Throwing coins at werewolves

[No brains]

I have Tavern Brawler and I'm fighting a werewolf. I throw a silver coin at it. What happen?

Stupid question, but would anyone allow a chunk of silver used as an improvised weapon to hurt something with silver-bypassed damage resistance/ immunity?

[Mr.Spastic]

I am legitimately stumped by this question. I guess if you sharpened them it would make sense. Like how traditional ninja would sharpen coins to make shrunken.

[Unavenger]

I'd allow use of improvised silver weapons to bypass the resistance, but I don't think I'd allow a coin as an improvised weapon in the first place. Improvised sling bullet, fine, but just chucking it? Less so.

[Unoriginal]

I have Tavern Brawler and I'm fighting a werewolf. I throw a silver coin at it. What happen?

Stupid question, but would anyone allow a chunk of silver used as an improvised weapon to hurt something with silver-bypassed damage resistance/ immunity?

If it was a silver bar, sure. Silver coins are a bit too small to hurt by just throwing them, but you could do the thing where you put coins between your fingers then punch.

[DMThac0]

Older coins (pre 1965 US mint) were made of ~90% silver.

Take some time to get them blessed by a Priest.

Fling them for damage!

---

I see no reason this plan wouldn't work, it's a silvered object, it's blessed, and it's being used as a projectile. I would, as DM, consider it bludgeoning damage.

Personal anecdote:

I've been struck by coins that were thrown by people who are practiced in throwing weapons, I can say with certainty that they can cause damage. It may not be nearly as bad as using something like a Sling but I could easily see giving it a 1d4 damage.

[Jophiel]

Another vote for "maybe as a sling bullet" though I may still consider imposing Disadvantage since coins aren't aerodynamic like round bullets (or even rocks)

[No brains]

I am happy to see so many responses so soon! :smallsmile:

Supplementary question: what would be the minimum weight for a hand-thrown object to become a 1d4 improvised weapon? I think 50/ pound is a pretty substantial weight for a coin and having a coin thrown at someone could 'hurt' but probably not 'injure'.

[Unoriginal]

I am happy to see so many responses so soon! :smallsmile:

Supplementary question: what would be the minimum weight for a hand-thrown object to become a 1d4 improvised weapon? I think 50/ pound is a pretty substantial weight for a coin and having a coin thrown at someone could 'hurt' but probably not 'injure'.

A dart is 1/4 lb

[rahimka]

What happens? If I were DMing this scenario I'd agree that the coins ARE silver so, sure, they would bypass the resistance the werewolf. Thus they do just as much damage to the creature as they would if you threw coins at anybody else, which is to say "not much".

They might actually work as improvised sling ammunition; but I'd agree with posts above that there should be some penalty for that "improvised" aspect, either disadvantage on the attack itself, or they could only do "scratch" damage of 1hp (but not reduced by resistance, so there's that!).

I think the most likely outcome of just throwing loose silver coins at the werewolf is that the player in question might succeed at GETTING ITS ATTENTION above other minimal-to-low level threats. I'd probably describe the beast having an annoyed reaction (maybe a slight wince to indicate that the silver nature of the coins IS painful to it, if not actually DAMAGING) and then glaring at that player intently...

[Ganymede]

I have Tavern Brawler and I'm fighting a werewolf. I throw a silver coin at it. What happen?

Stupid question, but would anyone allow a chunk of silver used as an improvised weapon to hurt something with silver-bypassed damage resistance/ immunity?

I would not, not with something as paltry as a coin.

If you ran away and tried to melt down some coins to make improvised arrow heads or sling bullets at camp, I'd let you get away with it. I also might let you try to bash in a werewolf's skull with a big chunk of silver ore.

[terodil]

Hm, what about a full pouch of silver coins? Could you use that as an improvised melee bludgeoning weapon? (club-like?) Or would the thin layer of cloth/leather negate the silver property?

[GlenSmash!]

I think my favorite method proposed on this forum, was to nail said coins to a club or other blunt weapon of your choice.

[terodil]

I think my favorite method proposed on this forum, was to nail said coins to a club or other blunt weapon of your choice.
That is an awesome idea, but I'd require master-grade or adamantium nails for that. Have you tried to hammer a consumer-grade nail through a coin? :smallbiggrin:

[Bloodcloud]

I'd rule the werewolf is severely inceonvenienced. Does not like it one bit. Might even run to find a less aggravating target. It'd get a serious skin rash out of it too.

