I am making a former Private Detective. The build I am thinking goes like this:
1st level: Fighter: Fighting Style - Close Quarters Shooting to get a +1 Accuracy and negates disadvantage if enemies get close, Variant Human to pick up Sharpshooter which eliminates range disadvantage and extends the cover-negation bonus to full range in addition to optional damage bonus.
2nd level: Fighter: Action surge
3d level: Fighter: Archetype - Battle master (Quick Toss, Precision Attack and Tactical Assessment)
4th level: Fighter: Feat: Fighting Initiate to pick up Thrown Weapon Fighting
5th level: Fighter: Second attack
6th level: Rogue: Sneak Attack. Expertise to double the Insight and Investigation from Investigator Background which is also boosted by Tactical Assessment.
7h level: Rogue: Cunning Action
8th level: Rogue: Archetype - Inquisitive. Ear for Deceit and Eye for Detail are okay considering his skill. However, with Insightful Fighting, I can start the fight by spending a bonus action to pick out a target and, for the next minute, can use Sneak Attack against them as if I had advantage as long as something isn't giving me disadvantage (which I have already negated most of the common types that ranged attackers normally get). Will also take the Steady Aim Optional Class Feature for when I run out of Superiority Dice to further aid my Sharpshooter.
Does the math work? Anything else that can be added?
I had to Google your fighting style - is that a pre-Xanathar's UA that's been implicitly retired due to Xanathar's? It's incredibly powerful, if I'm looking at the right style.
There are two more fighting styles that can be added, but only one at a time, depending on what you want to throw: Archery for Darts, Dueling for daggers. Since you mentioned SS's damage bonus, I'm assuming Darts, so Archery.
The big battle master maneuver you're missing (which is available from yet another fighting style, or more BM levels) is Menacing Attack, which will add to the damage of the strike in question and force the target to make a Wisdom save or be frightened of you until the end of your next turn - meaning if it can see you, it has disadvantage on the Deception check it's opposing your Insight with. Significantly less important is that if you're shooting Large or smaller targets from 5 feet away, Trip Attack can get you Advantage.
In terms of more multiclass dipping, 2 levels of Artificer will get you a +1 returning dart - absolutely necessary in general for you to overcome resistance or, worse, immunity to nonmagical P damage, as otherwise even a magic dart will only work once. You don't want to be nearly useless against e.g. Lycanthropes.
If you want to do the same build with a hand crossbow, this will do the same thing but better, offensively;defensively, a significant concern is that thrown darts are radically more compatible with a shield than a hand crossbow is:
L1 fighting style: replace CQS with Archery, as we're getting ignoring cover from SS and 5-foot shooting from CBE (see below)
Each shot with a hand crossbow is slightly less than 1 damage less (because the +2 from Thrown Style can't crit) but is exactly +1 more accurate, which raises your overall expected output against everything, and critically, you don't consume maneuver dice for your bonus action attack (this is lessened in importance because your bonus action will often be busy rolling Insight, but maneuver dice are still a precious resource). The offensive advantage is compounded if you get a magic weapon, since a magic hand crossbow will just work for this, but a single magic dart will only work once.
Regardless, you can use Ranger levels to pick up another fighting style if you like.
Having a 16 Dex until level 8 doesn't seem ideal to me. I think that Sharpshooter isn't doing many favors for you that early (your proficiency bonus and dex bonus are far too low to use the -5 to hit +10 damage ability), and you should be fine with one fighting style (Thrown Weapon) for a while.
Inquisitive doesn't actually let you do anything new, just pass skill checks more reliably. Its primary ability is a new way to deliver sneak attack... and sneak attack is inferior to just attacking more often. The Rogue levels are a trap, you can find Expertise in Investigation in other ways.
I'd suggest:
Fighter 1 - choose Thrown Weapon fighting style. Start with Piercer or Skill Expert for +1 Dex (17).
Fighter 2 - Action Surge!
Fighter 3 - Battlemaster, quick toss (more attacks), precision (more accurate Sharpshooter, when you eventually get the feat), and probably pushing attack (create space) or menacing attack (preserve space) or bait and switch (way to disengage without using an action) instead of tactical assessment
Fighter 4 - choose Piercer or Skill Expert for +1 Dex (18).
