogue running into a fight with hand crossbow that they just pop off on the first target real quick, and then they start swinging with their blades. If it isn't clear this character is more geared around theme and flavor, then optimization. If I can do something similar every round then even better. My understanding of the new equip/unequip rules led me to believe it might be possible RAW.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges. [. . .] I did not know that then, but it is a profound mistake to believe that we must know of such things to be influenced by them, and in fact to believe so is to believe in the most debased and superstitious kind of magic. [. . .] [R]ational people know that things act of themselves or not at all."
Honestly if you want to use a crossbow you are probably just going to get the feat that ignores the loading property anyway making most of this an irrelevant conversation.
what matters is the draw/stow rules which will likely be debated until the end of time.
Crossbows for most of their history did not have trigger guards (or even pistol grips), they were operated by manipulating an exposed lever (trigger). Having a loaded crossbow dangling at your side or on your back would be extremely likely to launch the bolt into the owner at the most inappropriate time. Good luck running with a loaded crossbow (unless it is in your hands), because it won't be loaded anymore when you reach where you are running to. The bolt would either get knocked loose and fall out of place, or worse, launch into the person carrying it.
As a DM, I would never allow a character to get away with having a pre-loaded crossbow, unless it is carried in their hands.
We do have examples of knights during the crusades carrying a loaded crossbow and firing it from horseback. They probably didn't load it while on horseback, and probably loaded it as the armies were assembling into formation, but I think they figured out how to make it work. There were also increasingly sophisticated systems for holding a bolt in place over time.
I'm not saying you store a crossbow loaded, but if you expect imminent use, you'd absolutely load the crossbow before combat began. The entrance of a dungeon is a reasonable place to do so for an adventure (and i generally expect someone carrying a light or heavy crossbow is actually carrying it in a dungeon or other area they expect danger, and will check their load after they put it down and pick it back up outside of combat.) These are adventurers, they're actively looking for trouble.
Also keep in mind we're talking about hand crossbows here. These are going to be used a lot more nimbly than a light or heavy crossbow, and need some mechanism to secure the bolt while it is loaded anyway. Historical hand crossbows of a size where you could actually use it one-handed, like a Latchet Crossbow, used the uncocked string to secure the bolt in place (resting over it and holding it in the firing mount), and had a thumb-operated lever which pulled the string back, arming the crossbow, so the first shot could be completely operated one-handed. It is loaded, but not cocked.
(I imagine the increased pressure along the string, and the weight needed to draw it, makes that at least impractical if not impossible for light crossbows or larger, but you need 2 hands to operate those anyway).
As far as I can tell, the rules for the ammunition property state that "Drawing the ammunition is part of the attack" , so you'd have to house-rule it otherwise.
No, it doesn't. Preloading is baked into the word "crossbow". By default, it works like a crossbow works.
Please provide a quote.
Ammunition says that drawing the ammunition is part of the attack and that you need a free hand to load it. Drawing the ammunition is part of the attack because the weapons start unloaded. It would be impossible to walk around with an arrow dangling from your bow string. A quarrel would flop out of your crossbow (personal experience). The bullet and gunpowder would fall out of a musket/pistol pointed downwards.
Crossbows are further limited by the Loading property restricting the number of attacks they can make per Action, Bonus Action, or Reaction. There is no other rule specific to crossbows. That is not how they work.
No, it doesn't. Preloading is baked into the word "crossbow". By default, it works like a crossbow works.
Please provide a quote.
Ammunition says that drawing the ammunition is part of the attack and that you need a free hand to load it. Drawing the ammunition is part of the attack because the weapons start unloaded. It would be impossible to walk around with an arrow dangling from your bow string. A quarrel would flop out of your crossbow (personal experience). The bullet and gunpowder would fall out of a musket/pistol pointed downwards.
Crossbows are further limited by the Loading property restricting the number of attacks they can make per Action, Bonus Action, or Reaction. There is no other rule specific to crossbows. That is not how they work.
We have historical examples of crossbow use by mounted knights during the crusades that were almost certainly cocked and loaded before they got in the saddle.
I detailed above how at least some historical hand crossbows could be loaded without being cocked, and that the cocking mechanism was thumb operated.