No damage though. But melt a few of them, or sharpen them, yeah.

[ImproperJustice]

Silver is a pretty soft metal.
An iron nail should penetrate it without much trouble at all.

[Unoriginal]

I think my favorite method proposed on this forum, was to nail said coins to a club or other blunt weapon of your choice.

That was a fun thread.


That is an awesome idea, but I'd require master-grade or adamantium nails for that. Have you tried to hammer a consumer-grade nail through a coin? :smallbiggrin:

As said above, silver is pretty soft. Iron nails might not work, but steel would.


You could also cut the coins in half and nail the parts in a club.

[GlenSmash!]

That is an awesome idea, but I'd require master-grade or adamantium nails for that. Have you tried to hammer a consumer-grade nail through a coin? :smallbiggrin:

No but I don't have any silver coins (nor would I try it if I did).

Still medieval type iron nails were beefy things.

[saucerhead]

Ha! Title of the thread had me thinking something else.
The coins probably wouldn't hurt him unless you throw in some nasty taunts about how his dancing is uninspired and needs more hip movement, but that would be mean.:smallwink:

[Man_Over_Game]

Couldn't you melt down the silver and cast it into nails? Or just silver plate some nails? Seems like a pretty efficient way to "enhance" a club into a mace.

[MaxWilson]

I have Tavern Brawler and I'm fighting a werewolf. I throw a silver coin at it. What happen?

Stupid question, but would anyone allow a chunk of silver used as an improvised weapon to hurt something with silver-bypassed damage resistance/ immunity?

My ruling: you've a Tavern Brawler, so I'd allow it. You're a low-grade Bullseye. It still only does d4 damage, but basically there's nobody better than you at killing people (and werewolves) with random objects.

[Kane0]

Silver coin knuckle dusters!

[darknite]

Fill a small-weave net with silver pieces to make an improvised sap with silver pieces protruding through the holes...

[terodil]

Silver is a pretty soft metal.
An iron nail should penetrate it without much trouble at all.
Doubtful.

Silver in its raw form is relatively soft, that's true (http://periodictable.com/Properties/A/VickersHardness.v.log.html gives its value as 251 MPa on the Vickers Hardness scale). Iron has a value of 608 MPa, which is about factor 2.5 greater. However, silver coins used in trade have almost always been alloyed with other metals, e.g. copper, to increase their durability -- just for comparison, on the Moh Scale, a 10-90 copper-silver mix already increases the hardness by factor 2 (on that scale -- which is not directly comparable to VH, I know. Couldn't find any better info in the time I had). Still, considering that most nails are quite thin -- their points are in any case, however thick the rest may be! --, I'd feel confident in saying that manually trying to hammer an iron nail through a run-of-the-mill silver coin will, with overwhelming probability, get the iron nail bent out of shape and/or blunted before it penetrates the coin.

Edit #764: I actually found the missing link (https://www.tedpella.com/company_html/hardness.htm). So let's try again. Moh-Scale figures: Silver (raw) 2.5, Iron (raw) 4. Silver-Copper (90-10) alloy: 5! So there's no chance that the iron nail would go through the coin. At all, unless the coin is paper-thin (which would, given its weight, make it rather unwieldy though). Steel has a Moh-Scale figure of 5 to 8.5, depending on its various properties. So yeah, it'd take masterwork steel nails or adamantium (the Moh-Scale figure of which I couldn't find :smallamused: I'm sure it's over 9000).

Buzzkill, I know. But I found this interesting and fun to look into. Disclaimer: I'm a layman and had just a few minutes to research this, so if a metallurgy expert is around, I'd be glad to hear if this estimate fits or not!

Edit #352: But... magic. We're tossing fireballs around and throwing up shields of compressed air to prevent arrows from hitting, so I guess it's not beyond maaaagic to just strengthen the iron nail while hammering it through the coin. :smallbiggrin:

Edit #815: This revelation also makes all those pirate movies where the daring captain promises his crew a coin and nails it to a mast for all to see a load of bovine waste. :smallcool:

[Joe the Rat]

If the wood is splitting any, hammer the coins in sideways. If it isn't, use your nails to start a split, jam your coins, then bind it back.Possibly with the nail.

sling bullets are 20 at 1.5lb. I'm guessing 0.025 lb to 0.075 lb, depending on how much you think the pouch should weigh. 1/40 lb to 3/40 lb. 0.4 to 1.2 oz.
standard coin is 1/50 lb, 0.32 oz. I would suggest mashing 2-3 coins together (at least) to make a crude silver bullet.

