So, this item has a very short description and already has a bit of ambiguity (Drawing 2 at once and granted ability to throw both? yes no?). One point that is not ambiguous is that the daggers are magical. But are they magical daggers that lack any bonus to attack or damage, magical daggers with a + 1 or + 2 bonus? It doesn't say. The daggers *do* seem to function purely as throwing daggers and disposable ammunition as whether they are thrown or not after a short period, whether they hit or miss, they disappear forever while the bracer just keeps producing more.
The bracer is listed as being a rare wondrous magic item, so doing a quick search via the compendium for comparable weapons & wondrous items, I see straight away that +2 Ammunition is Rare and Ammunition +3 is Very Rare, while +1 Ammunition is purely Uncommon. That suggests to me that a wellspring of +1 weapons of a specific type and function could be Rare itself. Along those lines, a Superior Bracer of Flying Daggers might be Legendary and produce +2 daggers. Does that reasoning match up with other's interpretations of this item? I have not been able to find anything with a few quick google searches referencing the enhancement bonus if any for the daggers this item creates.
One of the great things about the current edition of D&D is the rules don't infer things - if you're looking at the rules for something and it doesn't say it, then it doesn't do it.
In short, if the bracer supplied +1 daggers, +2 daggers etc, then it would say that it does so.
What it does say is:
As an action, you can pull up to two magic daggers from the bracer and immediately hurl them, making a ranged attack with each dagger
There's several parts to this:
You may take an ACTION (not bonus action etc, has to be your action for the turn) to pull up to two magic daggers from the bracer. This means that every turn, you can pull two such daggers by using your action.
It states that the daggers pulled are "magic daggers" - which means that they are magic weapons with regards to any rules about what a weapon can or can't do. Mostly this will be useful when a monster is resistant to damage from non-magical weapons.
It states that you can immediately hurl them, making a ranged attack with each dagger. This means that the daggers can be thrown, taking two separate attacks, regardless of whether your character has the extra attack feature or not. Other than that, the action would be resolved as per a normal thrown weapon attack.
Actually, yeah, it does, though I also think it rather sucks that the daggers are flat magic rather than possessed of any enhancement bonus. But that sorta fits with the theme of D&D 5e for me in a lot of ways with hopes & expectations. LOL. The joy of homebrew and house rules I guess. But seriously, thanks @Stormknight, I'm bookmarking this for reference.
Getting two attacks can be pretty powerful, depending on the user. For example a rogue, who doesn’t normally get two attacks, to get a DEX based weapon, that ignores magic resistance and gives them two chances to trigger sneak attack damage. And they still have their bonus action. And you don’t have to worry about the weight issues of carrying around 10-20 daggers if you try to do it without this item.
Genuinely curious why you would say that... how does an infinite supply of magic throwing daggers suck? Unless a character has the Dual Wielder feat, regardless of whether they have Extra Attack or not, characters wouldn't be able to draw & throw more than one dagger per turn from their inventory. This is a genuinely good item.
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You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
It also doesn't even require two hands, meaning you can still carry a Rapier or spell focus or shield or whatever in the other hand, and get to throw two daggers as an action without using your free object interaction to have to sheathe/draw your other item, while still keeping Bonus Action open for Cunning Action.... whew, those Bracers are staggeringly good when you get down to it.
About all they can't do is trigger anything that happens "When you take the Attack action," since they're technically giving you a new special action unique to the item.
The Bracer of Flying Daggers is an absolutely phenomenal item. The fact that it doesn't include any attack/damage bonuses isn't really a knock against it, especially given its intended use case i.e. as a "SURPRISE!" weapon from rogues. It's less useful the further away you get from that use case, but as it's the signature item of a very famous rogue, that's fine.
If you wanted to homebrew Superior/Legendary versions of it that improved the daggers, have at it. Simply know that it is a lot of power for the sorts of characters it was built for. A BoFD is honestly a game changer - a rogue's entire combat style changes once they obtain one, if they really want to make use of it.
@Sigred: As clarification, I don't think the item itself sucks so much as "It sucks that the daggers are magical without bonuses." I'll edit that one post to clarify.
They’re ok for monks, but again, the Bracer attack is not “taking the attack action,” so do note that you won’t get a martial arts bonus attack or be able to spend a Ki for Flurry of Blows. Since Monks do get two attacks per attack action already, throwing one or two daggers the normal way (depending on what is in their hand/if they have Dual Wielder) may be superior against foes that aren’t resistant to nonmagical.
I wouldn't say no to one on a monk. Especially a Kensei monk with daggers selected as one of their weapons. At that point you have an endless supply of magical huckin' daggers that work with a number of your Kensei features. Kensei's Shot works with Flying Daggers, as does Deft Strike - neither requires "the Attack action", just an attack roll on your turn with a Kensei weapon. Sharpen the Blade is a no-go, but Unerring Accuracy is not.
