For reference, I was looking up weapons and came across this text in the PHB:
For each weapon your character wields, calculate the modifier you use when you attack with the weapon and the damage you deal when you hit.
When you make an attack with a weapon, you roll a d20 and add your proficiency bonus (but only if you are proficient with the weapon) and the appropriate ability modifier.
For attacks with melee weapons, use your Strength modifier for attack and damage rolls. A weapon that has the finesse property, such as a rapier, can use your Dexterity modifier instead.
For attacks with ranged weapons, use your Dexterity modifier for attack and damage rolls. A melee weapon that has the thrown property, such as a handaxe, can use your Strength modifier instead.
I started looking for ranged weapons with the thrown property to see what strength-based characters could do with ranged weapons, and I noticed the boomerangis considered a ranged weapon but does not have the thrown property. Does anyone know why? Was I mistaken? Is there a typo on D&D Beyond's page for the boomerang?
melee weapons have the thrown property, ranged weapons don't. That might seem confusing at first but look around you'll see that's how they categorized em.
eg a dagger is a melee weapon. it has the thrown property. but you can stabbity stab people with it because that's what it is, a melee weapon. Something like a sling, however, eg2, is a ranged weapon. It shoots things at range. no stabitty stab with the sling.
boomerang is more like the sling than the dagger. is a ranged weapon.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
I started looking for ranged weapons with the thrown property to see what strength-based characters could do with ranged weapons, and I noticed the boomerangis considered a ranged weapon but does not have the thrown property. Does anyone know why? Was I mistaken? Is there a typo on D&D Beyond's page for the boomerang?
It's not a weapon officially published, it was added to D&D Beyond but the source listed is incorrect as it's not found in the Basic Rule document from WoTC. I know there is an official magic boomrang called the Storm Boomerang in Princes of the Apocalypse that is thrown.
The only ranged weapon to have the Thrown property are dart and net. I think the boomrang should also have it but for some reason it doesn't.
Storm Boomerang
Weapon, uncommon
This boomerang is a ranged weapon carved from griffon bone and etched with the symbol of elemental air. When thrown, it has a range of 60/120 feet, and any creature that is proficient with the javelin is also proficient with this weapon. On a hit, the boomerang deals 1d4 bludgeoning damage and 3d4 thunder damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the end of its next turn. On a miss, the boomerang returns to the thrower’s hand. Once the boomerang deals thunder damage to a target, the weapon loses its ability to deal thunder damage and its ability to stun a target. These properties return after the boomerang spends at least 1 hour inside an elemental air node.
The boomerang does not have any weapon properties because the only boomerang is a magic item. It probably should be a simple ranged weapon with the thrown property, but isn't. Its just a ranged weapon that is thrown.
DDB had to make it a weapon type for their system to treat the magic item the way it is written, but the base item doesn't officially exist.
The boomerang is a weird item anyway. The actual hunting version is usually NOT designed to return. A returning boomerang travels on a curved path, which makes it harder to hit your target. The real hunting version is basically a sharpened 'throwing stick' weapon. You throw it directly at the target and it does not return.
The version with the proper geometry to 'return' was used as a toy by aborigines. And of course, if you do hit someone or something with a returning boomerang it does not return.
melee weapons have the thrown property, ranged weapons don't
Incorrect. Darts are a ranged weapon with the thrown property
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
melee weapons have the thrown property, ranged weapons don't
Incorrect. Darts are a ranged weapon with the thrown property
You're right. On reexamining it seems all ranged weapons either have the Ammunition property unless they're one of the two exceptions, the dart or net, that have the thrown property. If we read either of these properties these are what is actually granting us permission to used them at range. (in fact, the listed range is even a function of that property.)
So,since it lacks the Ammunition (xft/xft) or Thrown (xft/xft) properties it lacks a property that allows it to be used at range, even if it has a range listed. Because ranges are a function of one f these two properties, and not an independent property itself.
Therefore, as written, you cannot attack with a boomerang at range.
However, if you consult the item which was the inspiration for dndbeyond to even list a boomerang, the Storm Boomerang, a magical item, it says:
When thrown, it has a range of 60/120 feet, and any creature that is proficient with the javelin is also proficient with this weapon.
This further justifies that the range is a function of the property Thrown, and that this magical boomerang should indeed be listed as having the Thrown (60ft/120ft) property.