[Mr.Spastic]

If you have enough silver coins to consider hitting an enemy with them you probably have enough to silver a weapon. There are rules for it in the phb in the equipment section. I still like the idea of sharpening them into shiruken. It has a real world basis and makes a lot of sense. If you threw a coin sized object that was sharp on all sides it would definitely penetrate skin.

[JackPhoenix]

If you have enough silver coins to consider hitting an enemy with them you probably have enough to silver a weapon. There are rules for it in the phb in the equipment section. I still like the idea of sharpening them into shiruken. It has a real world basis and makes a lot of sense. If you threw a coin sized object that was sharp on all sides it would definitely penetrate skin.

Silvering a weapon costs 100 gp. That's 20 pounds of silver coins.

There's no real world basis for sharpening coins to use as a weapon. Coins can be used as shrapnel in cannons or bombs, but then they're flying a *bit* faster than if you throw them.

And shurikens served to distract the target or deliver poison, not as a serious weapon that could kill someone.

[No brains]

Ores and alloys have been mentioned here, so what purity of silver is necessary to bypass immunity? Could an electrum ingot hurt a werewolf?

I think for simplicity's sake, D&D silver coins are assumed to be pure silver. I know that's franken hard to get nowadays, but I imagine alchemy and spells that consume silver impurities as a component could solve that.

[Coffee_Dragon]

>out adventuring
>werewolf in rags comes shambling up
>good sir, can ye spare a coin
>throw a coin at the werewolf
>it explodes in gallons of blood splattering the walls
>a gang of vampire paladin cops swoop in
>oi, gonna have to fine you for that, squire
>throw a coin at the vampires
>their innards boil out of their ears and they fade into soot stains on the floor
>the seventy celestial gold dragons that keep the skies aloft descend from the heavens
>knave, you shall pay restitution for this
>throw a coin at the dragons
>they reenact the face melting scene from raiders of the lost ark for ten agonizing minutes then explode into confetti
>not getting a single xp for any of this

[Digimike]

Easy solution, party restrains warewolf and tavern brawler just punches a silver coin into his face repeatedly.

[Sindeloke]

My ruling: you've a Tavern Brawler, so I'd allow it. You're a low-grade Bullseye. It still only does d4 damage, but basically there's nobody better than you at killing people (and werewolves) with random objects.

Agreed. There's too much Guy At The Gym and not enough Rule of Cool in this thread. Bonking a werewolf with a projectile quarter is both creative and absolutely in line with fantasy genre tropes, and Tavern Brawler is a big chunk of the player's build resources and should be allowed to be useful when possible. If y'all are absolutely set on making it impotent, call it 1+Str instead of 1d4, but this is a fun idea. Let it be fun.

[Mr.Spastic]

I would also add in that if you have a strength of what I am assuming is a 16 you could probably really hurt somebody by throwing a coin at them. I would also have it only deal 1+strength to the creature.

[Mr.Spastic]

And shurikens served to distract the target or deliver poison, not as a serious weapon that could kill someone.

Yeah, but in D&D having a cat scratch a commoner four times will kill them. A character with a 16 strength can do it in one hit. When you take that into account, coins sharpened into shiruken(which do exist in the real world) aren't that out of place in the realm of things that could kill you. Mathematically speaking, D&D is a game where a level one character can be killed by a horde of cats.

[Kaibis]

I feel like it would be the same as if someone threw a coal at me.

I mean, I would dodge it, but it wouldn't harm me really. If it was thrown at me in the heat of battled I doubt I would even notice it, later on I might wonder where the welt came from.

(Anecdote: I was sleeping my a camp fire once and a spark flew out and hit me on the inner elbow, or at least I surmise that was what happened. It didn't wake me and I didn't notice it until a day or so later when it began to blister.)

[ImproperJustice]

Get some molasses or tar from the tavern.
Dip fists in silver coins.

Go punch Werewolves and repeat?

[Seth1221]

My player used the catapult spell to catapult silver coins at a werewolf - I allowed it. A different situation but I wanted to share it as I found this clever. Try to accommodate this idea of your player somehow to reinforce such creativity in the future.