FIghter 5 - Extra Attack for a second attack per Attack.
Fighter 6 - choose Fighting Initiate (Archery fighting style), or Sharpshooter. The Fighting Initiate will more reliably help your DPR.
Fighter 7 - Know your enemy, which gives you the investigator angle you want. Two more maneuvers, and a fifth superiority die.
Fighter 8 - choose ASI for +2 Dex (20).
Rogue 1 Fighter 9 - I object here, I think that Rogue MC's are terrible, it takes 5 levels of rogue to equal the DPR equivalent of Sharpshooter on one attack, and you're delaying/sacrificing unlocking more attacks per Attack action to get that. Fighter 9.
Fighter 10 - Two more maneuvers, and d10 superiority die.
Fighter 11 - Extra Attack for a third attack per Attack.
Sure, you're not using the +10 damage, but the range increase and ignoring cover are huge for your targeting ability and helps you stay out of melee. It's easy to ignore on paper, but I've found that in play this is a really big deal. Sharpshooter is gold because it's all good.
Taking Sharpshooter at Fighter 6 IS an option. But I’d rather have +2 to hit (fighting initiate: archery) or +1 to hit and damage (ASI +2 Dex) on all my attacks in most rounds of most encounters at that level, rather than taking a feat that will be occasionally useful but very often a trap that makes me miss attacks.
Shapshooter is a feat for T3 and T4, never T1, and rarely T2.
Sharpshooter's range increase matters more for dart builds than anyone else. What is often the ribbon ability for other builds is the key draw to the feat. I'd say it's even more important than the damage boost because otherwise you're stuck with a terrible 20 foot range.
For that reason alone I think Sharpshooter is top priority for a Dart thrower. I've thought about it quite a bit in my own obsession for dart battle masters and while I started as a proponent for taking fighting initiate: archery first on a vhuman or custom lineage build, I've come to the conclusion the range issue is just too important.
I'd argue that in most combats in most terrains, 20 feet is plenty, because you'll either start there or within 50 of most targets on most turns. Arguably Crossbow Expert or Gunner's ability to throw without disadvantage in melee range is more important for a Dart thrower than Sharpshooter's ability to throw without disadvantage at long range... and Gunner comes with a +1 Dex that's relevant right at level 4, while Sharpshooter doesn't help your stats and its damage isn't relevant until T3.
This is now coming up in a character idea I'm thinking of, and I want to get a quick thought check. Everyone is saying that dual wielding requires the weapons to be melee weapons, this is true, it says so:
--When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand.--
See, right there... But then it has, as a separate paragraph, the throwing rules:
--If either weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon, instead of making a melee attack with it.--
While the previous paragraph made specific mention of needing to be light melee weapons, this just says "if either weapon", not "of either melee weapon." I KNOW it's just looking really hard into it, and RAI is too keep the need for the melee weapon on it... but I can't help but think of that's the case, then this is an oversight? They've been super specific about the wording in other areas, so it would make sense here as well, right? Especially since it's a separate paragraph and everything
Don't mind me, though, just trying to keep the dual-wielding dart dream alive. Honestly, for my character, I'm debating on using darts or a blowgun!
This is now coming up in a character idea I'm thinking of, and I want to get a quick thought check. Everyone is saying that dual wielding requires the weapons to be melee weapons, this is true, it says so:
--When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand.--
See, right there... But then it has, as a separate paragraph, the throwing rules:
--If either weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon, instead of making a melee attack with it.--
While the previous paragraph made specific mention of needing to be light melee weapons, this just says "if either weapon", not "of either melee weapon." I KNOW it's just looking really hard into it, and RAI is too keep the need for the melee weapon on it... but I can't help but think of that's the case, then this is an oversight? They've been super specific about the wording in other areas, so it would make sense here as well, right? Especially since it's a separate paragraph and everything
Don't mind me, though, just trying to keep the dual-wielding dart dream alive. Honestly, for my character, I'm debating on using darts or a blowgun!