If you consider it to be an oversight from dndbeyond whether they simply forgot to include the word thrown on the item description is up to you. (I now think it is)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
If you consider it to be an oversight from dndbeyond whether they simply forgot to include the word thrown on the item description is up to you. (I now think it is)
Darts and nets are both ranged weapons and have the thrown property and are not melee weapons, so they have disadvantage to hit within 5 ft. Anyway, I think my question has been sufficiently answered.
If you consider it to be an oversight from dndbeyond whether they simply forgot to include the word thrown on the item description is up to you. (I now think it is)
It is a unique little magic item for an adventure that was never meant to be a non-magic weapon.
That sounds like an oversight on dndbeyond and how they build out their database. Not WOTC. Which, I guess these days is a purely acedemic distinction anymore.
But, those weapons you link have normal counterparts. There is no boomerang counterpart. However, dndbeyond requires there to be one based on how its database was set up. So dndbeyond had to create one, and, in doing so, didn't implement it in a way consistent with actual 5e weapons.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
If you consider it to be an oversight from dndbeyond whether they simply forgot to include the word thrown on the item description is up to you. (I now think it is)
It is a unique little magic item for an adventure that was never meant to be a non-magic weapon.
That sounds like an oversight on dndbeyond and how they build out their database. Not WOTC. Which, I guess these days is a purely acedemic distinction anymore.
But, those weapons you link have normal counterparts. There is no boomerang counterpart. However, dndbeyond requires there to be one based on how its database was set up. So dndbeyond had to create one, and, in doing so, didn't implement it in a way consistent with actual 5e weapons.
That's certainly not WOTC's fault.
Just about your comment that DDB forgot to add the thrown property. WotC didn't give it the thrown property, so it doesn't have it.
DDB's database needing it to have a base weapon that doesn't exist so that a magic item that can make weapon attacks displays properly on the other hand, yeah that is 100% on DDB.
The magic weapons I listed have normal counterparts and their descriptions say what properties it has that the base doesn't. The boomerang has no base, so it will have only the properties the description gives it: range.
If you consider it to be an oversight from dndbeyond whether they simply forgot to include the word thrown on the item description is up to you. (I now think it is)
It is a unique little magic item for an adventure that was never meant to be a non-magic weapon.
That sounds like an oversight on dndbeyond and how they build out their database. Not WOTC. Which, I guess these days is a purely acedemic distinction anymore.
But, those weapons you link have normal counterparts. There is no boomerang counterpart. However, dndbeyond requires there to be one based on how its database was set up. So dndbeyond had to create one, and, in doing so, didn't implement it in a way consistent with actual 5e weapons.
That's certainly not WOTC's fault.
Just about your comment that DDB forgot to add the thrown property. WotC didn't give it the thrown property, so it doesn't have it.
WOTC did not create the boomerang text. DNDbeyond did.
DDB's database needing it to have a base weapon that doesn't exist so that a magic item that can make weapon attacks displays properly on the other hand, yeah that is 100% on DDB.
Correct.
The magic weapons I listed have normal counterparts and their descriptions say what properties it has that the base doesn't.
Correct.
The boomerang has no base, so it will have only the properties the description gives it: range.
The range is listed as a function of being Thrown, though. It says: "When thrown, it has a range of 60/120 feet". So it only has a range when thrown. It wouldn't have been all the hard for dndbeyond, when they were inventing the entry for the boomerang, to list its property as Thrown (60/120). They didn't.
WOTC's version, the magic item called Storm Boomerang, functions perfectly fine as written. The only conflict is that dndbeyond needed to invent a new item for their database to accept the magic item and when doing so they ignored how the 5e ranged weapons work. An easy enough mistake to make, I did it too early in this thread.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
WOTC did not create the boomerang text. DNDbeyond did.
The boomerang text is lifted straight from the storm boomerang's text, which WotC created. The directly lifted text didn't give it any properties, so DDB didn't make any assumptions. If it was meant to have properties, it would have said so in the source material.
WOTC did not create the boomerang text. DNDbeyond did.
The boomerang text is lifted straight from the storm boomerang's text, which WotC created. The directly lifted text didn't give it any properties, so DDB didn't make any assumptions. If it was meant to have properties, it would have said so in the source material.