And absolute nonsense about pistols and muskets. You're making things up that have no basis in reality.
You can absolutely carry a flintlock pistol barrel down, and the ball will not roll out. Not only was carrying a loaded pistol historically commonplace, but you can just talk to any modern flintlock enthusiast (or track their forums down on the web). We even have and know of historical cavalry holsters for flintlock and wheellock pistols that would have held one or more pistols barrel down. According to modern enthusiasts, you only need to refresh the primer in the pan on the day you use it, and the loaded pistol will fire fine even days later or weeks later. (I found one person noting that, due to a sudden emergency, he accidentally stored a flintlock pistol loaded for 2 years, and with fresh primer it fired with only a little hang).
A properly loaded musket will not have a musket ball roll out. The ball has wadding, and is rammed into the barrel. Getting it out of the barrel short of firing it would be very difficult without specialized tools for doing so (which exist). Certainly units of muskets and similar firearms could and did load their weapons as they massed for battle, not right before they took their first shot. (They didn't load during the march, but we're talking armies which formed up and advanced in formation, which could be an hour or more before you got to fire. Whether or not an army loaded at the point of massing for battle depended on tactics and weather conditions. Damp conditions could ruin the powder. And if you were likely to affix bayonets, which slotted into the barrel, you wouldn't want your weapon loaded while a bayonet was affixed. The French under Napoleon often preferred the charge to firing, but they also didn't always mass for battle, famously engaging in columns.)
(Matchlock weapons have an additional hazard - the slow match. If your campaign uses firearms and is using matchlock weapons rather than flintlock weapons, you would not load until you would be holding your weapon at the ready. This is because of the risk of accidental discharge posed by the slow match. I haven't seen a fantasy campaign that allowed firearms use anything but flintlocks.)
And of course, pulling a loaded pistol, or even two, is part of the fantasy of using pistols. So even if it wasn't historically accurate, it should still be allowed.
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The Ammunition rule relevantly states: "You can use a weapon that has the Ammunition property to make a ranged attack only if you have ammunition to fire from it. The type of ammunition required is specified with the weapon's range. Each attack expends one piece of ammunition. Drawing the ammunition is part of the attack (you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon)." (Trimmed about recovering ammo).
So, you must have ammunition to fire it. The attack expends a piece of ammunition. Thus the weapon needs to be loaded at the moment you fire it. If it is already loaded, you would not need to load it, so wouldn't need the free hand. It never says you must draw ammunition nor that you must load it as part of the attack. There is certainly some time horizon over which you could pre-load it. And certainly you cannot fire it unless it is loaded. (Technically, you don't need the free hand to draw the ammunition, only to load it. So if you don't have the free hand, i guess RAW you draw it and then fail to reload. I'd just say you decline to draw ammunition in that case).
And again, natural language rules. A pistol is still a pistol. It operates like a pistol does. Yes, you absolutely need two hands to load a pistol. Yes, you can load and fire a pistol as an action. But you can absolutely preload a pistol, draw the loaded pistol, cock the hammer, and fire it with one hand, even if something is in your other hand, because that's how pistols actually work.
Attack Action [Revised Rule] The Attack action contains several revisions:
- The action now specifies that it involves an attack with a weapon or an Unarmed Strike. - The action now allows you to equip or unequip one weapon with each attack you make with the action. - The ability to move between attacks during com-at is now a function of the Attack action rather than a general rule.
All of this is exactly what I was looking for and you saved me the search, so thank you!
I also think preloaded weapons aren't covered in the rules, so my advice here is to ask your DM about it.
SeveriantheDreary13867 if you're interested in crossbows, there's a feat especially good for them: Crossbow Expert. Just note that one of the differences between the 2014 and 2024 feat is that now you need to use a different Hand Crossbow if you want to attack twice. This is from the 2024 SAC:
You once again are a wealth of information for me. My main strategy for getting a full grasp on the rules is reading the books and then scouring forum websites to watch other people debate about them. I imagine thats probably standard practice. The big powerful Devs voicing their opinion always helps clear cobwebs too.