You can't twf with darts, sorry. And blowguns are the worst weapon in the game - you'll be a genuine liability to your party if you try to build into being a credible threat with one.
This is now coming up in a character idea I'm thinking of, and I want to get a quick thought check. Everyone is saying that dual wielding requires the weapons to be melee weapons, this is true, it says so:
--When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand.--
See, right there... But then it has, as a separate paragraph, the throwing rules:
--If either weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon, instead of making a melee attack with it.--
While the previous paragraph made specific mention of needing to be light melee weapons, this just says "if either weapon", not "of either melee weapon." I KNOW it's just looking really hard into it, and RAI is too keep the need for the melee weapon on it... but I can't help but think of that's the case, then this is an oversight? They've been super specific about the wording in other areas, so it would make sense here as well, right? Especially since it's a separate paragraph and everything
Don't mind me, though, just trying to keep the dual-wielding dart dream alive. Honestly, for my character, I'm debating on using darts or a blowgun!
You can't twf with darts, sorry. And blowguns are the worst weapon in the game - you'll be a genuine liability to your party if you try to build into being a credible threat with one.
Interesting. Ignoring the innate rudeness of your response, I asked for a rules clarification, and brought up something that might bring a fresh light to the twf darts that could be in its favor. Opinions on the viability of blowguns aside, I feel the fact that it has its own, separate paragraph might warrant another look, as I think things like this have mattered in the past.
That being said, I, personally, cannot recall an instance where it does matter, just that I have a gut feeling that it's mattered before. (My first thought was rogues sneak attack, but that's rather explicit, actually)
I will admit, though, looking at the paragraph again, I guess if it REALLY was to be a thing, the paragraph would start with "OR," or some kind of wording to indicate that it would be any weapon with the thrown property. Still, I'd say it's vague enough that it might be possible.
"a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand" or "a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand."
Those are the only two weapons that Two-Weapon Fighting talks about. Thrown stuff may be in its own paragraph, but its still building off of referencing the basic assumption that we're talking about two "light melee weapons."
You can't TWF with darts, I'm sorry. You can make a thrown fighter that's about TWFing daggers, for more throws. You can make a thrown fighter that's about Sharpshooting darts, for more damage per throw. But you can't make a thrown fighter that's about TWFing Sharpshooting darts.
On a more serious note, if someone really wanted to go this route then I'd choose something that uses all the dart stats but that has a particularly unique flavour. Think of Gambit's throwing cards, or maybe they throw razor sharp pine cones. Maybe they throw bullets.
I mean, darts players can be recognised as professional sportsmen so why not adventurers.
Darts: the only 'sport' where drinking 10 pints of bitter a night is considered training.
I used to be pretty good at darts, and got better after every round of “training.” 😂😂
But also, just as a point of clarification for anyone who might not realize, there is a difference between a “sport dart” and a dart.^1 The weapons were more like short javelins, or long lawn darts.^2
I mean, darts players can be recognised as professional sportsmen so why not adventurers.
Darts: the only 'sport' where drinking 10 pints of bitter a night is considered training.
I used to be pretty good at darts, and got better after every round of “training.” 😂😂
But also, just as a point of clarification for anyone who might not realize, there is a difference between a “sport dart” and a dart.^1 The weapons were more like short javelins, or long lawn darts.^2
I think in DnD they are meant to be more like actual "sport darts." They deal only 1d4 damage and have a max range of 60 feet, but they weigh just 1/4 lb. as well as costing only 5cp! They are mostly used by martial arts type classes for applying poison.
The type of 'war dart' you are referring to, e.g. a Roman legionnaire's Plumbata would be considered a javelin in D&D. Javelins in D&D don't refer to Olympic type sport javelins!
The fluff about whether a dart is a shuriken, a needle, a lawn dart, or a throwing knife are largely irrelevant, and isn't' actually defined RAW in PHB Chapter 5. The PHB provides statistics for their damage, size, properties, cost, weight, etc., so as long as you aren't overriding those mechanical qualities, feel free to describe them however you want or your DM allows. A Dart is a Dart no matter how you describe it, all that's important is that it is a simple ranged weapon, deals 1d4 piercing, weighs 1/4 lb., has Finesse and Thrown properties, a range of 20/60, and costs 5 cp.
