Weapon Actions Appendix B: Improvised Weapons

This appendix introduces two rules regarding improvised weapons, one which I consider essential for the weapon actions subsystem and one which is optional but provides some more diversity and depth to improvised weaponry.

Improvised Weapons: Weapon Actions

Improvised weapons do not grant weapon actions. This includes when treating an improvised weapon as an actual weapon for purposes of damage dice and proficiency bonus.⁵

(Optional) Improvised Weapons: Variable Damage Dice

According to the improvised weapon rule (see SRD 5.1, page 65), all improvised weapons deal 1d4 damage unless they sufficiently resemble an actual weapon to be simply treated as that weapon, irrespective of the size and weight of the improvised weapon in question. In order to add some additional depth to improvised and unarmed combat, this optional rule introduces variable damage for improvised weapons based on size and weight, as detailed in the Improvised Weapon Damage Table below.

When determining the damage inflicted by an object, check either the size or weight of the object against the table to determine its damage dice and other properties. If an object's weight indicates a different row of the table to its size, choose the row with the lower damage die. Objects with negligible weight do no damage when used as improvised weapons.

Improvised Weapon Damage Table

1. Large and larger improvised weapons are considered oversized weapons for Medium (and smaller) creatures.
2. Creatures cannot wield objects more than one size category larger than themselves as improvised weapons.
3. When determining the damage dice for Huge or larger improvised weapons, you can either add 1d4 for each size category above Large or follow the general rules for improvising damage in the Dungeon Master's Guide.