Happy to know it was useful for you! You're welcome! :)
We have historical examples of crossbow use by mounted knights during the crusades that were almost certainly cocked and loaded before they got in the saddle.
This is not a rule. D&D is not a simulation of the crusades.
The Ammunition rule relevantly states: "You can use a weapon that has the Ammunition property to make a ranged attack only if you have ammunition to fire from it. The type of ammunition required is specified with the weapon's range. Each attack expends one piece of ammunition. Drawing the ammunition is part of the attack (you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon)." (Trimmed about recovering ammo).
So, you must have ammunition to fire it. The attack expends a piece of ammunition. Thus the weapon needs to be loaded at the moment you fire it. If it is already loaded, you would not need to load it, so wouldn't need the free hand. It never says you must draw ammunition nor that you must load it as part of the attack. There is certainly some time horizon over which you could pre-load it. And certainly you cannot fire it unless it is loaded. (Technically, you don't need the free hand to draw the ammunition, only to load it. So if you don't have the free hand, i guess RAW you draw it and then fail to reload. I'd just say you decline to draw ammunition in that case).
There is no allowance for preloading weapons with ammunition. Your argument is that you can do it because the rules don't say you can't. The rules don't say you can.
The rules do say you can draw the ammunition as part of the attack and part of the statement is that you must have a free hand to load it. The actual "natural language" reading is that you draw and load the ammunition each time you make an attack and there is no explicit allowance for preloading the ammunition. You draw the weapon, and it is unloaded.
No you wouldn't be able to because you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon with an Ammunition. But what you could do is start wielding a Hand Crossbow;
Attack with Hand Crossbow and equip a Longsword [Attack Action]
Unequip Hand Crossbow [Free Item Interaction]
Attack with a Longsword [Dual Wielder]
Equip Dagger and attack with Dagger [Nick mastery]
The hand crossbow starts loaded. His example is perfectly good. It's taking a second shot which would require loading.
This is not part of the OP or even the rules, so i'd refer to the DM if preload is a thing.
Whether a weapon is loaded or not is implicitly baked into the ammunition rules ("you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon"). It doesn't say you must load the weapon as part of the attack, just that drawing ammunition requires a hand. If you don't need to draw ammunition, you don't need the hand.
The capacity for pre-loading is baked into the word crossbow. Or Musket. Or pistol. Natural language rules - these are crossbows, muskets, and pistols. They operate how crossbows, muskets, and pistols do except where explicit rules say otherwise. The rules don't say you can't pre-load, and all these weapons can be pre-loaded.
The rules on Ammunition only say Drawing the ammunition is part of the attack (you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon) and doesn't otherwise cover preload.
No, it doesn't. Preloading is baked into the word "crossbow". By default, it works like a crossbow works.
Ammunition does tell us that ranged weapons have loaded and unloaded states, because you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon. We get no guidance otherwise about loaded or unloaded weapons - so that's up to natural language. (ie, you could have used that free hand to load it that morning or 10 minutes ago. Nothing says you have to load it right before firing it - that comes down to natural language and how crossbows actually operate).
I don't know my players don't walk all day with loaded crossbow.
This document: Converting to System Reference Document 5.2.1 (emphasis mine):
Maybe this pre-release video about Weapon Mastery? New Weapon Mastery | 2024 Player's Handbook | D&D
Also, I usually recommend this summary from Plaguescarred:
And this video explaining all those concepts too: Why You Get 4 Attacks a Round by Level 5 in Dungeons & Dragons 2024 | D&D 2024 Rules Update
I certainly load my crossbow before entering a dungeon (if I'm carrying a crossbow), but typically I'd be firing repeatedly, round after round, so i'd load for the next round as part of the attack action.
In a campaign with flintlock pistols, my pistols are always loaded (until fired, and then i load them after combat - they're one shot and done). (If it's matchlock pistols, it's always loaded, but the limiting factor will be lighting the slow match, as I don't want to walk around all day with that burning. Matchlock pistols are more of a cavalry weapon, anyway, whereas flintlock pistols really make the pirate fantasy work).
If I was using a hand crossbow, I'd treat it more like a pistol than a light or heavy crossbow, because the whole point of a hand crossbow is to dual wield it and then switch to close combat weapons.