The fluff about whether a dart is a shuriken, a needle, a lawn dart, or a throwing knife are largely irrelevant, and isn't' actually defined RAW in PHB Chapter 5. The PHB provides statistics for their damage, size, properties, cost, weight, etc., so as long as you aren't overriding those mechanical qualities, feel free to describe them however you want or your DM allows. A Dart is a Dart no matter how you describe it, all that's important is that it is a simple ranged weapon, deals 1d4 piercing, weighs 1/4 lb., has Finesse and Thrown properties, a range of 20/60, and costs 5 cp.
This is true, but it's fun for us historians to quibble about the details :)
I'd be totally fine if someone wanted a deck of sharpened gold tarot cards to use as darts. The more personalised players make things, the better.
I mean, darts players can be recognised as professional sportsmen so why not adventurers.
Darts: the only 'sport' where drinking 10 pints of bitter a night is considered training.
I used to be pretty good at darts, and got better after every round of “training.” 😂😂
But also, just as a point of clarification for anyone who might not realize, there is a difference between a “sport dart” and a dart.^1 The weapons were more like short javelins, or long lawn darts.^2
I think in DnD they are meant to be more like actual "sport darts." They deal only 1d4 damage and have a max range of 60 feet, but they weigh just 1/4 lb. as well as costing only 5cp! They are mostly used by martial arts type classes for applying poison.
The type of 'war dart' you are referring to, e.g. a Roman legionnaire's Plumbata would be considered a javelin in D&D. Javelins in D&D don't refer to Olympic type sport javelins!
The “War Dart” was a later iteration used in the Middle Ages. They were basically just like lawn darts. Since it’s smaller and lighter than a javelin it has to do less damage than a javelin, and since that’s 1d6, the only thing they could use was a d4. The War Dart was also thrown more like a shot put, using the rotational motion to generate the inertia. They weighed around 4oz (1/4 lb), a typical “sports dart” only weighs about a 1/2oz, it would take 8 of them to weigh 1/4 pound. Sport darts are a closer match to “blowgun darts,” or blowgun needles in D&D.
Besides, a D&D javelin would have been more akin to the Roman pilum^ than a Plumbata.
And don’t forget that all ranges in D&D are reduced to accommodate smaller battle maps out of cutesy for DMs. Technically a sling should have better range than the D&D longbow and the longbow should have 4x the range.
Technically a sling should have better range than the D&D longbow and the longbow should have 4x the range.
To hit a single, moving, actively defensive creature? I don't attribute the long range of a longbow to be as far as it can shoot. It's the maximum distance you can shoot with enough accuracy that it's worth rolling to see if you hit.
I had to Google your fighting style - is that a pre-Xanathar's UA that's been implicitly retired due to Xanathar's? It's incredibly powerful, if I'm looking at the right style.
There are two more fighting styles that can be added, but only one at a time, depending on what you want to throw: Archery for Darts, Dueling for daggers. Since you mentioned SS's damage bonus, I'm assuming Darts, so Archery.
The big battle master maneuver you're missing (which is available from yet another fighting style, or more BM levels) is Menacing Attack, which will add to the damage of the strike in question and force the target to make a Wisdom save or be frightened of you until the end of your next turn - meaning if it can see you, it has disadvantage on the Deception check it's opposing your Insight with. Significantly less important is that if you're shooting Large or smaller targets from 5 feet away, Trip Attack can get you Advantage.
In terms of more multiclass dipping, 2 levels of Artificer will get you a +1 returning dart - absolutely necessary in general for you to overcome resistance or, worse, immunity to nonmagical P damage, as otherwise even a magic dart will only work once. You don't want to be nearly useless against e.g. Lycanthropes.