[Porcupinata]

The principle is sound, but as others have said - throwing a silver coin just isn't going to significantly hurt it.

I've twice had games where people have improvised against a werewolf with whatever silver was to hand. Once someone grabbed a silver candlestick and started beating a werewolf about the head with it. I ruled that it would count as an improvised club.

The other time, six people dog-piled the werewolf and held it down while a seventh person filed a sharp edge onto a silver coin and then used it to slit the werewolf's throat. I wouldn't have normally ruled that a coin could be used as a weapon, but since the werewolf was pinned and helpless I allowed it.

[Unoriginal]

Fill the werewolf's mouth with the coins and then punch its face?

Very Tavern Brawler, if you ask me.

[OvisCaedo]

Hmm. I've animate objects'd silver coins before to deal with a lycanthrope, but... Just throwing them, I'm not sure. There's certainly a lot of options to try to improvise for it, but most of them don't seem very middle-of-battle compatible. Maybe even just gripping them between your fingers to use similarly to silver knuckles..? maybe not realistic, but it's a fantasy game anyhow.

[No brains]

Fill the werewolf's mouth with the coins and then punch its face?

Very Tavern Brawler, if you ask me.

Only if the werewolf sprawls against a wall before its arm tilts like a lever, its eyes look like cherries, and the coins spill out of its mouth. :smalltongue:

[Unoriginal]

Only if the werewolf sprawls against a wall before its arm tilts like a lever, its eyes look like cherries, and the coins spill out of its mouth. :smalltongue:

"Brawling Style Technique: the One-Armed Bandit."

[Dark Schneider]

Improvised sling bullet, fine, but just chucking it? Less so.
That idea is not bad. Because sling does the same 1d4 than improvised, probably the improvised ammunition (less weight) would inflict half damage.

[Joe the Rat]

"Brawling Style Technique: the One-Armed Bandit."

And now I know what my next character will be.

[Tanarii]

Grab a Silver Candlestick and Tavern Brawl them with that instead.


And shurikens served to distract the target or deliver poison, not as a serious weapon that could kill someone.
Whereas in 5e, they're a 1d4+Dex weapon that can easily kill a commoner when thrown by the typical 1st level Shadow Monk.

[Malifice]

I've been struck by coins that were thrown by people who are practiced in throwing weapons, I can say with certainty that they can cause damage.

Bearing in mind you're a commoner with 4 HP, If it takes 4 thrown coins to render you near death, then that's some impressive coin throwing.

[Mr.Spastic]

Bearing in mind you're a commoner with 4 HP, If it takes 4 thrown coins to render you near death, then that's some impressive coin throwing.

Bearing in mind that it is D&D, just read my signature.

[Malifice]

I would also add in that if you have a strength of what I am assuming is a 16 you could probably really hurt somebody by throwing a coin at them. I would also have it only deal 1+strength to the creature.

Fairly confident Arnie in his prime could hurl coins at me for several minutes with me getting nothing more than superficial bruises.

I suppose he could hit me in the eye or something and damage it, but he aint killing me with thrown coins.

[Concrete]

Seeing as the silver coin example in the book is a triangular coin with a hole in the middle, I can't see why you wouldn't just thread some onto a length of string, align them with your knuckles, pointy side out, and rearrange wolfie's face. alternatively wrap it around a table leg or something.

That could go for throwing too. Just get enough together to make a sizeable lump, and start chucking them. or wrap them around something heavy.

https://cdn.thingiverse.com/renders/57/98/7a/15/5f/cca4080ff238605b27600c24b57f93b6_preview_featured. jpg

Sure, some GM's might use another shape, in which case my advice is useless.

[Unoriginal]

And now I know what my next character will be.

A Tavern Brawler that gives fancy martial arts names to their moves?

[Mr.Spastic]

Fairly confident Arnie in his prime could hurl coins at me for several minutes with me getting nothing more than superficial bruises.

I suppose he could hit me in the eye or something and damage it, but he aint killing me with thrown coins.

Note that I said sharpened coins.

You could also argue that a Sprite's bow wouldn't hurt you in the real world as the arrow is the size of a thorn. But it does one damage in the game so it can kill a commoner in 4 hits. I think your over looking the fact that you can get damage from some pretty harmless things in D&D. Dealing 1+str on a sharpened coin isn't a relatively impressive thing in D&D.