They forgot to lift the word "Thrown" then, which is also in the storm boomerangs text. Whoops.
You cannot blame WOTC for something DNDbeyond invented and wrote because their database is clunky and needed it.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
WOTC did not create the boomerang text. DNDbeyond did.
The boomerang text is lifted straight from the storm boomerang's text, which WotC created. The directly lifted text didn't give it any properties, so DDB didn't make any assumptions. If it was meant to have properties, it would have said so in the source material.
They forgot to lift the word "Thrown" then, which is also in the storm boomerangs text. Whoops.
You cannot blame WOTC for something DNDbeyond invented and wrote because their database is clunky and needed it.
Whenthrown, it has arangeof60/120feet
No, they omitted that entire line since they copied all the properties of that sentence to the weapon property fields (namely range 60/120). In that sentence "thrown" is used as a verb, not a weapon property. DDB tries to not change any details from the strict RAW. If the source has a typo, DDB copies that typo.
But yeah, it is still their fault that they had to make it a jank weapon for their system. It should have been easier from the beginning to make custom attacks, it still isn't easy...
WOTC did not create the boomerang text. DNDbeyond did.
The boomerang text is lifted straight from the storm boomerang's text, which WotC created. The directly lifted text didn't give it any properties, so DDB didn't make any assumptions. If it was meant to have properties, it would have said so in the source material.
They forgot to lift the word "Thrown" then, which is also in the storm boomerangs text. Whoops.
You cannot blame WOTC for something DNDbeyond invented and wrote because their database is clunky and needed it.
Whenthrown, it has arangeof60/120feet
No, they omitted that entire line since they copied all the properties of that sentence to the weapon property fields (namely range 60/120). In that sentence "thrown" is used as a verb, not a weapon property. DDB tries to not change any details from the strict RAW. If the source has a typo, DDB copies that typo.
The item doesn't say it has a "property" of "range 60/120" either. They invented that.
There is no such property. And the magic item printed by wotc never claims to have this property.
Only dndbeyond says as much.
They're willing to invent a property that the item doesn't claim to have and that the rules don't outline, yet aren't willing to list the property "thrown" which is actually a word used in the description?
But yeah, it is still their fault that they had to make it a jank weapon for their system. It should have been easier from the beginning to make custom attacks, it still isn't easy...
Also yes.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
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For reference, I was looking up weapons and came across this text in the PHB:
I started looking for ranged weapons with the thrown property to see what strength-based characters could do with ranged weapons, and I noticed the boomerang is considered a ranged weapon but does not have the thrown property. Does anyone know why? Was I mistaken? Is there a typo on D&D Beyond's page for the boomerang?
melee weapons have the thrown property, ranged weapons don't. That might seem confusing at first but look around you'll see that's how they categorized em.
eg a dagger is a melee weapon. it has the thrown property. but you can stabbity stab people with it because that's what it is, a melee weapon. Something like a sling, however, eg2, is a ranged weapon. It shoots things at range. no stabitty stab with the sling.
boomerang is more like the sling than the dagger. is a ranged weapon.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
It's not a weapon officially published, it was added to D&D Beyond but the source listed is incorrect as it's not found in the Basic Rule document from WoTC. I know there is an official magic boomrang called the Storm Boomerang in Princes of the Apocalypse that is thrown.
The only ranged weapon to have the Thrown property are dart and net. I think the boomrang should also have it but for some reason it doesn't.
Storm Boomerang
Weapon, uncommon
This boomerang is a ranged weapon carved from griffon bone and etched with the symbol of elemental air. When thrown, it has a range of 60/120 feet, and any creature that is proficient with the javelin is also proficient with this weapon. On a hit, the boomerang deals 1d4 bludgeoning damage and 3d4 thunder damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the end of its next turn. On a miss, the boomerang returns to the thrower’s hand. Once the boomerang deals thunder damage to a target, the weapon loses its ability to deal thunder damage and its ability to stun a target. These properties return after the boomerang spends at least 1 hour inside an elemental air node.
The boomerang does not have any weapon properties because the only boomerang is a magic item. It probably should be a simple ranged weapon with the thrown property, but isn't. Its just a ranged weapon that is thrown.
DDB had to make it a weapon type for their system to treat the magic item the way it is written, but the base item doesn't officially exist.
