Last night was my 1st time DMing under the 2024 rules. The party level is 5th, with six players. Problems occur during are 1st combat encounter. The player was a 5th level Beast Master Ranger with Dual Wielder and Two-weapon fighting, having weapon mastery with Short sword an Scimitar. The Ranger has 2 attacks so for his 1st attack he swings with his short sword and missing. His 2nd attack he commands his primal companion to beast's strike action (which requires the ranger to sacrifice one of their attacks) which hits. So now we get into the problem. Now the player decide to do an Nick attack with his Scimitar attack which he feels he right to do because Nick always you to make an attack action instead of a bonus action an then use his bonus action to command his primal companion to attack. I felt that this was an misinterpretation the rules. I belived that he had used his two attack actions with the short sword attack an the Beast's strike command and that he could not use a Bonus action as a Nick attack and then have a 2nd BA to have the pet attack.
...which he feels he right to do because Nick always you to make an attack action instead of a bonus action an then use his bonus action to command his primal companion to attack.
Did he hit with a a weapon that he has the mastery of?
I thought (could be wrong) the first time you use a 2nd weapon, it is during the bonus action, however if you hit with a nick, then it becomes a regular action.
I assumed if you have 2 attacks due to your level, Your main weapon is used twice. Then your bonus action allows the 2nd weapon. If there is one hit by a nick weapon you have mastery of, the 3rd attack is no longer a bonus action.
Last night was my 1st time DMing under the 2024 rules. The party level is 5th, with six players. Problems occur during are 1st combat encounter. The player was a 5th level Beast Master Ranger with Dual Wielder and Two-weapon fighting, having weapon mastery with Short sword an Scimitar. The Ranger has 2 attacks so for his 1st attack he swings with his short sword and missing. His 2nd attack he commands his primal companion to beast's strike action (which requires the ranger to sacrifice one of their attacks) which hits. So now we get into the problem. Now the player decide to do an Nick attack with his Scimitar attack which he feels he right to do because Nick always you to make an attack action instead of a bonus action an then use his bonus action to command his primal companion to attack. I felt that this was an misinterpretation the rules. I belived that he had used his two attack actions with the short sword attack an the Beast's strike command and that he could not use a Bonus action as a Nick attack and then have a 2nd BA to have the pet attack.
For reference, here are the two abilities:
Beast master:
It can move and use its Reaction on its own, but the only action it takes is the Dodge action unless you take a Bonus Action to command it to take an action in its stat block or some other action. You can also sacrifice one of your attacks when you take the Attack action to command the beast to take the Beast’s Strike action.
Nick:
When you make the extra attack of the Light property, you can make it as part of the Attack action instead of as a Bonus Action. You can make this extra attack only once per turn.
Now, before the Beast master ability gets involved, this character can, assuming appropriate weapons, make four attacks:
Basic attack
Extra attack
The extra attack of the light property, which is not a bonus action because of Nick
A bonus action attack from Dual Wielder
The beast master ability lets them replace #4 with "command the beast". No question about that.
It also lets them replace one of their attacks from the attack action with telling the beast to strike. Attack #2 is part of the attack action, so this is also legit.
The only question as to whether they can make attack #3 is an ambiguous bit of the rules around Nick. Specifically, which weapon has to be the Nick weapon. There are valid readings that say it has to be #1 or #2. There are also valid readings that it has to be #3. It's ambiguous, and ultimately it's DM's call. (There are also arguments that it can be any one of 1,2, or 3, as long as a Nick weapon is used in there somewhere.)
So, if your table ruling is that the Nick weapon has to be used to enable the additional attack, then they couldn't have made attack #3 because attack #1 was made with the short sword. However, from your confusion, I'm pretty sure you haven't made a ruling either way on that. (Your confusion is understandable. This stuff is not as clear as it ought to be.) You should make one, and discuss it with the player.
Other than that possibility, their turn is legal by the rules, and they could always make it legal by swapping which weapon they lead with.
(There is also a second question that needs answering: whether they can sacrifice the Nick attack in order to command the beast to strike. It's part of the attack action, so there's definitely a case to be made that they can. Decide for your table, and let the player know.)
...which he feels he right to do because Nick always you to make an attack action instead of a bonus action an then use his bonus action to command his primal companion to attack.
Did he hit with a a weapon that he has the mastery of?
I thought (could be wrong) the first time you use a 2nd weapon, it is during the bonus action, however if you hit with a nick, then it becomes a regular action.
