Yeah, no shit, in one medieval poem a serf brings to his master 7 shields for upcoming battle. 7 shields! Bruh, I wish I was at least half as cool as a dude who wields 7 shields in combat.
Makes even more sense if mounted and using some optional rules I read up on about how some lances are prone to breaking in combat. Charge in, smash the weapon, ride back around and pick up a fresh one from your squire out at a safe distance from the combat.
My rule of thumb for if something more complex is an action or bonus action, comes down to whether of not you need to roll a d20. If you need to roll, it is action.
@@absolstoryoffiction6615 Oh this is for things that RAW doesn't cover. Of course things that are stated to be actions and bonus actions are considered as such.
From holding items, we can segway to disarming attacks. It's an attack in which your attack roll is contested by the defender's Athletics. You can target an enemy's shield to lower its AC on a success. However, it the target object is held with 2 or more hands, the defender has advantage on the skill check.
Thank you for adding the feets-notes regarding shield snagging/plonking. As the video started to wind down for the advertisement, I was just gearing up my skull taffy to start forming an inquiry about the matter -then °boop° Exception: Shields are considered armor with relevant action cost to strap on or yank off. Thank you for your continued thoroughness, and highly entertaining quality animated antics. I always immediately watch them the moment they show up on my feed -regardless of whatever else I might be watching already.
I have an artificer-1/wizard-x with a shield in one hand and a spellcasting focus in the other. I'm usually holding the wizard focus (a spellbook). But if I want to cast an artificer spell, I can drop the book and then grab the artificer focus (thieves' tools) as a free object interaction, by the rules described in this video. Similar when switching back. It's actually flavored as the thieves' tools being a steampunk glove/gauntlet worn on the left hand with the shield attached to it, but still needing the right hand free to cast artificer spells with it, so mechanically it works the same way. My DM _was_ kind enough to bend the rules a little to help me out. [1] I can cast somatic component spells using the hand that holds the focus even if the spell has no material component, and [2] when "dropping" the thieves' tools, it works the same as stashing them (since they're supposed to be a glove). However, dropping the book really drops the book, so if I do that while flying over a lava pit, I have to accept the consequences. 😄
Once dropped a wand of magic missiles for my offhand dagger, because I kept failing my use magical item check. Poor choices were made as a turn later the kobold magic user approached it with a sh*t eating grin.
As a kickstarter backer, it’s cool to see the animated tarot finally close to completion. They’ve had a hell of a time getting there with supplier issues and more. (The project funded in June 2020) Despite the substantial time, I’ve been super happy with the quality of assets released, all the animations are wonderful, and the guidebook is very well done.
The squire bit at the end reminded me of the 3.5 Commoner Particle Accelerator/Rail Cannon: 1) Get like 2 miles worth of commoners in a line. 2) Give one a rock. 3) Have them use a reaction to pass it to the next person. 4) ...Who does the same. 5) Etc. In one round, accelerate that rock to possibly >1000mph. Or have them in a circle, and you literally have a particle accelerator that should reach relativistic speeds.
Just recently, I had my Cleric in a dungeon. It was dark, no darkvision, no Light cantrip (for once), so he had his shield on his back and a torch in his off-hand. When I realized I had to get my shield (with emblazoned holy symbol) to cast any of my better spells, I unstrapped my shield (item interaction) to let it fall to the ground, dropped my torch, and knelt down to touch my holy symbol on the shield to cast my spell.
This video was actually super useful to my party. My DM runs guns in a special way. They do shitloads of damage but take a whole action to reload. Our rouge (a wealthy trophy hunter who adventures to shoot exotic prey) was having trouble doing as much damage as the rest of the party. Getting to attack every other turn isn't a recipe for success. I told him that dropping a gun during his turn was free, and that in theory he could shoot every turn so long as he had enough guns. Since then, our party has left a trail of discarded firearms behind them, and the rouge has become the most effective member of the party. Thanks Zee Also the fact that the rouge carries nine loaded guns on him at all times has created some whacky Hijinx.
This actually made a lot of sense and you explained FOI with examples that really helped. Great job, and the title had me chuckling before I even clicked.
Playing with this as an Eldritch Knight could be fun because they can bond to two weapons. As a bonus action, they can teleport one bonded weapon to their free hand.
So, a couple things I've seen (somewhat rarely) come up is some groups about the One Free Object Interactions is: first, the question of weather or not switching between one handed grip and two handed grip on a weapon (be it Versatile or Two Handed) counts as an Object Interaction. Second, the RAW of Drawing and Stowing ONE weapon counts as the One Free Object Interaction, I often find overlooked when it comes to Dual Wielders, as by RAW that would take them either two rounds (drawing one weapon per round) or there Full Action to draw both there weapons. Note: Dual Wield Feat allows both weapons (or even quick swapping between two one handed weapons, stowing one and drawing another, as the Feat describes) as the same Object Interaction.
Also, you can use a two handed melee weapon and one handed throwing weapons at the same time. Your barbarian has a greatsword drawn and some javelins in a pouch or wherever. You can only attack with a 2h weapon using both hands - but you can hold it in only one hand, and moving a hand on or off of an object you're already holding is a non-action. So move one hand off of your greatsword, use your item interaction to draw a javelin, throw it with one hand while your other hand holds the sword, and then put both hands back on the sword for free.
So, I was running a game where switching weapons and wands was considered a free object interaction and bonus action which I kept track of, but the playest started circumventing that by gluing several items together. Say hello to the tripple staff, or the knife-wand
That's actually a canonical thing for wands in the Forgotten Realms, if my memory of The War Wizards of Cormyr is correct at least. They wield, what is essentially, a club with notches carved in it. You slot a bunch of wands into it and rotate it to whatever facing you want to shoot. No having to fumble at your belt each time you swap out your magic sticks. Just... dont forget which is which, otherwise you might try to fireball an unhappy mob and make them extra angry (and mostly dead) by mistake.
Falling does bludgeoning damage assuming you land on something blunt like the ground or a barbarian. So immunity to bludgeoning damage does make you moderately fall proof while also implying you land HARD. 1 someone's gonna notice and 2 they're not gonna expect you to be combat ready at that point.
I actually love that. That does mean drinking a potion only costs you your movement, which is very nice, and it makes weaponswaps a dangerous investment as your enemy might pick up your weapon if you throw it and sheeting it will not allow you to pull the new one during the same turn. I do have my problems with the spellcasting though. Not sure if I would want my players to drop their offhand sword cast a spell and pick it back up. Trading movement to sheathe and cast sounds interesting though. Maybe I'd add a rule that, if you need to bow down to pick it up it takes an action. That way they could still "I drop my sword. Tip first to make it stick out." roleplay your way around that problem and look cool... y'know not having to bend over right in front of an enemy... with a greataxe... who'd love to hit that neck right now.
I was literally brainstorming something silly with monks and using a heavy weapon on the first attack for a GWM attack, dropping it before you make your second attack as an unarmed strike, so that you can then use your martial arts bonus action unarmed strike
Rather inspired by the FFIXV Red Mage emote where they toss their rapier into the air like a baton, pop their collar, then catch it, I've taken to flavoring my drop-cast-pickup as throwing the weapon into the air, casting, then catching it.
In my table I allow my players to change their equipped gear at the start of their turns by free. That means: Drawing or Sheathing a Weapon or Donning/Doffing a Shield (not both at once, Drawing/Sheathing 2 weapons is a Two Weapon Fighting thing). Once you choose, you have that until the start of your next turn. Might feel a little restrictive? Yeah, but I value straightfoward ruling over freedom in this case.
Kind of find it funny, how without knowing any of this, i basically implemented the same ruling in my campaigns. As i needed to come up with something on the fly. Though that with the shield is good to know.
Idea for shields. European style shields are armor and have to be donned or doffed. Norse style shields can be dropped like weapons but, as a trade-off, can also be disarmed or accidentally dropped in any case in which a held object could be.
@@DvirPick Technically the rules don't use the phrase "free action" but they state that, "You can communicate however you are able, through brief utterances and gestures, as you take your turn." This is actually less restricted than your free object interaction which is explicitly tied to your action or movement. Which means that technically, by RAW you cannot use your free object interaction as part of a bonus action or reaction, nor can you simply use it on it's own without using your action or movement. But that's getting nitpicky and enforcing that might encourage players to start concocting odd combos to get everything out of their action economy they can like moving 1 inch so they can use their object interaction, then bonus action, then action and the rest of their movement...
I'm famous for dropping weapons at my table. Leave them scattered all over the place like litter. I've been known to draw my allies' axes off their hips because I left my spare sword on the other side of the room.
It is a *little* silly that it theoretically requires two separate object interactions to draw two daggers from their sheaths on your turn. It really effs with the cool gobs don't look at projectile carotid artery wounds vibe of being a dual finesse wielder. I broadly rule that interacting with stuff in a given category is an object interaction, minus dropping, as you've pointed out. So, you want to draw a one-handed weapon and sheathe another one-handed weapon, I'll give you that as part of one object interaction, you got two hands, they're all part of the same category, it makes sense. I'll include a small spellcasting focus in that category because I also have guards confiscate them as "weapons" when people are captured. Narrative category more than mechanical, I suppose. If you want to stow your dagger, pull out your Book of Shadows and do some other bullshit, I'll probably ask you to give up your bonus action. I know, I know, bonus actions, strictly speaking, don't exist, until a feature or ability conveys one, but I'm a Move/Minor/Standard guy at heart. Plus, that logic falls right the hell apart with spells and is buried somewhere in the spellcasting rules, which fully 1% of new players read. The spells just say "Casting Time: 1 Bonus Action," and there's a sort of subtext which is "The Spellcasting feature allows you to take a bonus action on any of your turns to cast a spell with a casting time of 1 Bonus Action, provided that it meets all the other requirements of spellcasting and you have the spell slots or resources available to cast it." Worse, the Warcaster feat slams us all down big time with this cheeky little mention: "You can perform the somatic components of spells **even when** you have weapons or a shield in **one** or both hands." That language _implies_ that to perform the somatic components of a spell, you have to have _both_ hands free; since this feat specially grants you an ability, it implies you lacked it beforehand. Then _that_ gets all effed up by the Sage Advice Compendium and the Errata, which plainly state that you do exactly as you have described. And _that's_ why tables go to one of the two extremes. Because the "official" rule requires some amount of Holmesian deduction and investigation to come to what feels like an obvious conclusion: do what makes sense.
