Scimitar has 30' range???

[Shaddowkat988]

I'm running PotA right now with a band of friends. I've played D&D for years ever since 3rd Edition came out and I was fluent with 3.5! However I'm still learning 5th Edition's ins and outs, and with a full party of new and relatively inexperience players we've taken to using WotC's preemies (pre-built characters available online). Made for a quick start and was comprehensive enough to get to playing right away without having to double check every other ability with the books each time it was used.
However, one thing is confusing all of us and starting to make the rest of the players annoyed. A scimitar is listed both on the character sheet as well as in the book as having a 30' range. What dafuqk!? He's able to strike with his scimitar at the same range as his whip. Is this a "thrown" weapon? Does it really have 30' range or is this a misprint? What is going on? Last time I checked a scimitar is essentially a sword, right?

[Temperjoke]

I'm running PotA right now with a band of friends. I've played D&D for years ever since 3rd Edition came out and I was fluent with 3.5! However I'm still learning 5th Edition's ins and outs, and with a full party of new and relatively inexperience players we've taken to using WotC's preemies (pre-built characters available online). Made for a quick start and was comprehensive enough to get to playing right away without having to double check every other ability with the books each time it was used.
However, one thing is confusing all of us and starting to make the rest of the players annoyed. A scimitar is listed both on the character sheet as well as in the book as having a 30' range. What dafuqk!? He's able to strike with his scimitar at the same range as his whip. Is this a "thrown" weapon? Does it really have 30' range or is this a misprint? What is going on? Last time I checked a scimitar is essentially a sword, right?

My copy of the player's handbook does not say this.

[EvilAnagram]

My copy of the player's handbook does not say this.

Neither does mine

[Shaddowkat988]

My mistake. Let me clarify. It says "Reach 30ft"

[E’Tallitnics]

From the Player's Handbook: Scimitar, 25 gp, 1d6 slashing, 3 lb., Finesse, light.

It has the normal mêlée range of 5'.

Anything else is incorrect.

[Occasional Sage]

I am looking at my 5e PH right now. The scimitar has neither range nor reach listed.

Even if my book listed such a ludicrous idea, I'd promptly squash the attempt of a player to make use of it. RAW does not trump RAI, and RAI does not trump DM adjudication; welcome to 5e.

tldr: if it looks dumb, change it.

[JNAProductions]

Echoing the general sentiment here-you have a typo or misread the entry, and regardless of what happened, a 30' scimitar is dumb. Change it.

[Tanarii]

What character class? What premade? What books are you seeing this in?

Given you're talking about a scimitar, if it's a Druid, it's possible you're seeing something that's supposed to be the cantrip Thorn Whip. Melee attack, 30 ft range (yes that's counter intuitive), 1d6 piercing damage (no modifier bonus), pulls the target 10ft. Since it's a cantrip it can be cast every round.

[MountainTiger]

I see this on several sheets for the Human Druid pregen. Level 1 does not have it, but at least levels 2, 3, and 4 have the scimitar listed at 30'.

[Ninja_Prawn]

I see this on several sheets for the Human Druid pregen. Level 1 does not have it, but at least levels 2, 3, and 4 have the scimitar listed at 30'.

Then it must be a typo / confusion with Thorn Whip. Scimitars are melee weapons with the standard 5' reach and no 'thrown' property (which would probably be 20/60 if they had it anyway).

[Seruvius]

30' reach scimitar? And people say that Cloud's Buster Sword is unrealistic in size :smallbiggrin:

But yeah as others have stated it is likely to be some sort of confusion between the scimitar which deals 1d6 slashing (PHB p.149) and the Thorn Whip cantrip which does indeed have a range of 30 feet which deals 1d6 piercing (PHB p.282)

[Shaddowkat988]

What character class? What premade? What books are you seeing this in?

Given you're talking about a scimitar, if it's a Druid, it's possible you're seeing something that's supposed to be the cantrip Thorn Whip. Melee attack, 30 ft range (yes that's counter intuitive), 1d6 piercing damage (no modifier bonus), pulls the target 10ft. Since it's a cantrip it can be cast every round.


I see this on several sheets for the Human Druid pregen. Level 1 does not have it, but at least levels 2, 3, and 4 have the scimitar listed at 30'.


30' reach scimitar? And people say that Cloud's Buster Sword is unrealistic in size :smallbiggrin:

But yeah as others have stated it is likely to be some sort of confusion between the scimitar which deals 1d6 slashing (PHB p.149) and the Thorn Whip cantrip which does indeed have a range of 30 feet which deals 1d6 piercing (PHB p.282)

It IS A Druid pregen sheet. After looking in my PhB again I can honestlyrics say I have no idea where I "confirmed" the 30ft range/reach. I'm going to assume it's what you all spoke of with the cantrip mismatch. Appreciate the input guys!

[georgie_leech]

It IS A Druid pregen sheet. After looking in my PhB again I can honestlyrics say I have no idea where I "confirmed" the 30ft range/reach. I'm going to assume it's what you all spoke of with the cantrip mismatch. Appreciate the input guys!

As a rule, always vet pregens. You'd think the developers would be better at creating their own characters, but as the Dysfunctions threads have pointed out over on the 3.X boards, it's actually rather hard to find example characters that don't have an error somewhere.