[Tanarii]

Dealing 1+str on a sharpened coin isn't a relatively impressive thing in D&D.
Personally it breaks my suspension of disbelief that a game allows a normal person to kill another throwing a "sharpened coin", especially with something that's only 1.5 as heavy as a U.S. Quarter.

That's just me though. Maybe for other people it enhances it.

Edit In terms of what the game already does, a Dart is 1/4 lb, or about as heavy as 12 coins, and is designed to wound and fly through the air. It does 1d4+Dex (or optionally Str because of the finesse property).

[JackPhoenix]

You keep repeating commoners being killed by cats as something noteworthy. Housecats can kill humans in real life, they just aren't interested in trying. And the human is more likely to win, just like D&D commoner.

[Mr.Spastic]

You keep repeating commoners being killed by cats as something noteworthy. Housecats can kill humans in real life, they just aren't interested in trying. And the human is more likely to win, just like D&D commoner.

I was saying it to emphasize that things that we see a relatively harmless in the real world can become somewhat more deadly in the dnd world. Yes real people can be killed by cats, but it usually takes more than 4 hits. Hitting somebody with a blowgun is another similar example. You can kill somebody in dnd with a blowgun. Not with poisoned darts, just regular ones. You can even make it a Kensei Weapon and deal 1d4+1d4(kensei's shot) and one shot a commoner easily. I get your point but I don't think your getting mine.

Edit: It's also my signature so I'm not technically repeating it, it just keeps popping up.

[Dr. Cliché]

I'd probably allow coins to serve as sling bullets, maybe with reduced damage (maybe d3-1 or something to that effect).

If you just throw them, I'd probably only let you deal your strength modifier (if any) as damage.

It's something that could be used to get a werewolf's attention but it's really not something that should be killing them.



Fill the werewolf's mouth with the coins and then punch its face?

I mean, if you're able to get the werewolf into a position where you're able to freely shove silver coins into its mouth, I have to wonder whether the silver is even necessary. :smalltongue:

That said, I'm now wondering whether you can kill a restrained werewolf by force-feeding it silver coins.

[stewstew5]

Werewolves' skin burns when touching silver of any kind. Maybe 1 damage per coin if your dm really doesn't want you weaponizing them.

[Dr. Cliché]

Werewolves' skin burns when touching silver of any kind. Maybe 1 damage per coin if your dm really doesn't want you weaponizing them.

Is that actually in the fluff? I don't recall seeing it.

[CIDE]

I recall a story (not sure if it's true but claimed to be) of a man that killed a bear that was attacking him by shoving his arm down its throat. From what I understand it suffocated or something like that. So, I guess there's a precedent for it?

[stewstew5]

Is that actually in the fluff? I don't recall seeing it.

It's general werewolf lore, but not in any rulebook I can find. This shouldn't matter though, because whatever reason there is for silver hurting a werewolf more than other weapons could be a similar basis for a silver coin to do damage and a non-silver coin not to

[stewstew5]

I recall a story (not sure if it's true but claimed to be) of a man that killed a bear that was attacking him by shoving his arm down its throat. From what I understand it suffocated or something like that. So, I guess there's a precedent for it?

In every story of a person killing a predator (or burly scavenger) in this fashion It's not actually the hand in the throat that kills it. it's merely a maneuver to get into a position where you could reasonably kill it

[Spore]

If you are going by RAW, then I would say 95% of the DMs out there would not allow coins as _weapons_. Yes, it is improvised. No, it is not clever nor a weapon. It's like throwing a bullet at someone. Or trying to hurt a diabetic with a pound of sugar.

[ProsecutorGodot]

If you are going by RAW, then I would say 95% of the DMs out there would not allow coins as _weapons_. Yes, it is improvised. No, it is not clever nor a weapon. It's like throwing a bullet at someone. Or trying to hurt a diabetic with a pound of sugar.

I have a monk in my Dragonheist game who caught a gunslingers bullet and threw it back, killing him.

DND rules don't follow traditional logic. If a shard of glass is enough to count as an improvised weapon, lumping a handful of silver coins together is probably sufficient.

[stewstew5]

I have a monk in my Dragonheist game who caught a gunslingers bullet and threw it back, killing him.

DND rules don't follow traditional logic. If a shard of glass is enough to count as an improvised weapon, lumping a handful of silver coins together is probably sufficient.

I like this man

[The Jack]

I have a monk in my Dragonheist game who caught a gunslingers bullet and threw it back, killing him.