One of the coolest things I did was when I was playing Curse of Strahd, we were getting attacked by Vampire spawns and we only had one +1 shortsword so myself The Paladin and the Ranger attacked and then passed it to the other and just kept playing hotpotato while we ran through them. It was sick as hell
So I've played exclusively 5th edition but with a friend group that was been kicking around since 3rd edition. I had no idea that 'free action' wasn't actually in 5e.
Weirdly, my table read the rules for object interactions way back when 5e dropped and came to this exact conclusion about how the single free object interaction and dropping items. We also came to the conclusion that two-handed weapons were king for casters since holding a two-handed weapon doesn't require both hands, only swinging it. And swapping between a onehanded grip and a two-handed grip also isn't listed as an action much like dropping an item so it is basically free game. >I move from a two-handed grip on my greatsword to a one-handed grip >I cast Quickened Fireball >I move from a one-handed grip on my greatsword to a two-handed grip >I attack with my greatsword
So theoretically, if I am standing on a cliff, holding two rocks I can drop them both without using an actions and if there is someone under the cliff, directly under me, the rocks will fall on him right? And since dropping stuff isnt an action, I still can make an action. the three attacks wizard is real, you just need to be in this one, extremely specific situation.
Ok I Must say how 5e handles shields is stupid, I should be able to drop a buckler faster then a tower shield , and the tower shield should give more defence
right now im playing a dualweilding swashbuckler with teh dual wielding feat, witch kind of removes allot fo thee isues. seeing how im alowed to sheete or unsheath 2 weapons instead of one, however i have tryed to rule bend it to ambidexterity to try and get 2 free actions, however unless im picking up specificaly weapons i have not been allowed too.
I only wonder, wouldn't it be a free action for the squire to draw your new weapon, and another to give it to you? Not to mention a free action to put the old weapon away, otherwise it would have to be dropped on the ground.
@@dumsquirrel Well, the squires arent actually using their actions to do anything, so they can spend all the time they need getting your weapons. And, as stated by Zee, giving a weapon to someone else only takes your action, not theirs.
This has actually been a running gag in campaigns within my friend group. All of our characters are constantly dropping their melee weapons to switch to ranged options (or vice versa). I'm waiting for the day the dm just announces something like "Suddenly a shape rapidly moves at the corner of your vision, as you turn to look you see a goblin collecting all your dropped equipment."
i did that once, they immidiately stopped killing the lich (phyklactries destroyed) to go kill the loot goblin, they literally chased it to a new continent, somewhere in the multiverse theres a verison of the sword coast ruled by a lich
Do not play D&D, but if I was the game master: So you drope the sword widout thinking so you can draw your crossbow, in one action? Player: That is correct. Roll a luck save to see if the sword did hit your foot or not.
The hotswapping thing always makes me wish to be in a prison break session where all the players have to share a dagger and quickly pass it between each other between turns. It would be like a 4-man John Wick fight scene as they all shiv their way out.
that's pretty hot, I might encourage that in a new underdark campaign I'm running where they all start in a Drow jail cell and need to make it back to their wizard benefactor who has diplomatic immunity with the kingdoms
If there's a high level monster that can only be killed by a certain magic weapon, going by the official rules there's nothing stopping you using it on your turn and then passing it to the next player in the initiative to continue the onslaught and on so.
@@aetherspiralknight He literally said, "No they're not, but just because that's the flavor we want, there's no real reason lol, do what you want". Like, my guy, if it's that inconsequential, and literally makes sense by the rules you wrote, why bother even specifying the lore based limitation when you note that it doesn't matter?
@@aaronsirkman8375 If you read the rules of Divine Smite very closely, you will see that the Divine Smite damage is dealt "in addition to the weapon's damage". Since there was no weapon involved in the process, there is nothing to add the damage to, and it is therefore lost. The real RAW interpretation is "it's possible but useless". It may be RAI as well, but the wording is so obtuse you have to wonder if they purposefully wrote all these obscure rules to have a game full of gotchas. JC is the ultimate rules lawyer and hates fun. He values what's written in his "perfect" book over common sense. I seriously hope they don't bring him back for 5.5e or 6e.
@@neirenoir Agreed. Ever since I saw the multiple times people have asked him how exactly "Improved Divine Smite" works as there is some ambiguity on whether or not it gets added twice when you smite (Yes I know it doesn't, but it's been asked multiple times) he never actually answers and just posts the wording in the book verbatim instead of a simple yes or no I've doubted JC's "rulings." Honestly I ignore most of the Sage Advice unless it's in the players favor or a player wants me to go by the rule, then I'll look into it. Because he WANTS gotchas, and it's my biggest problem with 5e. It tries to straddle this line of "We don't have rules for everything because we want DMs to make the rulings" and "there is this odd interaction with rules that don't obviously interact but because we added a specific word that makes them interact (ie Magic Missile with Empowered Evocation: because the darts hit simultaneously it falls under the AoE rules and thus is a single dice roll multiplied by the number of darts so every dart gets buffed)." It also uses common vernacular as keywords without specifying them as such. And to top it all off half the time the rulings aren't even consistent. For example: Why does magic missile get +int per dart when it automatically hits and does force damage but Scorching Ray gets shafted with abilities wording actually changed to add +cha to a single roll? Why does Eldritch Blast and agonizing blast get +cha on every roll when it functions almost identically to scorching ray except it doesn't use a resource, does a better damage type and scales with overall level instead of spell slots. Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.
Personally I like: - Dropping a weapon is free - Drawing a weapon is an Object Interaction - Picking up a weapon off the ground is an Action. This not only stops shenanigans, but it reflects the totally reasonable idea that drawing from a scabbard (a device literally intended to provide your weapon) is easier than picking up a sword.
@@robinthrush9672 Throwing Weapon Fighting Style and Dual Wielder Feat can make that better. Since Thrown Weapon FS takes away the limitation for Object Interaction if and only if you intend to throw the weapon. And Dual Wielder lets you take out or put away 2 weapons at once.
@@robinthrush9672 indeed, tho if a player wants a throwing build I'd advise they still discuss with the DM cos throwing can have some weird edge cases in 5e
Sword, probably (if you dont have a gauntlet), however same thing doesnt hold true for a stick or even a hook mace (that is easily straightened up by just stepping on it). Naturally if the character already used their interaction that turn, thats 100% raw as its the use a object action.
@@ANDELE3025 I respectfully disagree. Your character has likely drawn their weapon from its scabbard dozens of times, a smooth practised motion that is literally within arms reach, the handle fully available. Even if we assume that your character isn't going to Sideshow Bob themselves when trying to step on the weapon, it is still out of arm's length and laying in an unfamiliar position (remember, you've *dropped* it, not 'placed it neatly on the ground in a good spot'). Now potentially if a player wanted to make weapon shenanigans part of their character, I'd personally allow it with some kind of mechanical cost (eg: it counts as a tool proficiency, or replaces a class bonus to a relevant skill)
Finally someone talks about this! It's super interesting, and it lets you play as a spellsword with both hands full without needing the war caster feat
Yeah but you wouldn't be able to use important reaction spells like Shield if you pick your weapon up again And if you don't your weapon could get stolen/kicked away
I've used the "drop shit to swap weapons" rule actually pretty consistently in a few of my campaigns. While I could, COULD be a fuck about "you didn't SAY you went to pick up your weapon" I fit that comfortably next to "dysentery" and "changing currency at the border" in my big box of stuff that's not interesting and therefore doesn't happen.
I'm having flashbacks to my first game of DnD and losing my starting spear because the DM ruled because I didn't say I recovered it that it was left behind. :))))))))))))))))))))))) (The more distance I get from that game the more I realized it was a trashfire.)
This reminds me of an observation I had about any disarming mechanics such as in the DMG or Battle Master maneuvers. In Xanathar's guide adamantine weapons are stated to automatically crit when hitting objects, and the DMG says magic items are generally resistant to damage, not immune. So your fighter runs up to the arcmage and disarms them of their staff of infinite power, then with their next attack they strike the staff on the ground to destroy it and ruin their day.
@@EasilyBoredGamer I mean, you're also dealing that damage to the Archmage, so... Depending on the situation, that might actually be a worthwhile trade off.
@@funnyvalentinedidnothingwrong sort of, the person who breaks it takes 16 x the number of charges, whereas people within 10 feet only take 8 x. 50% chance you get sent to a random plane of existence instead of taking the damage (good or bad?), but if you have a cleric then just cast death ward on the fighter.
Why break it when your fighter might have a bag of holding on them ? 1) Disarm the mage with an unarmed attack to take the staff from them. 2) Free Item Interaction (drop the staff in the bag) 3) grin smugly at the Mage that now has to make do without the material component to most of his spell. 4) After you ruined the mages day , your own mage might want said staff or you could trade it for an item you could use. Or hang it over your keeps fireplace... you do you.
This was the way I always DMed it. Players can drop something for free, but swapping items takes actions. Why not just drop? Once the Party encountered a Gelantinous Cube, fired their bows, and next round dropped them to draw weapons. Then watched as the Cube slowly move across their bows digesting them as it went.
@@jimvoozhenzhan8435 I mean, I wouldn't consider picking up someone's sword they just dropped when I'm staring them in the eyes about to get my head cleaved in two (though kicking is interesting, still wouldn't really solve the seemingly common use of using it to cast a spell or two hand an axe, etc) As far as when not in melee deathmatches? Could be kinda fun with little minion enemies like kobolds or goblins trying to steal dropped weapons/items and booking it like a maniac while everyone else is in combat lmao.
@@khaylis8933 so i DM AD&D, allowed my thief gnome with the tinkering proficiency to manufacture 2 arquebuces. So yeah, when in trouble just fire, drop and rearm.