And the real kicker is that just like with the rogue, it doesn't interfere with what you're doing with your hands at all. You can have your normal close-quarters Kensei weapon in your Bracer hand, keep your off hand free to munkpunch or grapple with, and if you need to reach out and touch something you can draw some Flying Daggers and make it happen. The only real cost the item has is its attunement requirement and the fact that it conflicts with Bracers of Defense.
Admittedly, other classes (and other varieties of monk) begin becoming significantly less attractive, but the item is so damn good for rogues that I'm willing to forgive it. Especially given how much I love rogues.
They’re ok for monks, but again, the Bracer attack is not “taking the attack action,” so do note that you won’t get a martial arts bonus attack or be able to spend a Ki for Flurry of Blows. Since Monks do get two attacks per attack action already, throwing one or two daggers the normal way (depending on what is in their hand/if they have Dual Wielder) may be superior against foes that aren’t resistant to nonmagical.
I'm not sure I follow your reasoning on this. The item description says "As an action, you can pull up to two magic daggers from the bracer and immediately hurl them, making a ranged attack with each dagger." It seems to me that the item simply lets you pull two daggers instead of one as a free action, that you may then take the attack action with.
Chicken_Champ is right on this one. Any action may allow you to take attacks, but only the attack action is the attack action. For another example, Multi-attack in a creature's stat block is a special action that allows several attacks to be made. Multi-attack is a named action that is not the attack action. Another example: Casting spells often allow you to make ranged spell attacks, they are not attack actions, they are attacks made as part of the action that was used to cast the spell.
The drawing and hurling of the daggers with this item are all part of a special action provided by the item itself.
They’re ok for monks, but again, the Bracer attack is not “taking the attack action,” so do note that you won’t get a martial arts bonus attack or be able to spend a Ki for Flurry of Blows. Since Monks do get two attacks per attack action already, throwing one or two daggers the normal way (depending on what is in their hand/if they have Dual Wielder) may be superior against foes that aren’t resistant to nonmagical.
I'm not sure I follow your reasoning on this. The item description says "As an action, you can pull up to two magic daggers from the bracer and immediately hurl them, making a ranged attack with each dagger." It seems to me that the item simply lets you pull two daggers instead of one as a free action, that you may then take the attack action with.
No, he's right. Drawing two daggers from the bracer, and making a ranged attack with each dagger, is in-and-of-itself an action. It is not the Attack action.
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You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
They’re ok for monks, but again, the Bracer attack is not “taking the attack action,” so do note that you won’t get a martial arts bonus attack or be able to spend a Ki for Flurry of Blows. Since Monks do get two attacks per attack action already, throwing one or two daggers the normal way (depending on what is in their hand/if they have Dual Wielder) may be superior against foes that aren’t resistant to nonmagical.
I'm not sure I follow your reasoning on this. The item description says "As an action, you can pull up to two magic daggers from the bracer and immediately hurl them, making a ranged attack with each dagger." It seems to me that the item simply lets you pull two daggers instead of one as a free action, that you may then take the attack action with.
No, he's right. Drawing two daggers from the bracer, and making a ranged attack with each dagger, is in-and-of-itself an action. It is not the Attack action.
Ok . . . but you don't have to take the Attack action to gain the benefits of Monk weapons. The rule for that is:
You gain the following benefits while you are unarmed or wielding only monk weapons and you aren’t wearing armor or wielding a shield:
You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of your unarmed strikes and monk weapons.
You can roll a d4 in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strike or monk weapon. This die changes as you gain monk levels, as shown in the Martial Arts column of the Monk table.
So, you draw the two daggers. The monk weapons ability modifies the damage rolled to be your martial arts damage instead of the D4 of the daggers because the ability modifies attack and damage rolls, which you're making with the daggers. I agree that a monk with the multiattack ability wouldn't get 3 attacks when using the bracers, but I don't see how that would prevent the monk weapons benefits.
He said that the monk's default Attack action, which enables the use of Martial Arts bonus munkpunch or Flurry of Blows, might be superior to the bracer when attacking enemies that aren't resistant to nonmagical damage. Hurling two regular daggers if you have them in hand with a normal Attack action, which then turns on the monk's bonus-action stuff, is an option for that class.
Sorry to necro a thread, but I wanted to get some clarification on these.
1. Since it uses an object interaction to throw two daggers, would someone hasted then be able to use their haste action to repeat this for a potential four daggers in their round?
2. Someone above mentioned doing two sneak attacks. I'm assuming that would have to be on two separate foes? So in the 1. reference you could sneak attack four foes in that round?