DND rules don't follow traditional logic. If a shard of glass is enough to count as an improvised weapon, lumping a handful of silver coins together is probably sufficient.

1: That's a monks special ability that only a awesome ki-enhanced monk could pull off. IIRC he redirects it, he doesn't just catch and throw

2: A lead ball is a very different story from some silver coins.

[Tanarii]

DND rules don't follow traditional logic. If a shard of glass is enough to count as an improvised weapon, lumping a handful of silver coins together is probably sufficient.
But a a shard of glass CAN kill someone ...

Unless by not following traditional logic, you mean because A, also C, with no relationship between the two?

[JackPhoenix]

I have a monk in my Dragonheist game who caught a gunslingers bullet and threw it back, killing him.

DND rules don't follow traditional logic. If a shard of glass is enough to count as an improvised weapon, lumping a handful of silver coins together is probably sufficient.

See this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHpuPXKOwUI). Also, Deflect Missiles explicitly uses magic, the monk can't just grab a bullet from a pocket and throw it with the same power or accuracy outside using that ability.

[stoutstien]

How about silver coin brass knuckles? Few wrap of cloth, some pitching tar, maybe some scrapes of leather

[Dr. Cliché]

It's general werewolf lore.

I don't think there's even such a thing as 'general werewolf lore'. If anything, werewolf lore is extremely variable and inconsistent.


This shouldn't matter though, because whatever reason there is for silver hurting a werewolf more than other weapons could be a similar basis for a silver coin to do damage and a non-silver coin not to

But bypassing a werewolf's normal immunity isn't the same as burning ts flesh on contact. It seems more likely that a silver weapon still needs to be able to pierce the werewolf's thick hide in order to actually injure it.

[ProsecutorGodot]

But a a shard of glass CAN kill someone ...

Unless by not following traditional logic, you mean because A, also C, with no relationship between the two?

I mean in the sense that a shard of glass is similar enough to a lump of coins that I would count both as improvised weapons, and in the event that those are silver coins, they should be treated as such. Saying that a lump of coins can't be deadly in DND just because it's "unrealistic" doesn't mesh with the game.

[stewstew5]

I don't think there's even such a thing as 'general werewolf lore'. If anything, werewolf lore is extremely variable and inconsistent.



But bypassing a werewolf's normal immunity isn't the same as burning ts flesh on contact. It seems more likely that a silver weapon still needs to be able to pierce the werewolf's thick hide in order to actually injure it.

general werewolf lore was poor wording but I, as a monster nerd, have found this to be a common thread in all attempted compilations of werewolf lore.

That's a very numbers only way of looking at it wouldn't you say?

[Dr. Cliché]

general werewolf lore was poor wording but I, as a monster nerd, have found this to be a common thread in all attempted compilations of werewolf lore.

That's a very numbers only way of looking at it wouldn't you say?

I don't know if I've read as many accounts as you, but I'll confess that silver burning werewolves on contact is something that came up relatively infrequently (it certainly didn't seem to be a common factor in all or even many of the accounts or tales).

To be clear, I don't disagree with your idea of taking common threads, I'm just saying that I didn't find this to be a common thread when I last looked into werewolf lore.

[KorvinStarmast]

My ruling: you've a Tavern Brawler, so I'd allow it. You're a low-grade Bullseye. It still only does d4 damage, but basically there's nobody better than you at killing people (and werewolves) with random objects. I like that in a RAF approach.

So yeah, it'd take masterwork steel nails or adamantium Do you consider case hardening to be masterwork? Oh, wait, masterwork isn't a category in 5e, is it? :smallwink: Any hardened steel should do the trick. Also, a small drill with a diamond tipped bit will allow a "starter hole" to be scored into the center of the silver piece.

Simpler Solution
Melt down 10-20 silver pieces, and for each 10-20 you melt down and shape into a ball, attack the werewolf with them using a sling; 1d4 silver, +dex ... and so on. See also the "silver bullet" idea. This was a common way to do this in AD&D 1e at the tables where I played.

Edit #815: This revelation also makes all those pirate movies where the daring captain promises his crew a coin and nails it to a mast for all to see a load of bovine waste. :smallcool: Gold can be done that way. (But fair point on few pure silver pieces in the Pirate era; in the medieval era, watering down the currency depended a lot upon time and location .,..)