@@khaylis8933 I mean...it is still D&D...ot costs the NPC villain a single object interaction to pick it up with a free hand, just like it would cost the PCs. And, you KNOW that if the villain dropped their cool looking longbow to start fighting in melee, the PCs would 100% be tempted to grab that thing. Mid-combat or no.
This is the second new video in two days I've watched that has a reference to something Jocat has made. I'm loving these little crossovers between the D&D animators
Anyone remember the Spare Hand item from 3.5e? This feels like a good time to mention a magic belt with an arm dangling from it that can hold things for you.
Oh this totally needs to be brought to 5th ed! I’d love to reward a player at my table who is always having to worry about their character’s hand slots with this! ❤️
Finally someone's talking about this! I differentiate between "Interaction" (only 1 per turn) and "Free Action" (as many as you like). Free Actions include not only dropping an object but alao falling prone and communicating. COMBAT: Round (6 seconds) Turn 1. Movement - Walk - Crawl - Jump - Climb - Swim - Fly - Burrow - Stand up - Mount/dismount - Move through difficult terrain - Squeeze through smaller space 2. Action - Attack - Ranged Weapon Attack - Melee Weapon Attack - Improvised Weapon Attack - Unarmed Strike - Grappling Attack - Shoving Attack - Extra Attack - Cast a spell - Dash - Disengage - Dodge - Help - Hide - Ready - Search - Use an object - Drink a potion - Administer a potion - Improvise 3. Bonus Action - Hand Crossbow Attack (CBE) - Shortsword Attack (TWF) - Cast/Move Hunter's Mark - Command Animated Shield 4. Reaction - Opportunity Attack - Readied Action - Absorb Elements 5. Interaction - Draw or sheathe a sword - Open or close a door - Withdraw a potion from your backpack - Pick up a dropped axe - Take a bauble from a table - Remove a ring from your finger - Stuff some food into your mouth - Plant a banner in the ground - Fish a few coins from your belt pouch - Drink all the ale in a flagon - Throw a lever or a switch - Pull a torch from a sconce - Take a book from a shelf you can reach - Extinguish a small flame - Don a mask - Pull the hood of your cloak up and over your head - Put your ear to a door - Kick a small stone - Turn a key in a lock - Tap the floor with a 10-foot pole - Hand an item to another character 6. Free Action - Communicate through brief utterances and gestures - Drop an object - Fall prone
This was something I picked up along the way as a sorta-new player. I'd watched my parents and brothers D&D together as I grew up. Most of the time there was little issue with rules and whatnot, since they mostly went from what the book says or the DM decides what they'll allow or not allow. I'd always seen people drop the weapon they were using to swap weapons as a 'free action' or 'bonus action' or what all and it just kinda made sense anyway. It takes longer to neatly put your bow on your back and draw your longsword than it does to just...drop the bow AS you pull out your weapon. Though we usually have to specify that we are picking our weapons up afterwards, since a keen-eyed DM will probably say that you didn't retrieve it otherwise the next time you want to use it or mention it, and you didn't specify. Extra: As said sorta-new player, I love baffling my parents with the characters I bring about. They've played it since 1st Ed, so they're used to the 'normal' races, and I got some laughs and odd looks when I brought around a tiefling, or a pink female satyr. My goal is to try all the classes at some point, and a variety of archetypes and races as well!
@@vincentmuyo yeah, not ruling common sense on adventurers leaving Weapons behind is boring and annoying, last dm I had that told me that, also told me I needed to make multiple rolls to fly since I the druid, having shapeshifted into a flying animal, didn't know how to fly yet. which I might not take problem with, if I weren't so high level already
@@littlecow2000 That's just malicious behaviour from the DM since the rules specifically state that you gain the abilities of the form you shapeshift into. If you rule that you wouldn't know how to fly then you could also argue that you can't use any of the abilities of your shapeshifted form or have a disadvantage on everything you do since you don't know how to move or attack in a non-humanoid form... That's genuinely a reason to have a proper discussion with your DM or even walk out from the game in the worst case scenario.
@@MrQwertysystem I agree. I did argue enough that he changed the ruling mid game which was nice, didn't end up playing too long with him but was fun :)
It's also good to remember that you can hold (but not attack with) a two handed weapon in only one hand. I mean it should be obvious that when you aren't actively firing a bow, it only lives in one hand, and it's reasonable that you can hold a greatsword even if you can't really swing it like that. This is the super-secret special move that makes two handed weapons really, really useful for gish type characters like clerics, druids, and eldritch knights -- you can have a strong weapon, but any time you aren't literally in the middle of an attack, your off-hand is free to do somatics, including manipulating focus items or material components as needed.
This does let you swap weapons/spellcasting focus/etc in the middle of a fight without damaging your action economy by just thinking ahead. Put away thing 1 at the end of your turn, and then at the start of your next turn pull out thing 2. Easy.
@@aaaaaa-ts3rw Definitely, unless you have natural weapons like a Tabaxi. Arcane caster gishes like greatsword hexblades can abuse this also in reverse; draw the spell focus to cast a spell while holding the greatsword with one hand, then next turn put the focus away and resume greatsword. You can't use the greatsword while holding it this way but you don't have to ever put it away.
@@carsonm7292 Eldritch Knight: "I'll drop one of my Versatile Claymores. Then beat the Extra Attack out of the Goblin with my bare hands... ... ... I then take out my other Versatile Claymore and Bonus Action Weapon Bond the Claymore I dropped on the floor... ... ... Then I Action Surge with the Lucky Feat."
in the group i play with online, we found out that dropping the weapon on the ground is itself a disadvantage. we play on roll20, and therefore we not only have constant access to battlemaps, which are often used for covert interaction (thanks DM, your group loves you for this). this means that if you drop an item, it stays where it landed. thus far this campaign i´ve had to drop my crossbow twice to fight with a melee weapon, and then at a later stage of combat retreat, without time to pick up my crossbow for one reason or another. the first time i did this i lost the ability to fight from afar until end of combat, and the other time i lost my hand crossbow, which i got simply because i needed the compact armament. of course some items can´t be dropped, like potions, and other time you might not want to drop a magic item, which would risk it being nabbed by the enemy.
I remember the first group i was in, there was one guy that always dropped hes shortbow mid-battle to draw hes melee weapon because of these rule interactions.... ...The funny thing was just that not even once did he remember to collect the bow after the battles.
My players did this too, but we just stated once that ofc you pick up your weapon afterwards. No need to say it each time that just slows the game down/gets old. :P Unless they wanted to pick it up again during the encounter ofc.
@@SwedishWookie I agree. We also hand wave using the bathroom, gathering wood for a campfire and filling out paperwork for the insurance claim when the dragon torches our keep. D&D isn't a real world simulator. :) I've played at a table where a player let us know every move that lead to his action. "I approach the door. I take out the key we found on the Goblin guard from my right, front pocket. I place the key in the lock. I turn the key clockwise. I test the door to see if it is now unlocked. I place the key back into my pocket, but this time I place it into my left, front pocket. That's where I put keys that we probably won't need again. I open the door." I should say I played *once* at that table.
Yeah, maybe health potions taste like rancid sewage? One of my favourite houserules has always been drinking a health potion as a bonus action for the normal effect or taking an action to drink it carefully in order to get the max roll (i.e. a regular healing potion gives 2d4+2 as a bonus action or 10 hitpoints if taken as an action), feeding an unconscious (or I guess lazy) player always takes an action but still requires the roll. The idea essentially being that drinking quickly (or pouring it down someone else's throat) causes you to spill some potion and lose some of the effect.
It’s because of that I like to play with a house rule where taking your entire action to get every last drop of a health potion grants the full benefit as opposed to a quick free action swig that will just have you roll for the health gained as normal. Makes for fun decisions in the heat of battle.
lore wise im pretty sure health potions taste like absolute fucking garbage to the extent that it 100% takes an action to drink it or to force someone to drink it
@@crtwrght That's actually pretty smart way to go with it. I never was a fan of how drinking a potion takes an action so usually it ends up being smarter to just attack your opponent in hopes of killing them before they get to kill you rather than drink a potion and waste both your and your opponents action.
You come across the most broken part of this rule when you try to deprive your players of weapons and they find a single weapon. Now they all rotate through the single weapon by dropping it and picking it up like some violent hot potato
Reminds me of the second Pirates of the Carribbean movie where Elizabeth, Raggitte, and Pintel are running from cursed ocean zombies and only have one or two swords between them and keep passing them around as someone needs one.
A sane DM would tell them this doesn't work because the turns are an abstraction and a round only lasts six seconds. They cannot all be using the same weapon at the same time. (Also what stops the enemies from stealing the one weapon while it's on the ground?)
@@theuncalledfor they aren't using it at the same time, they're taking turns with one weapon, and you can enforce consequences such as reaction or opportunity attacks having to be unarmed only if it isn't that person's turn to hold the weapon
When I played pathfinder kingmaker, I loved how the potion, weapon swapping or other mechanics took movement. it made a lot of sense as in my experience its harder to move quickly while doing something with your hands. running down the hall while shuffling all your books in school is not as easy as if they stayed in your backpack, but faster than stopping and rummaging through your pack, the difference is weather you think you'll immediately need your supplies. therefore, I think that system has some verisimilitude
This is how I always run Object Interacting in combat. I could never figure out why people always threw a fit when I said these things. It was right there in the PHB!
Honestly, I would argue that having two NPC squires to allow you to change your load out between turns makes perfect sense. Is assisting in that kind of thing not part of a squire's job? The downside, of course, is that you now have two (probably pretty weak) NPCs in the middle of combat who the DM is free to target with attacks or AoEs.
@@christophershell7564 Reasonable, though depending on what you were trying to do, a vindictive DM might argue that such a familiar isn't large or strong enough to be able to carry your weapon. Though like you said, unless you had some really weird build, I can't see why you would need to switch weapons as a Warlock. Eldritch Blast is already the best ranged option, and gishes are usually pretty hyper-specialized to avoid multi-ability dependency.
