So I had a thought when looking at the new Path of the Giant Barbarian that maybe I could use Great Weapon Master for a ranged attack, but that quite clearly doesn’t work due to the wording of melee attack rather than attack with a melee weapon.
But that got me to thinking about Sharpshooter, which very clearly does not say that, but instead says: ‘attack with a ranged weapon’… so, would the following work?
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If you had a Longbow, and had the Tavern Brawler and Sharpshooter feat as well as the Archery Fighting Style, then decided to use that ranged weapon to make an improvised melee attack…
(An object that bears no resemblance to a weapon deals 1d4 damage (the GM 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.’)
Could it rather than just be a str+proficiency to hit and then d4+str damage instead be the following:
(str+proficiency+2)-5 to hit and d4+str+10 for damage
As the melee improvised weapon attack would still be using a ‘ranged weapon’ and so would qualify for the sharpshooter feat’s ‘attack with a ranged weapon’.
What’s more, if is still a ranged weapon (which the improvised weapon rules suggest), and so would not the normal ranged weapon rules for to hit and damage also apply (as specific beats general) and it doesn’t actually say in improvised weapons that you use strength… sooo: ‘You add your Dexterity modifier to your attack roll and your damage roll when attacking with a ranged weapon, such as a sling or a longbow. You can also add your Dexterity modifier to your attack roll and your damage roll when attacking with a melee weapon that has the finesse property, such as a dagger or a rapier.’ As nowhere in there does it say ‘ranged attack’.
Now I know that last bit seems especially slimey, but say you are a hexblade, monk etc. that can replace weapon attack and damage with a specific stat… then it seems to me at least that you can gain the often dubbed ‘power attack’ feature for both melee and ranged… also it does seem like you could do this without the Tavern Brawler feat, as long as you are happy to do it without adding you proficiency to the weapon (which tbh would kinda suck)
All of this whilst still being able to make ranged attack for (dex+proficiency+2)-5 to hit and d8+dex+10 damage… or any replaced stat… please discuss :-)
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tldr: Sharpshooter says attack with a ranged weapon, rather than ranged weapon attack and so seems like it should work with an improvised melee attack... which seems especially good for something like a bow or gun monk (thinking giff vibes)
‘If you use a weapon in a way that turns it into an improvised weapon—such as smacking someone with a bow—that weapon has none of its regular properties, unless the DM rules otherwise.’ Jeremy Crawford
Ah, well it is good that this was caught and to be honest i can’t think of w way around that 🤣
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So I had a thought when looking at the new Path of the Giant Barbarian that maybe I could use Great Weapon Master for a ranged attack, but that quite clearly doesn’t work due to the wording of melee attack rather than attack with a melee weapon.
But that got me to thinking about Sharpshooter, which very clearly does not say that, but instead says: ‘attack with a ranged weapon’… so, would the following work?
————————
If you had a Longbow, and had the Tavern Brawler and Sharpshooter feat as well as the Archery Fighting Style, then decided to use that ranged weapon to make an improvised melee attack…
(An object that bears no resemblance to a weapon deals 1d4 damage (the GM 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.’)
Could it rather than just be a str+proficiency to hit and then d4+str damage instead be the following:
(str+proficiency+2)-5 to hit and d4+str+10 for damage
As the melee improvised weapon attack would still be using a ‘ranged weapon’ and so would qualify for the sharpshooter feat’s ‘attack with a ranged weapon’.
What’s more, if is still a ranged weapon (which the improvised weapon rules suggest), and so would not the normal ranged weapon rules for to hit and damage also apply (as specific beats general) and it doesn’t actually say in improvised weapons that you use strength… sooo: ‘You add your Dexterity modifier to your attack roll and your damage roll when attacking with a ranged weapon, such as a sling or a longbow. You can also add your Dexterity modifier to your attack roll and your damage roll when attacking with a melee weapon that has the finesse property, such as a dagger or a rapier.’ As nowhere in there does it say ‘ranged attack’.
Now I know that last bit seems especially slimey, but say you are a hexblade, monk etc. that can replace weapon attack and damage with a specific stat… then it seems to me at least that you can gain the often dubbed ‘power attack’ feature for both melee and ranged… also it does seem like you could do this without the Tavern Brawler feat, as long as you are happy to do it without adding you proficiency to the weapon (which tbh would kinda suck)
All of this whilst still being able to make ranged attack for (dex+proficiency+2)-5 to hit and d8+dex+10 damage… or any replaced stat… please discuss :-)
————————
tldr: Sharpshooter says attack with a ranged weapon, rather than ranged weapon attack and so seems like it should work with an improvised melee attack... which seems especially good for something like a bow or gun monk (thinking giff vibes)
According to this, it's definitely not RAI
I don't think you're gonna hit much with a -10 to your attack roll.
‘If you use a weapon in a way that turns it into an improvised weapon—such as smacking someone with a bow—that weapon has none of its regular properties, unless the DM rules otherwise.’ Jeremy Crawford
Ah, well it is good that this was caught and to be honest i can’t think of w way around that 🤣