Returning Weapon 5e
Item: A simple or martial weapon with the thrown property
This magic weapon grants a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it, and it returns to the wielder’s hand immediately after it is used to make a ranged attack.
Review by Prince Phantom
Do you want to play Thor in 5e? Because this is how you play Thor in 5e. It’s just a shame that Thor’s main strategy of throwing a comically small hammer isn’t a great strategy for dealing damage in 5e.
This does fix a lot of the problems of thrown weapons in this game, but it doesn’t fix the biggest one: damage. There’s just no real reason to use this over a hand crossbow or any other ranged weapon for that matter. Other weapons have greater range, deal more damage, can be used with Sharpshooter, and in the hand crossbow’s case, can attack with a bonus action through a feat. Crossbow Expert also negates the problems with ranged attacks in melee, taking away the single potential advantage that thrown weapons might have.
Even if you go get the Thrown Weapon Fighting Style from multiclassing or a feat, you’ll still be far behind in damage with no upside to show for it. It’s really sad, because this is cool, and in a system that had any amount of support for thrown weapons it might be good, but it’s just behind our other options by so much. It isn’t even really this infusion’s fault either.
On paper, in a vacuum, this sounds perfectly fine and even good, but the system around it just does not support this playstyle. It looks like thrown weapons might be getting more love in the next edition, so check back on this one in a few years.
Final Rating: 2/5
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