The other possible solution I thought of relies on the specific beating the general. Two shots on the first round then drop one or both of them. Either that or it encourages your DM to take your shortsword away.Ĭarry them cocked and locked was my thought. Repetition of this sequence every round encourages many DMs to just handwave the freehand requirement. This is very similar to the first example. "Free" action: drop shortsword. Bonus action: load hand crossbow, fire hand crossbow. It's mechanically suboptimal if you have the x sharpshooter feat, but the crossbow expert feat isn't necessary for this. First attack is with a light weapon and empties the hand to load the crossbow. Bonus action: load hand crossbow, fire hand crossbow. In other words, it's an issue with our expectations and not a rules issue.Īction: Draw dagger, throw dagger. I don't see any rules contradiction, just a conflict between the rules and what we imagine two weapon fighting with hand crossbows should look like. It should be mentioned that there are niche/thematic uses here. The free hand for loading is not an issue with two-handed missile weapons as the requirement for a free hand specifically applies only to one-handed missile weapons. You cannot attack with a hand crossbow if you are carrying a torch, using a shield, or attacking with a one-handed melee weapon as you will not then have a free hand to perform the requisite loading. The change to the ammunition quality requiring a free hand to carry out the loading which is part of the attack precludes making a bonus attack with a hand crossbow if the character makes an attack with a one-handed weapon (other than a hand crossbow being the only thing being held in either hand) in the same round. However, because loading the ammunition is considered part of the attack and you need a free hand to load a one-handed weapon, the only way you can attack with a hand crossbow is if it is the only thing you are holding in either hand. The intent I am sure was to allow a crossbow expert with a hand crossbow to use it to make a bonus attack with it each round after making an Attack with a weapon held in the other hand, rather than just on the first round. The errata changed the ammunition quality to require a free hand to load one-handed weapons with the ammunition quality. The errata further changed the wording of crossbow expert. Before the errata the rule read "attack with a loaded hand crossbow you are holding." The word loaded was removed in the errata. Sage Advice tells us that a crossbow expert can use a hand crossbow for an Attack action, and then, provided he has a free hand to reload, use the same hand crossbow to perform an attack as a bonus action. Loading the weapon is part of the attack. The ammunition quality states that you must have a free hand to load a one-handed weapon having the ammunition quality. The change to the ammunition quality also presents other problems for hand crossbow use. The requirements of the ammunition quality directly conflict with the third ability given by the crossbow expert feat. Monstrous Compendium Vol 3: Minecraft CreaturesĪfter reading both the errata and the Sage Advice, I am led to the conclusion that the rules for hand crossbows and the crossbow expert feat have become unintentionally contradictory.
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