I love the "I pull the lever as a Free Action" "That lever is attached to a catapult, that's CLEARLY an attack!" I also love how Zee effectively confirms what I houseruled for my campaigns, where if you wanted to switch from say, sword and shield to mace and shield, you would DROP the sword, and use the Interact to draw the mace!
My table ignores the rules for switching weapons like this. We just say "switching whatever is in your hands is a free object interaction (excluding shields)". Though it is an interesting mechanic, my players come to the table to do quests, fight monsters, and use their cool features. They don't come over to the have to overthink switching weapons and learn the interaction-hand-dance.
I tend to agree with this, specifically with regards to weapon switching, not necessarily other object interactions. Reason being that dual wielding is already a mechanically inferior fighting style even without screwing the player over on drawing their weapons. Also inclined to let thrown weapons draw and throw as many javelins/darts/daggers as they have attacks for a similar reason. Both of these interactions actually already have a feat/fighting style to cover them, but the way feats are handled in 5e requiring one to use dual wielded or thrown weapons properly is a BIG ask.
Sure, but now you've reduced the value of special features in the game, such as the Warcaster feat or the Cleric's ability to use their shield as their spellcasting focus. With every hand-wave of the rules, you remove a bit of nuance and strategy from the game. Just something to think about.
I actually recognized this, but intentionally changed it to a free object interaction to change your loadout (including Shield). The resolution I came to was that you had to deal with the lowest stats during your turn resulting from this, meaning if you used your Longbow on a turn then pulled out a sword and shield, your AC is still without that shield until your next turn. Considering 90% of my issues with the situation was just that: ranged weapon usage then switching to shields, it was all I needed to make my games work properly. Glad somebody actually talked about this for once though!
To think that Shields are considered Armor... At least, in RAW, since that is the case. The Eberon Warforged can amalgam (merge) with the Shield. Then no one can steal the Shield without outright killing the Warforge since it is immune to be incapacitate.
I like this ruling. It seems silly to intentionally encourage people to do something like dropping gear so they cast a spell when we have so many gish characters now, so I’ve always just ignored stowing and unsheathing weapons. They purposefully made a way for players to do it. Might as well make it not look silly.
@@FenrisZAmarok Yeah, the dropping is a bit wonky when it's really thought about. Like, who in their right mind is going to *DROP* their sword in the middle of a fight?
@@GoblinKoboldGaming someone who really immediately needs another hand, like for grabbing, grappling, pulling thing off, dropping a sword that was superheated, dropping on a sword that is really heavy on a weak npc to trap them (think big sword here), maybe dropping the sword because it's the conduit for your evil warlock patron to speak to you and you're trying to ignore the fucker, etc etc etc. Use your imagination lol
Wizard: "I told you that a +1 Axe will be useless. Now, prepare for my Fire Ball, you Necromancer." DM: "You killed both the Fighter and the Necromancer with Fire Ball." Wizard: "I AM A GOD!!!"
I had a ranger who used a bow and a musket. Because the musket took a full round to reload, he'd use the musket as a first attack then drop it on the ground and go ham with the bow
not how muskets work ingame Loading: Because of the time required to load this weapon, you can fire only one piece of ammunition from it when you use an action, bonus action, or reaction to fire it, regardless of the number of attacks you can normally make. it doesn't take 'a full round' it's just 1 attack per any-action prompt to attack with it.
Because doff isnt actually a real word outside of 1420-1620s poetry/literature that wants to show characters being posh (and some works by late 18th century writers). When it comes to common vernacular things like "do off (with)", "take off", "doffen" (if french influenced) and "don off" were actually used/far far more common. Even "daff" gets more use in middle english texts despite it also being another word for "dumbass/idiot". TLDR: Old, middle and new middle english dont/didn't have it as part of the core vocabulary, so it really is a fantasy word.
Fun Fact: A Thief Rogue can Doff and Don a shield as a bonus action. This only becomes useful if they get shield proficiency from something, but I just think its neat.
@@zufieusagi7509 If you have the extended book for the Warforge (both UA and Eberon), then true... Kind of like the Variant Human extended content. Otherwise, base form, Eberon Warforged cannot merge or attach themselves with Weapons, unfortunately.
Shields are interesting, because they take an action to don/doff but they are "held in one hand" so they're a valid target for Disarming Strike. If you knock their shield off, it's gone. They have to use their whole action to put it back on.
I’m kind of disappointed that shields can’t also be considered weapons because it means you can’t shield bash in D&D. Unless that exists somewhere and I don’t know about it.
@@thornangel16 The shield master feat allows for a shield bash. Also it can be used as an improvised weapon for a pitiful 1d4 damage. You might convince a DM to boost that by adding spikes along the outer edge or center.
@@thornangel16 Yeah, shields with spikes could be considered improvised qeapons *which happen* to double as shields. Just saying, flavor is free and the DM could always agree with you and change the ruling if its more fun that way
This free object interaction can be quite deadly in the hands of a mage that likes to use wind spells to blow sharp debris everywhere. Imagine caltrops, daggers, vials and flasks that shatter when dropped, nails, tacks, and other pointy bits and bobs tearing through flesh like a rabid goblin at a meat buffet.
Which I think is fine, considering that A, doing such a thing would require the DM to make up a homebrew mechanic anyway, and B, spellcasters already have plenty of strong area of effect damage spells.
considering a literal cloud of spinning daggers is 4d4 slashing damage a round, that’s not a huge deal. wizards can already deal a lot of damage with spells, make sure any improvised damage isn’t exceeding damaging spells of the same level and structure.
It's all fun and games until the enemy you're facing picks up your weapon.
ooooh, yeah, that would be a problem wouldn't it. XD
@@AegixDrakan oh heck what if they just kick it away.
Jokes on them- I'm unarmed! Oh wait- that would be grappling
Random Kobold picks up your holy avenger.
B-but wait, th-that's illegal... D:
Holy cow that's what the nobles 4 man entourage is meant to be used for. SERFS NEW WEAPONS!!
Yeah, no shit, in one medieval poem a serf brings to his master 7 shields for upcoming battle. 7 shields! Bruh, I wish I was at least half as cool as a dude who wields 7 shields in combat.
Makes even more sense if mounted and using some optional rules I read up on about how some lances are prone to breaking in combat. Charge in, smash the weapon, ride back around and pick up a fresh one from your squire out at a safe distance from the combat.
Bazooka goblin is my new favorite character.
Followed closely by goblin casting "Lightning of the Center Digit."
My rule of thumb for if something more complex is an action or bonus action, comes down to whether of not you need to roll a d20. If you need to roll, it is action.
I would stick to RAW by that scenario instead of adding in complications as a DM.
It bogs down the battle that isn't even terrain changing.
@@absolstoryoffiction6615 Oh this is for things that RAW doesn't cover. Of course things that are stated to be actions and bonus actions are considered as such.
The quick snippet where Zee shows JoCrap swing his sword and shield around. Pretty great to see.
From holding items, we can segway to disarming attacks. It's an attack in which your attack roll is contested by the defender's Athletics. You can target an enemy's shield to lower its AC on a success. However, it the target object is held with 2 or more hands, the defender has advantage on the skill check.
Thank you for adding the feets-notes regarding shield snagging/plonking. As the video started to wind down for the advertisement, I was just gearing up my skull taffy to start forming an inquiry about the matter -then °boop° Exception: Shields are considered armor with relevant action cost to strap on or yank off.
Thank you for your continued thoroughness, and highly entertaining quality animated antics. I always immediately watch them the moment they show up on my feed -regardless of whatever else I might be watching already.
I have an artificer-1/wizard-x with a shield in one hand and a spellcasting focus in the other. I'm usually holding the wizard focus (a spellbook). But if I want to cast an artificer spell, I can drop the book and then grab the artificer focus (thieves' tools) as a free object interaction, by the rules described in this video. Similar when switching back.
It's actually flavored as the thieves' tools being a steampunk glove/gauntlet worn on the left hand with the shield attached to it, but still needing the right hand free to cast artificer spells with it, so mechanically it works the same way.
My DM _was_ kind enough to bend the rules a little to help me out. [1] I can cast somatic component spells using the hand that holds the focus even if the spell has no material component, and [2] when "dropping" the thieves' tools, it works the same as stashing them (since they're supposed to be a glove).
However, dropping the book really drops the book, so if I do that while flying over a lava pit, I have to accept the consequences. 😄
Once dropped a wand of magic missiles for my offhand dagger, because I kept failing my use magical item check. Poor choices were made as a turn later the kobold magic user approached it with a sh*t eating grin.
This is why the party made my lizardfolk soldier put dummy strings on his weapons.
i love everything about this video, but i especially love the goblino with the taped-on knives going **screeee**
As a kickstarter backer, it’s cool to see the animated tarot finally close to completion. They’ve had a hell of a time getting there with supplier issues and more. (The project funded in June 2020)
Despite the substantial time, I’ve been super happy with the quality of assets released, all the animations are wonderful, and the guidebook is very well done.
The squire bit at the end reminded me of the 3.5 Commoner Particle Accelerator/Rail Cannon:
1) Get like 2 miles worth of commoners in a line.
2) Give one a rock.
3) Have them use a reaction to pass it to the next person.
4) ...Who does the same.
5) Etc.
In one round, accelerate that rock to possibly >1000mph.
Or have them in a circle, and you literally have a particle accelerator that should reach relativistic speeds.
Just recently, I had my Cleric in a dungeon. It was dark, no darkvision, no Light cantrip (for once), so he had his shield on his back and a torch in his off-hand. When I realized I had to get my shield (with emblazoned holy symbol) to cast any of my better spells, I unstrapped my shield (item interaction) to let it fall to the ground, dropped my torch, and knelt down to touch my holy symbol on the shield to cast my spell.
This video was actually super useful to my party.
My DM runs guns in a special way. They do shitloads of damage but take a whole action to reload. Our rouge (a wealthy trophy hunter who adventures to shoot exotic prey) was having trouble doing as much damage as the rest of the party. Getting to attack every other turn isn't a recipe for success. I told him that dropping a gun during his turn was free, and that in theory he could shoot every turn so long as he had enough guns.