I also think preloaded weapons aren't covered in the rules, so my advice here is to ask your DM about it.
SeveriantheDreary13867 if you're interested in crossbows, there's a feat especially good for them: Crossbow Expert. Just note that one of the differences between the 2014 and 2024 feat is that now you need to use a different Hand Crossbow if you want to attack twice. This is from the 2024 SAC:
Following threads about the 2024 rules were commenting on this change and the Loading property. In case they're useful for you:
Crossbows for most of their history did not have trigger guards (or even pistol grips), they were operated by manipulating an exposed lever (trigger). Having a loaded crossbow dangling at your side or on your back would be extremely likely to launch the bolt into the owner at the most inappropriate time. Good luck running with a loaded crossbow (unless it is in your hands), because it won't be loaded anymore when you reach where you are running to. The bolt would either get knocked loose and fall out of place, or worse, launch into the person carrying it.
As a DM, I would never allow a character to get away with having a pre-loaded crossbow, unless it is carried in their hands.
Playing D&D since 1982
Have played every version of the game since Basic (original Red Box Set), except that abomination sometimes called 4e.
^^ 100%. You wouldn't keep one loaded anyways for the same reasons that real archers didn't keep their bow strung at all times...stress on the weapon and string.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
All of this is exactly what I was looking for and you saved me the search, so thank you!
You once again are a wealth of information for me. My main strategy for getting a full grasp on the rules is reading the books and then scouring forum websites to watch other people debate about them. I imagine thats probably standard practice. The big powerful Devs voicing their opinion always helps clear cobwebs too.
I definitely wasn't intending to derail this thread into a new topic. So apologies to everyone there. My main fantasy involved the rogue running into a fight with hand crossbow that they just pop off on the first target real quick, and then they start swinging with their blades. If it isn't clear this character is more geared around theme and flavor, then optimization. If I can do something similar every round then even better. My understanding of the new equip/unequip rules led me to believe it might be possible RAW.
"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges. [. . .] I did not know that then, but it is a profound mistake to believe that we must know of such things to be influenced by them, and in fact to believe so is to believe in the most debased and superstitious kind of magic. [. . .] [R]ational people know that things act of themselves or not at all."
-Gene Wolfe, Shadow of the Torturer
Honestly if you want to use a crossbow you are probably just going to get the feat that ignores the loading property anyway making most of this an irrelevant conversation.
what matters is the draw/stow rules which will likely be debated until the end of time.
We do have examples of knights during the crusades carrying a loaded crossbow and firing it from horseback. They probably didn't load it while on horseback, and probably loaded it as the armies were assembling into formation, but I think they figured out how to make it work. There were also increasingly sophisticated systems for holding a bolt in place over time.
I'm not saying you store a crossbow loaded, but if you expect imminent use, you'd absolutely load the crossbow before combat began. The entrance of a dungeon is a reasonable place to do so for an adventure (and i generally expect someone carrying a light or heavy crossbow is actually carrying it in a dungeon or other area they expect danger, and will check their load after they put it down and pick it back up outside of combat.) These are adventurers, they're actively looking for trouble.
Also keep in mind we're talking about hand crossbows here. These are going to be used a lot more nimbly than a light or heavy crossbow, and need some mechanism to secure the bolt while it is loaded anyway. Historical hand crossbows of a size where you could actually use it one-handed, like a Latchet Crossbow, used the uncocked string to secure the bolt in place (resting over it and holding it in the firing mount), and had a thumb-operated lever which pulled the string back, arming the crossbow, so the first shot could be completely operated one-handed. It is loaded, but not cocked.
(I imagine the increased pressure along the string, and the weight needed to draw it, makes that at least impractical if not impossible for light crossbows or larger, but you need 2 hands to operate those anyway).
As far as I can tell, the rules for the ammunition property state that "Drawing the ammunition is part of the attack" , so you'd have to house-rule it otherwise.
Please provide a quote.
Ammunition says that drawing the ammunition is part of the attack and that you need a free hand to load it. Drawing the ammunition is part of the attack because the weapons start unloaded. It would be impossible to walk around with an arrow dangling from your bow string. A quarrel would flop out of your crossbow (personal experience). The bullet and gunpowder would fall out of a musket/pistol pointed downwards.
