I can't seem to find a definitive answer. Did Jeremy or Mike say whether a normal arrow or bolt from a magical weapon counts as "magical" in regard to overcoming damage resistance? Thanks in advance, and apologies if this has already been answered.
Why would it be in question? Certain monsters are resistant (or immune) to weapon damage that doesn't come from a magical weapon. A magical bow is a magical weapon.
But does the damage come from the magical weapon (the bow) or the non-magical arrow?
I'd probably go with "Yes" when DMing. - Magical bows = magical damage when firing non-magical ammo.
Unless I had a very definite reason to make magical weapons more limited for the campaign to make resistant/immune monsters more scary.
And so only provided magical ammunition and low damage magical weapons (e.g magical daggers rather than magical longswords)
I have also noticed the lack of a definite answer (I can find), and it could be argued that the existence of magical ammunition is an argument for "no".
But I think magical ammunition exists to allow for the sorta above limitations where every arrow counts.
The actual answer is probably "upto the DM". - But interesting to see if it makes the first FAQ/Errata.
As far as I am concerned. a magical bow is a magical weapon, and any damage that results from the usage of the bow is also considered magical, whether or not the ammunition is mundane or enchanted. To say otherwise would create unnecessarily tedious book keeping and put users of bows, crossbows, or slings at a severe disadvantage.
If you want a somewhat RAW, remember: Ammunition is not in the weapon table, a bow is. ;)
Illithidbix wrote:
Thanks for all the input. I do hope we get a definite answer in the errata as I will be playing an archer in Adventurer's League play and I would like an official answer for that venue.
The way i think of it, does the arrow do +1 damage due to the magic bow? If yes then magic overcoming applies.
However the RAw doesnt answer this, and i also would really like an 'official' answer .
Seekus wrote:
Coredump00 wrote:
This question kinda stuns me. IT would put so much extra pressure on ranged people and force people to track ammunitation. not to mention if the plus does stack as was suggested in an above post, then Archery just got a whole lot more powerful.
The spell requirement for Conjure Barrage and Conjure Volley states that the ammunition/thrown object must be nonmagical. If the ammunition fired from a magical ranged weapon is granted the magical quality, then the ranger would never be able to use a magical bow/crossbow and maintain the ability to cast these spells. I doubt that was the developer's intent.
colemcm wrote:
cowleymen wrote:
in my copy of the PHB, bows are listed with a damage rating, arrows are not.
If they go with 4e rules: "Ranged weapons...impart their magic to appropriate ammunition fired from them. Ammunition...doesn't come in magical versions." 4e PHB232. Awaiting the DMG...
My ruling would probably be that a magic bow doesnt make the arrows magical. Balances out the stacking of magic ammunition, and encourages those ranged guys to get into melee once in a while. I'm not sure though, how common are enemies that are resistant or immune to non-magical weapons? It might be too strong a hindrance.
Hmm actually at higher levels lots of stuff is probably resistant to non-magical... so yeah maybe magic bows = magic damage.
This is one of those things which is only unclear as to how it works if applying thinking caused by prior editions of D&D (and even then, only certain ones).
Ammuntion +1, +2, +3 is an entry in the magic item section of the DMG, which means it is magic.
Written in italics just below ammunition is the category of magic item to which it belongs, and it says "weapon", which means it is a magic weapon (which is what is required to overcome damage resistance/immunity as detailed by those various entries).
Then we go over and look at Weapon +1, +2, +3 and find it still in the magic item section, so it is magic too.
Then we check the italics that tell us the category of magic item to which it belongs, and it says "weapon," which means it is also a magic weapon.
And the item descriptions are both clear that they provide a bonus to attack and damage rolls, which we know stack with each other for the simple reason that there is nothing in either description telling us that they don't.