Since then, our party has left a trail of discarded firearms behind them, and the rouge has become the most effective member of the party.
Thanks Zee
Also the fact that the rouge carries nine loaded guns on him at all times has created some whacky Hijinx.
This actually made a lot of sense and you explained FOI with examples that really helped. Great job, and the title had me chuckling before I even clicked.
Playing with this as an Eldritch Knight could be fun because they can bond to two weapons. As a bonus action, they can teleport one bonded weapon to their free hand.
I love the goblin in this. Just a funky little dude.
I ordered the animated tarot deck years ago, glad to see it will be out of preproduction soon.
So, a couple things I've seen (somewhat rarely) come up is some groups about the One Free Object Interactions is:
first, the question of weather or not switching between one handed grip and two handed grip on a weapon (be it Versatile or Two Handed) counts as an Object Interaction.
Second, the RAW of Drawing and Stowing ONE weapon counts as the One Free Object Interaction, I often find overlooked when it comes to Dual Wielders, as by RAW that would take them either two rounds (drawing one weapon per round) or there Full Action to draw both there weapons.
Note: Dual Wield Feat allows both weapons (or even quick swapping between two one handed weapons, stowing one and drawing another, as the Feat describes) as the same Object Interaction.
The way I do it with my group is that if you want to swap weapons, you use up half your movement
funny enough many other systems that i know follow this rule as well. its honestly one of the most consistent rules I've seen.
Also, you can use a two handed melee weapon and one handed throwing weapons at the same time.
Your barbarian has a greatsword drawn and some javelins in a pouch or wherever. You can only attack with a 2h weapon using both hands - but you can hold it in only one hand, and moving a hand on or off of an object you're already holding is a non-action.
So move one hand off of your greatsword, use your item interaction to draw a javelin, throw it with one hand while your other hand holds the sword, and then put both hands back on the sword for free.
So, I was running a game where switching weapons and wands was considered a free object interaction and bonus action which I kept track of, but the playest started circumventing that by gluing several items together.
Say hello to the tripple staff, or the knife-wand
Knife-wand sounds like a fun object to wield. Shank someone upclose, or zap them from afar. Dunno why there's not much items like that in DnD.
That's actually a canonical thing for wands in the Forgotten Realms, if my memory of The War Wizards of Cormyr is correct at least. They wield, what is essentially, a club with notches carved in it. You slot a bunch of wands into it and rotate it to whatever facing you want to shoot. No having to fumble at your belt each time you swap out your magic sticks. Just... dont forget which is which, otherwise you might try to fireball an unhappy mob and make them extra angry (and mostly dead) by mistake.
Falling does bludgeoning damage assuming you land on something blunt like the ground or a barbarian. So immunity to bludgeoning damage does make you moderately fall proof while also implying you land HARD. 1 someone's gonna notice and 2 they're not gonna expect you to be combat ready at that point.
I actually love that.
That does mean drinking a potion only costs you your movement, which is very nice, and it makes weaponswaps a dangerous investment as your enemy might pick up your weapon if you throw it and sheeting it will not allow you to pull the new one during the same turn.
I do have my problems with the spellcasting though. Not sure if I would want my players to drop their offhand sword cast a spell and pick it back up. Trading movement to sheathe and cast sounds interesting though.
Maybe I'd add a rule that, if you need to bow down to pick it up it takes an action. That way they could still "I drop my sword. Tip first to make it stick out." roleplay your way around that problem and look cool... y'know not having to bend over right in front of an enemy... with a greataxe... who'd love to hit that neck right now.
I was literally brainstorming something silly with monks and using a heavy weapon on the first attack for a GWM attack, dropping it before you make your second attack as an unarmed strike, so that you can then use your martial arts bonus action unarmed strike
Rather inspired by the FFIXV Red Mage emote where they toss their rapier into the air like a baton, pop their collar, then catch it, I've taken to flavoring my drop-cast-pickup as throwing the weapon into the air, casting, then catching it.
I feel like this video should be called _"Dropping_ stuff in D&D"
In my table I allow my players to change their equipped gear at the start of their turns by free.
That means: Drawing or Sheathing a Weapon or Donning/Doffing a Shield (not both at once, Drawing/Sheathing 2 weapons is a Two Weapon Fighting thing).
Once you choose, you have that until the start of your next turn.
Might feel a little restrictive? Yeah, but I value straightfoward ruling over freedom in this case.
"he whose rulings we hold holy (unless we disagree with them)" yes
Proud member of the " Free Action" word usage club .
Kind of find it funny, how without knowing any of this, i basically implemented the same ruling in my campaigns. As i needed to come up with something on the fly.
Though that with the shield is good to know.
If you're a small creature though there's a smaller chance of things you drop breaking since it's a shorter fall
Idea for shields. European style shields are armor and have to be donned or doffed. Norse style shields can be dropped like weapons but, as a trade-off, can also be disarmed or accidentally dropped in any case in which a held object could be.
There's a reason caddies even exist and it's that.
As a 3.5 player, this “one is free per turn” rule sounds much more like a swift action than a free action.
Swift Actions are the predecessor of bonus Actions iirc.
It's basically the same as having 1 action, 1 bonus action, and 1 reaction.
Talking is also called a free action despite being limited to what you can reasonably get across in 6 seconds.
@@DvirPick Technically the rules don't use the phrase "free action" but they state that, "You can communicate however you are able, through brief utterances and gestures, as you take your turn." This is actually less restricted than your free object interaction which is explicitly tied to your action or movement.
Which means that technically, by RAW you cannot use your free object interaction as part of a bonus action or reaction, nor can you simply use it on it's own without using your action or movement. But that's getting nitpicky and enforcing that might encourage players to start concocting odd combos to get everything out of their action economy they can like moving 1 inch so they can use their object interaction, then bonus action, then action and the rest of their movement...
@@MannonMartin restraints encourage creativity. i love seeing what players will come up with
I'm famous for dropping weapons at my table. Leave them scattered all over the place like litter. I've been known to draw my allies' axes off their hips because I left my spare sword on the other side of the room.
Squires are fun but Unseen Servants are forever.
A video about picking stuff up. I will lament the lost opportunity to have a ska backing track.
Kickstart the tarot 2 years ago and finally got it in
I refer to this as "half an action rounded down"
Okay. Bring a caddie into a dungeon. Got it.
Both me and my dm forgot that somatic components require hands and I pray he doesn’t remember
I'm not going to make a player use a whole action to don or drop a shield. Maybe if it's a full tower shield, but that's the only reason I would.
Groups I am in do it all the time dropping one weapon to then pull out a different weapon.
I like your use of NPC though that's a nice touch.
Switching between holding things in one hand and two hands is also interesting and more obscure in 5e.
Crying is a free action
Why drop what you can throw! Sword, shields, halflings.
It is a *little* silly that it theoretically requires two separate object interactions to draw two daggers from their sheaths on your turn. It really effs with the cool gobs don't look at projectile carotid artery wounds vibe of being a dual finesse wielder.
I broadly rule that interacting with stuff in a given category is an object interaction, minus dropping, as you've pointed out. So, you want to draw a one-handed weapon and sheathe another one-handed weapon, I'll give you that as part of one object interaction, you got two hands, they're all part of the same category, it makes sense. I'll include a small spellcasting focus in that category because I also have guards confiscate them as "weapons" when people are captured. Narrative category more than mechanical, I suppose.
If you want to stow your dagger, pull out your Book of Shadows and do some other bullshit, I'll probably ask you to give up your bonus action. I know, I know, bonus actions, strictly speaking, don't exist, until a feature or ability conveys one, but I'm a Move/Minor/Standard guy at heart. Plus, that logic falls right the hell apart with spells and is buried somewhere in the spellcasting rules, which fully 1% of new players read. The spells just say "Casting Time: 1 Bonus Action," and there's a sort of subtext which is "The Spellcasting feature allows you to take a bonus action on any of your turns to cast a spell with a casting time of 1 Bonus Action, provided that it meets all the other requirements of spellcasting and you have the spell slots or resources available to cast it."
Worse, the Warcaster feat slams us all down big time with this cheeky little mention:
"You can perform the somatic components of spells **even when** you have weapons or a shield in **one** or both hands."
That language _implies_ that to perform the somatic components of a spell, you have to have _both_ hands free; since this feat specially grants you an ability, it implies you lacked it beforehand.
Then _that_ gets all effed up by the Sage Advice Compendium and the Errata, which plainly state that you do exactly as you have described.
And _that's_ why tables go to one of the two extremes. Because the "official" rule requires some amount of Holmesian deduction and investigation to come to what feels like an obvious conclusion: do what makes sense.
One of the coolest things I did was when I was playing Curse of Strahd, we were getting attacked by Vampire spawns and we only had one +1 shortsword so myself The Paladin and the Ranger attacked and then passed it to the other and just kept playing hotpotato while we ran through them. It was sick as hell
Peasant Railgun still works
I think of it in the context of “after your action and bonus action, does the interaction in question fit within the remainder of that 6 seconds?”
So I've played exclusively 5th edition but with a friend group that was been kicking around since 3rd edition. I had no idea that 'free action' wasn't actually in 5e.
Weirdly, my table read the rules for object interactions way back when 5e dropped and came to this exact conclusion about how the single free object interaction and dropping items.
We also came to the conclusion that two-handed weapons were king for casters since holding a two-handed weapon doesn't require both hands, only swinging it. And swapping between a onehanded grip and a two-handed grip also isn't listed as an action much like dropping an item so it is basically free game.
>I move from a two-handed grip on my greatsword to a one-handed grip
>I cast Quickened Fireball
>I move from a one-handed grip on my greatsword to a two-handed grip
>I attack with my greatsword
Damn I thought everyone knew this rule. It’s a really cool rule I use though it has not come up in my current campaign as much
Not two NPCs named Doff and Don who participate in paired hijinks!
So theoretically, if I am standing on a cliff, holding two rocks I can drop them both without using an actions and if there is someone under the cliff, directly under me, the rocks will fall on him right? And since dropping stuff isnt an action, I still can make an action.
the three attacks wizard is real, you just need to be in this one, extremely specific situation.