Easy solution, party restrains warewolf and tavern brawler just punches a silver coin into his face repeatedly. Just wear a silver ring, or "brass knuckles" made out of silver.

Or, take a standard silver spoon, sharpen it like a shank like they make in prisons, and use as a weapon. (improvised ...)

[Inscrutable]

Agreed. There's too much Guy At The Gym and not enough Rule of Cool in this thread. Bonking a werewolf with a projectile quarter is both creative and absolutely in line with fantasy genre tropes, and Tavern Brawler is a big chunk of the player's build resources and should be allowed to be useful when possible. If y'all are absolutely set on making it impotent, call it 1+Str instead of 1d4, but this is a fun idea. Let it be fun.

This. Realistically, the strongest human alive couldn't hurl a coin to do anything more than barely break the skin. The drag from air would slow the coin too much. And I find it adorable how many times "sharpening" the coin came up in this thread, as if that would make a difference! 😂 I would love to hear the thought process of the hardened fighter who thought filing down tiny disc edges was the best strategy they could come up with to defeat a werewolf.

But the game isn't about science, it is about fun, right? In my opinion, that is an amusing and unorthodox tactic that should be appreciated and acknowledged. I wish my players were that creative.

[Malifice]

I was saying it to emphasize that things that we see a relatively harmless in the real world can become somewhat more deadly in the dnd world. Yes real people can be killed by cats, but it usually takes more than 4 hits. Hitting somebody with a blowgun is another similar example. You can kill somebody in dnd with a blowgun. Not with poisoned darts, just regular ones. You can even make it a Kensei Weapon and deal 1d4+1d4(kensei's shot) and one shot a commoner easily. I get your point but I don't think your getting mine.

Edit: It's also my signature so I'm not technically repeating it, it just keeps popping up.

If its getting used with Kensais shot, then it's getting used by a 3rd level Zen weapon master Monk who has dedicated his life to mastering the weapon, and is imbued with supernatural fighting ability (Ki).

He's no Commoner. He's some Wudan practitioner dude from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Those darts are 4 inch long razor sharp spikes getting blown at you with supernatural force and accuracy.

[Malifice]

This. Realistically, the strongest human alive couldn't hurl a coin to do anything more than barely break the skin. The drag from air would slow the coin too much. And I find it adorable how many times "sharpening" the coin came up in this thread, as if that would make a difference! 😂 I would love to hear the thought process of the hardened fighter who thought filing down tiny disc edges was the best strategy they could come up with to defeat a werewolf.

But the game isn't about science, it is about fun, right? In my opinion, that is an amusing and unorthodox tactic that should be appreciated and acknowledged. I wish my players were that creative.

Back in 3E I was playing the Worlds Largest dungeon, and the 1st level BBEG is a Wererat.

My Gish PC overcame this by timming and sharpening silver coins, and then using them as arrowheads. DM (rightly IMO) called for a Craft check (DC 15 from memory) to craft silver tipped arrows (1d8-1 damage base) which was how silver weapons worked in 3E.

Took around 5 minutes per coin/ arrow.

[Mr.Spastic]

If its getting used with Kensais shot, then it's getting used by a 3rd level Zen weapon master Monk who has dedicated his life to mastering the weapon, and is imbued with supernatural fighting ability (Ki).

He's no Commoner. He's some Wudan practitioner dude from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Those darts are 4 inch long razor sharp spikes getting blown at you with supernatural force and accuracy.

Dude, their blowdarts. Like 2 inch, tiny pointed, only go an 1/4 an inch blowdarts.By any realistic standard you can't kill somebody with a blowdart. Even with some Wudan Mystical BS. Might point was that D&D is kinda like that. 1 damage isn't that well defined in D&D and seems to just be anything the pentrates the skin or leaves a bruise. By that logic, almost anything can be used to deal 1 damage in a dnd game.

[Malifice]

Dude, their blowdarts. Like 2 inch, tiny pointed, only go an 1/4 an inch blowdarts.

Yeah, nah.

'The fukiya (吹き矢) is the Japanese blowgun, as well as the term for the associated sport. It consists of a 1.2 metres (3 ft 11 in) long tube, with darts approximately 20 centimetres (7.9 in) in length.'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukiya

As for other variants:

Cherokee – made of river cane[6], 2 to 3 m (6 to 9 ft). Dart is 15 to 56 cm (6 to 22 in) long and made of locustwood or other available hardwoods such as oak, ash, maple, walnut, etc., fletched with bull thistle down or rabbit fur, that provides an air seal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowgun

Even 4 inches is conservative. Those examples of darts above range from 6-22 inches in length. Certainly during my time in South America, they were using darts at least 6 inches long, and probably a fair bit longer.