One other specific thing directed at Psikerlord: You find stacking ammunition bonus with weapon bonus requires some kind of balancing beyond that a single magical arrow is as rare as a magical bow of similar potency, and is rendered nonmagical once it hits a target? I think that is a bit harsh unless you are also handing out significantly more magical items than the "typical" treasure hoard rolls mentioned in the DMG are likely to produce (for example, I've rolled out the entirety of treasure hoard results for a campaign I am running so that I can use the random tables provided but deliberately create the appropriate placement of each bit of treasure - there are no magical bows to be found, and as for magical ammunition throughout the entire 20 level campaign there are only one arrow +1, three arrows +2, and a single arrow of dragon slaying. Even if there were a magical bow to be found, so few instances of potentially stacking (someone other than the character with the magic bow could be using the arrows) would show up that it hardly seems worth worrying about to a large enough degree to actually change the rules on.
In dead in thay, as GM I had there be some magic arrows - two of them. Pretty much one per rogue.
It was great watching them decide if now was the right time for magic arrow time!
Probably not on topic, but it was a good time! 
Noon wrote:
I really would like official adjudication on this, its a likely thing to come up in my campaign.
Daydreamer80 wrote:
but that doesnt tell us if a nonmagic arrow from a magical arrow should/does overcome restiance or immunites to nonmagical weapons. I would still much prefer that there be no magical arrows, just magical bows.
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
I have tweeted Crawford and Mearls and, as yet, not received a reply.
For what it's worth, and they are only table rules, I would go with this:
- magical bows and amunition do stack: a +2 bow with +1 arrows would deliver a +3 bonus to attack and damage. (The only way a +3 bow and +3 ammunition, as said above, would be available is if the DM allows them, so if you consider them to be overpowered, don't give them.)
- non-magical ammunition fired from magical bows do not become magical and do not overcome damage resistance to non-magical damage. The rationale is that the magical bow gives its bonus to attack (accuracy) and damage (strength of draw) but does not affect the arrow otherwise. e.g. +2 long bow fires non-magical arrow: +2 is added to attack and damage rolls but can not affect a creature only damaged by magical weapons.
- magical ammunition fired from a non-magical bow does overcome damage resistance. The arrow itself adds to its accuracy (think of how the ring finds its way onto Frodo's finger when he falls in the Prancing Pony) and damage. It's magic is expended when it hits its target. Conversely, if it misses it can be retrieved and re-used. e.g. a normal long bow fires a +2 arrow: +2 is added to attack and damage rolls and can affect creatures only damaged by magical weapons. The arrow's magic is expended but it could still be retrieved as a non-magical arrow in the normal way.
cowleymen wrote:
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
PHB146 (Ammunition) - half expended recovered with a search.
DMG150: magical ammunition loses its magic when it hits a target.
El_Condoro wrote:
Man....magical ammo is sounding more and more like a disposable magic item like Potions of Healing....
@Bloodscyth: sorry about that!
I have always thought of magical ammunition as disposable. Very useful and great for those only-affected-by-magic monsters, but disposable. That's why, to me, a quiver of 20 +1 arrows is not overpowered - 20 hits and they're gone for a 5% to hit bonus and +1 damage each. Nice, but not game-changing.
So an archer should be able to get a semi-steady supply of arrows in one of your games? Since they need the magic arrow to ever damage magical creatures. Though a magical bow will work just fine for keeping pace with melee magic weapons. That is to say quiver or magic arrows come around in similar rates to things like scrolls ect.
I wouldn't have a steady or even semi-steady supply, it would be according to the nature of expected encounters. Some might see it as too much of a help, but if I knew the characters were going to encounter a monster that could only be hit by magical weapons in most cases I would make sure the archer found some magical arrows in a preceding encounter. The number would depend on the need. Otherwise, the magical bow would be enough to keep him or her happy in other melees, hopefully.
I could live with that as a player. OR maybe see if there where some way to create magic arrows, even with out any pluses. Now im willing to swing either way for what ever works in campaign
cowleymen wrote:
Does anyone know if there is a magical quiver of endless arrows like there have been in previous editions? If so, a single +3 arrow, and your archer potentially now has an endless supply of +3 arrows, and if combined with a +3 longbow, and sharpshooter is like DPR king with a bullet (or should I say "arrow")...