Eat a entire chicken you say?
How else would you play a pirate captain with 6 flintlock pistols on him?
Ok I Must say how 5e handles shields is stupid, I should be able to drop a buckler faster then a tower shield , and the tower shield should give more defence
right now im playing a dualweilding swashbuckler with teh dual wielding feat, witch kind of removes allot fo thee isues. seeing how im alowed to sheete or unsheath 2 weapons instead of one, however i have tryed to rule bend it to ambidexterity to try and get 2 free actions, however unless im picking up specificaly weapons i have not been allowed too.
Having squires hot swapping your weapons sounds like such fun and flavorful combat privelige. Need to make this happen now.
thay did in history whith lances. after a knight had broken a Lance by impaling an enemy thay rode back an gott a New one.
I only wonder, wouldn't it be a free action for the squire to draw your new weapon, and another to give it to you? Not to mention a free action to put the old weapon away, otherwise it would have to be dropped on the ground.
@@dumsquirrel Well, the squires arent actually using their actions to do anything, so they can spend all the time they need getting your weapons. And, as stated by Zee, giving a weapon to someone else only takes your action, not theirs.
I have an insane old fighter who thinks his unseen servant is his squire, I'll definitely be adding this to his style.
Hear me out here, friendly mimic belt
This has actually been a running gag in campaigns within my friend group. All of our characters are constantly dropping their melee weapons to switch to ranged options (or vice versa). I'm waiting for the day the dm just announces something like "Suddenly a shape rapidly moves at the corner of your vision, as you turn to look you see a goblin collecting all your dropped equipment."
I shout to the goblin “Hey thanks man! Good looking out!”
Imagine trying to pick your dropped weapons back up in thick mud.
Or worse - A swamp.
Or *worse* worse, in deep or running water.
i did that once, they immidiately stopped killing the lich (phyklactries destroyed) to go kill the loot goblin, they literally chased it to a new continent, somewhere in the multiverse theres a verison of the sword coast ruled by a lich
@@Introbulus or worse, in a room where rthe first few CM of the floor is a corrosive slime
Do not play D&D, but if I was the game master: So you drope the sword widout thinking so you can draw your crossbow, in one action? Player: That is correct. Roll a luck save to see if the sword did hit your foot or not.
The hotswapping thing always makes me wish to be in a prison break session where all the players have to share a dagger and quickly pass it between each other between turns. It would be like a 4-man John Wick fight scene as they all shiv their way out.
my equivalent fantasy is in Dead Man's Chest when Elizabeth, Pintel, and Ragetti are toss-sharing two swords to fight their way off the island
that's pretty hot, I might encourage that in a new underdark campaign I'm running where they all start in a Drow jail cell and need to make it back to their wizard benefactor who has diplomatic immunity with the kingdoms
That’d be super nice but one of my players is running an unarmed strike build
If there's a high level monster that can only be killed by a certain magic weapon, going by the official rules there's nothing stopping you using it on your turn and then passing it to the next player in the initiative to continue the onslaught and on so.
Congratulations, you now understand the concept of the peasant railgun
Zee: Mentions Sword and Board, shows a certain SnS loving Wiggler
Well played, lol.
Video got twice as funny when I was like "wait.... was that....?!" xD
I miss JoCat's crap guides.
I immediately came down here to see if anyone else noticed.
2:21 for those who missed it
The rivalry continues.
"He whose rulings we hold holy (unless we disagree with them)" is an underrated line from this. XD
*divine smites with unarmed attacks are allowed, darnit!*
@@aetherspiralknight He literally said, "No they're not, but just because that's the flavor we want, there's no real reason lol, do what you want". Like, my guy, if it's that inconsequential, and literally makes sense by the rules you wrote, why bother even specifying the lore based limitation when you note that it doesn't matter?
@@aaronsirkman8375 If you read the rules of Divine Smite very closely, you will see that the Divine Smite damage is dealt "in addition to the weapon's damage". Since there was no weapon involved in the process, there is nothing to add the damage to, and it is therefore lost. The real RAW interpretation is "it's possible but useless". It may be RAI as well, but the wording is so obtuse you have to wonder if they purposefully wrote all these obscure rules to have a game full of gotchas.
JC is the ultimate rules lawyer and hates fun. He values what's written in his "perfect" book over common sense. I seriously hope they don't bring him back for 5.5e or 6e.
@@neirenoir Agreed. Ever since I saw the multiple times people have asked him how exactly "Improved Divine Smite" works as there is some ambiguity on whether or not it gets added twice when you smite (Yes I know it doesn't, but it's been asked multiple times) he never actually answers and just posts the wording in the book verbatim instead of a simple yes or no I've doubted JC's "rulings." Honestly I ignore most of the Sage Advice unless it's in the players favor or a player wants me to go by the rule, then I'll look into it.
Because he WANTS gotchas, and it's my biggest problem with 5e. It tries to straddle this line of "We don't have rules for everything because we want DMs to make the rulings" and "there is this odd interaction with rules that don't obviously interact but because we added a specific word that makes them interact (ie Magic Missile with Empowered Evocation: because the darts hit simultaneously it falls under the AoE rules and thus is a single dice roll multiplied by the number of darts so every dart gets buffed)." It also uses common vernacular as keywords without specifying them as such. And to top it all off half the time the rulings aren't even consistent.
For example:
Why does magic missile get +int per dart when it automatically hits and does force damage but Scorching Ray gets shafted with abilities wording actually changed to add +cha to a single roll?
Why does Eldritch Blast and agonizing blast get +cha on every roll when it functions almost identically to scorching ray except it doesn't use a resource, does a better damage type and scales with overall level instead of spell slots.
Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.
his approach to the rules is "the rules are perfect, there shall be no errata" and occasionally ignoring the rule of specific trumps general
I love the little goblin you’ve been using lately. He’s such a fuckin’ gremlin of a guy.
Ohana means family
hes just a widdle gobwin
"you crack me up, little buddy!" - wolf man in a suit
Getting loads of Max from Sam and Max presence coming off of them, so cool!
Smol goblins are the best
Personally I like:
- Dropping a weapon is free
- Drawing a weapon is an Object Interaction
- Picking up a weapon off the ground is an Action.
This not only stops shenanigans, but it reflects the totally reasonable idea that drawing from a scabbard (a device literally intended to provide your weapon) is easier than picking up a sword.
And doesn't penalize throwing builds who would naturally make stacks of darts or quick draw sheaths so they can throw more than one dart per round.
@@robinthrush9672
Throwing Weapon Fighting Style and Dual Wielder Feat can make that better.
Since Thrown Weapon FS takes away the limitation for Object Interaction if and only if you intend to throw the weapon.
And Dual Wielder lets you take out or put away 2 weapons at once.
@@robinthrush9672 indeed, tho if a player wants a throwing build I'd advise they still discuss with the DM cos throwing can have some weird edge cases in 5e
Sword, probably (if you dont have a gauntlet), however same thing doesnt hold true for a stick or even a hook mace (that is easily straightened up by just stepping on it).
Naturally if the character already used their interaction that turn, thats 100% raw as its the use a object action.
@@ANDELE3025 I respectfully disagree. Your character has likely drawn their weapon from its scabbard dozens of times, a smooth practised motion that is literally within arms reach, the handle fully available. Even if we assume that your character isn't going to Sideshow Bob themselves when trying to step on the weapon, it is still out of arm's length and laying in an unfamiliar position (remember, you've *dropped* it, not 'placed it neatly on the ground in a good spot'). Now potentially if a player wanted to make weapon shenanigans part of their character, I'd personally allow it with some kind of mechanical cost (eg: it counts as a tool proficiency, or replaces a class bonus to a relevant skill)
Finally someone talks about this! It's super interesting, and it lets you play as a spellsword with both hands full without needing the war caster feat
A Dumplin pfp. I see you are a person of impeccable taste~
@@DemonicEngineer y e s
@@APerson-ws4cw Would you happen to have also been introduced to D&D thanks to TFS at the table?
Yeah but you wouldn't be able to use important reaction spells like Shield if you pick your weapon up again
And if you don't your weapon could get stolen/kicked away
@@prosamis A free action is not the same as a reaction.
(Edit, I misunderstood)
I do hope we get to see more of the 'example demonstration goblins' in future videos, they amuse me greatly.
I've used the "drop shit to swap weapons" rule actually pretty consistently in a few of my campaigns. While I could, COULD be a fuck about "you didn't SAY you went to pick up your weapon" I fit that comfortably next to "dysentery" and "changing currency at the border" in my big box of stuff that's not interesting and therefore doesn't happen.
I'm having flashbacks to my first game of DnD and losing my starting spear because the DM ruled because I didn't say I recovered it that it was left behind. :))))))))))))))))))))))) (The more distance I get from that game the more I realized it was a trashfire.)
Why is dysentery in that box? You don't make your players roll dysentery saves?
This reminds me of an observation I had about any disarming mechanics such as in the DMG or Battle Master maneuvers. In Xanathar's guide adamantine weapons are stated to automatically crit when hitting objects, and the DMG says magic items are generally resistant to damage, not immune. So your fighter runs up to the arcmage and disarms them of their staff of infinite power, then with their next attack they strike the staff on the ground to destroy it and ruin their day.
If you do that, your life is gonna be ruined, those powerful staffs do like 3 billion damage to the people near it who break them.
@@EasilyBoredGamer I mean, you're also dealing that damage to the Archmage, so... Depending on the situation, that might actually be a worthwhile trade off.
@@funnyvalentinedidnothingwrong sort of, the person who breaks it takes 16 x the number of charges, whereas people within 10 feet only take 8 x. 50% chance you get sent to a random plane of existence instead of taking the damage (good or bad?), but if you have a cleric then just cast death ward on the fighter.
Why break it when your fighter might have a bag of holding on them ?
1) Disarm the mage with an unarmed attack to take the staff from them.
2) Free Item Interaction (drop the staff in the bag)
3) grin smugly at the Mage that now has to make do without the material component to most of his spell.