3. Throwing both daggers is considered the object interaction? So you could not throw one then bonus action then throw the second?
I think it is its own action, not the use an object action. This is why it can have its own unique function that doesn't fall neatly into the category of any other actions.
You can only sneak attack once on a turn, and both of these attacks are on the same turn.
Throwing the daggers is included in the unique action related to the magic item.
2. No, sneak attack is limited to once per turn, it can only ever proc once on a given turn. What Xalthu is referring to is that being able to make two attacks instead of just one means that if you miss your first attack you could still hit with your second and proc sneak attack.
3. This part I can can't answer as clearly as I would like since I don't have Dragonheist and can't look up the magic item. If the text Stormknight quoted is the entire description then RAW the answer is no, you must use your Action to draw daggers from the bracer. However, if you also had a normal dagger you could draw that with your free object interaction, then use the Bracers of Flying Daggers, then throw the normal dagger as a bonus action using the two-weapon fighting rules. This specific order is to satisfy two-weapon fighting's requirement that you are holding your offhand weapon when you attack with your main hand.
So, this item has a very short description and already has a bit of ambiguity (Drawing 2 at once and granted ability to throw both? yes no?). One point that is not ambiguous is that the daggers are magical. But are they magical daggers that lack any bonus to attack or damage, magical daggers with a + 1 or + 2 bonus? It doesn't say. The daggers *do* seem to function purely as throwing daggers and disposable ammunition as whether they are thrown or not after a short period, whether they hit or miss, they disappear forever while the bracer just keeps producing more.
The bracer is listed as being a rare wondrous magic item, so doing a quick search via the compendium for comparable weapons & wondrous items, I see straight away that +2 Ammunition is Rare and Ammunition +3 is Very Rare, while +1 Ammunition is purely Uncommon. That suggests to me that a wellspring of +1 weapons of a specific type and function could be Rare itself. Along those lines, a Superior Bracer of Flying Daggers might be Legendary and produce +2 daggers. Does that reasoning match up with other's interpretations of this item? I have not been able to find anything with a few quick google searches referencing the enhancement bonus if any for the daggers this item creates.
One of the great things about the current edition of D&D is the rules don't infer things - if you're looking at the rules for something and it doesn't say it, then it doesn't do it.
In short, if the bracer supplied +1 daggers, +2 daggers etc, then it would say that it does so.
What it does say is:
There's several parts to this:
I hope that helps!
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Actually, yeah, it does, though I also think it rather sucks that the daggers are flat magic rather than possessed of any enhancement bonus. But that sorta fits with the theme of D&D 5e for me in a lot of ways with hopes & expectations. LOL. The joy of homebrew and house rules I guess. But seriously, thanks @Stormknight, I'm bookmarking this for reference.
Getting two attacks can be pretty powerful, depending on the user. For example a rogue, who doesn’t normally get two attacks, to get a DEX based weapon, that ignores magic resistance and gives them two chances to trigger sneak attack damage. And they still have their bonus action. And you don’t have to worry about the weight issues of carrying around 10-20 daggers if you try to do it without this item.
Genuinely curious why you would say that... how does an infinite supply of magic throwing daggers suck? Unless a character has the Dual Wielder feat, regardless of whether they have Extra Attack or not, characters wouldn't be able to draw & throw more than one dagger per turn from their inventory. This is a genuinely good item.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
It also doesn't even require two hands, meaning you can still carry a Rapier or spell focus or shield or whatever in the other hand, and get to throw two daggers as an action without using your free object interaction to have to sheathe/draw your other item, while still keeping Bonus Action open for Cunning Action.... whew, those Bracers are staggeringly good when you get down to it.
About all they can't do is trigger anything that happens "When you take the Attack action," since they're technically giving you a new special action unique to the item.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
The Bracer of Flying Daggers is an absolutely phenomenal item. The fact that it doesn't include any attack/damage bonuses isn't really a knock against it, especially given its intended use case i.e. as a "SURPRISE!" weapon from rogues. It's less useful the further away you get from that use case, but as it's the signature item of a very famous rogue, that's fine.
If you wanted to homebrew Superior/Legendary versions of it that improved the daggers, have at it. Simply know that it is a lot of power for the sorts of characters it was built for. A BoFD is honestly a game changer - a rogue's entire combat style changes once they obtain one, if they really want to make use of it.
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It's pretty good for monks too, since daggers are the only weapon that is ranged and counts as a monk weapon for purposes of damage, etc.
This item is most useful for rogues. It gives them 2 ammo-less ranged attacks for 1d4+DEX without bonus action. Rare is an appropriate level.
@Sigred: As clarification, I don't think the item itself sucks so much as "It sucks that the daggers are magical without bonuses." I'll edit that one post to clarify.