So let's see, a fighter with 4 attacks per attack action (and +6 prof bonus), 20 dex, the archery style, with endless supply of +3 arrows, a +3 longbow, and sharpshooter, we have:
4 attacks per turn at +6 (prof) +2 (archery) +5 (dex) -5 (sharpshooter) +6 (bow and arrow)= +14 to hit
and 1d8 (average of 4) + 5 (dex) + 10 (sharpshooter) +6 (bow and arrow) = 25 damage per attack, 100 damage per turn, hitting most of the time.
And if they're "missing too much" they can give up 40 damage per turn to have a +19 to hit. They basically miss only on a roll of 1 unless fighting a deity or other CR 30 creature. Not too shabby.
Since melee magical weapons cap at +3, I would imagine a bow + arrow combo is "use whichever is higher" rather than a stacking bonus. Or does the DMG have melee weapons going to +6?
Weapons (DMG213) only have +1, +2 or +3 according to their rarity. However, they never run out like ammunition does. A character with a +3 bow and ammunition would be in the "Levels 17-20: Masters of the World" tier (DMG37). The more likely situation would be a +1 bow and +1 arrows, which have a limited supply. That's very cool but not game changing. Any DM who gave +3 weapon and +3 ammunition would have a reason for that level of power and, in my opinion, would be running a very high level campaign.
El_Condoro wrote:
"seeing as holding two +3 daggers do not give you a +6 dagger attack even if you use TWF"
That is because they are two separate attacks. The bow and arrow attack is one attack.
I agree that +3 weapon and +3 ammo is OP in most situations, which is why I wouldn't be giving them to players without a good reason to do so.
The DMG simply says, for weapon and ammunition, respectively: "You have a bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon" or "...piece of magic ammunition".
Bloodscythe wrote:
As an indication of how rarity works, DMG135 has a table and the +1 (uncommon), +2 (rare) and +3 (very rare) equate to 1st level or higher, 5th level or higher and 11th level or higher. They are simply guidelines but they seem good to me. If I ever did give +3 ammunition, they would be in very small quantities and for a specific task. I haven't come across any rules/guidelines for replicating ammunition yet.
[Edit]: DMG128-9 has 'Crafting an item'. Very expensive and lengthy process. It seems unclear how many +3 ammunition would be crafted in the process, but it would cost at least 50,000gp.
Saelorn wrote:
There is the Quiver of Ehlonna in the DMG but it's use is for storage (short, medium and long weapons and ammunition).
El_Condoro wrote:
Pre 4th ed the ammunition had to be magical and the bow+arrows stacked from BECMI to 3.0. 3.5 arrows+bow did not stack the ammunition had to be magical though.
Zardnaar wrote:
A weapon does not have to have a +1 to be magical. The Oathbow (DMG p. 183) for example is not +1 but it is magical. Therefore it does damage to creatures who have resistance to weapon attacks by non magical weapons.
Another magic weapon that has no plus is the Vicious weapon (DMG p209). It says weapon(Any) which any includes bows. It does extra damage on a 20, but has no plus to hit or plus to damage normally. I do not see any need for a ruling on raw that states that an item needs to be +1 to be magical as the rules clearly show otherwise.
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
Mischiefincdm wrote:
colemcm wrote:
~~Gerardo Ramirez Arme
Jeremy Crawford @JeremyECrawford
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@mex_rage "Do magical ranged weapon count as magical to bypass nonmagic weapon resistance and inmunity with mundane ammo?"
Yes, they do!
8:53 PM - 8 Dec 2014
And there is our answer. Thank you everyone, esp, Gerardo who posted to Twitter.
Bloodscythe wrote:
Seekus wrote:
You know, while my gut reaction was 'of course, why punish one sort of weapon over another'...
I realized we're talking about archers, who really have a ton of advantages and are pretty much the strongest and most versatile damage dealers in the game. So maybe it wouldn't hurt, as a bit of a limiting mechanic on them.