4) After you ruined the mages day , your own mage might want said staff or you could trade it for an item you could use. Or hang it over your keeps fireplace... you do you.
All fun and games until the fighter does this on a charged staff of the magi instakilling the party and teleporting the mage to another plane
This was the way I always DMed it. Players can drop something for free, but swapping items takes actions. Why not just drop? Once the Party encountered a Gelantinous Cube, fired their bows, and next round dropped them to draw weapons. Then watched as the Cube slowly move across their bows digesting them as it went.
Answer, why wouldn't enemies pick up those weapons or kick them away
@@jimvoozhenzhan8435 I mean, I wouldn't consider picking up someone's sword they just dropped when I'm staring them in the eyes about to get my head cleaved in two (though kicking is interesting, still wouldn't really solve the seemingly common use of using it to cast a spell or two hand an axe, etc)
As far as when not in melee deathmatches? Could be kinda fun with little minion enemies like kobolds or goblins trying to steal dropped weapons/items and booking it like a maniac while everyone else is in combat lmao.
@@khaylis8933 so i DM AD&D, allowed my thief gnome with the tinkering proficiency to manufacture 2 arquebuces.
So yeah, when in trouble just fire, drop and rearm.
@@khaylis8933 I mean...it is still D&D...ot costs the NPC villain a single object interaction to pick it up with a free hand, just like it would cost the PCs.
And, you KNOW that if the villain dropped their cool looking longbow to start fighting in melee, the PCs would 100% be tempted to grab that thing. Mid-combat or no.
Drop them behind you.
This is the second new video in two days I've watched that has a reference to something Jocat has made.
I'm loving these little crossovers between the D&D animators
Anyone remember the Spare Hand item from 3.5e?
This feels like a good time to mention a magic belt with an arm dangling from it that can hold things for you.
Obligatory “a belt with an arm dangling from it”… that’s not a belt joke.
@@selflesswarrior no, it's literally what it was! Just a handy spare hand
@@SymbioteMullet I am sure it came in handy when you were alone
@@0_Body sadly I never played Ebberron or an artificier in 3rd edition, so it's not an item I ever actually used
Oh this totally needs to be brought to 5th ed! I’d love to reward a player at my table who is always having to worry about their character’s hand slots with this! ❤️
Finally someone's talking about this! I differentiate between "Interaction" (only 1 per turn) and "Free Action" (as many as you like). Free Actions include not only dropping an object but alao falling prone and communicating.
COMBAT:
Round (6 seconds)
Turn
1. Movement
- Walk
- Crawl
- Jump
- Climb
- Swim
- Fly
- Burrow
- Stand up
- Mount/dismount
- Move through difficult terrain
- Squeeze through smaller space
2. Action
- Attack
- Ranged Weapon Attack
- Melee Weapon Attack
- Improvised Weapon Attack
- Unarmed Strike
- Grappling Attack
- Shoving Attack
- Extra Attack
- Cast a spell
- Dash
- Disengage
- Dodge
- Help
- Hide
- Ready
- Search
- Use an object
- Drink a potion
- Administer a potion
- Improvise
3. Bonus Action
- Hand Crossbow Attack (CBE)
- Shortsword Attack (TWF)
- Cast/Move Hunter's Mark
- Command Animated Shield
4. Reaction
- Opportunity Attack
- Readied Action
- Absorb Elements
5. Interaction
- Draw or sheathe a sword
- Open or close a door
- Withdraw a potion from your backpack
- Pick up a dropped axe
- Take a bauble from a table
- Remove a ring from your finger
- Stuff some food into your mouth
- Plant a banner in the ground
- Fish a few coins from your belt pouch
- Drink all the ale in a flagon
- Throw a lever or a switch
- Pull a torch from a sconce
- Take a book from a shelf you can reach
- Extinguish a small flame
- Don a mask
- Pull the hood of your cloak up and over your head
- Put your ear to a door
- Kick a small stone
- Turn a key in a lock
- Tap the floor with a 10-foot pole
- Hand an item to another character
6. Free Action
- Communicate through brief utterances and gestures
- Drop an object
- Fall prone
This was something I picked up along the way as a sorta-new player. I'd watched my parents and brothers D&D together as I grew up. Most of the time there was little issue with rules and whatnot, since they mostly went from what the book says or the DM decides what they'll allow or not allow. I'd always seen people drop the weapon they were using to swap weapons as a 'free action' or 'bonus action' or what all and it just kinda made sense anyway. It takes longer to neatly put your bow on your back and draw your longsword than it does to just...drop the bow AS you pull out your weapon.
Though we usually have to specify that we are picking our weapons up afterwards, since a keen-eyed DM will probably say that you didn't retrieve it otherwise the next time you want to use it or mention it, and you didn't specify.
Extra: As said sorta-new player, I love baffling my parents with the characters I bring about. They've played it since 1st Ed, so they're used to the 'normal' races, and I got some laughs and odd looks when I brought around a tiefling, or a pink female satyr. My goal is to try all the classes at some point, and a variety of archetypes and races as well!
It’s awesome that both your parents play! I wanna do this with my future kids! ❤️
"Keen eyed DM" in this case meaning "boring DM who will waste everyone's time to mess with players"
@@vincentmuyo yeah, not ruling common sense on adventurers leaving Weapons behind is boring and annoying, last dm I had that told me that, also told me I needed to make multiple rolls to fly since I the druid, having shapeshifted into a flying animal, didn't know how to fly yet. which I might not take problem with, if I weren't so high level already
@@littlecow2000 That's just malicious behaviour from the DM since the rules specifically state that you gain the abilities of the form you shapeshift into. If you rule that you wouldn't know how to fly then you could also argue that you can't use any of the abilities of your shapeshifted form or have a disadvantage on everything you do since you don't know how to move or attack in a non-humanoid form...
That's genuinely a reason to have a proper discussion with your DM or even walk out from the game in the worst case scenario.
@@MrQwertysystem I agree. I did argue enough that he changed the ruling mid game which was nice, didn't end up playing too long with him but was fun :)
It's also good to remember that you can hold (but not attack with) a two handed weapon in only one hand. I mean it should be obvious that when you aren't actively firing a bow, it only lives in one hand, and it's reasonable that you can hold a greatsword even if you can't really swing it like that. This is the super-secret special move that makes two handed weapons really, really useful for gish type characters like clerics, druids, and eldritch knights -- you can have a strong weapon, but any time you aren't literally in the middle of an attack, your off-hand is free to do somatics, including manipulating focus items or material components as needed.
THANK YOU I was looking everywhere for whether a great sword would interfere with my spellcasting
This does let you swap weapons/spellcasting focus/etc in the middle of a fight without damaging your action economy by just thinking ahead. Put away thing 1 at the end of your turn, and then at the start of your next turn pull out thing 2. Easy.
totally, although it DOES eat your ability to make attacks of opportunity. I love this rule, bunch of meaningful decisions to make ^_^
@@aaaaaa-ts3rw Definitely, unless you have natural weapons like a Tabaxi. Arcane caster gishes like greatsword hexblades can abuse this also in reverse; draw the spell focus to cast a spell while holding the greatsword with one hand, then next turn put the focus away and resume greatsword. You can't use the greatsword while holding it this way but you don't have to ever put it away.
@@aaaaaa-ts3rw You can still make unarmed attacks I guess. So you're not entirely out of options for AoO, you're just out of *good* options.
@@carsonm7292
Eldritch Knight: "I'll drop one of my Versatile Claymores. Then beat the Extra Attack out of the Goblin with my bare hands... ... ... I then take out my other Versatile Claymore and Bonus Action Weapon Bond the Claymore I dropped on the floor... ... ... Then I Action Surge with the Lucky Feat."
@@RayPoreon
Unarmed Combat Fighting Style or UA Juggernaut Warforged can fix that for you.
in the group i play with online, we found out that dropping the weapon on the ground is itself a disadvantage. we play on roll20, and therefore we not only have constant access to battlemaps, which are often used for covert interaction (thanks DM, your group loves you for this). this means that if you drop an item, it stays where it landed.
thus far this campaign i´ve had to drop my crossbow twice to fight with a melee weapon, and then at a later stage of combat retreat, without time to pick up my crossbow for one reason or another. the first time i did this i lost the ability to fight from afar until end of combat, and the other time i lost my hand crossbow, which i got simply because i needed the compact armament.
of course some items can´t be dropped, like potions, and other time you might not want to drop a magic item, which would risk it being nabbed by the enemy.
Use a sling like the ones the ones they make for guns.
Don't look at this as the tragic loss of a Hand crossbow, look at this as the reason you invented the mitten string early
I remember the first group i was in, there was one guy that always dropped hes shortbow mid-battle to draw hes melee weapon because of these rule interactions....
...The funny thing was just that not even once did he remember to collect the bow after the battles.
My players did this too, but we just stated once that ofc you pick up your weapon afterwards. No need to say it each time that just slows the game down/gets old. :P
Unless they wanted to pick it up again during the encounter ofc.
@@SwedishWookie I agree. We also hand wave using the bathroom, gathering wood for a campfire and filling out paperwork for the insurance claim when the dragon torches our keep. D&D isn't a real world simulator. :)
I've played at a table where a player let us know every move that lead to his action. "I approach the door. I take out the key we found on the Goblin guard from my right, front pocket. I place the key in the lock. I turn the key clockwise. I test the door to see if it is now unlocked. I place the key back into my pocket, but this time I place it into my left, front pocket. That's where I put keys that we probably won't need again. I open the door."
I should say I played *once* at that table.
We make certain assumptions... recovering dropped weapons while looting bodies is one.
I find it funny "drinking a flagon of ale" is listed as a free action but "drinking a health potion" takes an action.
Yeah, maybe health potions taste like rancid sewage? One of my favourite houserules has always been drinking a health potion as a bonus action for the normal effect or taking an action to drink it carefully in order to get the max roll (i.e. a regular healing potion gives 2d4+2 as a bonus action or 10 hitpoints if taken as an action), feeding an unconscious (or I guess lazy) player always takes an action but still requires the roll. The idea essentially being that drinking quickly (or pouring it down someone else's throat) causes you to spill some potion and lose some of the effect.
