Firearm Properties

Many weapons, including firearms, have special properties related to their use. Below are all the properties that may apply to firearms, including those already printed in the basic rules.

Ammunition

You can use a weapon that has the ammunition property to make a ranged attack only if you have ammunition to fire from the weapon. Each attack expends one piece of ammunition.

You cannot recover fired bullets.

Artillery

Loading an artillery weapon requires one or more creatures to use a number of utilize actions equal to the weapon’s artillery score. You must have two free hands to load an artillery weapon.

Once loaded, an artillery weapon can be aimed and shot like any other firearm.

Grenade

A type of weapon that is thrown to a point and explodes. Grenades have their range and area in parentheses, in that order, after the grenade property.

When you take the attack action, you can replace one of your attacks with throwing a grenade. Creatures in the area must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Dexterity modifier), taking the damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one.

Heavy

A heavy weapon is unwieldy compared to other weapons. You have disadvantage on your attack rolls with a heavy weapon if it’s a melee weapon and your Strength score isn’t at least 13 and if it’s a ranged weapon and your Dexterity score isn’t at least 13.

Light

When you take the attack action on your turn and attack with a light weapon, you can make one extra attack as a bonus action later on the same turn. That extra attack must be made with a different light weapon, and you don’t add your ability modifier to the extra attack’s damage, unless that modifier is negative.

For example, if you take the attack action on your turn and have an Oldfield in one hand and a Harper in the other—each of which has the light property—you can make one attack with each weapon, using the attack action and a bonus action, but you don’t add your Strength or Dexterity modifier to the damage roll of the bonus action, unless that modifier is negative.

Loading

You can fire only one piece of ammunition from a Loading weapon when you use an action, a Bonus Action, or a Reaction to fire it, regardless of the number of attacks you can normally make.

Misfire

Whenever you make an attack roll with a firearm, and the dice roll is equal to or lower than the weapon’s misfire score, the weapon misfires. The attack misses, and the weapon cannot be used again until you take a utilize action to try and repair it.

To repair your firearm, you must make a successful Intelligence (Investigation) check with tinker’s tools (DC equal to 8 + the weapon’s misfire score). If your check fails, the weapon is broken and must be mended out of combat over a short or long rest at a quarter of the cost of the firearm.

Creatures who use a firearm without being proficient increase the weapon’s misfire score by 1.

Range

A weapon that can be used to make a ranged attack has a range in parentheses after the ammunition or thrown property. The range lists two numbers. The first is the weapon’s normal range in feet, and the second indicates the weapon’s long range.

When attacking a target beyond normal range, you have disadvantage on the attack roll. You can’t attack a target beyond the weapon’s long range.

Reload

The weapon can be fired a number of times equal to its reload score before you must take a utilize action to reload it. You must have one free hand to reload a firearm.

Siege Weapon

A siege weapon is a heavy piece of equipment built for sieges. Siege weapons do double damage to structures. They have an AC of 15 and 100 hit points.

When reduced to 0 hit points, they break and no longer function.

Two-Handed

A two-handed weapon requires two hands when you attack with it.

Thrown

If a weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon to make a ranged attack, and you can draw that weapon as part of the attack.

If the weapon is a melee weapon, you use the same ability modifier for that attack roll and damage roll that you would use for a melee attack with the weapon.

For example, if you throw a handaxe, you use your Strength, but if you throw a dagger, you can use either your Strength or your Dexterity, since the dagger has the finesse property.

References

5e - Supplemental - Firearms.pdf