I assumed if you have 2 attacks due to your level, Your main weapon is used twice. Then your bonus action allows the 2nd weapon. If there is one hit by a nick weapon you have mastery of, the 3rd attack is no longer a bonus action.
The Nick weapon mastery doesn't require you to hit with an attack in order to use it. It just moves the extra attack you get from the Light property from a bonus action to being part of the Attack action. The Light attack requires you to have attempted an attack with a Light weapon as part of the Attack action on that turn; it doesn't matter whether that attack hit or missed.
Extra Attack (the "due to your level" feature you're referring to) doesn't place any restrictions on which weapons you can use with it. If you're holding two weapons, you can make the two attacks with the same weapon, or mix and match.
However, the Light attack does have to be made with a different Light weapon from the one you used to trigger it as part of the Attack action. If you make two attacks as part of the Attack action with the same weapon, you have to use a different one for the Light/Nick attack. If you make two attacks as part of the Attack action with two different weapons, you can use either of them for the Light/Nick attack.
Last night was my 1st time DMing under the 2024 rules. The party level is 5th, with six players. Problems occur during are 1st combat encounter. The player was a 5th level Beast Master Ranger with Dual Wielder and Two-weapon fighting, having weapon mastery with Short sword an Scimitar. The Ranger has 2 attacks so for his 1st attack he swings with his short sword and missing. His 2nd attack he commands his primal companion to beast's strike action (which requires the ranger to sacrifice one of their attacks) which hits. So now we get into the problem. Now the player decide to do an Nick attack with his Scimitar attack which he feels he right to do because Nick always you to make an attack action instead of a bonus action an then use his bonus action to command his primal companion to attack. I felt that this was an misinterpretation the rules. I belived that he had used his two attack actions with the short sword attack an the Beast's strike command and that he could not use a Bonus action as a Nick attack and then have a 2nd BA to have the pet attack.
Did he hit with a a weapon that he has the mastery of?
I thought (could be wrong) the first time you use a 2nd weapon, it is during the bonus action, however if you hit with a nick, then it becomes a regular action.
I assumed if you have 2 attacks due to your level, Your main weapon is used twice. Then your bonus action allows the 2nd weapon. If there is one hit by a nick weapon you have mastery of, the 3rd attack is no longer a bonus action.
For reference, here are the two abilities:
Beast master:
Nick:
Now, before the Beast master ability gets involved, this character can, assuming appropriate weapons, make four attacks:
The beast master ability lets them replace #4 with "command the beast". No question about that.
It also lets them replace one of their attacks from the attack action with telling the beast to strike. Attack #2 is part of the attack action, so this is also legit.
The only question as to whether they can make attack #3 is an ambiguous bit of the rules around Nick. Specifically, which weapon has to be the Nick weapon. There are valid readings that say it has to be #1 or #2. There are also valid readings that it has to be #3. It's ambiguous, and ultimately it's DM's call. (There are also arguments that it can be any one of 1,2, or 3, as long as a Nick weapon is used in there somewhere.)
So, if your table ruling is that the Nick weapon has to be used to enable the additional attack, then they couldn't have made attack #3 because attack #1 was made with the short sword. However, from your confusion, I'm pretty sure you haven't made a ruling either way on that. (Your confusion is understandable. This stuff is not as clear as it ought to be.) You should make one, and discuss it with the player.
Other than that possibility, their turn is legal by the rules, and they could always make it legal by swapping which weapon they lead with.
(There is also a second question that needs answering: whether they can sacrifice the Nick attack in order to command the beast to strike. It's part of the attack action, so there's definitely a case to be made that they can. Decide for your table, and let the player know.)
No he did not
The Nick weapon mastery doesn't require you to hit with an attack in order to use it. It just moves the extra attack you get from the Light property from a bonus action to being part of the Attack action. The Light attack requires you to have attempted an attack with a Light weapon as part of the Attack action on that turn; it doesn't matter whether that attack hit or missed.
Extra Attack (the "due to your level" feature you're referring to) doesn't place any restrictions on which weapons you can use with it. If you're holding two weapons, you can make the two attacks with the same weapon, or mix and match.
However, the Light attack does have to be made with a different Light weapon from the one you used to trigger it as part of the Attack action. If you make two attacks as part of the Attack action with the same weapon, you have to use a different one for the Light/Nick attack. If you make two attacks as part of the Attack action with two different weapons, you can use either of them for the Light/Nick attack.
pronouns: he/she/they