It’s because of that I like to play with a house rule where taking your entire action to get every last drop of a health potion grants the full benefit as opposed to a quick free action swig that will just have you roll for the health gained as normal. Makes for fun decisions in the heat of battle.
because potions fall under the "use object" category, mechanically. You could say their corks take a few seconds to remove.
lore wise im pretty sure health potions taste like absolute fucking garbage to the extent that it 100% takes an action to drink it or to force someone to drink it
@@crtwrght That's actually pretty smart way to go with it. I never was a fan of how drinking a potion takes an action so usually it ends up being smarter to just attack your opponent in hopes of killing them before they get to kill you rather than drink a potion and waste both your and your opponents action.
You come across the most broken part of this rule when you try to deprive your players of weapons and they find a single weapon.
Now they all rotate through the single weapon by dropping it and picking it up like some violent hot potato
Reminds me of the second Pirates of the Carribbean movie where Elizabeth, Raggitte, and Pintel are running from cursed ocean zombies and only have one or two swords between them and keep passing them around as someone needs one.
A sane DM would tell them this doesn't work because the turns are an abstraction and a round only lasts six seconds. They cannot all be using the same weapon at the same time.
(Also what stops the enemies from stealing the one weapon while it's on the ground?)
@@theuncalledfor they aren't using it at the same time, they're taking turns with one weapon, and you can enforce consequences such as reaction or opportunity attacks having to be unarmed only if it isn't that person's turn to hold the weapon
@@spicysalad3013
No, they are using it at the same time if you "zoom out" of the abstraction of turn-based combat. I explained this.
@@theuncalledfor except they can else the combat wouldn't work at all.
I pick up stuff in real life, this video is too real….. too real. I pick up stuff in real life…. too real
When I played pathfinder kingmaker, I loved how the potion, weapon swapping or other mechanics took movement. it made a lot of sense as in my experience its harder to move quickly while doing something with your hands. running down the hall while shuffling all your books in school is not as easy as if they stayed in your backpack, but faster than stopping and rummaging through your pack, the difference is weather you think you'll immediately need your supplies. therefore, I think that system has some verisimilitude
0:52 Goblins right- the catapult is already loaded and aimed. Goblin is only pulling a lever, not preparing the catapult. Thats an action.
Technically free action
Love the nod to the long gone fireball video!
One of my favorites to this day. "He's a monk, of course he passed the save!"
This is how I always run Object Interacting in combat. I could never figure out why people always threw a fit when I said these things. It was right there in the PHB!
Honestly, I would argue that having two NPC squires to allow you to change your load out between turns makes perfect sense. Is assisting in that kind of thing not part of a squire's job? The downside, of course, is that you now have two (probably pretty weak) NPCs in the middle of combat who the DM is free to target with attacks or AoEs.
A warlock familiar who was invisible so enemies would not see them and had hands could work, though no warlocks need more than one weapon.
@@christophershell7564 Reasonable, though depending on what you were trying to do, a vindictive DM might argue that such a familiar isn't large or strong enough to be able to carry your weapon.
Though like you said, unless you had some really weird build, I can't see why you would need to switch weapons as a Warlock. Eldritch Blast is already the best ranged option, and gishes are usually pretty hyper-specialized to avoid multi-ability dependency.
I love the "I pull the lever as a Free Action" "That lever is attached to a catapult, that's CLEARLY an attack!"
I also love how Zee effectively confirms what I houseruled for my campaigns, where if you wanted to switch from say, sword and shield to mace and shield, you would DROP the sword, and use the Interact to draw the mace!
My table ignores the rules for switching weapons like this. We just say "switching whatever is in your hands is a free object interaction (excluding shields)". Though it is an interesting mechanic, my players come to the table to do quests, fight monsters, and use their cool features. They don't come over to the have to overthink switching weapons and learn the interaction-hand-dance.
Of course, rules like these exist for those scoundrels that want to find a loophole, like the Peasant Railgun.
I tend to agree with this, specifically with regards to weapon switching, not necessarily other object interactions. Reason being that dual wielding is already a mechanically inferior fighting style even without screwing the player over on drawing their weapons. Also inclined to let thrown weapons draw and throw as many javelins/darts/daggers as they have attacks for a similar reason. Both of these interactions actually already have a feat/fighting style to cover them, but the way feats are handled in 5e requiring one to use dual wielded or thrown weapons properly is a BIG ask.
Sure, but now you've reduced the value of special features in the game, such as the Warcaster feat or the Cleric's ability to use their shield as their spellcasting focus. With every hand-wave of the rules, you remove a bit of nuance and strategy from the game. Just something to think about.
@@LukeMason oh I know, I just judge it to be worth it for my table :p
@@sheepmans Fair enough.
I actually recognized this, but intentionally changed it to a free object interaction to change your loadout (including Shield). The resolution I came to was that you had to deal with the lowest stats during your turn resulting from this, meaning if you used your Longbow on a turn then pulled out a sword and shield, your AC is still without that shield until your next turn. Considering 90% of my issues with the situation was just that: ranged weapon usage then switching to shields, it was all I needed to make my games work properly. Glad somebody actually talked about this for once though!
To think that Shields are considered Armor...
At least, in RAW, since that is the case. The Eberon Warforged can amalgam (merge) with the Shield. Then no one can steal the Shield without outright killing the Warforge since it is immune to be incapacitate.
I like this ruling. It seems silly to intentionally encourage people to do something like dropping gear so they cast a spell when we have so many gish characters now, so I’ve always just ignored stowing and unsheathing weapons. They purposefully made a way for players to do it. Might as well make it not look silly.
Thank you for making a nice ruling.
@@FenrisZAmarok Yeah, the dropping is a bit wonky when it's really thought about. Like, who in their right mind is going to *DROP* their sword in the middle of a fight?
@@GoblinKoboldGaming someone who really immediately needs another hand, like for grabbing, grappling, pulling thing off, dropping a sword that was superheated, dropping on a sword that is really heavy on a weak npc to trap them (think big sword here), maybe dropping the sword because it's the conduit for your evil warlock patron to speak to you and you're trying to ignore the fucker, etc etc etc. Use your imagination lol
*Drops his +1 Axe to take out a maul, to deal extra damage to a skeleton*
Enemy necromancer - Catapults the +1 Axe into the river
Wizard: "I told you that a +1 Axe will be useless. Now, prepare for my Fire Ball, you Necromancer."
DM: "You killed both the Fighter and the Necromancer with Fire Ball."
Wizard: "I AM A GOD!!!"
eldritch knight summons it back into their hands on their following turn, and the dance continues
I had a ranger who used a bow and a musket. Because the musket took a full round to reload, he'd use the musket as a first attack then drop it on the ground and go ham with the bow
I think you heard this a hounded times already but that's ice cold, my dude.
Pistoliers belts full of em were used the same way and I totally would recommend it. Just draw, fire, drop, 4 times at fighter level 5 lol
Sounds very appropriate for muskets tbh
not how muskets work ingame
Loading: Because of the time required to load this weapon, you can fire only one piece of ammunition from it when you use an action, bonus action, or reaction to fire it, regardless of the number of attacks you can normally make.
it doesn't take 'a full round' it's just 1 attack per any-action prompt to attack with it.
@@Casino220 Full Edward Kenway style, eh ?
I always loved that word. Doff. It just sounds like a fantasy word. Also, autocorrect doesn't recognize it which is funny.
Because doff isnt actually a real word outside of 1420-1620s poetry/literature that wants to show characters being posh (and some works by late 18th century writers). When it comes to common vernacular things like "do off (with)", "take off", "doffen" (if french influenced) and "don off" were actually used/far far more common. Even "daff" gets more use in middle english texts despite it also being another word for "dumbass/idiot".
TLDR: Old, middle and new middle english dont/didn't have it as part of the core vocabulary, so it really is a fantasy word.
Fun Fact: A Thief Rogue can Doff and Don a shield as a bonus action. This only becomes useful if they get shield proficiency from something, but I just think its neat.
Non UA Warforged: "I become the SHIELD... And the armor too."
@@absolstoryoffiction6615 And in some cases the weapons too!
@@zufieusagi7509
If you have the extended book for the Warforge (both UA and Eberon), then true... Kind of like the Variant Human extended content.
Otherwise, base form, Eberon Warforged cannot merge or attach themselves with Weapons, unfortunately.
Shields are interesting, because they take an action to don/doff but they are "held in one hand" so they're a valid target for Disarming Strike.
If you knock their shield off, it's gone. They have to use their whole action to put it back on.
I’m kind of disappointed that shields can’t also be considered weapons because it means you can’t shield bash in D&D. Unless that exists somewhere and I don’t know about it.
@@thornangel16 The shield master feat allows for a shield bash. Also it can be used as an improvised weapon for a pitiful 1d4 damage. You might convince a DM to boost that by adding spikes along the outer edge or center.
@@thornangel16 Yeah, shields with spikes could be considered improvised qeapons *which happen* to double as shields. Just saying, flavor is free and the DM could always agree with you and change the ruling if its more fun that way
In RAW... The Eberon Warforged can merge with a Shield too, since shields are considered as an Armor and not as a weapon.
@@thornangel16 Aw, but what about the spiked pavise?
I'm in love with the constant content updates!!! Thanks for the great content Zee!
This free object interaction can be quite deadly in the hands of a mage that likes to use wind spells to blow sharp debris everywhere. Imagine caltrops, daggers, vials and flasks that shatter when dropped, nails, tacks, and other pointy bits and bobs tearing through flesh like a rabid goblin at a meat buffet.
Which I think is fine, considering that A, doing such a thing would require the DM to make up a homebrew mechanic anyway, and B, spellcasters already have plenty of strong area of effect damage spells.
considering a literal cloud of spinning daggers is 4d4 slashing damage a round, that’s not a huge deal. wizards can already deal a lot of damage with spells, make sure any improvised damage isn’t exceeding damaging spells of the same level and structure.