Apologies to the duck here, but they hit with a fair bit of force:


https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/1v5L2UrcnPbbGUmZHmJOlQ--~A/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9NDAwO2g9MzAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en-AU/homerun/y7.yahoo7/1bb1162ea465f6b2d1a73f5fbb174224

Enought to penetrate light bone.

You or I would be hard pressed to kill a human with one barring a freak shot (nick an artery or similar) but then again, we're not 3rd level Monks straight of a Wushu film either.

[JackPhoenix]

Yeah, nah.

But they are tiny in movies where the victim think it's just some annoying insect before they drop down from the magically fast-acting poison!

[MadBear]

should a coin normally hurt anyone? no.

should a pencil normally be super fatal? no.

But watching John Wick murder people with a pencil is hilarious fun, and so is watching a person do so with a coin. The person took the feat Tavern Brawler, so we are already aware they're capable of turning normally, unusable terrain into weapons, this is just a clever way of doing so.

This option will almost always be worse then if they go and buy a silvered weapon or use magic. So this is the kinda thing a player does when they're out of options. In that scenario, I'd rather reward ingenuity then just tell my players "sorry, you can't do squat". With that said, I'm gonna take what they're doing into account. If it was my game, I'd probably just scale damage according to how well they convince me they're using these coins.

1. "I throw them"- ok, it'll be 1 damage
2. "I put them between my fingers and make improvised brass knuckles" 1+ strength
3. "During some prep time, I sharpen the coins to prepare for fighting the wolf" 1d4 + strength

[Mikal]

I'd disallow it. I wouldn't allow normal coins to be thrown for normal damage just due to someone having tavern brawler, and werewolves take damage from silver weapons, not just silver, so allowing it for werewolves doesn't make sense. They can hold a silver bar for example, as much as they want, so it isn't just something silver touching the skin which causes the damage, but the silver enhanced weapon itself.

[Rebonack]

Someone picked a really sub-optimal feat because they probably thought it would be fun to beat monsters up with random objects.

I would strongly discourage telling the player, 'no, you can't use Tavern Brawler to beat up this monster with random objects.' Especially since that's explicitly what the feat does. Let them have their fun.

Is it 'unrealistic'? Of course it is. So is Marvel's Bullseye. But it's fun, which is the part that matters.

It'll make a great story afterward. The players will laugh about it.

[Mikal]

Someone picked a really sub-optimal feat because they probably thought it would be fun to beat monsters up with random objects.

I would strongly discourage telling the player, 'no, you can't use Tavern Brawler to beat up this monster with random objects.' Especially since that's explicitly what the feat does. Let them have their fun.

Is it 'unrealistic'? Of course it is. So is Marvel's Bullseye. But it's fun, which is the part that matters.

It'll make a great story afterward. The players will laugh about it.

Maybe the player should check before taking the feat whether or not it could do what he thinks it does.

My job as a DM isn't to bend the rules of my game just because a single player thinks something is cool. In my game throwing coins doesn't do damage, so throwing silver coins won't do damage just because it's silver.

DM doesn't stand for Door Mat, and just because one person thinks something is fun means it fits in my game.

[AHF]

In my game throwing coins doesn't do damage, so throwing silver coins won't do damage just because it's silver.



This is very reasonable and logical. By the same token, of throwing rocks can do damage than the bundling or fusing of 10 coins together should do similar damage as proposed earlier in the thread.

[Mikal]

This is very reasonable and logical. By the same token, of throwing rocks can do damage than the bundling or fusing of 10 coins together should do similar damage as proposed earlier in the thread.

Yeah, I’d allow that (partially), if someone wanted to spend the time and/or effort to fuse the coins to do so. I’d also allow silver ore since it’s infused with silver.

If you can show me how to bundle x amount of coins so that the silver actually connects i might allow that too, for a single or multiple hits depending on how it’s bound. Most coin collection methods I know of usually wrap the coins in something like a pouch or coin roll, so i would rule that no silver is making contact with the werewolf in those situations and thus the silver isn’t actually assiting the attack except as mass.