The boomerang is a weird item anyway. The actual hunting version is usually NOT designed to return. A returning boomerang travels on a curved path, which makes it harder to hit your target. The real hunting version is basically a sharpened 'throwing stick' weapon. You throw it directly at the target and it does not return.
The version with the proper geometry to 'return' was used as a toy by aborigines. And of course, if you do hit someone or something with a returning boomerang it does not return.
Incorrect. Darts are a ranged weapon with the thrown property
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
You're right. On reexamining it seems all ranged weapons either have the Ammunition property unless they're one of the two exceptions, the dart or net, that have the thrown property. If we read either of these properties these are what is actually granting us permission to used them at range. (in fact, the listed range is even a function of that property.)
So,since it lacks the Ammunition (xft/xft) or Thrown (xft/xft) properties it lacks a property that allows it to be used at range, even if it has a range listed. Because ranges are a function of one f these two properties, and not an independent property itself.
Therefore, as written, you cannot attack with a boomerang at range.
However, if you consult the item which was the inspiration for dndbeyond to even list a boomerang, the Storm Boomerang, a magical item, it says:
This further justifies that the range is a function of the property Thrown, and that this magical boomerang should indeed be listed as having the Thrown (60ft/120ft) property.
If you consider it to be an oversight from dndbeyond whether they simply forgot to include the word thrown on the item description is up to you. (I now think it is)
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
It is more an oversight by WotC than DDB. If the storm boomerang was meant to have the thrown property, it would have said so like the dwarven thrower and hammer of thunderbolts do.
It is a unique little magic item for an adventure that was never meant to be a non-magic weapon.
Darts and nets are both ranged weapons and have the thrown property and are not melee weapons, so they have disadvantage to hit within 5 ft. Anyway, I think my question has been sufficiently answered.
That sounds like an oversight on dndbeyond and how they build out their database. Not WOTC. Which, I guess these days is a purely acedemic distinction anymore.
But, those weapons you link have normal counterparts. There is no boomerang counterpart. However, dndbeyond requires there to be one based on how its database was set up. So dndbeyond had to create one, and, in doing so, didn't implement it in a way consistent with actual 5e weapons.
That's certainly not WOTC's fault.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Just about your comment that DDB forgot to add the thrown property. WotC didn't give it the thrown property, so it doesn't have it.
DDB's database needing it to have a base weapon that doesn't exist so that a magic item that can make weapon attacks displays properly on the other hand, yeah that is 100% on DDB.
The magic weapons I listed have normal counterparts and their descriptions say what properties it has that the base doesn't. The boomerang has no base, so it will have only the properties the description gives it: range.
WOTC did not create the boomerang text. DNDbeyond did.
Correct.
Correct.
The range is listed as a function of being Thrown, though. It says: "When thrown, it has a range of 60/120 feet". So it only has a range when thrown. It wouldn't have been all the hard for dndbeyond, when they were inventing the entry for the boomerang, to list its property as Thrown (60/120). They didn't.
WOTC's version, the magic item called Storm Boomerang, functions perfectly fine as written. The only conflict is that dndbeyond needed to invent a new item for their database to accept the magic item and when doing so they ignored how the 5e ranged weapons work. An easy enough mistake to make, I did it too early in this thread.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
The boomerang text is lifted straight from the storm boomerang's text, which WotC created. The directly lifted text didn't give it any properties, so DDB didn't make any assumptions. If it was meant to have properties, it would have said so in the source material.
They forgot to lift the word "Thrown" then, which is also in the storm boomerangs text. Whoops.
You cannot blame WOTC for something DNDbeyond invented and wrote because their database is clunky and needed it.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
No, they omitted that entire line since they copied all the properties of that sentence to the weapon property fields (namely range 60/120). In that sentence "thrown" is used as a verb, not a weapon property. DDB tries to not change any details from the strict RAW. If the source has a typo, DDB copies that typo.
But yeah, it is still their fault that they had to make it a jank weapon for their system. It should have been easier from the beginning to make custom attacks, it still isn't easy...
The item doesn't say it has a "property" of "range 60/120" either. They invented that.
There is no such property. And the magic item printed by wotc never claims to have this property.
Only dndbeyond says as much.
They're willing to invent a property that the item doesn't claim to have and that the rules don't outline, yet aren't willing to list the property "thrown" which is actually a word used in the description?
Also yes.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.