1. If I am using a longbow shooting as normal, then an enemy engages me in melee I can attack back with disadvantage with my bow or I can attack as normal with a Rapier?
2. If that is the case, I can not also drawl my shield because that takes a full action. Right?
3. If those are both the case, should I ditch the shield and get a second Rapier? I am only going to use a melee weapon when an enemy is attacking me.
If an enemy is in melee, what you can do is drop your longbow (free action), and then take out your rapier (also a free action).
Raising a shield is a free action (but in Pathfinder, it does take a full action).
Don't get a second rapier unless you have the Two-Weapon fighting style and have the Dual Wielding feat. You can't wield 2 rapiers without the feat, and fighting with 2 weapons without the fighting style doesn't give a lot of damage.
1. If I am using a longbow shooting as normal, then an enemy engages me in melee I can attack back with disadvantage with my bow or I can attack as normal with a Rapier?
2. If that is the case, I can not also drawl my shield because that takes a full action. Right?
3. If those are both the case, should I ditch the shield and get a second Rapier? I am only going to use a melee weapon when an enemy is attacking me.
Thank you,
Adam
You can just draw a rapier to attack whilst leaving your bow in your off hand, dropping a weapon has the potential to get you into trouble especially when it's not necessary.
To clarify some rules, you can drop anything with no action needed, but you can only interact with one object (draw your rapier, open a door) per turn unless you use up your action to do it again. Drawing arrows for you bow is handled as part of the attack, so if you fire a shot you can still draw your rapier.
It's a full action to don a shield as it is a piece of armor you strap on, not an object you draw.
You cannot wield two rapiers be default, you can only dual wield weapons that have the 'light' tag for two weapon fighting, the excpetion to this is if you take the Dual Wielder feat, that would allow you to use any one handed weapons (like two rapiers).
I would just use a rapier, if they close in on you, keeping your bow in your other hand. If you want to dual wield then you'll use either short swords, scimitars or daggers to allow you to use your Dex. This would let you make a weapon attack as a bonus action with the second weapon but unless you have the Two Weapon Fighting style you won't add your Dex to damage, you'll just do the weapon die in damage.
You could also hit someone in melee with your bow, it counts as an improvised weapon as per the rules in the PHB.
Sometimes characters don't have their weapons and have to attack with whatever is 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.
Often, 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.
That makes 100% sense that you wouldn't need to drop the bow! That was super helpful, I really appreciate the clarifications and possibilities!
I subscribed to your youtube channel, keep up the great work!
Thank you very much for subscribing!
Please feel free to message if you ever have any questions or are looking for advice, I enjoy helping others get the most out of this game we all love. :)
Hello, mates! Question for you.
1. If I am using a longbow shooting as normal, then an enemy engages me in melee I can attack back with disadvantage with my bow or I can attack as normal with a Rapier?
2. If that is the case, I can not also drawl my shield because that takes a full action. Right?
3. If those are both the case, should I ditch the shield and get a second Rapier? I am only going to use a melee weapon when an enemy is attacking me.
Thank you,
Adam
If an enemy is in melee, what you can do is drop your longbow (free action), and then take out your rapier (also a free action).
Raising a shield is a free action (but in Pathfinder, it does take a full action).
Don't get a second rapier unless you have the Two-Weapon fighting style and have the Dual Wielding feat. You can't wield 2 rapiers without the feat, and fighting with 2 weapons without the fighting style doesn't give a lot of damage.
D&D is a game for nerds... so I guess I'm one :p
Brillant, thank you KafueLechwe ! That was very helpful :)
Equipping a shield also requires a full-action in 5E, so you can't draw it at the same turn as you're planning to attack.
Thank you Juodas_Varnas, okay this is how the DM handled it in the last session. Thank you for that correction!
You can just draw a rapier to attack whilst leaving your bow in your off hand, dropping a weapon has the potential to get you into trouble especially when it's not necessary.
To clarify some rules, you can drop anything with no action needed, but you can only interact with one object (draw your rapier, open a door) per turn unless you use up your action to do it again. Drawing arrows for you bow is handled as part of the attack, so if you fire a shot you can still draw your rapier.
It's a full action to don a shield as it is a piece of armor you strap on, not an object you draw.
You cannot wield two rapiers be default, you can only dual wield weapons that have the 'light' tag for two weapon fighting, the excpetion to this is if you take the Dual Wielder feat, that would allow you to use any one handed weapons (like two rapiers).
I would just use a rapier, if they close in on you, keeping your bow in your other hand. If you want to dual wield then you'll use either short swords, scimitars or daggers to allow you to use your Dex. This would let you make a weapon attack as a bonus action with the second weapon but unless you have the Two Weapon Fighting style you won't add your Dex to damage, you'll just do the weapon die in damage.
Hope that helps!
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That makes 100% sense that you wouldn't need to drop the bow! That was super helpful, I really appreciate the clarifications and possibilities!
I subscribed to your youtube channel, keep up the great work!
You could also hit someone in melee with your bow, it counts as an improvised weapon as per the rules in the PHB.
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Thank you very much for subscribing!
Please feel free to message if you ever have any questions or are looking for advice, I enjoy helping others get the most out of this game we all love. :)
Subscribe to our channel for character builds, roleplay and DM tips: www.youtube.com/c/dorkforge
Interested in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything? Check out our playlist on Youtube
Please feel free to message us with any requests or build challenges!