If you want to do the same build with a hand crossbow, this will do the same thing but better, offensively; defensively, a significant concern is that thrown darts are radically more compatible with a shield than a hand crossbow is:
L1 fighting style: replace CQS with Archery, as we're getting ignoring cover from SS and 5-foot shooting from CBE (see below)
L3 Maneuvers: Precision, Menacing, Tactical Assessment
L4 feat: Crossbow Expert
Each shot with a hand crossbow is slightly less than 1 damage less (because the +2 from Thrown Style can't crit) but is exactly +1 more accurate, which raises your overall expected output against everything, and critically, you don't consume maneuver dice for your bonus action attack (this is lessened in importance because your bonus action will often be busy rolling Insight, but maneuver dice are still a precious resource). The offensive advantage is compounded if you get a magic weapon, since a magic hand crossbow will just work for this, but a single magic dart will only work once.
Regardless, you can use Ranger levels to pick up another fighting style if you like.
Having a 16 Dex until level 8 doesn't seem ideal to me. I think that Sharpshooter isn't doing many favors for you that early (your proficiency bonus and dex bonus are far too low to use the -5 to hit +10 damage ability), and you should be fine with one fighting style (Thrown Weapon) for a while.
Inquisitive doesn't actually let you do anything new, just pass skill checks more reliably. Its primary ability is a new way to deliver sneak attack... and sneak attack is inferior to just attacking more often. The Rogue levels are a trap, you can find Expertise in Investigation in other ways.
I'd suggest:
Rogue 1Fighter 9 - I object here, I think that Rogue MC's are terrible, it takes 5 levels of rogue to equal the DPR equivalent of Sharpshooter on one attack, and you're delaying/sacrificing unlocking more attacks per Attack action to get that. Fighter 9.dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Sure, you're not using the +10 damage, but the range increase and ignoring cover are huge for your targeting ability and helps you stay out of melee. It's easy to ignore on paper, but I've found that in play this is a really big deal. Sharpshooter is gold because it's all good.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
Taking Sharpshooter at Fighter 6 IS an option. But I’d rather have +2 to hit (fighting initiate: archery) or +1 to hit and damage (ASI +2 Dex) on all my attacks in most rounds of most encounters at that level, rather than taking a feat that will be occasionally useful but very often a trap that makes me miss attacks.
Shapshooter is a feat for T3 and T4, never T1, and rarely T2.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Sharpshooter's range increase matters more for dart builds than anyone else. What is often the ribbon ability for other builds is the key draw to the feat. I'd say it's even more important than the damage boost because otherwise you're stuck with a terrible 20 foot range.
For that reason alone I think Sharpshooter is top priority for a Dart thrower. I've thought about it quite a bit in my own obsession for dart battle masters and while I started as a proponent for taking fighting initiate: archery first on a vhuman or custom lineage build, I've come to the conclusion the range issue is just too important.
I'd argue that in most combats in most terrains, 20 feet is plenty, because you'll either start there or within 50 of most targets on most turns. Arguably Crossbow Expert or Gunner's ability to throw without disadvantage in melee range is more important for a Dart thrower than Sharpshooter's ability to throw without disadvantage at long range... and Gunner comes with a +1 Dex that's relevant right at level 4, while Sharpshooter doesn't help your stats and its damage isn't relevant until T3.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
It isn't about being able to reach an enemy to attack. It's about staying out of reach.
This is now coming up in a character idea I'm thinking of, and I want to get a quick thought check. Everyone is saying that dual wielding requires the weapons to be melee weapons, this is true, it says so:
--When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand.--
See, right there... But then it has, as a separate paragraph, the throwing rules:
--If either weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon, instead of making a melee attack with it.--
While the previous paragraph made specific mention of needing to be light melee weapons, this just says "if either weapon", not "of either melee weapon." I KNOW it's just looking really hard into it, and RAI is too keep the need for the melee weapon on it... but I can't help but think of that's the case, then this is an oversight? They've been super specific about the wording in other areas, so it would make sense here as well, right? Especially since it's a separate paragraph and everything
Don't mind me, though, just trying to keep the dual-wielding dart dream alive. Honestly, for my character, I'm debating on using darts or a blowgun!
You can't twf with darts, sorry. And blowguns are the worst weapon in the game - you'll be a genuine liability to your party if you try to build into being a credible threat with one.