They’re ok for monks, but again, the Bracer attack is not “taking the attack action,” so do note that you won’t get a martial arts bonus attack or be able to spend a Ki for Flurry of Blows. Since Monks do get two attacks per attack action already, throwing one or two daggers the normal way (depending on what is in their hand/if they have Dual Wielder) may be superior against foes that aren’t resistant to nonmagical.
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
I wouldn't say no to one on a monk. Especially a Kensei monk with daggers selected as one of their weapons. At that point you have an endless supply of magical huckin' daggers that work with a number of your Kensei features. Kensei's Shot works with Flying Daggers, as does Deft Strike - neither requires "the Attack action", just an attack roll on your turn with a Kensei weapon. Sharpen the Blade is a no-go, but Unerring Accuracy is not.
And the real kicker is that just like with the rogue, it doesn't interfere with what you're doing with your hands at all. You can have your normal close-quarters Kensei weapon in your Bracer hand, keep your off hand free to munkpunch or grapple with, and if you need to reach out and touch something you can draw some Flying Daggers and make it happen. The only real cost the item has is its attunement requirement and the fact that it conflicts with Bracers of Defense.
Admittedly, other classes (and other varieties of monk) begin becoming significantly less attractive, but the item is so damn good for rogues that I'm willing to forgive it. Especially given how much I love rogues.
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I'm not sure I follow your reasoning on this. The item description says "As an action, you can pull up to two magic daggers from the bracer and immediately hurl them, making a ranged attack with each dagger." It seems to me that the item simply lets you pull two daggers instead of one as a free action, that you may then take the attack action with.
Chicken_Champ is right on this one. Any action may allow you to take attacks, but only the attack action is the attack action. For another example, Multi-attack in a creature's stat block is a special action that allows several attacks to be made. Multi-attack is a named action that is not the attack action. Another example: Casting spells often allow you to make ranged spell attacks, they are not attack actions, they are attacks made as part of the action that was used to cast the spell.
The drawing and hurling of the daggers with this item are all part of a special action provided by the item itself.
No, he's right. Drawing two daggers from the bracer, and making a ranged attack with each dagger, is in-and-of-itself an action. It is not the Attack action.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
Ok . . . but you don't have to take the Attack action to gain the benefits of Monk weapons. The rule for that is:
You gain the following benefits while you are unarmed or wielding only monk weapons and you aren’t wearing armor or wielding a shield:
So, you draw the two daggers. The monk weapons ability modifies the damage rolled to be your martial arts damage instead of the D4 of the daggers because the ability modifies attack and damage rolls, which you're making with the daggers. I agree that a monk with the multiattack ability wouldn't get 3 attacks when using the bracers, but I don't see how that would prevent the monk weapons benefits.
Not what he said, Generic.
He said that the monk's default Attack action, which enables the use of Martial Arts bonus munkpunch or Flurry of Blows, might be superior to the bracer when attacking enemies that aren't resistant to nonmagical damage. Hurling two regular daggers if you have them in hand with a normal Attack action, which then turns on the monk's bonus-action stuff, is an option for that class.
Why you shouldn't start ANOTHER thread about DDB not giving away free redeems on your hardcopy book purchases.
Thinking of starting ANOTHER thread asking why Epic Boons haven't been implemented? Read this first to learn why you shouldn't!
Sorry to necro a thread, but I wanted to get some clarification on these.
1. Since it uses an object interaction to throw two daggers, would someone hasted then be able to use their haste action to repeat this for a potential four daggers in their round?
2. Someone above mentioned doing two sneak attacks. I'm assuming that would have to be on two separate foes? So in the 1. reference you could sneak attack four foes in that round?
3. Throwing both daggers is considered the object interaction? So you could not throw one then bonus action then throw the second?
Thanks for the feedback.
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1. *Edit* I was mistaken and TexasDevin is correct, the Sage Advice addressing Fast Hands makes this clear: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/sac/sage-advice-compendium#SA048
2. No, sneak attack is limited to once per turn, it can only ever proc once on a given turn. What Xalthu is referring to is that being able to make two attacks instead of just one means that if you miss your first attack you could still hit with your second and proc sneak attack.
3. This part I can can't answer as clearly as I would like since I don't have Dragonheist and can't look up the magic item. If the text Stormknight quoted is the entire description then RAW the answer is no, you must use your Action to draw daggers from the bracer. However, if you also had a normal dagger you could draw that with your free object interaction, then use the Bracers of Flying Daggers, then throw the normal dagger as a bonus action using the two-weapon fighting rules. This specific order is to satisfy two-weapon fighting's requirement that you are holding your offhand weapon when you attack with your main hand.