Crossbows are further limited by the Loading property restricting the number of attacks they can make per Action, Bonus Action, or Reaction. There is no other rule specific to crossbows. That is not how they work.
How to add Tooltips.
My houserulings.
We have historical examples of crossbow use by mounted knights during the crusades that were almost certainly cocked and loaded before they got in the saddle.
I detailed above how at least some historical hand crossbows could be loaded without being cocked, and that the cocking mechanism was thumb operated.
And absolute nonsense about pistols and muskets. You're making things up that have no basis in reality.
You can absolutely carry a flintlock pistol barrel down, and the ball will not roll out. Not only was carrying a loaded pistol historically commonplace, but you can just talk to any modern flintlock enthusiast (or track their forums down on the web). We even have and know of historical cavalry holsters for flintlock and wheellock pistols that would have held one or more pistols barrel down. According to modern enthusiasts, you only need to refresh the primer in the pan on the day you use it, and the loaded pistol will fire fine even days later or weeks later. (I found one person noting that, due to a sudden emergency, he accidentally stored a flintlock pistol loaded for 2 years, and with fresh primer it fired with only a little hang).
A properly loaded musket will not have a musket ball roll out. The ball has wadding, and is rammed into the barrel. Getting it out of the barrel short of firing it would be very difficult without specialized tools for doing so (which exist). Certainly units of muskets and similar firearms could and did load their weapons as they massed for battle, not right before they took their first shot. (They didn't load during the march, but we're talking armies which formed up and advanced in formation, which could be an hour or more before you got to fire. Whether or not an army loaded at the point of massing for battle depended on tactics and weather conditions. Damp conditions could ruin the powder. And if you were likely to affix bayonets, which slotted into the barrel, you wouldn't want your weapon loaded while a bayonet was affixed. The French under Napoleon often preferred the charge to firing, but they also didn't always mass for battle, famously engaging in columns.)
(Matchlock weapons have an additional hazard - the slow match. If your campaign uses firearms and is using matchlock weapons rather than flintlock weapons, you would not load until you would be holding your weapon at the ready. This is because of the risk of accidental discharge posed by the slow match. I haven't seen a fantasy campaign that allowed firearms use anything but flintlocks.)
And of course, pulling a loaded pistol, or even two, is part of the fantasy of using pistols. So even if it wasn't historically accurate, it should still be allowed.
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The Ammunition rule relevantly states: "You can use a weapon that has the Ammunition property to make a ranged attack only if you have ammunition to fire from it. The type of ammunition required is specified with the weapon's range. Each attack expends one piece of ammunition. Drawing the ammunition is part of the attack (you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon)." (Trimmed about recovering ammo).
So, you must have ammunition to fire it. The attack expends a piece of ammunition. Thus the weapon needs to be loaded at the moment you fire it. If it is already loaded, you would not need to load it, so wouldn't need the free hand. It never says you must draw ammunition nor that you must load it as part of the attack. There is certainly some time horizon over which you could pre-load it. And certainly you cannot fire it unless it is loaded. (Technically, you don't need the free hand to draw the ammunition, only to load it. So if you don't have the free hand, i guess RAW you draw it and then fail to reload. I'd just say you decline to draw ammunition in that case).
And again, natural language rules. A pistol is still a pistol. It operates like a pistol does. Yes, you absolutely need two hands to load a pistol. Yes, you can load and fire a pistol as an action. But you can absolutely preload a pistol, draw the loaded pistol, cock the hammer, and fire it with one hand, even if something is in your other hand, because that's how pistols actually work.
Happy to know it was useful for you! You're welcome! :)
This is not a rule. D&D is not a simulation of the crusades.
There is no allowance for preloading weapons with ammunition. Your argument is that you can do it because the rules don't say you can't. The rules don't say you can.
The rules do say you can draw the ammunition as part of the attack and part of the statement is that you must have a free hand to load it. The actual "natural language" reading is that you draw and load the ammunition each time you make an attack and there is no explicit allowance for preloading the ammunition. You draw the weapon, and it is unloaded.
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My houserulings.