Interesting. Ignoring the innate rudeness of your response, I asked for a rules clarification, and brought up something that might bring a fresh light to the twf darts that could be in its favor. Opinions on the viability of blowguns aside, I feel the fact that it has its own, separate paragraph might warrant another look, as I think things like this have mattered in the past.
That being said, I, personally, cannot recall an instance where it does matter, just that I have a gut feeling that it's mattered before. (My first thought was rogues sneak attack, but that's rather explicit, actually)
I will admit, though, looking at the paragraph again, I guess if it REALLY was to be a thing, the paragraph would start with "OR," or some kind of wording to indicate that it would be any weapon with the thrown property. Still, I'd say it's vague enough that it might be possible.
"If either weapon..."
What weapons would those be?
"a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand" or "a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand."
Those are the only two weapons that Two-Weapon Fighting talks about. Thrown stuff may be in its own paragraph, but its still building off of referencing the basic assumption that we're talking about two "light melee weapons."
You can't TWF with darts, I'm sorry. You can make a thrown fighter that's about TWFing daggers, for more throws. You can make a thrown fighter that's about Sharpshooting darts, for more damage per throw. But you can't make a thrown fighter that's about TWFing Sharpshooting darts.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
I mean, darts players can be recognised as professional sportsmen so why not adventurers.
Darts: the only 'sport' where drinking 10 pints of bitter a night is considered training.
On a more serious note, if someone really wanted to go this route then I'd choose something that uses all the dart stats but that has a particularly unique flavour. Think of Gambit's throwing cards, or maybe they throw razor sharp pine cones. Maybe they throw bullets.
I used to be pretty good at darts, and got better after every round of “training.” 😂😂
But also, just as a point of clarification for anyone who might not realize, there is a difference between a “sport dart” and a dart.^1 The weapons were more like short javelins, or long lawn darts.^2
^1 (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plumbata)
^2 (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dart_(missile)#Thrown_darts)
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I think in DnD they are meant to be more like actual "sport darts." They deal only 1d4 damage and have a max range of 60 feet, but they weigh just 1/4 lb. as well as costing only 5cp! They are mostly used by martial arts type classes for applying poison.
The type of 'war dart' you are referring to, e.g. a Roman legionnaire's Plumbata would be considered a javelin in D&D. Javelins in D&D don't refer to Olympic type sport javelins!
The fluff about whether a dart is a shuriken, a needle, a lawn dart, or a throwing knife are largely irrelevant, and isn't' actually defined RAW in PHB Chapter 5. The PHB provides statistics for their damage, size, properties, cost, weight, etc., so as long as you aren't overriding those mechanical qualities, feel free to describe them however you want or your DM allows. A Dart is a Dart no matter how you describe it, all that's important is that it is a simple ranged weapon, deals 1d4 piercing, weighs 1/4 lb., has Finesse and Thrown properties, a range of 20/60, and costs 5 cp.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
This is true, but it's fun for us historians to quibble about the details :)
I'd be totally fine if someone wanted a deck of sharpened gold tarot cards to use as darts. The more personalised players make things, the better.
The “War Dart” was a later iteration used in the Middle Ages. They were basically just like lawn darts. Since it’s smaller and lighter than a javelin it has to do less damage than a javelin, and since that’s 1d6, the only thing they could use was a d4. The War Dart was also thrown more like a shot put, using the rotational motion to generate the inertia. They weighed around 4oz (1/4 lb), a typical “sports dart” only weighs about a 1/2oz, it would take 8 of them to weigh 1/4 pound. Sport darts are a closer match to “blowgun darts,” or blowgun needles in D&D.
Besides, a D&D javelin would have been more akin to the Roman pilum^ than a Plumbata.
And don’t forget that all ranges in D&D are reduced to accommodate smaller battle maps out of cutesy for DMs. Technically a sling should have better range than the D&D longbow and the longbow should have 4x the range.
^(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilum)
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To hit a single, moving, actively defensive creature? I don't attribute the long range of a longbow to be as far as it can shoot. It's the maximum distance you can shoot with enough accuracy that it's worth rolling to see if you hit.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
I attribute it to the equipment table in PHB Chapter 5 and call it a day.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.